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.

點評：

一個人的童年是怎樣的？估計很多人都會有愉快的童年回憶。在這篇“童年”當中，作者把自己的童年用短短的幾段篇幅呈現給讀者。在這篇文章當中，作者把自己的童年經歷用很平實的語言描述出來，但是主次很分明。作者把重點放在自己的成長過程中，突出自己的感想和成就。

例如在天主教學校學習到領導知識并且運用到實際中去。當不幸遭遇父母離異的打擊之后，作者重點描述自己的感想并從中透露出自己的性格。

翻譯：童年

三十一年前，我出生在阿拉巴馬州。當時我爸爸受一間軍事航行器公司委派到這里執行臨時任務。我們在南部的逗留時間很短，當我還是一個嬰兒的時候我父母就帶著我和姐姐回到新漢普郡。

在之后的六年時間里，我又多出一個妹妹和兩個弟弟。我們住在六英畝大的舒適的農場大屋。我在這間位于一條長長的林蔭泥路盡頭的家里擁有很多美好的回憶。房子的設計很漂亮，有漫步的空間，一條獨特的小河步行可達。我父親在同一間公司繼續工作，開發一種實驗航行器。當這間公司倒閉之后，我父親成為州的放射健康物理學者。

我在這個古典小鎮是多方面成長的。我所形成的價值觀對于很多成長于鄰里關系密切，家庭和宗教很重要的社區里的人來說是很具有代表性的。我在學校的表現很好也很受同伴的歡迎。我對于運動，特別是棒球的激情由來已久。我參加過一系列不同的棒球隊，其中一支隊拿到了地區冠軍。當我十二歲的時候還是一個小聯盟的明星隊成員。我母親還很急切地測試我在其它方面的才能，例如藝術，鋼琴，吉他，踢踏舞。但是我對于這些方面的興趣都比不上運動。

我的父母是虔誠的天主教徒，他們也是這樣教導自己的孩子。我是一間教堂的祭壇男童并且在一間私立的天主教高中度過了四年。在那里我參加了一個目的在于培養學生成為領導者的協會。我把我學習到的團隊領導知識運用到宗教事務和幫助弱智兒童的項目中去。

我年輕時期最悲傷的記憶就是我父母的離異。我永遠不會忘記當搬家的車子開到家門口，母親向我和兄弟姐妹宣布將要搬到另外一間房子的那一天。雖然我知道父母之間有問題，但是這樣的發展還是很料想不到也很震驚的。我當時是高中二年級學生，我田園詩歌般的生活就這樣被打碎了。我母親作為一名注冊的護士，不得不重新在附近的一間醫院長時間工作。我的兄弟姐妹們也在父母離異之后拋棄之前的不和睦，變得更加親密，而且這種和諧是我們快樂的源泉。但是也有其它一些不愉快的事情。那一年我在學校表現不是很好，并且逃課一個月。不知為何我意識到我需要住在一個比我媽媽家更加有規律的環境里。結果我就回到父親的家里，度過了我高中剩下的時光。