第一段：Time was in my life when the dawn happened to other people. I was definitely not a morning person; I associated the sunrise with long plane flights across many time zones and groggy strolls around strange cities waiting for my hotel room to become available. Then I had children, and the first light took on new meaning. Sometimes it was the sigh at the end of a fretful night up with a feverish baby; or the opposite, the joyous cry of an exuberant 3-year-old eager to get the day going. It was only later, when mornings were taken over by the getting-to-school frenzy, that I discovered the serenity of the surprisingly fast transition from night to day. For the small price of 15 minutes of sleep I could by 15 minutes of solitary peace--with a cup of coffee and the newspaper. Given the tidbit of time at my disposal, I developed the habit of skimming the paper, which quickly came down to a surreptitious and almost superstitious ritual of checking out obituaries.
第一句：Time was in my life when the dawn happened to other people.
分析：总体来说，今天这篇长难句比较多，在理解上会出比较多的问题。第一句结构就有些古怪，主语time，谓语was，宾语是一个由时间状语修饰的介词短语。
译文：我的人生中从来没有黎明。
参考译文：我生命中有一段时间，黎明与我无缘。
第二句：I was definitely not a morning person; I associated the sunrise with long plane flights across many time zones and groggy strolls around strange cities waiting for my hotel room to become available.
分析：waiting for是动词的现在分词，有点类似伴随状语，表示“边...边...”。
译文：我绝对不是早起的鸟，一般只有两种情况才会见到夕阳，一是跨越不同时区的长途飞行中，一是为了等旅馆有可用的房间，在陌生城市闲逛。
参考译文：我那时根本不愿早起。一提到日出，就令我想起远程飞行的经历，常常是在跨越几个时区后，抵达了目的地，客房却偏偏尚未腾出，于是只好拖着疲倦的步伐，在陌生的城市内漫无目的地游逛。
第三句：Then I had children, and the first light took on new meaning.
分析：then是有实际含义还是只是过度词？
译文：如果我和孩子们在一起，第一缕阳光的意义就不同了。
参考译文：后来，我有了孩子，第一道曙光便有了新的意义。
第四句：Sometimes it was the sigh at the end of a fretful night up with a feverish baby; or the opposite, the joyous cry of an exuberant 3-year-old eager to get the day going.
分析：这句话是evidence，说明第一缕阳光的意义有何不同。长句子如何组织？
译文：伴随着第一缕阳光出现的有时是一声叹气，那是为发烧的婴儿担惊受怕了一夜；有时是喜悦的叫声，因为一个三岁儿童正迫不及待地展开新的一天。
参考译文：有时孩子生病，整夜不得安宁，于是黎明是在我的一声叹息中迎来的。有时恰恰相反，精力充沛地三岁孩子迫不及待地要开始一天地生活，黎明于是在孩子欢快地叫喊声中到来。
第五句：It was only later, when mornings were taken over by the getting-to-school frenzy, that I discovered the serenity of the surprisingly fast transition from night to day.
分析：翻译得比较意译，没有按字面翻，不过意思没有错就行。
译文：只有晚些时候，孩子们都风风火火地上学去了，我才能在这短暂的清晨中享受片刻安宁。
参考译文：后来，孩子上学了，于是清晨就是在送孩子上学地忙乱中度过的。正是在这忙乱地时刻，我突然发现从夜晚过渡到白昼竟何其短促，那一瞬间却又无比宁静。
第六句：For the small price of 15 minutes of sleep I could buy 15 minutes of solitary peace--with a cup of coffee and the newspaper.
分析：这句话用了倒装，为了句子结构，后半句更重要且长。
译文：接下来宝贵的15分钟，我宁愿牺牲休息时间，用来享受平静的私人时光，喝杯咖啡，看看报纸。
参考译文：那么，不妨少睡十五分钟，就可以喝咖啡，看报纸，享受十五分钟独处的宁静。
第七句：Given the tidbit of time at my disposal, I developed the habit of skimming the paper, which quickly came down to a surreptitious and almost superstitious ritual of checking out obituaries.
