名校励志英语演讲 99:执着于你的梦想(4)

 　　Well, let me tell you something. After two and a half hours—even though they told me that I shouldn't train that much or I would get really sore—I left the gymnasium¹, I rode my bicycle home. And after the first mile I got numb², and I couldn't feel anymore the handle of the bicycle, and I fell off the bike and I fell into the ditch³ on the side of the road. So I got up again and I tried it again. Another few yards, I fell off the bicycle again. And I tried it three, four more times, and I just couldn't ride my bicycle because my body was so numb and my legs felt like noodles.

　　让我告诉你们，尽管他们告诉我不能练那么久，否则会浑身酸痛，但我训练了两个半小时，然后离开健身房骑车回家。刚走一英里，我顿觉四肢麻木，连车把都感觉不到了，结果整个人从车上摔下来，掉进了路边的水沟里。我站立起来，又试了一次，但没骑多远又摔了下来。接下来我又试了三四次，但依旧不行，因为我全身异常酸麻，感觉腿就像面条一样软弱无力。

　　Well, let me tell you something. The next morning when I got up, my body was so sore that I couldn't even lift my arms to comb my hair. I had to have my mother comb my hair, and you know how embarrassing⁴ that is. But you know something? I learned⁵ a very important lesson, that pain means progress. Pain is progress. Each time my muscles were sore from a workout I knew that they were growing and they were getting stronger.

　　第二天早上起床，我浑身酸痛，连举手梳头都无能为力，只好叫我母亲帮我梳头——这真令人难堪！可你们知道吗，我获得了一个非常重要的教训：疼痛意味着进步。要想进步就得吃苦。每次我因过度训练而感觉肌肉酸痛时，我都知道，我的肌肉在增长、在强壮。

　　I think there is a real life lesson in that. After two or three years of discipline and determination and working out hard, I actually changed my body, and I changed my strength. And that told me something; that if I could change my body that much, and if I could change the strength of my body that much, then I could also change anything else. I could change my habits, I could change my intelligence, I could change my attitude, my mind, my future, my life. And this is exactly what I have done. I think that that lesson applies to people, and it also applies to countries. You can change, China can change, everyone in the world can change.

　　我认为，那其中蕴含着人生真谛。经过两三年意志上的磨练和体力上的锻炼，我最终改变了我的身体，我的力气也变大了。这件事告诉我，如果能在很大程度上改变我的身体，增强我的力气，我就能改变其他的一切：我能改变不好的习惯，能增强我的智慧，能改变我的态度、思想以及我的未来和我的人生。事实上我已经做到了。我想，这一教训也适用于任何人，也适用于任何国家。你们可以改变，中国可以改变，世界上每一个人都可以改变。

　　名人简介

　　阿诺德·施瓦辛格总是充满自信。他在1973年出版的自传小说《阿诺德，一个健美运动员的成长》中说：“我知道我是一个赢者，我知道我一定要做伟大是事情。”在洛杉矶定居后，他不满足于只是健美冠军，立即向世界富豪的目标前进。无穷的抱负和充沛的精力使施瓦辛格永远迎接新的挑战。施瓦辛格的名字如同原子弹爆炸一样响遍全球，已经有人用“神话”来形容他的成功故事。在美国，在这个性、吸毒、摇滚乐流行的地方，施瓦辛格的影迷竟可以排在第四位。施瓦辛格简直成了大众文化的代表，美国人的偶像。

1 gymnasium   

n.体育馆，健身房

参考例句：

• Our school has a big gymnasium.我们学校有座大型体育馆。
• The game will be staged in the gymnasium.竞赛将在体育馆举行。

2 numb   

adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木

参考例句：

• His fingers were numb with cold.他的手冻得发麻。
• Numb with cold,we urged the weary horses forward.我们冻得发僵，催着疲惫的马继续往前走。

3 ditch   

n.沟，沟渠，渠道

参考例句：

• With the blind leading the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.如果瞎子替瞎子带路的话，那么两方肯定会掉到沟里。
• The water in the ditch is not very clean.沟里的水不很清洁。

4 embarrassing   

adj.使人尴尬的，令人为难的v.（使）窘迫，（使）局促不安( embarrass的现在分词)

参考例句：

• His jokes didn't even raise a smile, which was embarrassing. 听了他讲的笑话，都没人笑一下，真是太尴尬了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I was in the embarrassing position of having completely forgotten her name. 当时我完全忘记了她的名字，很是尴尬。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。