A Father and a Son

by Bob Green◎編寫：付詩妍

Passing through the Atlanta airport one morning, I caught one of those trains that take travelers from the main1)terminalto their boarding gates. Free,2)sterileand3)impersonal,the trains run back and forth all day long. Not many people consider them fun, but on this Saturday I heard laughter.

At the front of the first car——looking out the window at the track that lay ahead——were a man and his son.

We had just stopped to let off passengers, and the doors were closing again. “Here we go! Hold on to me tight!” the father said. The boy, about five years old, made sounds of sheer4)delight.

Most people on the train were white, dressed for business trips or vacations——and that the father and son were black, dressed in clothes that were just about as inexpensive as you can buy.

“Look out there!” the father said to his son. “See that pilot? I bet he’s walking to his plane.” The son craned his neck to look.

As I got off, I remembered some thing I’d wanted to buy in the terminal. I was early for my flight,so I decided to go back.

I did——and just as I was about to reboard the train for my gate, I saw that the man and his son had returned too. I realized then that they hadn’t been heading for a flight, but had just been riding the5)shuttle.

“I want to ride some more!”

“More?” the father said,mock-exasperated［嗔怪］but clearly pleased. “You’re not tired?”

“This is fun!” his son said.

“All right,” the father replied, and when a door opened we all got on.

There are parents who can afford to send their children to Europe or Disneyland, there are parents who live in million-dollar houses and give their children cars and swimming pools, yet something goes wrong.

“Where are all these people going, Daddy?” the son asked.

“All over the world,” came the reply. The other people in the airport were leaving for

?)distant destinations［目的地，終點］or arriving at the ends of their journeys. The father and son, though, were just riding this shuttle together, making it exciting, sharing each other’s company.

1)terminal ['t??m?n(?)l] n.肺；肺部

2)sterile ['stera?l] adj.枯燥乏味的

3)impersonal [?m'p??s(?)n(?)l] adj.無味的

4)delight [d?'la?t] vi.高興

5)shuttle ['??t(?)l] n.區間列車

6)distant ['d?st(?)nt] adj.遙遠的

We have a lot of things to deal with every day. But here was a father who cared about spending the day with his son and who had come up with this plan on a Saturday morning.

The answer is so simple: parents who care enough to spend time, and to pay attention and to try their best. It doesn’t cost a cent, yet it is the most valuable thing in the world.

The train picked up speed, and the father pointed something out, and the boy laughed again.

一天早晨去亞特蘭大機場，我看見一輛列車載著旅客從航空集散站抵達登記處。這類免費列車每天單調、無味地往返其間，沒人覺得有趣。但這個周六我卻聽到了笑聲。

在頭節車廂的最前面，坐著一個男人和他的兒子。他們正透過窗戶觀賞著一直往前延伸的鐵道。

我們停下來等候旅客下車，之后，車門關上了。“走吧。拉緊我!”父親說。兒子大約5歲，發出了表達完全高興的笑聲。

車上坐的多半是或公差或度假的白人，只有這對黑人父子穿著樸素簡單。

“快看!”父親對兒子說，“看見那位飛行員了嗎?我敢肯定他是去開飛機的。”兒子伸長脖子看。

下了車后，我突然想起還得在航空集散站買點東西。離起飛時間還早，于是我決定再乘車回去。

正準備上車的時候，我看到那對父子也來了。我意識到他們不是來乘飛機的，而是特意來坐區間列車的。

“我還想再坐一會兒!”

“再坐一會兒？”父親嗔怪卻十分高興，“你還不累?”

“好吧，”父親說。車門開了，我們都上了車。

我們很多父母有能力送孩子去歐洲或者去迪士尼樂園，很多父母住豪華別墅，孩子有車有游泳池，可孩子還是學壞了。

“爸爸，這些人去哪?”兒子問。

“世界各地。”父親回答。機場來來往往的人流或準備遠行，或剛剛歸來。這對父子卻在乘坐區間列車，享受著父子間的親情與陪伴。

我們每天都有很多事情要處理，但是這位父親卻很愿意花上一天陪伴兒子，并在這樣一個星期六的早上，提出這個計劃。

其實答案很簡單：父母愿意花時間，愿意關注，愿意盡心盡力去陪伴孩子。這不花一分錢，可這卻是世間無價之寶。

火車加速了。父親指著窗外說著什么，兒子又笑起來了。

（原文有改動）

語法 :win和 beat的區別

win和beat都可用作及物動詞，作“贏”“戰勝”時，其區別主要在于賓語的不同。

1.充當win的賓語是比賽、戰爭、獎品、金錢等名詞，即race、match、game、competition、war、prize之類的詞。例如：

They won the match this time.這次比賽他們贏了。

He won first prize in the sur fing competition.他在沖浪比賽中獲得第一。

2. 充當beat的賓語則是比賽、競爭的對手，即指人或球隊的名詞或代詞。例如：

We played very well, and we beaten them.我們發揮地很好，打敗了他們。

We beat the strongest team in the football match this time.在這次足球賽中我們戰勝了最強的那個隊。