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The Blank Canvas1
For a city so steeped in artistic expression and built upon a dignified history that manifests in the monuments that dot the streets， it seems bizarre to portray Paris as a blank canvas.2 Before starting my study abroad here， I had sculpted an image of Paris as a city plucked out of the stream of time.3 From the 19th century facades that adorn the buildings to the stereotypical （but also true） bunches of people savouring life upon the lip of a coffee cup，4 Paris seems to never change. But after living and breathing here for two months， I’ve discovered that the inhabitants have built upon their city’s perfection just by changing their perspectives on life.5 From street art that deserves their own exhibits in museums to the electric cars that whir along the grand boulevards， each contribution to the blank canvas of Paris shares the common thread of rejecting “no， it’s impossible” and embracing “yes， go for it” as you pursue your dreams.6
I opened my eyes to the “blank canvas” of Paris during my first week in the city. Following memories from my school trip to the city eight years ago， I found myself standing in the square outside of the Sacre-Coeur Cathedral7 at Montmartre. Every few steps were artists and their canvases， sketching caricatures of tourists or painting vibrant streetscapes of Paris.8 As I made my rounds， my dancer spirit dragged my eye to a woman who displayed her artwork that depicted ballerina feet in pointed shoes.9 As I approached to get a closer look at the shoes painted in icy blue or matador cape red， I noted that the paper she used were yellowed squares of sheet music.10 To someone who practiced dance regularly， this combination encapsulated the essence of how each step flowed into another as they followed the bars of music.11 I could not resist asking the artist about her inspiration. With a wry smile， she told me that although she had never learned to dance， she simply channelled her aspirations through creating art on the music that helps ballerinas express their own art.12 In other words， when she said “yes I can” to her dreams， opportunities emerged13 where she never expected， such as from a simple piece of sheet music. I had already fished out14 my wallet before she had finished talking. Walking away with two paintings， I had begun my journey to seeing just how Parisians were reinventing their city.15
The next step on this journey simply required me to turn my head slightly from side to side while walking along the Parisian streets. No， I’m not talking about stealing glances at the women （though they are exquisite），16 I mean the street art. If you take the extra few seconds to pay attention， there is enough street art to make the city itself into a living museum， from murals that cover an entire apartment building to mosaics hiding on the corner of a wall.17 Although Banksy， Space Invaders， and other famed street artists have left their mark on this city， I was particularly entranced by a mural of an African girl hugging a panda.18 The cuteness of the painting aside， I was most moved by the depiction of the girl’s afro haircut.19 The artist had created a halo composed of yellow， orange， violet， pink and magenta specks of paint， as if the dreams of childhood were swirling around her head as she snuggled the panda.20 Perhaps the artist played a double entendre by affirming how each Parisian wall is a literal blank canvas， while also reminding passers-by of the beauty waiting to emerge just from a simple “yes you can” to a child as she starts pursuing her dreams.21 This spirit of reinvention has even permeated22 into how Parisians move about in their city. Every few blocks or so， I would come across a row of charging stations jutting out of the sidewalk， each wired to a smart car.23 Intrigued by how these charging stations lent a steam-punk vibe to such a classical city like Paris，24 I started doing further research. I found that this was part of an electric car sharing service called “Autolib”25， which was founded in 2011. When the company rolled out its first fleet of cars， the initial response was overwhelming.26 More than 150，000 people have signed up27， and the number is steadily growing. As these cars hum along the roads， their quiet engines and convenient hop-in/hop-off service truly let riders live out the company’s motto： “Free like air.”28 But more importantly， the car-sharing model is crucial for exposing more people to the advantages of electric vehicles， not only in terms of driving experience， but also regarding the added bonus29 of friendliness to the environment. As climate change begins to grip the world， even a city as timeless as Paris is showing that the space to reinvent itself only reveals itself when people say “yes， we can，”30 especially to dreams of a cleaner， greener and more sustainable future.
