作者：新东方英语
出版社：《海外文摘》杂志社
格式: AZW3, DOCX, EPUB, MOBI, PDF, TXT
《新东方英语》中学生2013年10月号试读：
Preface卷首语
To Friends at Home 致故友◎ By Robert Louis Stevenson 译·赏析/辛献云To friends at home, the lone, the admired, the lost,
The gracious old, the lovely young, to May
The fair, December the beloved,
These from my blue horizon and green isles,
These from this pinnacle{L-End}of distances I,
The unforgetful, dedicate.
一怀乡愁的我，谨以
这蔚蓝的地平线、葱郁的群岛，
这远隔万水千山的一切，献给
故乡那孤独、可敬、彷徨的朋友，
那和蔼的长者，可爱的青年，那美丽的
五月，和人人喜爱的十二月。
赏析
罗伯特·路易斯·史蒂文森(Robert Louis Stevenson, 1850~1894)，英国文学新浪漫主义的杰出代表，从小就钟爱文学，在短短一生中写下了大量小说、散文、游记、随笔和诗歌，最著名的作品有《诱拐》(Kidnapped)、《金银岛》(Treasure Island)和《化身博士》(The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde)等。他的作品文字优美、内容睿智、见闻广博，堪称英国文学宝库里的瑰宝。
史蒂文森从小体弱多病，为了寻找合适的疗养地，他经常外出旅行，从欧洲、美洲一直到南太平洋群岛，最终于1890年定居萨摩亚的乌波鲁岛，在那里度过了生命中的最后五年。由于长期在外奔波，史蒂文森常常思念故乡，这首小诗就是他思乡情怀的浓缩。与普通乡愁诗不同的是，这首小诗别具一格，以作品献辞的形式，表达了作者对故乡亲友甚至季节、气候的思念之情。史蒂文森一生游历甚广，从欧洲到美洲，从陆地到海洋，阅尽了世间的山山水水，但异乡的美景却未能让他停止对故乡的思念。他决定要把他看到和经历的都写下来，把这“蔚蓝的地平线”“葱郁的群岛”“这远隔万水千山的一切”献给远在故乡的亲朋好友，献给那些“孤独”“可敬”“彷徨”的人们，献给“和蔼的长者”“可爱的青年”，使他们也能和他一起领略异域风情的美好。小诗虽短，却形式独特，情感真挚，感人至深。
What's Hot特别推荐
Taylor Swift's Attitude of Gratitude 泰勒·斯威夫特：心怀感恩的音乐才女◎ By Rebecca Ascher-Walsh 译/赵青奇十年前，泰勒·斯威夫特还只是一个多愁善感的青涩女生，在学校受尽坏女孩的欺负；现如今，她已然是国际音乐界一位举足轻重的耀眼明星，拿奖拿到手软，粉丝遍布全球。一路走来，泰勒·斯威夫特展现出无与伦比的音乐创作天赋，却从不自恃才华，只是默默努力，把自己经历的那些酸甜苦辣写进歌里。她是无数人心中的女神，却从不高高在上。走近她，你会发现她对家人、粉丝、音乐和人生的热爱是那么真诚，因为她从未忘记感恩。
Two years ago, Taylor Swift's third album, Speak Now, was about to be released and the then 20-year-old country music star had every reason to be confident. Her eponymous{L-End}first album, which debuted in 2006 when she was only 16, had gone multi-platinum{L-End}and established her as a musical force whose songs about love and heartbreak resonated{L-End}with peers and adults alike. Her follow-up, Fearless, released two years later, sold millions of copies and earned four Grammy awards. By the time Speak Now was ready to greet the world, Forbes magazine had listed her as the 12th most powerful celebrity, with annual earnings calculated at $45 million. But on the eve her fans first heard Speak Now, Swift told us she was filled with fear. In the end, she could rest easy. The album sold more than 1 million copies in its first week and went on to win two Grammys and a spot on Rolling Stone's "Women Who Rock: 50 Greatest Albums of All Time" by female recording artists.
