评论
打印
Ralph got hooked. His wife was often annoyed by the hours he spent at his computer and the money he spent upgrading it. My marriage had no such strains ― until I discovered e-mail. Then I got hooked. E-mail draws me the same way the phone does: it's a souped-up conversation.
拉尔夫上瘾了。他在电脑上耗的时间太长，又花大笔钱来升级电脑，经常惹妻子生气。在我发现电子邮件之前，我的婚姻从未有过类似的紧张局面。但电子邮件让我上瘾了，它吸引着我，就像是升级版的电话聊天。
E-mail deepened my friendship with Ralph. Though his office was next to mine, we rarely had extended conversations because he is shy. Face to face he mumbled, so I could barely tell what he was speaking. But when we both got e-mail, I started receiving long, self-revealing messages; we poured our hearts out to each other. A friend discovered that e-mail opened up that kind of communication with her father. He would never talk much on the phone (as her mother would), but they have become close since they both got on line.
电子邮件加深了我和拉尔夫的友谊。虽然他的办公室就在我隔壁，但我们总聊不了几句，因为他很害羞。面对面交谈时，他说话含糊不清，我都听不清他在说什么。但有了电子邮件后，我开始收到他推心置腹的长篇邮件；我们彼此互诉衷肠。有个朋友发现电子邮件打开了她和父亲之间的交流之门。父亲不会在电话里说个没完（不像她母亲那样），但是父女在网上却亲密无间。
Why, I wondered, would some men find it easier to open up on e-mail? It's a combination of the technology (which they enjoy) and the obliqueness of the written word, just as many men will reveal feelings in dribs and drabs while riding in the car or doing something, which they'd never talk about sitting face to face. It's too intense, too bearing-down on them, and once you start you have to keep going. With a computer in between, it's easier.
我想知道，为什么有些男人在电子邮件里更容易敞开心扉？这可以归结为技术的力量(他们对技术乐此不疲）和文字的委婉。正如很多男人在开车或者做事的时候会偶尔流露情感，但他们却不肯坐下来面对面地吐露心迹。对男人来说，这样气氛太紧张，压力过大，况且你一旦开始吐露就不能停止。而有一台电脑在中间，交流就轻松多了。