On February 17th， Paris launched its bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games， and tapped into the latent vivacity of the city as its selling point.31 Overnight， and I am not exaggerating here， the city blossomed with banners overlaid with the motto “La Force d’un Rêve”—“The Drive of a Dream.”32 Each banner shone a spotlight on the young and the diverse inheritors of the future， from a multicultural group of kids laughing together on a soccer pitch to a child in a cardboard astronaut helmet envisioning all the possibilities open to him.33 I believe that no motto is more fitting for this city. From its ground-breaking inventors to its anonymous artists， Paris is overflowing with dreams that drive the city to discover all the blank canvases hidden underneath its surface.34
1. canvas： 画布。
2. 巴黎是一座充满艺术气息、拥有深厚历史文化底蕴的城市，历史遗迹遍布街头。把这样一座城市比作一块空白画布好像有点奇怪。be steeped in： 富有……特点；artistic： 艺术的；dignified： 庄严的；manifest： 表明，显现；monument： 历史遗迹；dot： v. 布满，点缀；bizarre： 奇怪的；portray： 描绘。
3. 来这里学习之前，我脑中所描绘的巴黎是一座跳出了时间洪流的城市。sculpt： 雕刻；pluck： 摘，拔。
4. facade：（尤指宏伟建筑物的）正面；adorn： 装扮；stereotypical： 典型的；bunches of： 大量的；savour： 品味，体会。
5. inhabitant： 居民；perspective： 视角，观点。
6. whir： 呼呼地飞快移动；boulevard： 林阴大道；common thread： 相同思路；embrace： 接受，接纳；pursue： 追求。 7. Sacre-Coeur Cathedral： 圣心大教堂，位于巴黎北部的蒙马特高地（Montmartre），具有罗马式与拜占庭式相结合的别致风格。
8. sketch： 画素描；caricature： （人物）漫画； vibrant： 生机勃勃的；streetscape： 街道景观。
9. make one’s rounds： 兜圈，走遍；depict： 描画；ballerina： 芭蕾舞女演员；pointed shoe： 尖头鞋。
10. icy blue： 冰蓝色；matador： 斗牛士；cape： 斗篷；sheet music： 乐谱。
11. 对于经常练习舞蹈的人来说，这种结合巧妙地体现了舞者是如何跟随乐谱跳出每一个舞步的。encapsulate： 压缩，概括；essence： 实质，精髓；bar： （乐谱的）小节。
12. wry smile： 苦笑；channel： 引导，传输； aspiration： 渴望，志向。
13. emerge： 出现。
14. fish out： 掏出。
15. parisian： 巴黎人；reinvent： 改造。
16. steal a glance at： 偷瞄； exquisite： 精致的，优雅的。
17. 如果你稍花一点儿时间留心观察，就会注意到这里的街头艺术之多，大如覆盖整座公寓楼的壁画，小如墙角的马赛克涂鸦，使这座城市成为了一个活生生的美术馆。mural： 壁画；mosaic： 镶嵌图案，马赛克。
18. Banksy： 班克西（1974— ），伦敦涂鸦艺术家，被誉为当今世界上最有才气的街头艺术家之一；Space Invader： 一位法国街头艺术家的化名，以创作受经典电子游戏“太空侵略者”启发的“像素化马赛克”作品而闻名国际；entrance： v. 使入迷。
19. aside： 撇开，除去不谈；afro： 美国黑人的，圆蓬式的。
20. halo： 光环；be composed of： 由……组成；violet： 紫罗兰色；magenta： 品红色；speck： 小点，斑点； swirl： 旋转；snuggle： 紧贴，偎依。
21. 也许创作者在这里用了一个双关，既证明了巴黎的每一面墙都是真正意义上的空白画布，同时又提醒路过的行人，当孩子开始追逐自己的梦想时，送给她简单一句“是的，你可以做到”就可以唤出美丽的事物。double entendre： 双关；affirm： 证实。
22. permeate： 渗透，弥漫。
23. block： 街区；come across： 偶遇；charging station： 充电站；jut out： 向外突出；sidewalk： 人行道；wire： 将……连接到。
24. intrigue： 激起……的兴趣；lend to： 给……增添……； steam-punk： 蒸汽朋克，其作品特点是落后与先进共存，魔法与科学共存；vibe： 氛围。
25. Autolib： 巴黎推出的电动车自助租车服务，取名为 “Autolib”计划，是全球首个大规模“都市公共电动车租赁系统”。
26. roll out： 推出；fleet： 车队；overwhelming： 势不可挡的。
27. sign up： 注册，报名。
28. hum： 发出连续低沉的声音；hop-in： 上车；hop-off： 下车； live out： 实现。
29. bonus： 意外的好处。
30. grip： 强烈地影响；timeless： 不受时间影响的，永不过时的；reveal： 显示，显露。
31. bid： 投标；host： 主办；tap into： 利用；latent： 潜在的； vivacity： 活力；selling point： 卖点。
32. overnight： 一夜之间；exaggerate： 夸大；blossom： 发展，繁盛；banner： 横幅；overlay： 覆盖；motto： 口号。
33. 每条横幅都聚焦于年轻人和众多未来的继承者们，他们或许是在足球场上欢笑嬉戏着的、有着不同文化背景的孩子们，又或许是戴着纸板做的宇航员帽子、展望未来所有可能的孩子。shine a spotlight on： 使突出，使引起关注；inheritor： 后继者；multicultural： 多元文化的；soccer pitch： 足球场；cardboard： 硬纸板；astronaut： 宇航员； helmet： 头盔；envision： 想象，展望。
34. ground-breaking： 全新的，开创性的；anonymous： 匿名的；overflow with： 充满着。
For a city so steeped in artistic expression and built upon a dignified history that manifests in the monuments that dot the streets， it seems bizarre to portray Paris as a blank canvas.2 Before starting my study abroad here， I had sculpted an image of Paris as a city plucked out of the stream of time.3 From the 19th century facades that adorn the buildings to the stereotypical （but also true） bunches of people savouring life upon the lip of a coffee cup，4 Paris seems to never change. But after living and breathing here for two months， I’ve discovered that the inhabitants have built upon their city’s perfection just by changing their perspectives on life.5 From street art that deserves their own exhibits in museums to the electric cars that whir along the grand boulevards， each contribution to the blank canvas of Paris shares the common thread of rejecting “no， it’s impossible” and embracing “yes， go for it” as you pursue your dreams.6