So as she prepared for the release of her fourth album, Red, was she anxious again or confident? The first single off the album, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", has already hit No. 1 on Billboard's charts. And just like the last time, there doesn't seem to be too much to worry about. "I'm really proud of the record," Swift says slowly, "but I'm always nervous about everything. There's a great deal of terror that fills my mind before I do anything, really. There's a huge amount of pressure and responsibility because millions of people are going to potentially spend their hard-earned money on the album, and there's a great responsibility for the critics who will write about it, and responsibility for the girl who is going through a breakup and needs a song about what she's feeling, and responsibility for the girl who doesn't feel good about herself and needs a song for that, too, and I worry about saying or doing the wrong thing." Swift pauses for a breath and laughs. "Do you see the rabbit holes{L-End}I go down?"
Homebody
Not long ago, Swift was an adolescent singing her own sad songs in her bedroom. Raised in rural Pennsylvania along with a younger brother by a stockbroker{L-End}father and stay-at-home mother, Swift says she suffered deeply as an outcast at school. She began writing songs at age 12 as a way of making sense of the experience. By 14 she was invested enough in the process that she convinced her family to move to Nashville{L-End}, Tenn., where she could immerse{L-End}herself in the songwriting community. Within months of arriving, she was signed as the youngest staff songwriter ever at Sony/ATV Music Publishing{L-End}.
Throughout Swift's rise to fame, her mother has been her strongest ally. "I think who you are is really about how you are wired{L-End}and how you respond to situations, and I was really shaped by who I was in school," Swift says. "I was never the person who was sought after or invited to things. My mother's been used to picking up my confidence since I was in middle school and dealing with mean girls. She was never about chasing the in-crowd{L-End}or being cool. She was with us making grape jam in the kitchen and creating imaginary games with us. She was focused on our being happy."
Family and home are still Swift's greatest sources of pleasure. She owns an apartment in Nashville, lovingly decorated with antiques picked up on shopping trips with her mom. And thanks to her mother's influence, Swift is very comfortable in the kitchen, where she is notorious for churning out{L-End}baked goods that she parcels{L-End}out to friends. She's also handy at making herself healthy meals like grilled chicken, brown rice, and green beans. The singer says sticking to a nutritious diet when she's touring is hard, "but I try to eat a lot in the beginning of the day and not so much at the end".
Regardless of where she is, Swift hits the gym for an hour of cardio{L-End}every day, running on the treadmill{L-End}. "I like to feel really tired afterward, sweaty and disgusting," says the star. "You can't indulge{L-End}without exercising, so I exercise because I love eating and I don't want to have to live without anything. But I also exercise because on the occasional days when I'm feeling low, it always makes me feel better."
Attitude of Gratitude
When she isn't near a treadmill and finds herself getting caught up in negative thinking, Swift has learned to divide her thoughts into two categories: "things I can change" and "things I can't".
"You'll always be worried about something, but if you can cut that list down by even the smallest amount, that's good," she explains. "You only have so many hours a day, and if you can focus the energy on only the things you can control, it's more productive."
Swift's quickest way to get back on track{L-End}is expressing gratitude. "The fact is, my life is amazing, so when I'm getting too much in my own head, I try to say all the things I'm grateful for. It can be simple things, like if I'm complaining about how my cellphone is working slowly, I think about how slowly they worked five years ago. It's OK to have glass-half-empty{L-End}days, but not too many of them. I place a higher priority on being happy than I do on freaking out."
How can she cultivate a more optimistic attitude? Swift has coped by writing music, but she says she also now understands the power of being kinder to herself. "One thing I've had to work on is being really tough on myself. My mom says that when I was a kid she always felt bad punishing me because I always punished myself the worst when I made mistakes, locking myself in my room and feeling so bad that I did something wrong or hurt someone. But when I'm writing, I can't second-guess{L-End}myself. You have to be confident enough to have ideas."
Asked what advice she would have given herself two years ago if she had known then what she knows now, Swift, who turns 23 in December, demurs{L-End}. "I wouldn't tell myself anything because I've learned so many things in the last two years by experiencing them fully, and learning the lessons completely," she says. "Advice wouldn't have changed that, but even if it might have, the best way to learn lessons is by going through things completely."
The gift lies in getting to the other side, where, from a place of perspective and grace, one might be able to talk—or sing—about one's struggles, letting others know they aren't alone. "No matter what path my life follows," says the singer, "I'm always going to be exploring every aspect of human emotion. And I'll always want to get better." At what, exactly? At that, Swift lets out a wonderful laugh. "At everything."
