(13) Pleasure means ______. (The giving of pleasure is one of the most lucrative businesses around, and not only in the red-light district. Thus people who “play games” for a living sign contracts for $43 million — much more than people who merely work. Those who can sing may get up to $100 million.)
(14) Ruler means ______. (Anyone who is a member of a royal family is, by law, subject to the nation. Thus the princesses of Britain, say, are employees of the people, used as tourist attractions and given free board and lodging in return for affording the rest of us some entertainment. You may remember how the old kings — like Henry V — used to spy on their subjects; now it’s the subjects who spy on their rulers. Dieu et mon droit.)
(15) Small means mid-size. (If you are renting a car, you need to remember that “small” is several sizes larger than the smallest size. And in McDonald’s, “a small” order of fries is now a regular-size order, which is differ-ent from the situation in most places, where the “regular” size is very small.)
(16) War means peace. (Thus the “cold war” was a way of maintaining a delicate peace between two militant superpowers. The “war against drugs” means saying “Just say no” several times and hoping that people under the influence won’t take a no for a yes.) 醫(yī)學(xué)全在 線gydjdsj.org.cn
(17) Oh, and one more thing. Alien means resident. (As in “I live here because I’m a ‘resident alien.’ “You’ll see lots of “aliens” in the U.S. — they are the people who come from other countries, as opposed to “real Americans,” who are people who came from other countries a little while ago.)
(18) I hope that all makes sense. I’m sure you will find our world as clear as anything on your planet.
【參考譯文】
新時代字典
親愛的火星人：
(1)我了解您在我們這個外星人星球上碰到的許多顛三倒四、科幻小說式的情形，可能讓您有點(diǎn)困惑。希望以下的說明能幫您克服這些障礙。
(2)肯定就是否認(rèn)。（譬如魔術(shù)師約翰遜用樂觀、隨和的態(tài)度來對待他患的致命的疾病。這表示他在“否認(rèn)”。樂觀者只是還不肯承認(rèn)的悲觀者。簡單講，說“是”的意思就是“不”。不過這和另一種狀況不同：說“不”意思就是“是”。那是男人說的：“在女人不肯對他說“是”的時候。)
(3) 挑戰(zhàn)就是喪失。（一個“身體受挑戰(zhàn)”的人就是從前叫做“失能”或“殘障”的人——例如曾遭到命運(yùn)嚴(yán)重打擊的人。用現(xiàn)在這個聽起來比較友善的名稱來稱呼他，是為了肯定他的可能性——也就是否認(rèn)的意思。)
(4) 冷就是熱。（這一點(diǎn)當(dāng)然您早就知道了。只要是別人說“酷”的東西幾乎一定很熱門。如果說這個東西很“壞”，那就是說它很“棒”的意思�？墒侨绻f一個東西是“in”[流行]，那就是說它快要out [出局]了。畢竟give in 和give out 的意思是一樣的。)
(5) 多樣性就是單一性。（如果有人說他們希望抬收進(jìn)來的學(xué)生有“多樣性”，意思是說他要的學(xué)生每一個都和他自己是差不多的人。這也很合理，因?yàn)椤吧贁?shù)”民族現(xiàn)在有占“多數(shù)”的傾向。所以“平等機(jī)會”通常表示“不平等”的意思，因?yàn)橛腥吮葎e人更平等——或者該說更不平等？
