He's Always There 一贯的鼓励
By Michael Carrick (Footballer for Manchester United Football Club)
迈克尔·卡里克 (英超曼联队球员)
From first school to high school, I was always into1) all different kinds of sport, not just football. I also played rugby, cricket2) and tennis.
Colin Mackay was my PE3) teacher in middle school and he was the one I got closest to. He let us try different sports and he was always willing to take us to games.
We had a number of lads who were pretty good at all sports. Mr Mackay really encouraged us to play. I think he enjoyed it because we were quite successful so it was rewarding. We won pretty much everything: the local cups and the county cup, which was the biggest one. Mr Mackay was so enthusiastic and constantly pushed us to get better.
I loved playing football and watching it, but I never set out to4) be a professional footballer. It was such a long way off and I just played for the enjoyment. But I signed for West Ham when I was 14. I could never make it without Mr Mackay's help.
I keep in touch with Mr Mackay. I see him now and again5): he is still in the same area although he has moved on to another high school. He is more of a friend now. I would probably have been a footballer anyway, but he kept encouraging me and he was always there, giving me little bits of advice.
从小学到高中,我一直着迷于各种不同的运动,而不仅是踢足球。我也打橄榄球、板球和网球。
科林·麦凯是我初中时的体育老师,也是我最为亲近的人之一。他让我们尝试各种不同的运动,而且总愿意带我们去参加比赛。
我们当中有几个孩子各种运动都很擅长。而麦凯先生也鼓励我们全力发挥。我觉得他之所以乐在其中是因为我们表现很出色,而他的付出也有了回报。我们在各级赛事上获奖:当地的锦标赛,还有郡级锦标赛,郡级锦标赛可是最大型的比赛了。麦凯先生总是热情激昂,不断激励我们做得更好。
我喜欢踢足球,喜欢看足球比赛,但我从没设想过要成为一名职业球员。这个目标离我太遥远了,我踢球只是因为踢球让我感觉开心。但我却在14岁时签约了西汉姆联队。如果没有麦凯先生,我是绝对做不到这一点的。
我一直和麦凯先生保持着联系,并会时不时地见到他:他虽然换到了另一所高中,却仍在同一个地区。他现在更像是我的朋友。我大概已经算是一名职业球员了,但他仍在不断地鼓励我,他总是在那儿,时不时地给我提点儿小建议。
Getting Me Through 帮我走出低谷
By Lang Lang (World-renowned pianist)
郎朗 (国际著名钢琴家)
GWhen I was 9, my father and I moved to Beijing for me to study, leaving my mother at home.
It was a very difficult time. I was trying hard, but my lessons were going badly, and just before I was supposed to audition6) for the top music school in the country, the Central Conservatory, my tutor kicked me out of her studio. She told me that I wasn't meant to be a pianist, and that was devastating7). I stopped playing.
My music teacher in public school asked me why I wasn't playing anymore. I starting crying and said, "My tutor told me I had no talent." The teacher put Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 10 in C Major, K.330 in front of me and said, "Come on, Lang Lang, play the slow moment." And the whole class begged me to. So I started playing. As I performed I suddenly realized how much I loved the instrument, and I did feel I had a talent for it.
This Mozart piece had special significance for me because it brought me hope again. And if it hadn't been for that music teacher, I might have abandoned my dream to be a concert pianist.
九岁那年,我和父亲来到北京,踏上了求学之路,留下妈妈一个人在家。
那是一段非常艰难的时光。我刻苦努力地学习,成绩却始终不见长进。就在我即将参加全国顶级音乐学府——中央音乐学院的面试时,我的家教不愿意再教我了,她说我根本成不了钢琴家。她的话让我很受打击。我弃琴不弹了。
我在公立学校的音乐老师问我为什么不再弹琴了。我哭起来,说:“我的家教告诉我,我根本没有弹钢琴的天分。”音乐老师将莫扎特C大调第10号钢琴奏鸣曲(编号330)的曲谱摆在我面前说:“来,郎朗,弹一下这章慢板。”全班同学也央求我给他们弹一段。于是我开始弹起来。就在弹奏的过程当中,我突然意识到自己是多么喜欢钢琴,我也感觉自己的确是有天赋的。
这首莫扎特的曲子对我来说有着非同寻常的意义,是它让我重拾希望。而如果没有那位音乐老师,我可能早就放弃成为钢琴演奏家的梦想了。
My Parents, My Teachers 我的父母,我的老师
By Venus Williams (American tennis player)
维纳斯·威廉姆斯 (别名大威廉姆斯,美国网球名将)
Two of the most important people I know are my coaches. They also just happen to be my mom and dad!
