讀雙語故事,看百味人生。閱讀是一生的功課,無論順境逆境,我們總能在文字里找到共鳴。以下是小編整理的決心的作用/DETERMINATION HELPS的內(nèi)容,讀一下吧,也許恰好是你喜歡的那一篇。
Cows have to be milked twice a day, so work on a farm never stops. But every Christmas, we nine Gardner children let Dad sleep in. We woke before dawn in the Wyoming cold to do the chores. My brother and I would argue — and sometimes wrestle — over who had to do what. One year he fed the calves — a ten-minute job, while I had to herd the cows into their stalls to be milked. They can knock you over, and while you’re down 20 of them will escape. That morning I decided I wasn’t going to run from work that had to be done. I wanted to say I did my best. By myself, I pushed them all into the milking pens.
The same determination helped me win a gold medal in Sydney, and kept me alive when I drove my snowmobile into a frozen Wyoming creek in February 2002. I was lost outside in sub-zero weather from 4:30 in the afternoon until the next morning. When the rescuers found me, they had to saw my boots off. I should have died that night but willed myself to stay alive by focusing like I did on herding the cows, like I did on facing an opponent. Even if I didn’t make it, I wanted to know I had done my best.
I did make it. Doctors amputated a toe and I had several skin grafts, but I can still wrestle. That first Christmas after the accident meant a lot to me. My nieces and nephews did the farm chores, so I got to sleep in. I woke up viewing the day, and any that followed, as a bonus.
【助讀詞匯】
◇chore n. 家務雜事,零工
◇will vt.(用意志的力量)驅(qū)使
◇amputate v. 切斷,截,鋸掉
◇graft n. 移植
◇bonus n. 獎金,紅利,意外的好處
【參考譯文】
一頭奶牛一天需擠兩次奶,所以農(nóng)場里的活總是干不完。但是每個圣誕節(jié),我們9個加納家的孩子都會讓爸爸睡懶覺。在懷俄明州寒冷的天氣下我們在破曉前就開始干活。我和哥哥總是為誰去干什么吵架——有時候還打起來。有一年他喂小牛犢——只需十分鐘的活,而我卻要把牛趕進牛棚里面給它們擠奶。它們可能會踢翻你,并且當你摔倒在地的時候,這20頭奶牛就是全部逃跑掉。那天早上我決定不再躲避該干的活,我想說我的確是盡全力了。結果,我自個兒把它們?nèi)s時了擠奶的圍欄里。
同樣的決心讓我在悉尼贏得了金牌,不僅如此,2002年2月當我將雪地車誤駕入懷俄明州一條冰冷刺骨的小河里時,也是決心讓我活了下來。在零度以下的天氣里,我在野外迷了路,從四點半一直撐到第二天早上。當援救隊找到我,他們不得不把靴子從我的腳上鋸下來。那一晚我有可能被凍死了,但是意志力讓我活了下來,就像讓我趕奶牛去擠奶的時候一樣,就像我在賽場上面對對手的時候一樣。即使不能成功,我也想知道我的確是盡全力了。
我最終還是挺了過來。醫(yī)生截掉了我一根腳趾頭,給我做了幾處植膚,但是我還能摔跤。那次意外的后的第一次圣誕節(jié)對我來說很有意義。我的侄子和侄女負責農(nóng)場里的農(nóng)活,所以我可以睡懶覺。我醒來的時候把這一天,和往后的每一天,視為額外的恩賜。
【人生啟迪】
這篇文章的作者是美國運動員魯倫·加德納。在2000年悉尼奧運會上他被人們認為是最不可能成為焦點的人;然而,這位名不見經(jīng)傳的選手竟摔倒了有“西伯利亞熊”之稱的三屆奧運會冠軍卡列林(Aleksandr Karelin),創(chuàng)造了奧運會古羅馬式角力的奇跡。這就是決心的力量。