两年前(编注：本文写于2012年11月) ，泰勒·斯威夫特的第三张专辑《爱的告白》即将发布时，这位时年20岁的乡村音乐歌手完全有足够的理由满怀信心。2006年，年仅16岁的斯威夫特推出首张同名专辑，创下了多白金销量，一举奠定了她实力派音乐人的地位，其关于恋爱和失恋的歌曲引起了同龄青少年和成年人的情感共鸣。两年后，斯威夫特又推出第二张专辑《放手去爱》，该专辑售出数百万张，并夺得四项格莱美奖。到专辑《爱的告白》即将问世时，斯威夫特已登上《福布斯》杂志评选的最具影响力名人榜，名列第12位，年收入已达4500万美元。但就在《爱的告白》首发前夕，斯威夫特告诉我们，她心里害怕极了。不过到了最后，她又能放心了。该专辑首周销量即破百万，继而又赢得两项格莱美奖，还入选了《滚石》杂志评出的女演唱家系列之“摇滚女星：史上最棒的50张专辑”。
那么，当斯威夫特准备发行第四张专辑《红》的时候，她是依旧感到担心，还是信心十足？这张专辑先行发布的第一支单曲《绝对绝对分定了》早就登上了美国Billboard排行榜的冠军宝座。就跟上次一样，这次似乎也不必担心太多。“我很骄傲能取得这样的成绩，”斯威夫特缓缓说道，“但我总是对任何事情都很担心。无论要做什么事，我心里都害怕得要命，真的。我感到压力极大，责任特别重，因为有几百万人可能会用辛辛苦苦赚来的钱买这张专辑，而且我要为那些会为这张专辑写评论的乐评人负很大的责任，要为那个刚刚失恋、需要一首歌来唱出其心声的女孩负责任，还要为那个自我感觉不太好、也需要一首歌来安慰的女孩负责任。我担心自己会说错或者做错什么。”斯威夫特停下来换了口气，又笑着说道：“你明白我的处境有多难了吧？”
恋家女孩
不久前，斯威夫特还只是一个在卧室里唱着自己的伤感情歌的青涩女孩。斯威夫特和弟弟一起在宾夕法尼亚州的乡间长大，爸爸是一位股票经纪人，妈妈是一位家庭主妇。斯威夫特说，她在学校受人排挤，为此十分痛苦。她12岁开始写歌，通过这种方式来找寻自己这种经历的意义所在。到14岁时，斯威夫特已经在歌曲创作方面下了足够深的功夫，于是说服全家人搬到田纳西州的纳什维尔去住，那里聚集了很多音乐创作人，这样她就可以沉浸其中，接受熏陶。移居纳什维尔数月后，斯威夫特就与索尼/ATV音乐发行公司签约，成为该公司旗下最年轻的专职音乐创作人。
在斯威夫特成名的这一路上，她的妈妈一直是她最坚强的后盾。“在我看来，你会成为什么样的人与你天生的性格和对各种处境做出的反应密切相关。我当年在学校的遭遇确实对我影响很大，”斯威夫特说，“那时的我从来就不是那种被追捧或受邀请的人。从上中学起，我就得应付那些坏女孩们，我妈已经习惯了帮我找回信心。她从不会去追逐时髦的小圈子或扮酷，而会跟我们一起在厨房做葡萄酱，一起发明一些想象中的游戏。她那时一心想让我们过得快乐。”
家人和家庭至今仍是斯威夫特最大的快乐源泉。斯威夫特在纳什维尔有一套公寓，里面精心布置着各种老式物件，那都是她跟妈妈一起逛街时挑的。在妈妈的影响下，斯威夫特非常喜欢下厨，她颇有名的一大“恶习”就是在那里批量烤制各种各样的食物并分给朋友。给自己制作营养美食，如烤鸡肉、糙米饭、豆角等，也是斯威夫特的拿手戏。斯威夫特说，巡演期间想要顿顿吃到营养餐比较困难，“不过我还是尽量在早上多吃点，晚上少吃点”。
现在不管身处何地，斯威夫特每天都坚持去健身房，在跑步机上做一小时的健身运动。“我喜欢运动过后那种筋疲力尽、浑身臭汗的感觉，”斯威夫特说，“不运动就没法大吃特吃，所以我做运动，因为我是个吃货，而且我不想逼自己活得那么清心寡欲。不过，我做运动也是因为当我偶尔有几天情绪低落的时候，运动总能让我心情好很多。”
心怀感恩
当身边没有跑步机，又发觉自己陷入消极情绪时，斯威夫特就将自己那些消极的想法分为两类：“我可以改变的事情”和“我不能改变的事情”。“你总会担心这担心那，但如果你能让担心少一点，哪怕只是一点点，也是不错的，”她解释说，“每天就那么几个小时，如果能把精力只放在可以掌控的事情上，这一天就会更有成效。”
对斯威夫特来说，让生活回归正轨的最快方法就是表达感恩之情。“事实上，我过得非常好，因此，当我想太多时，我就试着说出所有让我感激的事。这些事可以是一些小事，比如，假如我抱怨我的手机反应太慢，我就会想一想五年前的手机该有多慢。有那么几天悲观消极的日子也没关系，但不要太多。我会优先让自己开心，而不是令自己烦恼。”
她是如何养成更加乐观积极的心态的呢？斯威夫特的方法是创作歌曲，不过她表示，她现在也明白了善待自己的作用。“我对自己非常苛刻，这是我必须要解决的一件事情。我妈说，我小的时候，她每次惩罚完我都会觉得难过，因为我总是在犯错后狠狠地自我惩罚，把自己锁在房间里，为自己做错了事情和伤害了别人而伤心难过。但是在写歌的时候，我就不能在事后批评自己了。你必须要有足够的自信去构思。”
斯威夫特今年12月就满23岁了。当被问及假如两年前就能预知她现在所懂得的一切，她会给那时的自己什么建议时，斯威夫特给出了否定的回答。“我不会给自己任何建议，因为过去两年间我充分体验过很多事情，汲取到了深刻的教训，并通过这些学到了很多很多，”她说，“给了建议也不会改变这一点，但就算会改变，吸取经验教训的最好办法仍然是完完全全由自己去经历世事。”
一个人能站在过来人的角度上，带着卓识和涵养去诉说或唱出自己的奋斗拼搏，让其他人知道他们并不孤单，这就是其天赋所在。“不管我今后的人生道路怎么走，”斯威夫特说，“我将一如既往地去探究人类的每一种情感。我会一直努力去做得更好。”具体是在哪些方面做得更好呢？对此，斯威夫特粲然一笑：“所有方面。”Stories Behind Some of Taylor's Songs 聆听小天后泰勒的“心曲”◎ From taylorallisonswift.webs.com 译 / 阿诺
