地图爱好者的特殊生日会

谢钰洪

Turning 12 amid home isolation orders is hardly any tweens idea of an exciting birthday， but one Houston boys socially-distanced celebration is turned out to be more memorable than anyone could have expected.

在居家隔离令中度过12岁生日绝不是一个十一二岁孩子理想中的生日，但在保持社交距离的同时，休斯敦的一个男孩的生日庆祝活动却比任何人期待的都要难忘。

Jody Smith was eager to find an alternative to help his son， Brandon， celebrate his April 11 birthday while still obeying stay-at-home orders， and turned to Twitter for a simple request： Reply to a picture of Brandon holding his hand-drawn map of the world and tell him where they are so the cartographically-inclined 12-year-old could mark it down.

史密斯乔迪·史密斯克希望找到另一个办法，在仍然遵守居家隔离令的同时来帮助他的儿子布兰登庆祝4月11日的生日。他选择在Twitter上发出了一个简单的请求：回复布兰登手持他手绘的世界地图的照片，告诉他你的具体位置，这样，爱好地图的12岁的布兰登就可以把你的地理位置在地图上标记出来。

“I thought it would be fun to get 50 - maybe 100 - people to reply from around the world， and most would be in the U.S.，” Smith told The Washington Post by phone Saturday. “Thats really what my expectations were.”

史密斯在周六的电话中对《华盛顿邮报》说：“我觉得如果能让全世界50人，也许100人回复的话，那就会非常有意思了，而且我猜想大多数回复的人都会是在美国。”

Instead， responses to Smiths request came in by the thousands： Pictures of oceanside views from Trinidad and Tobago， shots of downtown Sao Paolo in Brazil， and nighttime scenes from Istanbul. Even accounts like BMW in Germany sent Brandon a birthday greeting from Munich.

出乎意料的是成千上万的人在史密斯的推文下留言：有特立尼达和多巴哥的海景照片，巴西圣保罗市中心的照片，以及伊斯坦布尔的夜景。甚至德国的宝马（BMW）等推特号也从慕尼黑给布兰登送来了生日祝福。

At one point， “Brandon” was Twitters number-one trending topic.

“布兰登”一度成了Twitter的头号热搜。

Asked about how Brandon was taking the overwhelming response， Smith said he was busy dutifully adding dots to his map. “Hes having a blast，” he said.

当布兰登被问及对大家的热烈反响的感受时，史密斯说他正忙着尽职尽责地在地图上一一标出大家的地理位置，他特别地开心。

Celebrations in the age of coronavirus have forced people to tap into their creativity to keep the party going： Parents have turned garages into comically exclusive bars for their newly-minted 21-year-olds; friends organize socially-distanced birthday parades and any number of candles are blown out as family members look on - from Zoom.

受新型冠状病毒的影响，人们无法正常举行各种庆祝活动，但是人们却发挥着自己的创造力，让欢乐继续：有父母把车库变成了他们21岁孩子的专属趣味酒吧;朋友们组织保持社交距离的生日游行，家人们通过Zoom在线云视频会议见证一根一根蜡烛被吹灭。

But a socially distanced birthday didnt disrupt Brandons plans quite the way it might for other kids， Smith said.

但史密斯說，保持社交距离的生日并没有像对其他孩子那样打乱布兰登的计划。

“Brandon is on the autism spectrum， so he doesnt relate to people the same way; doing a birthday party didnt really resonate with him，” Smith told The Post. Ideally， Brandon would spend his birthday doing things he likes， like playing mini-golf.

史密斯在接受《华盛顿邮报》采访时说：“布兰登属于自闭症患者，所以他与人的关系不同寻常;办生日派对并不会真正引起他的共鸣。”通常情况下，布兰登会在生日期间做他喜欢的事情，比如打迷你高尔夫。

“Hes had a tendency to be almost about obsessive about things that interest him for a few weeks or months at a time，” Smith said. Golf is one of the two things that Brandon continues to love; the other is maps.

史密斯说：“他会对自己感兴趣的事情痴迷好几个星期或好几个月。”高尔夫是布兰登的两大兴趣爱好之一，另一个是地图。

Whenever a new birthday greeting pinged on Smiths phone， Brandon added a dot - usually without having to look at his iPad for reference.

每当史密斯的手机上响起一个新的生日祝福，布兰登就在地图上加一个点——通常都不需要参考他的iPad。

“Hes studied maps so well， so he knows where Helsinki is，” Smith said.

史密斯说：“他对世界地图非常了解，所以他知道赫尔辛基在哪里。”

By midday， Brandons map was already covered in clusters from the U.S. and Europe; most of Asia was still asleep when Smith first put his request on Twitter， but he still got middle-of-the night replies from Australia and Hong Kong.

中午时分，布兰登的地图上美国和欧洲部分几乎都被做满了记号;当史密斯发推文时，亚洲大部分地区还是深夜，但他仍然收到了来自澳大利亚和中国香港的祝福回复。

“I think he was happy to see someone from Tasmania，” Smith said， who was still in disbelief that “a little tweet from a football writer guy would go crazy enough to reach the middle of the Atlantic” - a birthday greeting from Ascension Island， the tiny landmass halfway between South America and Africa.

