3-2 像龙尼那样去生活

Living Like Ronnie

 

The students at Beijing Hongzhi Middle School, where I teach English once a week, are an impressive group, but like so many kids in Beijing they are also under tremendous pressure from their parents to get good grades. This pressure seems never to end. Many times students will confide¹ to me that they have been having difficult conversations with their parents about their grades, and they are frightened about the future. Even very good students are not immune¹. Although their grades are already very high, their parents constantly press them to study more and work harder. There is an all-pervasive fear of failure and a constant dread² that any slow-down in their work could seriously harm their chances of getting into a famous university and living a good life in the future.

 

But this dread is mistaken. It may have been true many years ago that the chance of success was very low, and a failure to grasp that chance would condemn³² a young person to a life of poverty and failure, but things have changed. As China continues its rapid growth and even more rapid pace of social change, the demand for smart, educated and creative people will rise rapidly, and the chances for success will depend more on a person’s imagination, willingness to take risk, and common sense³ than on his school grades or which university he attended.

 

This is a very important point that I think many students fail to grasp. In a poor and unchanging sys tem, like China of old, the path to advancement⁴ tends to be very narrow, rigid⁵ and well-defined. With few opportunities for advancement, and with a very clearly-defined hierarchy⁶⁴, anyone who wants to do well has to slog⁵ his way up the ladder⁶, and since everyone knows exactly what he must do in order to advance, there is no room for imagination or playfulness. Success comes from a very rigid and highly disciplined study of what worked in the past.

 

But China today is very different. It is growing and changing so quickly that it is no longer so obvious what kind of success is available and how to achieve it. Old ways of succeeding are becoming less relevant, and as new opportunities open up, they will not necessarily go to those who have worked diligently⁷ and patiently to earn the right credentials⁸⁷. New opportunities don’t require credentials. Instead these new opportunities will go to whoever is first to see them and to seize them. The new China, in other words, will not belong to those who have mastered the old way of succeeding. It will belong to those who have mastered the new way.

 

One of my favorite students at my middle school may be a good example of what I mean. Ronnie (his English nickname) is a very bright young man in his last year of middle school. He is a good athlete, popular among his classmates, and embraces life with such gusto⁸ that wherever he is he seems to be the center of attention.

 

Ronnie is not in my class. I met him in my second day of teaching when I went to the basketball court after class to shoot⁹ a few baskets with the students. Most middle school students would be a little shy of walking up to and befriending a new teacher who happened to be a foreigner and had been introduced to the school as a well-known Tsinghua economics professor, but Ronnie was not intimidated¹⁰ in the least¹¹. He came up to me, welcomed me to the school and offered to organize a basketball game. After the game we continued our conversation and I was so impressed by his attitude and poise¹⁰ that I offered to give him regular English lessons after school.

 

Over the past months I have gotten to know Ronnie very well. His enthusiasm for new experiences and the ease¹² with which he has mingled¹² with¹³ my Tsinghua students and foreign friends is very impressive for one so young. Instead of grinding out¹⁴ homework, which he avoids every chance he gets, he prefers to meet new kinds of people, explore Beijing, and discover new ideas. He doesn’t sit back watching nervously¹³ as life whirls¹⁵ around him but prefers to jump into the middle of things and learn how to navigate¹⁴¹⁶.

 

But for all his intelligence and enthusiasm, Ronnie is not a particularly good student. Instead of rigid focus and concentration, Ronnie offers a rapid mind and intellectual fearlessness. This is not what a student needs in order to do well on the national exams, and in fact it can actually hurt his performance by distracting him from the boring but necessary hard work. Because his grades are not brilliant, I am sure that Ronnie’s parents are very worried about his future. His grades are just not good enough to get him into a top university.

 

If I had met him twenty years ago, I too might have been very worried about Ronnie’s future prospects¹⁵. In those days there didn’t seem to be much room for a smart, quick-thinking, and imaginative young man who was willing to take risks but was unable to force himself to buckle¹⁶ down¹⁷ and memorize the huge amounts of information he needed to pass his exams with good grades. Today, however, I am not worried for him at all. I think that even though Ronnie will probably miss the chance to go to a famous university, he will probably have a better career than many of the top students in his school. What will he do? I have no idea, but that is the point. As an imaginative and bright young man who is not afraid to try new things, China today is more open to him than it will be to many other young men and women who have spent most of their young lives studying and passing exams.

