佚名/Anonymous
Walking gives us back our senses. We see, hear, smell the world as we never can when we ride. No matter what vehicle, it is the vehicle that is moving, not ourselves. We are trapped inside its fixed environment, and once we have taken in its sensory aspects mainly in terms of comfort or discomfort we turn off our perceptions and either go to sleep or open a magazine and begin dozing in and out.
But when we walk, the environment changes every moment and our senses are continuously being alerted. Around each comer of a city block, around each bend in a country road, there is something new to greet the eyes, the ears, the nose. Even the same walk, the one we may take every day, is never the same from one day to another, from one week and season to another.
This is true not only in the country, but everywhere else. In New York City, a group of executives who meet every weekday morning walk from their homes to their offices. Their way takes them through quiet streets of old brownstones, one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, then up and over the Brooklyn Bridge with its cathedral arches supporting the web-like drapery of cables, then down into the tight skyscraper canyons of the financial district.
On their daily route they see, hear, smell the city in all its seasonal changes, under bright and cloudy skies. Only the most inclement weather stops them suitably dressed, they can walk with pleasure in spring rains, autumn drizzles, the sunlight of a summer morning or a soft winter snowfall. The river waters roll by below their feet, sullen or sparkling. Tugboats chug past, shoving and hauling their variously laden barges, on a shrouded morning, foghorns hoot and moan. The famous skyline of lower Manhattan rises before them, glittering in sun, afloat in mist, against a backdrop of sky never twice the same.
散步能喚醒我們的感官。散步時對這個世界的所見所聞所感，是乘車時所不曾有的。不管你搭乘什麽交通工具，運動的是車，而不是我們自身。我們受車內特定環境所限，一旦適應了這種環境——主要取決於是否舒適——就切斷了對外界的觀察，或睡覺，或翻開雜誌昏昏沉沉地打盹。
當我們散步時，周圍的環境每一時刻都發生著變化，我們的感官便始終保持著敏銳。在城市街區的每一個拐角和鄉村道路的每一個轉彎，總有某種新鮮事物吸引我們的視覺、聽覺與嗅覺。即使我們每天走的是同一條人行路，也沒有任何兩天是相同的，每一周、每一季都會有所變化。
不僅是在鄉村，每個地方都是如此。在紐約，有一群做行政工作的人，每天上班都是從家步行到辦公室。他們要穿過這個城市最古老的街區之一，走過寂靜的街道——街麵上鋪滿了古褐色的鵝卵石，然後走上布魯克林大橋——雄偉壯觀的橋拱支撐著星羅密布的網狀懸索，下了橋之後走進金融區——在鱗次櫛比的摩天大樓中間，像是走進大山穀。
他們在每天經過的路上看到、聽到、聞到了紐約在明朗晴空或陰雲密布的天空下的四季更迭。隻有在天氣極度惡劣、寒冷和狂風暴雨之時，他們才會畏懼前行。他們穿著應季的衣服，歡快地行走在春雨中、綿綿的秋雨中、夏日清晨的陽光下或冬日細軟的雪花中。河水流經他們腳下，或緩緩流淌，或充滿朝氣；突突開過的拖船拖拉著各種貨物，在濃霧迷茫的清晨，霧號有時大聲鳴響，有時嗚咽低吟；久負盛名的曼哈頓島低垂的輪廓在地平線上方的天空升起；閃爍在陽光下，飄浮在霧靄裏，那背景天幕變化萬端，從不重複。
心靈小語
步行有助於排遣壓力與不快。步行去上班，用一顆平靜的心去欣賞美景，忘記工作的緊張與生活的煩憂。這一刻，我們就與自然同在，享受微風拂麵、鳥兒高歌，吸吮這清新的空氣，盡情享受生活的另一麵！
W 詞匯筆記
trap[tr?p]v.誘騙；坑害；使受限製
例 Twenty miners were trapped underground after the fire.
起火後有二十名礦工被困在地下。
perception[p??sep??n]n.感覺；感性認識；概念；理解力
例 He is a man of great perception.
他是一個理解力很強的人。
alert[??l??t]v.使警覺；使意識到；警告
例 The troops were alerted.
部隊處於待命狀態。
glitter[?ɡlit?]v.閃閃發光；閃爍；閃光
例 Dirt glitter when the sun happen to shine.
在太陽照耀下，汙垢也閃光。
S 小試身手
散步時對這個世界的所見所聞所感，是乘車時所不曾有的。
譯___________________________________________
不僅是在鄉村，每個地方都是如此。
譯___________________________________________
河水流經他們腳下，或緩緩流淌，或充滿朝氣。
譯___________________________________________
P 短語家族
……we have taken in its sensory aspects mainly in terms of comfort or discomfort we turn off our perceptions……
in terms of：就……而言；從……方麵來說
造___________________________________________
……they can walk with pleasure in spring rains……
with pleasure：愉快地；高興地；沒問題
造___________________________________________