I opened my eyes to the “blank canvas” of Paris during my first week in the city. Following memories from my school trip to the city eight years ago， I found myself standing in the square outside of the Sacre-Coeur Cathedral7 at Montmartre. Every few steps were artists and their canvases， sketching caricatures of tourists or painting vibrant streetscapes of Paris.8 As I made my rounds， my dancer spirit dragged my eye to a woman who displayed her artwork that depicted ballerina feet in pointed shoes.9 As I approached to get a closer look at the shoes painted in icy blue or matador cape red， I noted that the paper she used were yellowed squares of sheet music.10 To someone who practiced dance regularly， this combination encapsulated the essence of how each step flowed into another as they followed the bars of music.11 I could not resist asking the artist about her inspiration. With a wry smile， she told me that although she had never learned to dance， she simply channelled her aspirations through creating art on the music that helps ballerinas express their own art.12 In other words， when she said “yes I can” to her dreams， opportunities emerged13 where she never expected， such as from a simple piece of sheet music. I had already fished out14 my wallet before she had finished talking. Walking away with two paintings， I had begun my journey to seeing just how Parisians were reinventing their city.15
The next step on this journey simply required me to turn my head slightly from side to side while walking along the Parisian streets. No， I’m not talking about stealing glances at the women （though they are exquisite），16 I mean the street art. If you take the extra few seconds to pay attention， there is enough street art to make the city itself into a living museum， from murals that cover an entire apartment building to mosaics hiding on the corner of a wall.17 Although Banksy， Space Invaders， and other famed street artists have left their mark on this city， I was particularly entranced by a mural of an African girl hugging a panda.18 The cuteness of the painting aside， I was most moved by the depiction of the girl’s afro haircut.19 The artist had created a halo composed of yellow， orange， violet， pink and magenta specks of paint， as if the dreams of childhood were swirling around her head as she snuggled the panda.20 Perhaps the artist played a double entendre by affirming how each Parisian wall is a literal blank canvas， while also reminding passers-by of the beauty waiting to emerge just from a simple “yes you can” to a child as she starts pursuing her dreams.21 This spirit of reinvention has even permeated22 into how Parisians move about in their city. Every few blocks or so， I would come across a row of charging stations jutting out of the sidewalk， each wired to a smart car.23 Intrigued by how these charging stations lent a steam-punk vibe to such a classical city like Paris，24 I started doing further research. I found that this was part of an electric car sharing service called “Autolib”25， which was founded in 2011. When the company rolled out its first fleet of cars， the initial response was overwhelming.26 More than 150，000 people have signed up27， and the number is steadily growing. As these cars hum along the roads， their quiet engines and convenient hop-in/hop-off service truly let riders live out the company’s motto： “Free like air.”28 But more importantly， the car-sharing model is crucial for exposing more people to the advantages of electric vehicles， not only in terms of driving experience， but also regarding the added bonus29 of friendliness to the environment. As climate change begins to grip the world， even a city as timeless as Paris is showing that the space to reinvent itself only reveals itself when people say “yes， we can，”30 especially to dreams of a cleaner， greener and more sustainable future.
