本文作者Anthony Burgess，是英国当代著名的作家、诗人、作曲家、剧作家、语言学家和评论家，在欧美各国享有很高的声誉。代表作有《医生病了》(1960)、《一只手鼓掌》(1961)、《缺少的种子》(1962)、《恩德比先生的内心》(1963)、《马来亚三部曲》(1964)、《带发条的桔子》、《什么也比不上太阳》(1964)、《恩德比的外部》(1968)、《拿破仑交响曲》(1974)、《世间权力》(1980)、《1985年》(1987)等。
作者在本文对六七十年代的美国提出了尖锐的批评，设计消费、服务、教育、青年、社会治安、公共设施、越战、政治等诸多方面。该文比较长，预计分成8天讲，有些相对易懂、没长难句的段落就直接给出原文和翻译。
I am back in Bracciano（布拉奇阿诺）, a castellated(城堡式) town about 13 miles north of Rome, after a year in New Jersey. I find the Italian Government still unstable, gasoline more expensive than anywhere in the world, butchers and bank clerks and tobacconists(烟店老板) ready to go on strike at the drop of a hat, neo-fascists (新法西斯分子) at their dirty work, the hammer(锤子) and sickle（镰刀） painted on the rumps（n.底座；臀部） of public statues, a thousand-lira note (officially worth about $1.63) shrunk to the slightness of a dollar bill.
1. at the drop of a hat：随时的
例句：He could gather all the tools necessary to carry out another terrorist attack at the drop of a hat. 他能收集多有必须的武器以便随时再发动一场恐怖袭击。
例句：They say teenagers laugh at the drop of a hat. 他们说十几岁的少年们随性的欢笑。
2. 翻译：我在新泽西州呆了一年之后，回到了布拉奇阿诺，这是一座位于罗马以北约13英里的城堡式的小城。我发现意大利政府仍不稳定，汽油比世界任何地方都贵，卖肉的、银行职员和烟店老板随时都准备罢工，新法西斯分子在干着卑鄙肮脏的勾当，公共场所雕像臀部画着锤子和镰刀，1000里拉（按官价折合1.63美元左右）的钞票贬值到只值一美元。
Nevertheless, it's delightful to be back. People are underpaid but they go through an act of liking their work, the open markets are luscious with esculent color, the community is important than the state, the human condition is humorously accepted.
3. luscious adj. 甘美的；满足感官的
4. esculent adj. 可食用的，适于食用的
5. 翻译：然而回到这里仍然令我高兴。人们得到的工资很低，但仍做出喜欢他们的工作的样子，露天市场里是香甜味美的可口食品，社区比国家重要，人们怀着幽默感接受了这种人生状况。
The northern wind blows viciously today, and there's no central heating (中央暖气)to turn on, but it will be pleasant when the wind drops. The two television channels are inadequate, but next Wednesday's return of an old Western is something to look forward to.
6. viciously adv. 邪恶地；敌意地
vicious adj. 恶的, 邪恶的；残酷的, 狠毒的
7. 翻译：今天刮着猛烈的干冷的北风，而且也没有中央暖气可供采暖，但风停了就会舒服了。两个电视频道太少了，但下个星期三重播一部老西部片，这给了大家一个盼头。
Manifold consumption isn't important here. The quality of life has nothing to do with the quantity of brand names. What matters is talk, family, cheap wine in the open air, the wresting of minimal sweetness out of the long-known bitterness of living. I was spoiled in New Jersey.
8. manifold adj. 多方面的，有许多部分的；各式各样的
9. wrest vt. 强夺、费力取得
10. 翻译：在这儿多样化的消费并不重要，生活的质量与品牌的数量无关。重要的是聊天，家庭，露天喝廉价酒，从久已熟知的痛苦生活中榨取最低限度的甜蜜。我在新泽西州被惯坏了。
In New Jersey, I never had to shiver by a fire that wouldn't draw, or go without canned food. America made me develop new appetites in order to make proper use of the supermarket. A character in Evelyn Waugh's Put out More Flags said that the difference between prewar and postwar life was that, prewar, if one thing went wrong the day was ruined; postwar, if one thing went right the day would be made.
11. 翻译：在新泽西州，我从来不坐在通风不良的炉前发抖，或吃不上罐头。为了很好利用超市，美国使我培养起了新的胃口。在伊夫林•沃的《升起更多的旗》一书中一个人物谈了战前生活与战后生活的区别：战前如一天中有一件事不对头，你觉得这一天就全毁了；战后如果一天中有一件事很顺利，你觉得这一天真痛快。
America is a prewar country, psychologically unprepared for one thing to go wrong. Hence the neurosis, despair, the Kafka feeling that the whole marvelous fabric of American life is coming apart at the seams.
12. 翻译：美国是属于战前状态的国家，没有心理准备承受出现的任何问题。因此就出现了神经质、绝望，感到卡夫卡式的忧虑，整个美妙的美国生活模式正在分崩离析。