part 16

150 When these are questions they are almost always said as if the person who says them means them as questions and wants an answer. But most of the time they are said in a way which does not ask for any answer. When these words are said so, we do not answer: "I am tired," or "I have a bad cold," or "I am not well." We say the same thing back to the other person: "How are you?" or "Hello!" Such words are like a smile or a wave of the hand. In the same way, when we meet someone in the morning, we may say "Good morning!" The weather may be very bad but we say "Good morning!" and the other person will say "Good morning!" back to us. We are not talking about the weather or about how good or bad the morning is.

当这些是问题的时候，他们几乎总是说，好像说这些问题的人是想要一个答案。 但大多数时候，这些问题都是以一种不要求回答的方式说出来的。 当这些话被说出来的时候，我们不会回答：“我累了”，或者“我得了重感冒”，或者“我不舒服”。 我们用同样的话回应对方：“你好吗？”或“你好！”这样的话就像一个微笑或一个挥手。 同样地，当我们早上遇到某人时，我们可能会说“Good morning!”天气可能很糟糕，但我们说“早上好”，另一个人也会说“早上好”。 我们不是在谈论天气，也不是在谈论早晨是好是坏。

151 Again, when people are parting, they may say: "Good morning!" or "Good afternoon!" or "Good evening!" or "Good night!" to one another in place of "Good-bye!" They are not talking about the weather but saying "May all be well with you at this time!" You will find few people today who know that "Goodbye!" is a short way of saying "God be with you!" But in times past, when religion had more place than it now has in education, a child could be taught this very young as part of a knowledge of English.

同样，当人们离别时，他们可能会说：“早上好！”或“下午好！”或“晚上好！”或“晚安！”来代替“再见”。他们不是在谈论天气，而是在说：“愿你在这个时候一切都好！”今天你会发现很少有人知道“再见”是“上帝与你同在”的简短表达。但在过去，当宗教在教育中占有比现在更大的地位时，一个孩子很小的时候就可以被教作为英语知识的一部分。

152 There was a teacher who tried to teach all this. Her students seemed to take in what she taught them. They said back to her all together: "When you say 'Good morning!' to us, we say 'Good morning!' to you." Next morning on her way to school, she saw one of them coming. She said to herself, "Now I will see if he has learned that point about 'Good morning!"' So she said to the young man: Good morning? Yes, it is! She had said "Good morning" to him with a question in her mind: "Will he say 'Good morning!'?" She had asked a question and he had answered it. The teacher said to herself: "I must have seemed to be asking a question, so he gave me an answer. Next time I will do better." At that minute she saw another student coming. She said to herself, "Let me try again."

曾有一位教师将这一切都教导我们。 她的学生似乎接受了她教他们的东西。 他们一起对她说：“当你说‘早上好！，我们对我们说“早上好！”对你说。” 第二天早上，在去学校的路上，她看到其中一个来了。 她对自己说：“现在我要看看他是否学会了‘早上好’这一点！”于是她对年轻人说：早上好？ 是的，它是！她对他说“早上好”时，心里有个问题：“他会说‘早上好！’吗？”她问了一个问题，他回答了。 老师自言自语道：“我一定是在问一个问题，所以他给了我一个答案。 下次我会做得更好。” 就在这时，她看见另一个学生走过来。 她对自己说：“让我再试一次。”

153 So she gave the young man a friendly smile and said, Good morning! Thank you very much! "What was wrong then?" the teacher asked herself." I must have said it as if I were giving him something. That was why he thanked me. Next time I must keep that out of my voice." She saw a third student coming. This time she wanted the answer "Good morning!" so much that her voice became hard and sharp. Good morning! Please! You see how little one person may know what is in another's mind even when the other is trying to show him.

于是她对年轻人友好地笑了笑，说：早上好！非常感谢！“那是怎么回事？”老师问自己。 我说这话的时候一定是在给他什么东西。 这就是他感谢我的原因。 下次我一定不要说这种话。” 她看见第三个学生走过来。 这一次，她非常想听到“早上好！”她的声音变得又硬又尖。 早上好!拜托!你会发现，一个人可能对另一个人的想法知之甚少，即使另一个人试图向他展示。

154 When people are from very different countries with very different ways, it can be hard for them to understand one another. Not very long ago the number of people who knew anything about people in other countries was very small. Few people went far from home or took much interest in other countries. Today all this is changed. Every day, we hear more and more about other countries and about how bad their governments are. They hear about the strange and wrong ideas other countries have of them. If we knew them better, we would see that people everywhere are very much like ourselves: not very good or very bad, but in between and able to become better or worse than they are. Our minds are as like one another as our bodies are.

当人们来自不同的国家，有着不同的生活方式时，他们很难相互理解。 不久以前，对其他国家的人有所了解的人还很少。 很少有人远离家乡或对其他国家感兴趣。 今天，这一切都改变了。 每天，我们都听到越来越多关于其他国家和他们的政府有多糟糕的消息。 他们听到其他国家对他们的奇怪和错误的看法。 如果我们更了解他们，我们就会看到，世界各地的人都非常像我们自己：不是很好，也不是很坏，而是介于两者之间，能够变得比自己更好或更坏。 我们的思想就像我们的身体一样相似。

155 We say: "The earth is getting smaller." It is the same size as it was, but we can go about it more and more easily. Many more people travel outside their own countries every year. We can get news today from any part of the world in a few seconds, though we may not always understand it. Many more ideas, right or wrong, about other countries are in people's minds. Most of this interest in other nations and places is good if it goes deep enough. We need to know more. If we can keep our heads on our shoulders, the wider knowledge and experience which are coming will help the world to better days.

我们说：“地球越来越小了。” 它的大小和以前一样，但我们可以越来越容易地处理它。 每年有越来越多的人出国旅游。 今天，我们可以在几秒钟内获得来自世界任何地方的新闻，尽管我们可能并不总是理解它。 更多关于其他国家的想法，无论是对是错，都存在于人们的脑海中。 这种对其他国家和地区的兴趣，如果足够深入，大部分都是好的。 我们需要知道更多。如果我们能保持头脑清醒，将会获得更广泛的知识和经验，这将有助于世界走向更美好的未来。