EZCNN 易英网

Crossing Boundaries with Courage 超性别演出

课文朗读

课文讲解

繁體中文譯本

The roar of the engines is almost all you can hear. Soldiers with helmets, goggles and parachutes prepare to jump out of an airplane. You might not be able to tell because of all the equipment, but one of these soldiers is female. Colonel Ting Liang-chen has completed basic training, parachute training and night patrols with no special privileges for women. After 28 years in the military, Colonel Ting is only one rank away from her goal of becoming the first female major general in a combat unit.

引擎的隆隆声几乎是你唯一能听到的声音。军人戴着头盔、护目镜，身背降落伞，正准备从飞机上跳出去。由于他们身上的诸多装备，你可能看不出其中有一人是女性。丁良箴上校已完成基本训练、降落伞训练，以及夜间巡逻，从未因女性身份而享有优待。在28年的军旅生涯后，只差一个军阶，丁上校便能达成她的目标，成为战斗单位第一位女少将。

In stark contrast, Taiwanese Keefe Shieh is a favorite florist of the Thai royal family. He is also the man to whom wealthy corporate clients turn for their floral design needs. After winning 2^nd place in a national flower arranging competition, Shieh began to pursue a career as a florist. “For me, flowers are as essential as breathing,” he says. Despite taunts from friends that he is a “flower boy,” Shieh has built a very successful career in the female-dominated florist industry.

与丁上校形成强烈对比的，是深受泰国皇室喜爱的台湾花艺设计师齐云。他也是企业名流需要花艺设计时的最佳人选。在荣获全国插花比赛第二名后，齐云展开花艺设计师的生涯。「对我来说，花就和呼吸一样重要，」他说。尽管有朋友揶揄他是「插花的男人」，但他在女性主导的花艺界已功成名就。

Female soldiers, male florists, female CEOs and male nannies are all among the wave of modern Taiwanese people who refuse to be confined by gender stereotypes. Pursuing their individual desires and dreams, these people courageously make their own paths and forge their own destinies. Have you begun to wonder what it takes to succeed in a gender-exclusive profession?

女军人、男花艺师、女执行长，以及男褓姆，都是现代台湾人拒绝被性别刻板印象所限制的例子。这些人为了追求个人的抱负和梦想，勇敢地开辟自己的道路，塑造自己的命运。你是否已开始纳闷，如何在异性独占的行业中成功呢？

Vocabulary

单词发音

boundary [ˋbaʊndrɪ] n. 边界，分界线

privilege [ˋprɪv!ɪdʒ] n. 特权

taunt [tɔnt] v. 辱骂；嘲笑；奚落

stereotype [ˋstɛrɪə͵taɪp] n. 刻板印象

destiny [ˋdɛstənɪ] n. 命运

More Information

单词发音

roar [ror] n.（雷，炮等）轰鸣

helmet [ˋhɛlmɪt] n. 头盔；钢盔

goggles [ˋgɑglz] n. 护目镜

tell [tɛl] v. 识别；辨别

colonel [ˋkɝn!] n. 陆军上校

rank [ræŋk] n. 军阶，军衔

major general（美国陆、空军，陆战队）少将

stark [stɑrk] adv. 完全，十足

florist [ˋflorɪst] n. 花商；种花者

turn [tɝn] v. 求教; 求助[(+to)]

nanny [ˋnænɪ] n. 【主英】保姆

confine [kənˋfaɪn] v. 把…局限于; 把…限制于

forge [fɔrdʒ] v. 打造；锻造

exclusive [ɪkˋsklusɪv] adj. 独有的，独占的，专用的

课文朗读

课文讲解

There are many traits traditionally associated with men and women. Men are supposed to be tough, strong and successful, while women must be gentle, delicate and self-sacrificing. These ideas cause many hardships for people trying to break the mold.