On February 17th， Paris launched its bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games， and tapped into the latent vivacity of the city as its selling point.31 Overnight， and I am not exaggerating here， the city blossomed with banners overlaid with the motto “La Force d’un Rêve”—“The Drive of a Dream.”32 Each banner shone a spotlight on the young and the diverse inheritors of the future， from a multicultural group of kids laughing together on a soccer pitch to a child in a cardboard astronaut helmet envisioning all the possibilities open to him.33 I believe that no motto is more fitting for this city. From its ground-breaking inventors to its anonymous artists， Paris is overflowing with dreams that drive the city to discover all the blank canvases hidden underneath its surface.34
1. canvas： 画布。
2. 巴黎是一座充满艺术气息、拥有深厚历史文化底蕴的城市，历史遗迹遍布街头。把这样一座城市比作一块空白画布好像有点奇怪。be steeped in： 富有……特点；artistic： 艺术的；dignified： 庄严的；manifest： 表明，显现；monument： 历史遗迹；dot： v. 布满，点缀；bizarre： 奇怪的；portray： 描绘。
3. 来这里学习之前，我脑中所描绘的巴黎是一座跳出了时间洪流的城市。sculpt： 雕刻；pluck： 摘，拔。
4. facade：（尤指宏伟建筑物的）正面；adorn： 装扮；stereotypical： 典型的；bunches of： 大量的；savour： 品味，体会。
5. inhabitant： 居民；perspective： 视角，观点。
6. whir： 呼呼地飞快移动；boulevard： 林阴大道；common thread： 相同思路；embrace： 接受，接纳；pursue： 追求。 7. Sacre-Coeur Cathedral： 圣心大教堂，位于巴黎北部的蒙马特高地（Montmartre），具有罗马式与拜占庭式相结合的别致风格。
8. sketch： 画素描；caricature： （人物）漫画； vibrant： 生机勃勃的；streetscape： 街道景观。
9. make one’s rounds： 兜圈，走遍；depict： 描画；ballerina： 芭蕾舞女演员；pointed shoe： 尖头鞋。
10. icy blue： 冰蓝色；matador： 斗牛士；cape： 斗篷；sheet music： 乐谱。
11. 对于经常练习舞蹈的人来说，这种结合巧妙地体现了舞者是如何跟随乐谱跳出每一个舞步的。encapsulate： 压缩，概括；essence： 实质，精髓；bar： （乐谱的）小节。
12. wry smile： 苦笑；channel： 引导，传输； aspiration： 渴望，志向。
13. emerge： 出现。
14. fish out： 掏出。
15. parisian： 巴黎人；reinvent： 改造。
16. steal a glance at： 偷瞄； exquisite： 精致的，优雅的。
17. 如果你稍花一点儿时间留心观察，就会注意到这里的街头艺术之多，大如覆盖整座公寓楼的壁画，小如墙角的马赛克涂鸦，使这座城市成为了一个活生生的美术馆。mural： 壁画；mosaic： 镶嵌图案，马赛克。
18. Banksy： 班克西（1974— ），伦敦涂鸦艺术家，被誉为当今世界上最有才气的街头艺术家之一；Space Invader： 一位法国街头艺术家的化名，以创作受经典电子游戏“太空侵略者”启发的“像素化马赛克”作品而闻名国际；entrance： v. 使入迷。
19. aside： 撇开，除去不谈；afro： 美国黑人的，圆蓬式的。
20. halo： 光环；be composed of： 由……组成；violet： 紫罗兰色；magenta： 品红色；speck： 小点，斑点； swirl： 旋转；snuggle： 紧贴，偎依。
21. 也许创作者在这里用了一个双关，既证明了巴黎的每一面墙都是真正意义上的空白画布，同时又提醒路过的行人，当孩子开始追逐自己的梦想时，送给她简单一句“是的，你可以做到”就可以唤出美丽的事物。double entendre： 双关；affirm： 证实。
22. permeate： 渗透，弥漫。
23. block： 街区；come across： 偶遇；charging station： 充电站；jut out： 向外突出；sidewalk： 人行道；wire： 将……连接到。
24. intrigue： 激起……的兴趣；lend to： 给……增添……； steam-punk： 蒸汽朋克，其作品特点是落后与先进共存，魔法与科学共存；vibe： 氛围。
25. Autolib： 巴黎推出的电动车自助租车服务，取名为 “Autolib”计划，是全球首个大规模“都市公共电动车租赁系统”。
26. roll out： 推出；fleet： 车队；overwhelming： 势不可挡的。
27. sign up： 注册，报名。
28. hum： 发出连续低沉的声音；hop-in： 上车；hop-off： 下车； live out： 实现。
29. bonus： 意外的好处。
30. grip： 强烈地影响；timeless： 不受时间影响的，永不过时的；reveal： 显示，显露。
31. bid： 投标；host： 主办；tap into： 利用；latent： 潜在的； vivacity： 活力；selling point： 卖点。
32. overnight： 一夜之间；exaggerate： 夸大；blossom： 发展，繁盛；banner： 横幅；overlay： 覆盖；motto： 口号。
33. 每条横幅都聚焦于年轻人和众多未来的继承者们，他们或许是在足球场上欢笑嬉戏着的、有着不同文化背景的孩子们，又或许是戴着纸板做的宇航员帽子、展望未来所有可能的孩子。shine a spotlight on： 使突出，使引起关注；inheritor： 后继者；multicultural： 多元文化的；soccer pitch： 足球场；cardboard： 硬纸板；astronaut： 宇航员； helmet： 头盔；envision： 想象，展望。
34. ground-breaking： 全新的，开创性的；anonymous： 匿名的；overflow with： 充满着。