05 Follow Your Dream追随梦想

There was a young man born in a poor family.As a result,his school career was continually interrupted.Once he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to be and do when he grew up.That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of someday owning a horse ranch.He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch.Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a 4，000-square-foot house that would sit on a 200-acre dream ranch.He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the next day he handed it in to his teacher.

有一个年轻人出生在一个贫穷的家庭里。因此，他的求学过程并不顺利。一次他被要求写一篇关于当他长大后想做什么的作业。那天晚上，他写了七页纸，描述他的目标是将来拥有一个大马场。他详细地写下了他的梦想，甚至还画了一张200亩农场的设计图。他详尽地计划4000平方英尺的房子，坐落在一个200亩农场的梦想。他一心一意完成这个项目并在第二天交给了老师。

Two days later,he received his paper back.On the front page was a large red F with a note that read，“See me after class.”The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked，“Why did I receive an F?”The teacher said，“This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you.You have no money.You have no resources from your family.There's no way you could ever do it.”Then the teacher added，“If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal,I will reconsider your grade.”

两天后他拿回了报告。封面上是一个又红又大的F和一个便条。“下课后来见我。”怀着梦想的男孩下课后去见老师，他问：“为什么给我不及格？”老师说：“这是一个不切实际的梦想。一个小孩像你，没有钱，没有来自家庭的资源，你没有办法做到。”接着他又说，“如果你重新写一个比较现实的目标，我会重新考虑你的分数。”

The boy went home and thought about it long and hard.He asked his father what he should do.His father said，“Look,son,you have to make up your own mind on this.However,I think it is a very important decision for you.”Finally,after sitting with it for a week,the boy turned in the same paper,making no changes at all.He stated，“You can keep the F and I'll keep my dream.”

男孩回到家里，思考了很久。他问他的父亲他应该怎么做。他的父亲说：“听着，儿子，在这上面你必须自己做决定。然而，我认为这是一个非常重要的决定。”小男孩对着那个作业静坐了一个星期后，他并没有做任何改动，又重新提交了。他说，“你可以给我F，我会坚持我的梦想。”

Recollecting the story,my friend Monty and I are now sitting in his 4，000-square-foot house in the middle of a 200-acre horse ranch.Two summers ago,that same school teacher brought 30 kids to camp out on his ranch.When the teacher was leaving,he said，“Look,Monty,I can tell you this now.When I was your teacher,I was something of a dream stealer.During those years I stole a lot of kids'dreams.Fortunately you had enough gumption not to give up on yours.”

回忆着这个故事，我的朋友和我正坐在他的占地4000平方英尺的房子中间，一个200英亩的牧场上。两年前的夏天，那位老师带了30个孩子在他的农场露营。当老师离开的时候，他说：“看，蒙蒂，我现在可以告诉你了。当我是你老师的时候，我是一个梦想的小偷。在那些年里，我偷走了很多孩子们的梦想。幸亏你有这个毅力坚持自己的梦想。”

Don't let anyone steal your dreams.Follow your heart,no matter what.

不要让任何人偷走你的梦想。无论如何，追随你的梦想。

单词解析Word Analysis

continually[kənˈtɪnjuəli]adv.不断地；频繁地

例His wife kept continually dinning in his ear.

他老婆不断地在他耳朵边唠叨。

interrupt[ˌɪntəˈrʌpt]v.打断；打扰；中断；阻碍

例The sudden noise from the next room interrupted my train of thinking.

从隔壁房间突然传来的吵闹声打断了我的思路。

ranch[ræntʃ]n.牧场

例It’s about 50 kilometers from here to my ranch.

从这儿到我的牧场约有五十公里。

diagram[ˈdaɪəɡræm]n.图解；图表

例She gave me a diagram of railway network.

她给了我一张铁路图。

acre[ˈeɪkər]n.英亩

例We own 100 acres of farmland.

我们拥有一百英亩农田。

unrealistic[ˌʌnriːəˈlɪstɪk]adj.不切实际的；不实在的

例The proposal struck me as unrealistic.

我感到这个建议不现实。

recollect[ˌrekəˈlekt]v.回忆；回想；记起

例He is able to clearly recollect her looking.

他可以很清楚地回忆起她的容貌。

stealer[stiːlər]n.偷取者

例He is a heart stealer.

他是个偷心贼。

gumption[ˈɡʌmpʃn]n.机智；精明；魄力；进取心

例He’s a nice enough lad,but he doesn’t seem to have much gumption.

他是个不错的小伙子，但好像没有什么进取心。

语法知识点Grammar Points

①He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch.

in great detail非常详细地

例They cast their plan in great detail.

他们制订了非常具体的计划。

He could remember every trivial incident in great detail.

他能把每件小事的细节都记得很清楚。

diagram of……的关系图

例Draw a diagram of your immediate family.

绘制您的直系亲属图。

The engineer drew a diagram of the bridge.

工程师绘制了一幅这座桥的示意图。

②He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the next day he handed it in to his teacher.

put sth.into把某物放进……

例He put all his redundancy money into a shop.

他把所有剩余资金都投入了一家商店。

put into输入；使进入；把……译成；表达

例In recent years a number of communications satellites have been put into orbit.

近些年来，很多通信卫星被送上轨道。

The deceiver was put into prison.

那个骗子被关进监狱。

a great deal of许多的；大量的（后接不可数名词）

例They eat a great deal of fruit in addition.

他们还吃大量的水果。

hand in交上；递交

例Please hand in your paper before June 30th.

请在六月三十日前交论文。

He held up his hand in amazement.

他惊骇地举起了手。

③His father said，“Look,son,you have to make up your own mind on this”.

make up mind下决心，决定做某事

例She made up mind that,no matter what may come,she would stay there.

她下定决心，不管发生什么情况，她都要在那里待下去。

The city government offce makes up mind to widen roads and actively plans to build the subway in the whole city.

市政府下决心在全市范围内拓宽道路并积极筹划修建地铁。

④When I was your teacher,I was something of a dream stealer.

这个句子中有一个when引导的时间状语从句。

something of有几分；在某种程度上

例I’m something of an expert on antiques.

我对古董略有研究。

I’ve known him for many years,but he remains something of an enigma to me.

我与他相识多年，他仍然难以捉摸。

经典名句Famous Classics

1.We are all in the gutter,but some of us are looking at the stars.

我们都生活在阴沟，但仍有些人仰望星空。

2.The tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal.The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach.

人生的悲剧不是没有实现目标，而是没有目标可实现。

3.A kiss can be a comma,a question mark or an exclamation point.That’s basic spelling that every woman ought to know.

一个亲吻也许是一个逗号，一个问号或者一个惊叹号。每个女人都应该明白这些基本拼写。

4.Who would give a law to lovers?Love is unto itself a higher law.

谁会给爱侣们立法呢？爱情本身就是更高的法则。

5.Don’t be afraid to encounter risks.It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.

不要害怕冒险，正是这一机遇才教会我们勇敢。

6.Life can only be understood backwards,but it must be lived forwards.

只有向后看才能理解生活；但要生活得好，则必须向前看。

7.Yesterday is history.Tomorrow is a mystery and Today is a gift：that’s why we call it“The Present”.

昨天已成为历史，明天神秘而不可知，今天则是一个礼物，所以我们把它叫“现在”（礼物）。

读书笔记

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