 

My students at Beijing Hongzhi Middle School and at Tsinghua University are among the most impressive young men and women that I have met in any of the many countries I have lived or worked in. They are also lucky enough to be living in a place and time where the future is wide open and anything is possible. But I often worry that my students are sometimes under too much pressure -- from their parents, their teachers, and themselves -- and that this pressure, rather than increase their chances of success, is actually going to harm their lives and reduce their chances of doing well. I would like to see many more of them exchange their dread of future for enthusiasm for life. I would love to see many more of them living like Ronnie.

 

注释：

1. immune [i5mju:n] adj. 不受影响的；免除的

2. condemn [kEn5dem] vt. 迫使（某人）处于不幸（或不愉快）的状态

3. commonsense常识；（由实际生活经验得来的）判断力

4. hierarchy [5haiErB:ki] n. 等级制度；等级森严的组织

5. slog [slC^] 〈口〉vt.顽强地行（路）；努力苦干

6. ladder [5lAdE(r)] n. 阶梯；发迹的途径

7. credential [kri5denFEl] n. [～s]证明书；文凭

8. gusto [5^QstEu] n. 热情；充沛的精力

9. shoot [Fu:t] vt. [篮]投（篮）；（投篮）进（球）

10. intimidate⁹ [in5timideit] vt. 恐吓；威胁

11. intheleast 丝毫，极少，一点儿

12. ease [i:z] n. 自在；不窘迫；安适

13. mingle¹¹ with 相交往；相往来

14. grind out 机械地做出，例行公事般地做出

15. whirl [(h)wE:l] vi. 急转；旋转

16. navigate [5nAvi^eit] vi. 驾驶；驾驭

17. buckle down倾全力（于），开始认真从事

 

像龙尼那样去生活

　　

我在北京宏志中学教英文，每周授课一次，那里的学生给我留下了深刻的印象。但像北京许许多多的孩子一样，他们也承受着父母对于高分的期望所带来的巨大压力。这种压力似乎是永无休止的。学生们多次向我私下透露，他们与父母一直就学习分数进行着艰难的对话，他们对未来心怀恐惧。即便成绩很优秀的学生也不例外。尽管他们的分数已经很高了，父母仍在不断地施加压力，希望他们更加刻苦地去学习更多知识。对他们而言，这种对失败的恐惧似乎无所不在，他们总是害怕，任何学习上的懈怠都会对他们考取名牌大学及将来过上美好生活造成严重的不利影响。

　　这种忧虑是错误的。如果在许多年前，这种忧虑可能不无道理，因为成功的机遇在当时非常地少，丧失机遇就会迫使某个年轻人处于终生的贫困和失败。然而，现在情况已经不同了。随着中国不断的快速发展及其社会更为迅猛的变革，对有头脑、有文化、有创造力的优秀人才的需求将急剧增加，成功的机遇将越来越取决于一个人的想像力、冒险精神及判断力，而非学习分数或上的哪所大学。

　　我认为很多学生并未认识到这非常重要的一点。在中国过去一成不变的不完善体制下，进步的道路往往是很狭窄、僵化、教条的。发展的机遇很少，等级分明，要出人头地就必须靠努力工作一级一级向上爬。人人都清楚地知道要求得进步须做些什么，因此根本没有想像的空间和自由发挥的余地。成功来源于僵化刻板地学习过去的有用经验。

　　但今天的中国已经发生了很大变化。中国发展变化的速度如此之快，成功的类型及方式已经不再如此清晰。原有的成功模式越来越跟不上形势的发展，新的机遇不断出现，而机遇不一定是留给那些靠刻苦耐心的学习去获取资格证书的人。资格证书不再是抓住新机遇的必要条件，相反，新的机遇属于那些首先发现并抓住它的人。换句话说，今天的中国不属于那些深谙老套成功之道的人，它属于那些掌握了新的成功模式的人。

　　龙尼（英文昵称）是我任教的这所中学里我最为喜爱的一个学生，他也许可以很好地说明我的观点。龙尼是位非常聪明的年轻人，在毕业班学习。他是个很棒的运动员，在同学中很受欢迎。他对生活充满了热忱，无论走到哪里似乎都是大家注意的焦点。

　　龙尼不在我班上。我认识他是在我第二次去授课的那天，我课后去了篮球场，和学生们一起投投篮。多数中学生有点羞于上前向一位新到任的教师示好，何况这位教师还是个外国人，而且据说还是清华的知名经济学教授。然而龙尼一点也没有胆怯。他向我走了过来，对我来到该校表示了欢迎，然后提议组织一场篮球赛。比赛结束后，我们接着聊了起来，他的态度和自信给我留下了深刻的印象，因此我提出定期为他在放学后上英文课。