史密斯说：“我想他很高兴收到来自塔斯马尼亚陌生朋友的祝福，”在收到来自阿森松岛朋友的生日问候后，史密斯仍然觉得难以置信，“一个足球作家的一条推文竟然足以到达大西洋中部。”要知道阿森松岛是南美洲和非洲之间的一块小陆地。

The outpouring of well-wishes has been a welcome break from the hit of anxiety-inducing news about the coronavirus outbreak， Smith said. He was grateful for the response - and that people were being kind （something he knows， as a writer， is not always the case with Twitter replies）.

史密斯說，表达良好祝愿是一个可喜的突破，让人们可以从有关冠状病毒暴发这个令人焦虑的消息中解脱出来。他很感激大家的回应——感激大家那么友善（作为一个作家，他知道Twitter的回复并不总是这样）。

“These are pretty trying times and its so great to see people rallying around a warm story. And its made him feel so special，” Smith said of Brandon. “Appreciation to all the people taking time out of their day to make a 12-year-old boy feel good.”

“现在是非常艰难的时期，看到人们集体促成一个温暖的故事真是太好了。这让他觉得很特别，”史密斯谈到布兰登时说，“感谢所有抽出时间让一个12岁的男孩快乐开心的人们。”

In the meantime， Smith has an entire year to plan for Brandons 13th birthday， but added， “this will be hard for me to top.”

与此同时，史密斯有整整一年的时间来策划布兰登的13岁生日，但他补充道：“这对我来说很难突破。”

（本文摘自美国《犹太世界评论》：http：//www.jewishworldreview.com/0420/global_birthday_party.php3 ）

阅读文章后，也尝试找找以下问题的答案吧！

1. What can be inferred according to Paragraph 1 &2？ （ ）

A. Brandon has never had a wonderful birthday party.

B. Brandon cant walk a long distance.

C. Jody has a good knowledge of the world map.

D. Jody often asked for help on Twitter.

2. From the passage， we can know that________.

A. Brandon has recovered from autism after his birthday.

B. Brandon dreams to be a professional golfer.

C. Brandon often referred to the iPad to identify places.

D. Brandon is lucky to have a fantastic 12-year-old birthday celebration.

3. What does the underlined phrase “rallying around” in the last but one paragraph mean？ （ ）

A. helping with.   B. passing down.

C. taking up.   D. going around.

4. Which of the following best describes Jody Smith？ （ ）

A. Humorous. B. Positive. C. Caring. D. Demanding.

【参考答案】

1. C。推理判断题。从第二段最后一句话“Reply to a picture of Brandon…12-year-old could mark it down”可知，Brandon能够手绘世界地图，并且能够准确在地图上找到具体的地方，可知他对世界地图非常了解，所以答案为C项。第一段只谈到疫情居家隔离期间过生日不是孩子们心中理想的生日，并没有说Brandon从来没有一个快乐的生日，故A项错误;social-distanced是抗击疫情的策略，并不代表Brandon无法走路，故B项错误;第二段只说Jody为了庆祝儿子12岁生日向推特求助，并没有说他经常去求助，故D项也不正确。

2. D。推理判断题。根据整篇文章可知，因为父亲Jody的努力，世界各地的人们发来推特祝福，庆祝Brandon的十二岁生日。所以Brandon幸运地拥有了一个极好的生日。故答案为D项。

3. A。词义猜测题。从倒数第二段最后一句“Appreciation to all the people taking time out of their day to make a 12-year-old boy feel good”可知，Jody非常感谢所有抽出时间让一个12岁的男孩快乐开心的人们。感谢来自世界各地的人们帮助促成了这样一个温暖的事情，所以答案为A项，help with意为“帮助”。B项pass down ，意为“传递，前进，把……一代传一代（使流传）”;C项take up，意为“拿起，占据，开始从事”;D项go around，意为“四处闲逛”。

4. C。推理判断题。本文主要内容为Jody Smith为庆祝疫情期间即将年满12岁的儿子Brandon的生日，在Twitter上发出请求，请大家配合爱好地图的儿子，给他送上生日祝福并且留下具体地理位置，让Brandon在自己手绘世界地图上标注每一个发来祝福的人的位置，以表达各自美好的祝福。所以Jody是一个非常体贴的父亲，答案为C项。

【长难句分析】

Turning 12 amid home isolation orders is hardly any tweens idea of an exciting birthday， but one Houston boys socially-distanced celebration is turned out to be more memorable than anyone could have expected. （第一段）

译文：在居家隔离令中度过12岁生日绝不是一个十一二岁孩子理想中的生日，但在保持社交距离的同时，休斯敦一个男孩的生日庆祝活动却比任何人期待的都要难忘。。

分析：这是一个并列句，由but连接转折并列句，并列句中又有比较状语从句than anyone could have expected;Turning 12 amid home isolation orders是动名词短语（现在分词）做主语。Hardly any相当于not any，类似于never。Tween指十至十二岁之间的少年。Social-distancing为西方国家为应对新冠疫情采取的社交策略。

【词汇积累】

exclusive  n. 排外的，独有的，高级的;newly-minted  adj. 新生产的

home isolation orders / stay-at-home orders 居家隔離令;

trending topic 热搜，热点话题;rally around 团结支持， 集体声援

【熟词生意】

top  vt.

①数量高于，超过

Eg. Imports topped $ 10 billion last month.

② 居……之首

Eg.top the list for imported vehicles 占据进口车排行首位

③ 胜过，优于前人所做

Eg. Im afraid the other company has topped your offer. 很抱歉，另一家公司出价比你们高。