泰勒是个用心创作、用心歌唱的人，她将自己的心路历程都写入歌里化成音符唱了出来。不论是快乐还是忧愁，她都愿意与大家分享，因为她就是这样一个至情至性的率真女孩。如果你喜欢她，那么不妨戴上耳机，伴着她的音乐，听她细说那些歌曲背后的故事。
下面三首歌曲出自泰勒2006年发行的第一张同名专辑Taylor Swift，这张专辑连续五周在美国Billboard热门乡村音乐歌曲榜里位列前十，使泰勒成为该榜自成立以来首位同一张专辑有五首歌打入前十名的歌手。
The Outside
"This is one of the first songs I ever wrote, and it talks about the very reason I ever started to write songs. It was when I was twelve years old, and a complete outcast{L-End}at school. I sang country music at karaoke{L-End}bars and festivals on weekends while other girls went to sleepovers{L-End}. Some days I woke up not knowing if anyone was going to talk to me that day. I think every person comes to a point in their life when you have a long string of bad days. You can choose to let it drag you down, or you can find ways to rise above{L-End}it. I came to the conclusion that even though people hadn't always been there for me, music had. It's strange to think how different my life would be right now if I had been one of the cool kids."《局外人》“这是我最早写的歌之一，讲述的正是我开始写歌的初衷。那时我12岁，在学校里备受排挤。别的女孩周末都聚在朋友家一起过夜，而我却在卡拉OK厅和节日庆典上演唱乡村歌曲。有的日子里，我一觉醒来都不知道那天会不会有人和我说话。我想每个人在生活中都会经历一段漫长而灰暗的时光，你可以选择因此而消沉，也可以想办法走出阴影。我意识到，尽管人们没有一直在我身边支持我，但音乐却始终陪伴着我。如果当年我也是个受欢迎的女孩，那我现在的生活会有多么不同，一想到此我就觉得很怪异。”
Tied Together with a Smile
"One of my best friends is absolutely beautiful. She goes to beauty pageants{L-End}and wins everything. Girls want to be her and guys want to be with her. I wrote this song the day I found out about her eating disorder. It completely blew my mind, and this one was tough to write, because I wasn't just telling some sad story. This was real. This song is basically about the girls I know, and the difficult things I saw them go through. I've never seen this song as a lecture. It's really about how no matter what my friends go through, I'm always going to love them."《强颜欢笑》“我有一个好朋友，长得特别漂亮。她每次参加选美比赛都能大获全胜。女孩们羡慕她，男孩们爱慕她。有一天，我发现她患有厌食症，于是我就在那天写了这首歌。我当时非常震惊，感到难以下笔，因为这不仅仅是在讲述某个令人难过的故事，这是真实发生的事情。这首歌主要描写了我认识的那些女孩和我看到她们所经历的种种困难。我从没觉得这首歌是在说教。它真的就只是在表达，无论我的朋友们经历了什么，我都会一直爱她们。”
Stay Beautiful
"After hearing my songs, a lot of people ask me, 'How many boyfriends have you HAD?' And I always tell them that more of my songs come from observation than actual experience. In other words, you don't have to date someone to write a song about them. This is a song I wrote about a guy I never dated! Wow, right? Haha. This song is about a guy I thought was cute, and never really talked to him much. But something about him inspired this song, just watching him." 《保持美丽》“好多人在听过我的歌后问我，‘你交过多少男朋友啊？’我总是回答他们说，我写的歌更多的是来自观察而非亲身经历。换句话说，要是你想写一首关于某个人的歌，你不必非得先和他约会。这首歌写的就是一个从没和我约过会的男孩！很惊讶，是吧？哈哈。歌里写的是一个我当时觉得很可爱的男孩，我和他连话都没怎么说过，不过，他身上的一些特质激发了我写这首歌的灵感，而我就只是观察他而已。”