My mom, Oracene Price, and my dad, Richard Williams, are my coaches. They started teaching me how to play tennis when I was only four years old. They gave me the confidence to believe in my game on the court, and to believe that I can do anything I try in life.
My coaches taught me that it's not about winning or losing, but learning from both experiences, and getting better each time. The most important lesson of all that they taught me was to enjoy the game and to have fun while giving it my all.
My parents always stressed that if I didn't love tennis, I should find something I did love and give it one hundred percent. Fortunately, they had a way of teaching tennis that made me love the game. I am still learning so many lessons from them, and I hope that one day I will be as great a teacher to others as they have been to me!
在我生命中最重要的人里,有两位要数我的教练了。而他们也恰巧是我的父母!
妈妈奥拉斯恩·普里斯和爸爸理查德·威廉姆斯就是我的教练。我才四岁的时候,他们就开始教我打网球。他们给了我自信,让我深信自己可以在球场上出色发挥,也让我相信:只要我肯尝试,生活中就没有做不到的事情。
我的两位教练告诫我不要在意输赢,而是要从这两种经历中总结经验教训,每一次都有所提升。他们教给我的最重要的一课是要学会享受比赛,在全力以赴的同时获得乐趣。
我的父母经常强调说,如果我不喜欢网球,就应该去寻找自己热爱的事情,然后百分之百地投入。幸运地是,他们教我打网球的方式让我爱上了这项运动。我目前仍在从他们身上学习着很多东西,我希望自己有一天也能成为别人的好老师,就像他们当初教我的那样!
Quality Humor 高雅的幽默感
By Jeff Kinney (American author and illustrator8) of children's books, most well-known writing Diary of a Wimpy Kid)
杰夫· 金尼 (美国童书作家、插画家,最有名的作品是《小屁孩日记》)
Fifth grade was a breakthrough year for me. It's when I started to develop my sense of humor, and I thank my teacher, Mrs. Eleanor Norton, for that.
Mrs. Norton was in her 60s and wore dresses with big flower prints on them. She welcomed humor in the classroom. School wasn't just for learning, it was for laughing. She made everything fun and she got students in on the act9). But she wasn't satisfied with cheap laughs10). When we made a joke, she'd challenge us to come up with something funnier.
One time my friends and I were practicing a comedy act that had us writhing11) around in a snake costume made of sewn-together sheets. I'm sure we looked ridiculous. Mrs. Norton gently described the difference between laughing "with" and laughing "at", suggesting that we would be laughed "at" by the audience. We thought about it and came up with a better act.
Mrs. Norton's guidance didn't stop there. In the fifth grade, I was a pretty good illustrator. I was pretty proud of my drawings. But Mrs. Norton showed me how my drawings could be better. She didn't let me settle for12) "good enough".
I still think about that. The year I spent in Mrs. Norton's class had a deep impact on me. I'll always remember the lessons I learned while in her classroom.
五年级对我来说是具有突破性的一年,因为当时我正开始培养自己的幽默感。说到这儿,我要谢谢我的老师埃莉诺·诺顿夫人。
诺顿夫人当时六十多岁,总是穿着印有大花的衣服。她鼓励我们在课上发挥幽默感。学校不光是学习的地方,也是让人开怀大笑的地方。她让每件事都变得很有意思,而且还带动学生一起参与进来。但她并不满足于没什么含金量的笑料。我们讲笑话的时候,她总是要求我们拿出更好笑的东西来。
有一次,我和几个朋友在为一幕喜剧进行排练,我们穿着用床单缝成的蛇的道具服在地上蜿蜒爬行。我确信我们的样子很好笑。然而诺顿夫人轻声道出了“laugh with”和“laugh at”的不同,暗示我们会被观众“laugh at”。我们考虑了她的话,设计出了一个更好的场景。
诺顿夫人的引导并不止于此。五年级的时候,我已经是一个很棒的小插画家了。我对自己的画作非常自豪。但诺顿夫人指点我怎样才能画得更好。她让我不要满足于“足够好”。
我如今仍会想起那些教导。跟诺顿夫人学习的一年令我受益匪浅。我会永远记得在她课上所学到的东西。
Days with Sid 和锡德在一起的日子
By Robert Winston (British medical professor)
罗伯特·温斯顿 (英国医学教授)
St Paul's School in London was full of teachers who were wonderful and highly intelligent. Perhaps one of the greatest teachers was the head of biology, Sid Pask. He had this extraordinary ability: he was both an inspiring person and he understood the way to turn people on to science was practical work, and he did that excellently.
We went on all sorts of field trips. We used to examine streams in summer, we would go to Hertfordshire to look at plant life, and we went to the beach to count seaweed.
