昨天我姐姐給我打電話,抱怨他們家的家庭戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)。我姐夫自己開(kāi)了一家進(jìn)出口公司,本想讓子承父業(yè),可我外甥偏要當(dāng)個(gè)軟件工程師,讓我姐夫備受打擊,過(guò)了好長(zhǎng)時(shí)間,他才慢慢接受現(xiàn)實(shí)。這讓我想到了一句習(xí)慣用語(yǔ),那就是: come to grips with.
Grip本身是抓,掌握的意思; come to grips with, 意思就是去面對(duì),著手處理。就像上面的例子里,我外甥不愿意繼承父業(yè),一心要當(dāng)軟件工程師,我姐夫雖然失望,但最后還是肯于面對(duì)事實(shí), he has come to grips with my nephew's decision not to take over the family business.
2001年9月11號(hào)的恐怖襲擊是美國(guó)歷史上的一件大事。下面我們來(lái)聽(tīng)聽(tīng)歷史學(xué)家對(duì)這起事件的看法:
例句-1:On September 11, 2001, four U.S. planes were overtaken by terrorists. Their dramatic crashes resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people. In some ways, Americans have come to grips with how that day changed the country forever. But it remains a difficult experience for many to deal with.
這段話意思是說(shuō):2011年9月11日,三架美國(guó)飛機(jī)遭到恐怖份子的劫持。這次襲擊造成近3千人死亡。從某些方面看,美國(guó)人已經(jīng)開(kāi)始面對(duì)那天發(fā)生的一切徹底改變了國(guó)家這一事實(shí)。但對(duì)很多人來(lái)說(shuō),這段經(jīng)歷還是很難承受的。
是?。∮绕涫菍?duì)那些在911恐怖襲擊事件中失去親人的人來(lái)說(shuō),這段經(jīng)歷一定不堪回首。我記得上高中時(shí),養(yǎng)了十幾年的貓死了,I had a hard time coming to grips with the loss of my cat. 我難過(guò)了好長(zhǎng)時(shí)間,才能面對(duì)這個(gè)事實(shí)。
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我朋友Amy最近剛離婚。She still hasn't come to grips with the fact that her ex would leave her for a younger woman. 她到現(xiàn)在還無(wú)法接受前夫?yàn)榱艘粋€(gè)比她年輕的女人而離她而去的現(xiàn)實(shí)。
美國(guó)是個(gè)大熔爐,如何面對(duì)種族歧視是一個(gè)重要問(wèn)題。下面的這個(gè)例子里講到了一個(gè)叫George的人。我們來(lái)聽(tīng)聽(tīng)他的想法發(fā)生了怎么樣的轉(zhuǎn)變:
George had always held a low opinion of immigrants. One day he was driving to work when a truck hit his car and knocked him unconscious. He awoke to find that he'd been rescued by a woman who'd grown up in Mexico. That's when he came to grips with his prejudice. It was time to face his dislike of people he didn't really know.
這段話的意思是說(shuō):?jiǎn)讨我恢睂?duì)移民沒(méi)什么好印象。有一天他開(kāi)車(chē)去上班的路上,一輛卡車(chē)撞到了他,把他撞昏了過(guò)去。醒來(lái)時(shí),他發(fā)現(xiàn),是一名墨西哥裔的婦女救了他。這件事讓喬治開(kāi)始正視自己的種族歧視心態(tài),不能對(duì)不熟悉的人存在任何偏見(jiàn)。
種族歧視是一個(gè)很?chē)?yán)肅的問(wèn)題。通常情況下,存在偏見(jiàn)的人往往很難改變他們固有的想法,因?yàn)樗麄儠?huì)避免去接觸那些自己本來(lái)就看不上的人。