下面两首歌曲出自泰勒2008年发行的第二张专辑Fearless，该专辑从发行进榜后连续11周蝉联美国Billboard流行专辑榜冠军，被《纽约时报》评选为2008年度最佳专辑之一。此外，该专辑还获得了第52届格莱美年度专辑奖及最佳乡村专辑奖，也使泰勒成为格莱美历史上最年轻的获得年度专辑奖的歌手。
The Best Day
"I wrote this song on the road and didn't tell my mom about it. I decided that I was going to keep it a secret and give it to her as a surprise for Christmas. I wrote it in the summer and then recorded it secretly with the band in the studio. After it was done, I synched{L-End}the song up to all these home videos of her and my family. She didn't even realize it was me singing until halfway through the song! She didn't have any idea that I could possibly write and record a song without her knowing about it. When she finally got it, she just started bawling her eyes out{L-End}. 《最好的一天》“我在旅途中写下了这首歌，并没有告诉妈妈这件事。我决定先保密，等到圣诞节的时候给她一个惊喜。这首歌是我在夏天写的，之后我暗地里和乐队在录音室里把它录好。歌曲制作完成后，我将它同步到妈妈和家人的所有家庭录像中。妈妈听到一半的时候，才意识到这首歌是我唱的！她万万没有想到我竟然会背着她创作并录制了一首歌。在最终弄清这一切后，她放声大哭了起来。”
Change
"At one point, I began to understand that it would be harder for me on a smaller record label{L-End}to get to the places and accomplish the things that artists were accomplishing on bigger record labels. I realized that I wouldn't get favors pulled for me because there weren't any other artists on the label to pull favors from. It was going to be an uphill climb and all that I had to encourage me was the hope that someday things would change, that things would be different. After so many times of just saying that to myself over and over, I finally wrote it down in a song." 《改变》“到了某个阶段，我开始意识到，比起那些签约规模较大的唱片公司的艺人，签约一家规模较小的唱片公司的我要实现自己的梦想并取得他们正在取得的那些成就会更艰难。我认识到，不会有人在事业上提携我，因为公司里没有其他艺人可以给我这样的帮助。路途艰辛，我能用来激励自己的就是希望有一天一切将会改变，一切都将不同。我反复对自己这样说，在说了很多次后，我最终把它写在了一首歌里。”
下面这首歌曲出自泰勒2010年发行的第三张专辑Speak Now，该专辑发行首周销量就高达104.7万张。“Back to December”为该专辑的第二首主打单曲，曾获得美国Billboard百强单曲榜第六名和乡村分榜第三名的成绩。
Back to December
"I've always sort of felt like I try to write songs that the people that they're about deserve. And up until now I haven't really felt like I really, really needed to apologize to someone and someone deserved that from me. It's just necessary. From knowing the situation and writing honestly, I can't leave that part out, and I don't think I should. And I think that you should be able to say that you're sorry to someone, and sometimes the best way I know