We were out of uniform for the trips and Sid didn't try to discipline us, allowing us to be quite wild teenagers. He would sit there with a quiet smile on his face. There was humanity13) about him, which was important. Scientists sometimes forget that they are part of humanity.
I probably did least well in biology, but Sid was crucial in my development. He was witty, open-minded and enthusiastic, and he was able to focus on the things that were likely to stimulate us. Dissection14) was fantastic in biology. We dissected about 20 species of animal, and we used to dissect plants as well.
I first studied biology at university, and then switched to medicine. The first year I didn't need to do any work because I'd done it at school.
Research shows that about 60 percent of schools have inadequate laboratories, or health and safety is an excuse for not doing experiments. So it would be a crucial thing to improve the value of the practical work that children do, the sort of work we did with Sid.
伦敦圣保罗学校有很多才华横溢、智力过人的老师,而生物学主任锡德·帕斯克先生也许是其中最棒的老师之一。他有这样一种超凡的能力:擅长鼓舞人,并且深知只有实际观察、亲自动手才能让人爱上科学,而这一点他自己做得十分出色。
我们参加各种各样的野外实地考察。夏天我们去观察溪流,去赫特福德郡研究植物,还去海滩数海藻。
郊游的时候我们不用穿校服,锡德也从不试图管束我们,而是任由我们这些孩子撒“野”。他会坐在那儿,脸上挂着安静的微笑。他有着博爱仁慈之心,这一点非常重要。有时候科学家会忘记他们也应该有博爱仁慈的一面。
生物可能是我学得最不好的一门课,但锡德对于我的个人发展却起了至关重要的作用。他机智诙谐、思想开明、富有热情,总是专注于那些可能对我们有所激励的事情。解剖是生物课上最有意思的环节。我们解剖过二十几种动物,也常常解剖植物。
上大学后,我最初学的是生物学,然后才转学医学。大一的时候,我什么功课都不用做,因为我中学的时候就做过了。
研究表明,有60%左右的学校实验室设施不齐备,或是以健康和安全问题为由不开实验课。所以,提倡孩子们实际观察、亲自动手有着至关重要的意义,就像当年锡德带我们做的那些事一样。
My Hero 我心目中的英雄
By Arne Duncan (U.S. Secretary of Education)
阿恩·邓肯 (美国教育部长)
I am fortunate. I attended great schools, and I had exceptional teachers throughout my life. Of all the great teachers I had, my favorite was Darlene McCampbell.
Mrs. McCampbell was my high school English teacher at the University of Chicago Laboratory School, and she still teaches there today. She taught me to be a better writer and better reader. But above all, she taught me how to be a better student. In Mrs. McCampbell's class, I wasn't just taught about great literature, I was encouraged to have something to say. I was free to share my ideas and opinions, without fearing judgment. She expressed a strong belief in her students' potential. There was never talk of limits or ceilings or what we couldn't do.
In her class, expectations were high. She asked a lot of us, and in turn asked a lot of herself. She put in a lot of hard work and late nights.
I would not be where I am today if it weren't for teachers like Darlene McCampbell. Knowing that there are extraordinary teachers like her across the country motivates me. They teach us to show up15), participate and work hard. They inspire us to aim high and achieve great things. They are invaluable to a student's future and to the future of education in this country. They are my heroes.
我是一个幸运的人:入读最棒的学校,一生中有过很多杰出的老师。而在所有这些了不起的老师里,我最喜欢的还要数达莲娜·麦坎贝尔夫人。
麦坎贝尔夫人是我在芝加哥大学实验中学读高中时的英语老师,直到今天,她仍在那里任教。她使我的写作能力和阅读能力都得到了提高。然而最最重要的是,她教我如何成为一名更好的学生。在麦坎贝尔夫人的课上,她不但教我有关文学巨著的知识,还鼓励我说出自己的想法。我可以自由表达自己的想法和观点,而不必担心被评判。她对学生的潜能表现出极大的信任。她从不给我们设限,没有什么事是我们不可以做的。
她在课堂上对学生期望很高。她对我们提出很多要求,对自己也同样提出了很多要求。她为此不辞辛劳,甚至工作到深夜。
如果没有像达莲娜·麦坎贝尔夫人这样的老师们,我就不可能取得今天的成绩。想到美国到处都有像她一样的优秀教师,我就倍受鼓舞。他们教导我们要展现自我、乐于参与、勤奋努力。他们鼓励我们要树立远大的目标,取得伟大的成就。无论是对学生的未来,还是对美国教育的未来,这些老师的影响力都是无法估量的。他们是我心目中的英雄。