A Father and a Son

by Bob Green◎编写：付诗妍

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，终点］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 ['tɜːmɪn(ə)l] n.肺；肺部

2)sterile ['steraɪl] adj.枯燥乏味的

3)impersonal [ɪm'pɜːs(ə)n(ə)l] adj.无味的

4)delight [dɪ'laɪt] vi.高兴

5)shuttle ['ʃʌt(ə)l] n.区间列车

6)distant ['dɪst(ə)nt] adj.遥远的

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.

一天早晨去亚特兰大机场，我看见一辆列车载着旅客从航空集散站抵达登记处。这类免费列车每天单调、无味地往返其间，没人觉得有趣。但这个周六我却听到了笑声。

在头节车厢的最前面，坐着一个男人和他的儿子。他们正透过窗户观赏着一直往前延伸的铁道。

我们停下来等候旅客下车，之后，车门关上了。“走吧。拉紧我!”父亲说。儿子大约5岁，发出了表达完全高兴的笑声。

车上坐的多半是或公差或度假的白人，只有这对黑人父子穿着朴素简单。

“快看!”父亲对儿子说，“看见那位飞行员了吗?我敢肯定他是去开飞机的。”儿子伸长脖子看。

下了车后，我突然想起还得在航空集散站买点东西。离起飞时间还早，于是我决定再乘车回去。

正准备上车的时候，我看到那对父子也来了。我意识到他们不是来乘飞机的，而是特意来坐区间列车的。

“我还想再坐一会儿!”

“再坐一会儿？”父亲嗔怪却十分高兴，“你还不累?”

“好吧，”父亲说。车门开了，我们都上了车。

我们很多父母有能力送孩子去欧洲或者去迪士尼乐园，很多父母住豪华别墅，孩子有车有游泳池，可孩子还是学坏了。

“爸爸，这些人去哪?”儿子问。

“世界各地。”父亲回答。机场来来往往的人流或准备远行，或刚刚归来。这对父子却在乘坐区间列车，享受着父子间的亲情与陪伴。

我们每天都有很多事情要处理，但是这位父亲却很愿意花上一天陪伴儿子，并在这样一个星期六的早上，提出这个计划。

其实答案很简单：父母愿意花时间，愿意关注，愿意尽心尽力去陪伴孩子。这不花一分钱，可这却是世间无价之宝。

火车加速了。父亲指着窗外说着什么，儿子又笑起来了。

（原文有改动）

语法 :win和 beat的区别

win和beat都可用作及物动词，作“赢”“战胜”时，其区别主要在于宾语的不同。

1.充当win的宾语是比赛、战争、奖品、金钱等名词，即race、match、game、competition、war、prize之类的词。例如：

They won the match this time.这次比赛他们赢了。

He won first prize in the sur fing competition.他在冲浪比赛中获得第一。

2. 充当beat的宾语则是比赛、竞争的对手，即指人或球队的名词或代词。例如：

We played very well, and we beaten them.我们发挥地很好，打败了他们。

We beat the strongest team in the football match this time.在这次足球赛中我们战胜了最强的那个队。