陸友軍
At my primary school, ①I was one of the smartest kids there. I never studied, but always got perfect scores. I was also a prodigy(不凡之人)in music according to myself. I could sing better than almost everyone else in my school. I was pretty(很)sure that once I got to sixth grade, everyone would be surprised by me. But actually, they weren’t.
When I arrived at my new class, ②I couldn’t wait to show everyone what I could do. However, there was always someone else who could do them better. My grades began to suffer(變差). More talented(有天資的)girls often sang solo(獨唱). I believed I wasn’t smart. I believed I wasn’t talented. I believed I was a failure.
Over the next two years, I had to work very hard. ③Every prize for the singing competition was given to me for hard work and effort(努力). Grades were still very low but improving④little by little. I worked really hard. However, I was never the best at everything.
⑤I haven’t realized until recently that I really don’t have to be the best at everything. ⑥I was too hard on myself. In fact, when I did badly in a test, my classmates never laughed at me.
No one is perfect. There will probably always be someone better than me at something. Anyway, there are over seven billion people in this world. I will never be the number one at everything, and that’s really okay.
[精彩譯文]
在我上小學(xué)時,我是學(xué)校最聰明的學(xué)生之一。我不努力學(xué)習(xí),卻總能取得高分。我自認(rèn)為也是一位音樂奇才。在我們學(xué)校,幾乎沒人唱歌比我好。我十分確信,進(jìn)入六年級時我會令每個人大為驚訝。但實際上,情況不是這樣。
當(dāng)我進(jìn)入新的班級,我迫不及待地表現(xiàn)自己,讓同學(xué)們知道我能干什么。然而,總有其他人比我干得更好。我的學(xué)習(xí)成績開始變差。更多有才華的女孩經(jīng)常獨唱。我開始認(rèn)為我不夠聰明,沒有才華,甚至認(rèn)為自己是一位失敗者。
在接下來的兩年內(nèi),我不得不勤奮努力?!肮Ψ虿回?fù)有心人”,我囊括了歌唱比賽的每一個獎項。雖然學(xué)習(xí)成績依然很差,但也逐漸地在提高。我拼盡全力,然而還是沒能做到事事最好。
直到最近,我才意識到真的沒有必要做到事事最好。我對自己太苛刻了。事實上,當(dāng)我考試考砸了,也沒有一個同學(xué)嘲笑我。
世上沒有十全十美的人??倳腥嗽谀承┓矫姹任覐?。畢竟,這世上有70多億人口。我永遠(yuǎn)都不會成為事事第一,不過這真的沒關(guān)系。
[難點解讀]
①本句中使用了“one of + the + 形容詞的最高級 + 復(fù)數(shù)名詞”這一結(jié)構(gòu),意思為“最……之一”。例如:
Bill is one of the most popular students in our class.
比爾是我們班最受歡迎的學(xué)生之一。
②can’t wait to do sth. 迫不及待地做某事。例如:
I couldn’t wait to turn on the TV as soon as I got home yesterday afternoon.
昨天下午一到家我就迫不及待地打開電視。
③本句涉及含有雙賓語的被動語態(tài),還可以寫成:I was given every prize for the singing competition for hard work and effort. 例如:
My father bought me a computer last week. 還可以寫成:
I was bought a computer by my father last week.
A computer was bought for me by my father last week.
④little by little 漸漸地
⑤not ...until... 直到……才……。 例如:
He didn’t go to bed until 11 o’clock last night.昨晚直到11點鐘他才上床睡覺。
⑥be hard on ?對某人要求嚴(yán)格
(作者單位:江蘇省興化市安豐初級中學(xué))
初中生學(xué)習(xí)指導(dǎo)·提升版2021年2期