　　几个月过去了，我对龙尼已非常地熟悉。尽管他非常年轻，但其对新体验的热情以及与我清华的学生和外国朋友融洽相处的那份自如令人印象深刻。他从不把自己束缚在课业中，总是想尽办法避开。他喜欢和不同类型的人交往，喜欢探究北京，琢磨些新点子。他不是紧张地坐观生活的剧烈变化，而是喜欢跳入其中，去学习驾驭生活。

　　虽然龙尼有头脑、有热情，但他算不上非常优秀的学生。他并没有专心致志、一门心思地学习，他头脑敏捷、思路大胆。然而，在全国高考中取得佳绩并不需要这种素质。事实上，这种素质会分散他对那些枯燥但却又必须刻苦学习的课业的注意力，因此影响他的学习成绩。由于龙尼的成绩不突出，我相信他的父母很为其前途担忧。龙尼的分数不足以使他考入顶尖的大学。

　　假如我是20年前认识他，我或许也为龙尼的未来前途感到担心。对于在那个年代里勇于冒险的年轻人而言，不管他多么聪明，头脑多么敏捷且富于想像，但由于他不愿埋头苦记所需的大量信息以便高分通过考试，他的发展空间不会太大。然而现在，我一点不为龙尼担心。我想,即使龙尼可能没有上名校的机会,他也可能有个比学校许多顶尖学生要好的事业。他将来干什么呢？我不清楚，但这正是我不为他担心的原因所在。今天中国的成功之路将更多地对这个富于想像、头脑聪明、勇于尝试的年轻人开放，而非许多把大部分青春时光花在学习和准备考试上的青年男女。

在我曾经生活和工作过的许多国家里，我遇到过许多优秀的年轻人，北京宏志中学和清华大学的学生也是最令我印象深刻的年轻男女。他们幸运地生活在这么一个前景广阔、机遇无限的国家和时代。然而，我常常担心的是，他们有时处于父母、老师及自身的重压之下，这种压力不会增加他们成功的几率，相反会给他们的生活带来不利影响，减少他们成功的机会。我希望看到更多的学生能够用对生活的热情取代对未来的忧虑。我希望看到更多的学生能像龙尼那样去生活。

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 confide   

v.向某人吐露秘密

参考例句：

• I would never readily confide in anybody.我从不轻易向人吐露秘密。
• He is going to confide the secrets of his heart to us.他将向我们吐露他心里的秘密。

2 dread   

vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧

参考例句：

• We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
• Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。

3 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

4 advancement   

n.前进，促进，提升

参考例句：

• His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
• The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。

5 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

6 hierarchy   

n.等级制度；统治集团，领导层

参考例句：

• There is a rigid hierarchy of power in that country.那个国家有一套严密的权力等级制度。
• She's high up in the management hierarchy.她在管理阶层中地位很高。

7 diligently   

ad.industriously;carefully

参考例句：

• He applied himself diligently to learning French. 他孜孜不倦地学法语。
• He had studied diligently at college. 他在大学里勤奋学习。

8 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。

9 intimidate   

vt.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• You think you can intimidate people into doing what you want?你以为你可以威胁别人做任何事？
• The first strike capacity is intended mainly to intimidate adversary.第一次攻击的武力主要是用来吓阻敌方的。

10 poise   

vt./vi. 平衡，保持平衡；n.泰然自若，自信

参考例句：

• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise.她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。
• Ballet classes are important for poise and grace.芭蕾课对培养优雅的姿仪非常重要。

11 mingle   

vt.使混合，使相混；vi.混合起来；相交往

参考例句：

• If we mingle with the crowd,we should not be noticed.如果我们混在人群中，就不会被注意到。
• Oil will not mingle with water.油和水不相融。

12 mingled   

混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系]

参考例句：

• The sounds of laughter and singing mingled in the evening air. 笑声和歌声交织在夜空中。
• The man and the woman mingled as everyone started to relax. 当大家开始放松的时候，这一男一女就开始交往了。

13 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

14 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

15 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

16 buckle   

n.扣子，带扣；v.把...扣住，由于压力而弯曲

参考例句：

• The two ends buckle at the back.带子两端在背后扣起来。
• She found it hard to buckle down.她很难专心做一件事情。