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【导读】 《嘉莉妹妹》是美国作家西奥多·德莱塞创作的第一部小说，反映了十九世纪末期美国资本主义社会表面繁荣下，失业、贫困、饥饿的阴暗面，是美国文学史上最著名的作品之一。
Sister Carrie (excerpt)
When Caroline Meeber boarded the afternoon train for Chicago，her total outfit consisted of a small trunk，a cheap imitative alligatorskin satchel，a small lunch in a paper box，and a yellow leather snap purse，containing her ticket，a scrap of paper with her sister's address in Van Buren Street，and four dollars in money.It was in August，18.She was eighteen years of age，bright，timid，and full of the illusions of ignorance and youth.Whatever touch of regret at parting characterized her thoughts，it was certainly not for advantages now being given up.A gush of tears at her mother's farewell kiss，a touch in her throat when the cars clacked by the flour mill where her father worked by the day，a pathetic sigh as the familiar green environs of the village passed in review，and the threads which bound her so lightly to girlhood and home were irretrievably broken.
To be sure there was always the next station，where one might descend and return.There was the great city，bound more closely by these very trains which came up daily.Columbia City was not so very far away，even once she was in Chicago.What，pray，is a few hours—a few hundred miles？She looked at the little slip bearing her sister's address and wondered.She gazed at the green landscape，now passing in swift review，until her swifter thoughts replaced its impression with vague conjectures of what Chicago might be.
When a girl leaves her home at eighteen，she does one of two things.Either she falls into saving hands and becomes better，or she rapidly assumes the cosmopolitan standard of virtue and becomes worse.Of an intermediate balance，under the circumstances，there is no possibility.The city has its cunning wiles，no less than the infinitely smaller and more human tempter.There are large forces which allure with all the soulfulness of expression possible in the most cultured human.
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嘉莉妹妹(节选)
当嘉洛林·米贝登上下午开往芝加哥的火车时，她的全部行装包括一个小箱子，一个廉价的仿鳄鱼皮挎包，一小纸盒午餐和一个黄皮弹簧钱包，里面装着她的车票，一张写有她姐姐在凡·布仑街地址的小纸条，还有四美元现钱。那是18年8月。她才18岁，聪明，胆怯，由于无知和年轻，充满着种种幻想。尽管她在离家时依依不舍，家乡可没有什么好处让她难以割舍。母亲和她吻别时，她不禁热泪盈眶；火车喀嚓喀嚓驶过她父亲上白班的面粉厂，她喉头又一阵哽咽；而当她熟悉的绿色村庄在车窗外向后退去时，她发出了一声哀叹。不过，那些把她和故乡和少女时代联系在一起的缕缕细丝却是永久地割断了。
当然了，前面总有站台，只要她想回家，随时可以下车往回走。芝加哥就在前面，眼下她乘坐的火车每天往返，把芝加哥和她家乡紧密地连接在一起。她的家乡哥伦比亚城离得不算远。她甚至还去过一趟芝加哥。真的，几小时的火车，几百英里路，那又算得了什么呢？她看着上面有她姐姐地址的小纸片，心里问着自己。她把目光转向窗外，看着绿色的田野飞快地向后退去。随后她的思路变得活跃了一些，开始模模糊糊地想象芝加哥的生活会是什么样的。
一个18岁的女孩离家出走，结局不外两种。也许她会遇到好人相助，变得更好；也许她会很快接受大都市的道德标准，而变坏了——二者必具其一。在这种情况下，要想不好不坏，保持中不溜的状态，是根本做不到的。大城市具有自身种种诱人的花招，并不亚于那些教人学坏的男男女女，当然人比社会微小得多，也更富于人情味。社会具有巨大的影响力，能像最老于世故的人才可能想到的甜言蜜语一样乱人情怀。
[知识积累] 1．outfit n． 2．characterize vt.
3．irretrievably adv.
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全套装备
描绘；是……的特征
不能挽回地
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4．conjecture n.
5．allure vt. 创作背景：
那个年代，美国的工商业迅猛发展，为了维持当时发展定制的移民，美国从一个田园式的国度变为一个工业化国家，资本主义价值观念大行其道，人们对物质产生近乎病态的依赖，物欲文化堵塞了心灵渠道，腐蚀了人们美好、淳朴的感情，由此形成了精神荒漠。虽然“欲望”从内部解释了嘉莉的动机，而崇尚金钱、物欲横流的城市则是诱惑嘉莉并改变其命运的外在原因，如果她有任何的罪恶，有任何的不道德，更应该批判和诅咒的是那个日益物质化和实利化的社会，在那里她只有出卖自己的身体和灵魂，过着悲惨的生活。
引诱，诱惑；勾引[文化链接] 推测，猜想
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