传统上两性有各自的特征：男性应该要吃苦、强壮、成功，而女性则必须温柔、娇弱、自我牺牲。对于试图打破常规的人来说，这些想法制造了许多难题。

Lin Fang-mei, a gender researcher at National Taiwan Normal University, believes that women are trapped in certain roles by fear. Many women fear that success will make men feel inferior and thus make themselves unattractive. Also, even though women may be powerful executives, at home they are still expected to cook, clean and care for the children.

台湾师范大学性别研究者林芳玫认为，女性被恐惧困在既定的角色框架里。许多女性担心，自己的成功会让男人感到自卑，因而使她们失去魅力。还有，虽然某些女性可能是大权在握的主管，但在家中她们仍需煮饭、打扫、照顾小孩。

Men who try to break into female-dominated professions also face challenges. Huang Chi-chang, the first male student in the nursing school at the Tsu Chi College of Technology, was excluded by his female classmates. They rejected him openly, saying, “Why don’t men go and be doctors? Is there something wrong with him?” Just like the florist Keefe Shieh, Huang was seen as a “girly man.”

试图打进异性行业的男性，一样面临挑战。慈济护专第一位男学生黄启璋，就曾被女同学排挤，她们公然排斥他：「男人为什么不去当医生？他是不是有问题？」就像花艺师齐云，黄启璋也被视为「娘娘腔」。

So do women have to act like men and men have to act like women to succeed in these careers? The truth is that talent is gender-neutral. Men can be tender nurses, and women can be tough soldiers. Women and men need not force themselves into certain stereotypes to succeed. If they are true to themselves and follow their natural talents, they can create their own vision of success.

那么要在这些行业成功，是否女性的举止就应该像男性，而男性就要像女性呢？其实才能是中性的。男性可以是温柔的护士，女性也可以是坚强的士兵。男性和女性并不需为了成功而强迫自己符合特定的刻板印象。只要他们忠于自己，发展自己的天赋，就能够实现自己的成功愿景。

−by Timothy David de Sosa

Vocabulary

单词发音

delicate [ˋdɛləkət] adj. 纤弱的，娇弱的

executive [ɪgˋzɛkjʊtɪv] n. 业务主管

exclude [ɪkˋsklud] v. 把……排除在外

reject [rɪˋdʒɛkt] v. 拒绝

vision [ˋvɪʒən] n. 梦想，憧憬

More Information

单词发音

break the mold 打破常规; 打破旧的模式  to do something differently, after it has been done in the same way for a long time

normal university  师范大学

trap [træp] v. [一般用被动态] 困住; 关住

inferior [ɪnˋfɪrɪɚ] adj.（地位等）低等的；下级的

girly [ˋgɝlɪ] adj. (= girlie) 女人味的; 女性化的

gender-neutral  不分性别的

Reading Questions

1. What is the author’s attitude towards the subject of the article?

A. Women should do women’s work and men should do men’s work.

B. Entering a gender-exclusive profession of the opposite sex is brave.

C. It should be everyone’s goal to cross over the boundaries of gender.

D. Men who do traditional women’s jobs are unable to do men’s work.

2. What is one traditional expectation for women?

A. They should sacrifice people.

B. They should be superior.

C. They should be tender.

D. They should join the army.

3. According to the article, which of the following is NOT true?

A. Men who do traditional women’s work are insulting women.

B. Men who do traditional women’s jobs are often made fun of.

C. Women worry that if they do men’s work, men won’t desire them.

D. Women are assumed to be responsible for the care of their children.

4. Which idiom best suits this article?

A. A leopard can’t change its spots.

B. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

C. Jump out of the frying pan into the fire.

D. Once bitten, twice shy

A leopard can't change his spots. （谚）本性难移 When people state that they can't change who they are--their nature--they sometimes use the phrase "A leopard can't change his spots".

Where there’s a will, there’s a way. 有志者事竟成

Jump out of the frying pan into the fire. 甫出龙潭，又入虎穴 to go from a bad situation to an even worse one

Once bitten, twice shy  一朝被蛇咬,十年怕井绳

Answer