新东方网课新概念英语2

新概念英语第4册阅读常见话题："白色信封"寄哀思

13."白色信封"寄哀思

There?s a small, white envelope in our Christmas tree. It has been there for the past 10 years or so. It all began because my husband Mike hated the commercial aspects of Christmas: overspending. So one year I decided to reach for something special for Mike.

我家的圣诞树上挂着一个小小的白色信封，它在上面已经挂了大约十年了。这一切都源自丈夫迈克对圣诞节商业气息的厌恶：人们大把地花钱。于是，有一年我决定为他准备一份特别的礼物。

The inspiration came in an unusual way. Our son was wrestling at school that year and shortly before Christmas, there was a match against a team sponsored by a church. Those youngsters dressed in ragged sneakers while our boy and his teammates in their new wrestling shoes. The other team was also wrestling without headgear.

我的灵感是通过非同寻常的方式得来的。那年我们的儿子在学校摔跤队接受训练。圣诞节前夕，学校安排了一场比赛，对手是由教会资助的一支摔跤队。那些小伙子穿着破烂不堪的运动鞋，而儿子和他的队友都脚蹬崭新的摔跤鞋。并且，对方选手在比赛时也没有戴头盔。

We ended up winning them without doubt. Mike shook his head sadly, "I wish just one of them could have won,"he said. "They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them."

毫无疑问，我们最终打败了他们。迈克伤心地摇摇头说：“我真希望他们其中一个可以赢。他们很有潜力，但是这样输掉比赛就等于输掉了他们的信心。”

That was when the idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a store, bought a piece of wrestling headgear and a pair of shoes and sent them anonymously to the church. On Christmas Eve, I placed a white envelope in the Christmas tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year.

我由此想到了送他什么礼物。当天下午，我到商店买了一个摔跤专用头盔和一双鞋子，并匿名将它们寄给教会。平安夜里，我把一个白色信封挂在圣诞树上，里面写着我做的事情，并告诉迈克这是我送给他的礼物。他的笑容是那年圣诞节里最闪亮的风景。

For each Christmas, I followed the tradition. One year I sent a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game.

以后的每个圣诞节，我都沿袭这种做法。有一年，我带着一群智障儿童去看了一场曲棍球比赛。

After we lost Mike due to cancer, our children and I