分析：given在这里是介词“考虑到”，which引导的是什么从句？代的是the habit of skimming the paper吗？Come down to怎么理解？
译文：由于时间少得可怜，我看报通常都是一扫而过，后来形成看讣告的习惯，就像一种秘密的、近乎迷信的仪式。
参考译文：由于可以支配的时间有限，我便养成了利用这片刻随便翻阅报纸的习惯，这一习惯马上又演变成一种查看讣告的仪式，每日总是定时偷偷地、近乎迷信般地查阅报上地讣告。
第二段：At first I attributed this new habit to advancing age--I had recently turned 40--and glumly concluded that I was becoming morbid. But why, then, was I finding my secret rite so uplifting. Finally, after many years of starting the day this way, I have figured out that I am doing it not toobsess benchmarks of life span without passing judgment or making order out of the events. The high points are easy--Pulitzer Prize winners joke that as soon as they are named they know what the headline is going to be on their obituary--but I read most attentively for clues to the defeats and the flatline periods, the inexplicable changes of heart and the twists of fate, the gambles and the unexpected consequences, the loose ends.
第一句：At first I attributed this new habit to advancing age--I had recently turned 40--and glumly concluded that I was becoming morbid.
分析：conclude在这里表示“推断”。
译文：起初，我以为这样做是因为年龄大了--我已经四十了，变得郁郁寡欢，觉得自己疯了。
参考译文：起初，我以为这是因为年岁渐增的缘故（当时我刚四十岁），于是我不无悲哀地认为这是一种病态心理。
第二句：But why, then, was I finding my secret rite so uplifting.
分析：将英文从疑问句变陈述句翻译，也就是删去表示疑问的词语。
译文：但另一方面，我又觉得这个秘密的仪式激动人心。
参考译文：可令我不解的是，为什么我竟对这个秘密的仪式感到如此振奋？
第三句：Finally, after many years of starting the day this way, I have figured out that I am doing it not to obsess benchmarks of life span without passing judgment or making order out of the events.
分析：pass judgment是“下判决”，make order out of the events是“把事情安排好”，但这两句到底想表达什么意思？这句双重否定，换成肯定句翻译，I am doing it to obsess benchmarks of life span with passing judgment or making order out of the events.
译文：经过长年累月地进行这一仪式，我终于明白了，我这样做是为了在有生之年做好每一件事。
参考译文：我就是以这种方式年复一年地度过清晨那片刻的时光，直到有一天我突然明白，我如此喜欢读讣告并非迷恋死亡，而意在探索生命，真正的生命。
第四句：The high points are easy--Pulitzer Prize winners joke that as soon as they are named they know what the headline is going to be on their obituary--but I read most attentively for clues to the defeats and the flatline periods, the inexplicable changes of heart and the twists of fate, the gambles and the unexpected consequences, the loose ends.
分析：loose ends是“未知结局”。High points是“最佳状态”。大致意思：作者不关心处在顺境中的人和事，想从中读到的是人生不顺的状态。
译文：人生在“巅峰时刻”总是轻松的，就像普利策奖得主开的那个玩笑：获奖名单一宣布，不用想就知道讣告的标题是什么了。而最吸引我的讣告标题是关于失败和死亡的时刻，是心情的大起大落和命运的跌宕起伏，是人生中的赌博和未知的结果，还有生命最终怎样落幕。
参考译文：讣告捕捉一生中的重要时刻，却不对事件进行评判。人生中突出的事件当然容易在讣告中发现，普利策奖得主不无诙谐地说，一得奖他们就知道自己讣告的标题是什么。然而我读讣告，却专心在字里行间捕捉生命中的失败，人生中百无聊赖的时刻，莫可名状的心意改变和命运的曲折逆转，人生里的赌博和事与愿违的结局，还有那未了的心愿。。。
第三段：The message that comes through over and over is that although there are times in any life when things seem to be proceeding step by logical step, the whole is mostly random and askew. Life, as every biography and obit I have ever read confirms, is what happens when you are making other plans.
第一句：The message that comes through over and over is that although there are times in any life when things seem to be proceeding step by logical step, the whole is mostly random and askew.
分析：message在这里是“启示”。Askew：turned or twisted toward one side
译文：我一次又一次地意识到，虽然每个人的一生看似都是按部就班地进行着，却充满可能性，常常会在中途朝另一个的方向发展。
参考译文：反复阅读讣告的感悟是，虽然有时人一生的发展一部步接一步符合逻辑，但总体来说，人生却是曲折难料的。
第二句：Life, as every biography and obit I have ever read confirms, is what happens when you are making other plans.
分析：最后一句话意译的空间比较大。
译文：正如传记和讣告中所揭示的，人生的主动权掌握在自己手中。
参考译文：每一本传记、没每一则讣告都毫无例外地印证，人生就是在你制定计划时意外发生的事情。