how to say anything is in a song ... I think that for me, especially playing that song for the first time for people around me, they made that point right away—like, 'You realize you've never done this before. You've never really apologized to someone in a song.' I guess I wasn't conscious of that when I was writing it, because it just was exactly what I needed to say." 《重回12月》“我一直都这样觉得，我努力在写能真实反映歌中人物的歌曲。而且直到现在，我也并不真正认为自己真的有必要向谁道歉，或是有谁值得让我道歉。这只是真情流露。因为我知道实情，也会照实来写，所以我不能回避那个部分，而且我觉得我也不应该回避。我认为一个人应该学会对别人说抱歉，而有时我觉得表达自己的最佳方式就是通过歌曲……我觉得这首歌对我来说，特别是当我第一次把它放给身边的人听的时候，他们立刻就注意到了这一点——他们会说，‘你知道你之前从来没有这样做过，你从来没在歌曲里向别人真正道过歉。’我想，在写歌的时候我并没有意识到这一点，因为我只是把自己需要说的话如实写出来而已。”Taylor Swift Facts That Even Her Super-Fans Didn't Know 铁杆粉丝也不知的泰勒轶事◎ From mix1051.cbslocal.com 译/王朝玲
1. She's an award-winning poet. In 4th grade, Taylor's poem "Monster in My Closet" placed first in a national poetry contest.
2. She wrote a novel when she was 12. If the music thing doesn't work out, Taylor has a 350 page novel ready to go. She said she'd also like to write her own biography down the road{L-End}.
3. Her first job involved bugs. She knocked praying mantis{L-End}pods{L-End}out of trees on her family's Christmas tree farm.
4. She can't see very well. When she's not wearing glasses, she's wearing contact lenses.
5. She was once the host of Saturday Night Live{L-End}. Taylor was the first host of Saturday Night Live to ever write her own monologue. It was a song she wrote called "My Monologue Song".
6. The Dixie Chicks{L-End}were a major influence. Taylor says LeAnn Rimes{L-End}, Shania Twain{L-End}and Faith Hill{L-End}were all big influences in her music career, but maybe this is the first time you've heard of the Dixie Chicks!
1. 她是一位获奖诗人。泰勒上四年级时写的诗《藏在我衣橱里的小怪兽》夺得了全美诗歌比赛的第一名。
2. 她12岁时写过一部小说。如果音乐这条路走不通的话，泰勒还有一部350页的小说可以发表。她曾说过，将来她还想写自己的传记。
3. 她的第一份工作与虫子有关。泰勒曾在自家的圣诞树农场里工作，负责把螳螂卵从树上敲落下来。
4. 她视力不是很好。泰勒不戴框架眼镜时就戴着隐形眼镜。
5. 她曾经主持过《周六夜现场》节目。泰勒曾是《周六夜现场》节目中第一位为自己撰写独白的主持人。那段独白是她写的一首歌，名为《我的独白歌》。
6. 她深受“南方小鸡”组合的影响。泰勒说黎安·莱姆丝、仙妮亚·唐恩和费丝·希尔三人对她的音乐生涯影响很大，但“南方小鸡”组合你可能还是第一次听说吧！
Entertianment娱乐频道
Iron Man 3《钢铁侠3》——破茧成蝶，完美蜕变◎ 文/杨熠同为超级英雄，他身上有太多不合乎常理的地方。他不及蝙蝠侠Bruce Wayne成熟深沉，不似超人Clark Kent一身正气，也没有蜘蛛侠Peter Parker青涩可爱。他玩世不恭、轻佻浮夸，在他眼里，拯救地球就好似一场游戏。他就是大名鼎鼎的钢铁侠Tony Stark。
看过《钢铁侠》(Iron Man)前两部的人可能或多或少都会这样想：钢铁侠无非也就是靠他那套钢铁战甲罢了。的确，和其他超级英雄相比，没有超能力的钢铁侠确实需要依靠那套钢铁战甲。但人们常说宝剑赠英雄，难道没了战甲的钢铁侠就不再是英雄了吗？战甲与英雄，究竟是谁成就了谁呢？
英雄焦虑
