When we are writing we are often told to keep our readers in mind, to shape what we say to fit their tastes and interests. But there is one reader in particular who should not be forgotten. Can you guess who? Russell Baker surprised himself and everyone else when he discovered the answer. 我们写作时常常被告诫,脑子里要有读者,笔者所云一定要符合读者的口味和兴趣。但有一位读者特别不该忘记。你能猜出是谁吗?当拉塞尔·贝克找到这个问题的答案时,他自己和别人都感到大为惊讶。 Writing for My self Russell Baker 1 The idea of becoming a writer had come to me off and on since my childhood in Belleville, but it wasn't until my third year in high school that the possibility took hold. Until then I've been bored by everything associated with English courses. I found English grammar dull and difficult. I hated the assignments to turn out long, lifeless paragraphs that were agony for teachers to read and for me to write. 为自己而写 拉塞尔·贝克 从孩提时代,我还住在贝尔维尔时,我的脑子里就断断续续地转着当作家的念头,但直等到我高中三年级,这一想法才有了实现的可能。在这之前,我对所有跟英文课沾边的事都感到腻味。我觉得英文语法枯燥难懂。我痛恨那些长而乏味的段落写作,老师读着受累,我写着痛苦。 2 When our class was assigned to Mr. Fleagle for third-year English I anticipated another cheerless year in that most tedious of subjects. Mr. Fleagle had a reputation among students for dullness and inability to inspire. He was said to be very formal, rigid and hopelessly out of date. To me he looked to be sixty or seventy and excessively prim. He wore primly severe eyeglasses, his wavy hair was primly cut and primly combed. He wore prim suits with neckties set primly against the collar buttons of his white shirts. He had a primly pointed jaw, a primly straight nose...