书城外语当英语成为时尚:生活全由你创造
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第65章 A Lesson of Life 生活的一课

Anonymous

心灵寄语

任何人的成功都不是一日之功,每个成功人士的背后都隐藏了太多的辛劳和坚忍,我们要怀着在成功之前决不放弃的念头,坚持不懈,幸运之神最终会降临在你的身上。

“Everything happens for the best,”my mother said whenever I faced disappointment,“If you can carry on, one day something good will happen. And you"ll realize that it wouldn"t have happened if not for that previous disappointment.”

Mother was right, as I discovered after graduating from college in 1932. I had decided to try for a job in radio, then work my way up to sports announcer. I hitchhiked1 to Chicago and knocked on the door of every station—and got turned down every time.

In one studio, a kind lady told me that big stations couldn"t risk hiring inexperienced person.“Go out in the sticks2 and find a small station that"ll give you a chance,”she said.

I thumbed3 home to Dixon, Illinois. While there were no radio-announcing jobs in Dixon, my father said Montgomery Ward had opened a store and wanted a local athlete to manage its sports department. Since Dixon was where I had played high school football, I applied. The job sounded just right for me. But I wasn"t hired.

My disappointment must have shown.“Everything happens for the best,”Mom reminded me. Dad offered me the car to job hunt. I tried WOC Radio in Davenport, Iowa. The program director, a wonderful Scotsman named Peter MacArthur, told me they had already hired an announcer.

As I left his office, my frustration boiled over4. I asked a1oud,“How can a fellow get to be a sport announcer if he can"t get a job in a radio station?”

I was waiting for the elevator when I heard MacArthur calling,“What was that you said about sports?Do you know anything about football?”Then he stood me before a microphone and asked me to broadcast an imaginary5 game.

On my way home, as I have many times since, I thought of my mother"s words,“If you carry on, one day something good will happen. Something wouldn"t have happened if not for that previous disappointment.”I often wonder what direction my life might have taken if I"d gotten the job at Montgomery Ward.

佚名

“一切都会好的。”每当我觉得沮丧时,母亲就会这样说。“只要你能坚持下去,总有一天好事会轮到你。而且你会发现,如果没有之前的沮丧,也不会有今天的成功。”

在1932年大学毕业后,我发现母亲的话是对的。当时我决定先试着在电台找份工作,然后争取有一天能成为体育节目的播音员。我搭便车到了芝加哥,走遍了所有的电台——但每次都被拒绝了。

在一个录音室里,一位善良的女士告诉我,大的广播电台是不会冒险雇用没经验的新人的。她说:“去郊区找一家小电台吧,他们也许会给你个机会。”

我又搭便车回到家,我的家在伊利诺斯州的迪克森。然而,在迪克森还没有电台播音员这样的工作,父亲说,蒙哥马利·沃德开了一家新商店,他想雇个本地的运动员管理店里的体育部。由于我中学时曾在迪克森打过橄榄球,于是我申请了这份工作。这工作听起来正是适合我的。但是,我没有被雇用。

我的失望一定表现得很明显。“一切都会好的,”母亲提醒了我。爸爸把车给我开,让我方便找工作。之后,我尝试到爱荷华州的达文波特市的一家叫WOC的电台应聘。电台的节目负责人是一个叫彼得·麦克阿瑟的苏格兰人,他人很好,告诉我他们已经雇了一个播音员了。

当我离开了他的办公室,我的挫折感达到了极点。我大声地叫:“一个连电台工作都找不到的人又怎么能成为体育播音员呢?”

当时我在等电梯,突然听到麦克阿瑟喊道:“刚刚你说体育的什么了?你懂橄榄球的规则吗?”接着,他让我站到麦克风前面,让我为一场想象的比赛做播音。

在回家的路上——之后我经常走这条路,我总会想起母亲的话:“只要你能坚持下去,总有一天好事会轮到你。而且你会发现,如果没有之前的沮丧,也不会有今天的成功。”我经常会想,如果当年我得到蒙哥马利·沃德店里的那份工作,我的人生之路又会通往何方呢?

词汇空间 ocabulary

1.hitchhike v. 搭便车

2.sticks n. 乡下,城郊

3.thumb v. 翘起拇指(示意请求搭便车)

4.boil over 沸腾,发怒,激动

5.imaginary adj. 想象中的,虚构的

文化链接 Culture Background

Hitchhike(搭便车)

Hitchhike这个词源于美国,最早出现在大约1923年,是指翘起大拇指向过往的汽车或卡车里的陌生人求得免费搭乘。“hitch”的本义是“系在一起”,特指临时性的动作。“hike”表示步行或行军,特指精力蓬勃的远足。远足多数是为了游乐,但如果要走很远的路去某地的话,走路本身的疲劳会使人沮丧。因此,可能这种请求搭便车的行为在轮子发明后就多了起来。但直到20世纪20年代,hitchhike这种诙谐的说法才正式形成,表示通过将自己临时“系”在路过的车子上,以解除徒步旅行的“痛苦”。

妙语拾珠

“If you can carry on, one day something good will happen. And you"ll realize that it wouldn"t have happened if not for that previous disappointment.”

“只要你能坚持下去,总有一天好事会轮到你。而且你会发现,如果没有之前的沮丧,也不会有今天的成功。”