影片在Tony Stark的独白中开始，这一次，他听起来没有以往那么自信和从容。1999年，Tony犯了一个如今看来十分严重的错误：在瑞士的一次派对上，他原本与不太起眼的生物科学家Aldrich Killian约好碰面，谈谈合作事宜，孰料他却和美女植物学家Maya Hansen聊得热火朝天而把Killian忘得一干二净，没去赴约。他可能做梦都没有想到这次爽约会酿成噩梦……
一晃13年过去了。人类的新敌人、恐怖分子头目满大人(The Mandarin)向全世界公然发出挑衅，扬言要抹杀人们心中对英雄的信任和崇拜。他制造了一连串的爆炸袭击事件，弄得人心惶惶。
其实，无需满大人火上浇油，Tony自身早已存在问题。他在复仇者联盟大战中见识了其他超级英雄与生俱来的神力后，就开始不断地质疑自己，不确定自己是否真的就是一个依靠战甲才能成为英雄的普通人。如今，一有人提及超级英雄，他就情绪激动，动不动就要穿上战甲检查自己是否出了问题。这样的Tony还想维持自己在大家心目中的英雄形象，自然是事与愿违。因此，当他提出帮忙搜寻满大人时，老战友钢铁爱国者James Rhodes只是劝他好好休息。
而另一边，Tony的女友Pepper Potts正准备会见Killian。原来他俩也是老朋友了，只不过因为很久没见面，Pepper对他的印象还停留在那个蓬头垢面的宅男科学家，因此当Killian衣着时髦、风度翩翩地出现在她眼前时，她着实大吃了一惊。Killian向Pepper大力推荐他这些年来研究出的新技术“终极生物”——一种可以改写生物DNA的革命性的生化技术，虽然Killian绝口不提其危险性，但敏感的Pepper还是很快意识到这项技术会带来很大的负面影响。
Killian: Imagine if you could hack into (潜入) the hard drive of any living organism and recode its DNA.
Pepper: It would be incredible. Unfortunately, to my ears it also sounds highly weaponizable (可制成武器的) as in enhanced soldiers, private armies, and Tony is not ...
Killian: Tony, Tony. You know, I invited Tony to join AIM (先进概念力学研究所) 13 years ago and he turned me down. But something tells me now there's a new genius on the throne who doesn't have to answer to Tony anymore and who has slightly less of an ego.
Pepper: It's going to be a "no", Aldrich, as much as I'd like to help you.
理智尚存的Pepper拒绝了Killian的推荐，不过Killian巨大的变化和含糊不清的态度还是让她有些迷惑。回到家后，Pepper发现Tony不仅神经兮兮地摇控战甲来接待她，还让他的前保镖Happy监视她的工作，不禁勃然大怒。情急之下，Tony只得坦诚相告。
Tony: Sorry. I'm a piping hot (滚烫的) mess. It's been going on for a while. I haven't said anything. Nothing's been the same since New York.
Pepper: Oh, really? I ... I didn't notice that at all.
Tony: You experience things and then they are over and you still can't explain them. Gods, aliens, other dimensions (方面) ... I'm, I'm just a man in a can. The only reason I haven't cracked up (精神崩溃) is probably because you've moved in, which is great. I love you. I'm lucky. But honey, I can't sleep. You go to bed. I come down here. I do what I know. I tinker (修理), but ... the threat is imminent (即将来临的). And I have to protect the one thing that I can't live without. That's you. And my suits, they are ... uh ...
Pepper: Machines.
Tony: They're part of me.
Pepper: A distraction.
Tony: Maybe.
险象环生
Tony的坦白并没有解决问题。夜里，他深陷梦魇，潜意识中对钢铁战甲下达命令，险些令Pepper受伤。Pepper愤怒至极，撇下Tony扬长而去。当晚，曾与Killian为伍的可疑分子利用“终极生物”技术，与同伙一起引爆了好莱坞的中国大剧院，造成了惨重的伤亡。 Happy在爆炸发生前试图阻止这次阴谋，结果却身负重伤。
面对昏迷不醒的好友和不断逼问的记者，Tony被复仇的怒火冲昏了头脑。他通过媒体对满大人下了挑战书，言辞十分激烈，意欲拼个你死我活。回到家后，他利用高科技对爆炸现场进行了调查和分析，
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