文书点评：我的童年——Childhood

I was born 31 years ago in Alabama, where my father was on temporary assignment as an engineer for a company with a military aircraft contract. Our stay in the South, however, was brief, and I was still an infant when my parents returned to their native New Hampshire with my older sister and myself.

Within six years, another sister and two brothers were born. We all lived in a cozy ranch-style house on six acres. I have many pleasant memories from my time in this home, which was located at the end of a long, tree-lined dirt road. The setting was beautiful, there was space to roam, and a picturesque river was within walking distance. For a while my father continued to work for the same company, which was developing an experimental aircraft. When this company failed, though, he became a radiation health physicist for the state.

Mine was the classic small-town upbringing in many respects. The values I learned were typical for someone growing up in a community in which everyone knew his neighbors and in which family and religion played important roles. I always did well in school and was quite popular with my peers. Sports, especially baseball, were my passion from an early age. I played on a series of different baseball teams, including one that made it to a local championship. I was even part of an all-star Little League team when I was 12. My mother was eager for me to test my aptitude in other areas as well and so involved me in art, piano, guitar, and tap dancing, none of which engaged my interest as much as sports.

My parents were fairly devout Catholics and raised their children accordingly. I was an altar boy at church and spent four years at a private Catholic boys’ high school. While there I attended an institute which groomed upcoming seniors for leadership positions in the student body. I exercised what I learned as a group leader at special religious events as well as in programs for retarded children.

The most memorable event of my youth was, sadly, the breakup of my parents’ marriage. I will never forget the day a moving van pulled into our driveway and my mother announced to my brothers, sisters, and me that we would be relocating to another house. While I had known there were problems between my parents, this was still an unexpected and shocking development. I was a sophomore in high school, and my idyllic world was shattered. My mother, who was a registered nurse, began working again, spending long hours in a nearby hospital. My brothers, sisters, and I, who had always had the normal sibling conflicts, became much closer in the aftermath of our parents’ split, and our new rapport was a source of comfort to all of us. But there were other, less positive ramifications. I did not do well in school that year, at one point skipping class for a month. Somehow I recognized on my own that I needed to be living in a more disciplined environment than existed in my mother’s home and, as a result, returned to my father’s house, where I lived during the balance of my high school years.

点评：

一个人的童年是怎样的？估计很多人都会有愉快的童年回忆。在这篇“童年”当中，作者把自己的童年用短短的几段篇幅呈现给读者。在这篇文章当中，作者把自己的童年经历用很平实的语言描述出来，但是主次很分明。作者把重点放在自己的成长过程中，突出自己的感想和成就。

例如在天主教学校学习到领导知识并且运用到实际中去。当不幸遭遇父母离异的打击之后，作者重点描述自己的感想并从中透露出自己的性格。

翻译：童年

三十一年前，我出生在阿拉巴马州。当时我爸爸受一间军事航行器公司委派到这里执行临时任务。我们在南部的逗留时间很短，当我还是一个婴儿的时候我父母就带着我和姐姐回到新汉普郡。

在之后的六年时间里，我又多出一个妹妹和两个弟弟。我们住在六英亩大的舒适的农场大屋。我在这间位于一条长长的林荫泥路尽头的家里拥有很多美好的回忆。房子的设计很漂亮，有漫步的空间，一条独特的小河步行可达。我父亲在同一间公司继续工作，开发一种实验航行器。当这间公司倒闭之后，我父亲成为州的放射健康物理学者。

我在这个古典小镇是多方面成长的。我所形成的价值观对于很多成长于邻里关系密切，家庭和宗教很重要的社区里的人来说是很具有代表性的。我在学校的表现很好也很受同伴的欢迎。我对于运动，特别是棒球的激情由来已久。我参加过一系列不同的棒球队，其中一支队拿到了地区冠军。当我十二岁的时候还是一个小联盟的明星队成员。我母亲还很急切地测试我在其它方面的才能，例如艺术，钢琴，吉他，踢踏舞。但是我对于这些方面的兴趣都比不上运动。

我的父母是虔诚的天主教徒，他们也是这样教导自己的孩子。我是一间教堂的祭坛男童并且在一间私立的天主教高中度过了四年。在那里我参加了一个目的在于培养学生成为领导者的协会。我把我学习到的团队领导知识运用到宗教事务和帮助弱智儿童的项目中去。

我年轻时期最悲伤的记忆就是我父母的离异。我永远不会忘记当搬家的车子开到家门口，母亲向我和兄弟姐妹宣布将要搬到另外一间房子的那一天。虽然我知道父母之间有问题，但是这样的发展还是很料想不到也很震惊的。我当时是高中二年级学生，我田园诗歌般的生活就这样被打碎了。我母亲作为一名注册的护士，不得不重新在附近的一间医院长时间工作。我的兄弟姐妹们也在父母离异之后抛弃之前的不和睦，变得更加亲密，而且这种和谐是我们快乐的源泉。但是也有其它一些不愉快的事情。那一年我在学校表现不是很好，并且逃课一个月。不知为何我意识到我需要住在一个比我妈妈家更加有规律的环境里。结果我就回到父亲的家里，度过了我高中剩下的时光。