The Dance

by Nate Evans

翻譯：范婕

瑪麗從小就熱愛舞蹈，沒想到長大后，舞蹈還成了維系家庭和愛的紐帶。這究竟是怎么一回事呢？一起來看看吧。

Mary Ann had been preparing for this moment since she was three years old. Mom wouldn’t let her start dance class until she was five, so she would turn on some music and dance in front of her dad.As Mary grew, so did her1)passion for dance.

As Mary entered high school, her parents were growing further and further apart. Except for when Mary danced, her mom and dad would come to the show and they would all go out to eat together2)afterwards. It wasn’t much, but it3)provided some of her happiest moments.

Still, even those meals were4)distant memories now. Her parents had5)separated 3 months after she left for college.

It was a very important show for Mary.

1) passion ['p???n] n. 熱誠，酷愛

2) afterwards ['ɑ?ft?w?dz] adv. 之后，隨后

3) provide [pr?'vɑ?d] v. 提供

4) distant ['d?st?nt] adj. 遙遠的

5) separate ['sep?re?t] v. 分開

“Get in line! Get ready! Remember you have five minutes each and have fun out there!” the dance instructor said. Mary was fi rst in line. Her whole life had built up to this moment. As she walked on stage, the music started. Her body moved gracefully and she burst forth with all her might! As the music trailed off, the crowd6)erupted with7)applause.

The performance was over. However, Mary was leaving with just her mom. She was a little sad, because her dad didn’t come. But when she opened the door to her car, she found a note and a picture. In the picture, it was she and her dad dancing together. And the note said, “That was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I am so proud of you. I will be waiting at our restaurant.”

All at once, Mary’s heart8)exploded with9)emotion as she broke out in tears. It wasn’t much, but for at least this one night—dance had brought them together as a family once again.

詞組加油站

★ burst forth 迸發

★ with all one’s might 竭盡全力

★ trail off 減弱，變小

6) erupt [?'r?pt] v. 爆發

7) applause [?'pl??z] n. 鼓掌

8) explode [?ks'pl??d] v. 爆發

9) emotion [?'m????n] n. 情感，情緒

名師考點小結

1. prepare for后接名詞或代詞，含有“為即將要發生的某一行動或某種情況做準備”的意味。其動作意味很強，可直接用作謂語。例如：

We were given two days to prepare for the examination. 我們有兩天的時間來準備考試。

注意：prepare for可分開來寫，即prepare...for，這時prepare是及物動詞。

當prepare后接表示物的名詞時，prepare...for通常表示“為（某人）準備（什么）”。例如：

We must prepare a room for our guest. 我們必須為客人準備一間房。

當prepare后接表示人的名詞，介詞for后接事物等名詞時，它通常表示“培養或指導（某人）準備（什么）”。例如：

They are preparing their child for college. 他們正培養孩子準備上大學。

2. proud是形容詞，意為“驕傲的”。其名詞形式為pride。常見短語為be proud of（以……而自豪），take pride in（以……而自豪），the pride of（……的驕傲）。

We are proud of Evergrande. 我們以恒大隊而自豪。

If you work hard, you will be the pride of your parents. 如果你努力學習，你將會成為父母的驕傲。

3. at least意為“至少”，表示數量和程度。例如：

There were at least two hundred people present at the meeting. 至少有200人出席了會議。If I had money, I would take a trip around the world for at least one time.

我如果有錢，我至少會環游世界一次。

參考譯文

瑪麗·安從三歲起就心心念念地期待著這一刻，為這一刻的到來做著準備。等到瑪麗五歲的時候，媽媽才同意讓她去上舞蹈課，她總是喜歡播放著音樂，在爸爸面前跳啊跳啊。隨著瑪麗慢慢長大，她對舞蹈的熱愛也與日俱增。

到瑪麗上高中的時候，父母的關系變得越來越疏遠。只有當瑪麗上臺跳舞時，父母才會同時來到現場，然后一家人會在一起吃頓飯。這樣的情境也許是微不足道的，但卻是瑪麗感覺最溫馨幸福的時刻。

而如今，像一家人在一起吃飯這樣的機會也成了遙遠的回憶。在她離家上大學三個月后，父母離婚了。

這是一場對瑪麗來說非常重要的演出。

“排好隊！大家準備！記住，你們每個人有五分鐘的表演時間，盡情跳起來吧！”舞蹈教練對大家說道。瑪麗排在隊列中的第一位。對瑪麗來說，此生只為此刻。當她走上舞臺，音樂響起了。她優雅起舞，隨后更是全情投入！當音樂慢慢停下來，觀眾迸發出熱烈的掌聲。

演出結束了，然而只有媽媽陪著瑪麗離開現場，爸爸沒有來，她有些難過。但當她打開車門時，看到車上有張紙條和一幅畫，畫上是她和爸爸一起跳舞的場景，紙條上寫著：“你跳得太棒了，是我見過最美的，你讓我感到無比自豪。我在咱們常去的餐廳等你。”

瑪麗立刻激動極了，淚流滿面。這樣的情境也許不足為道，但至少在這個夜晚，舞蹈讓一家人再次團聚了。