Who Is Great?
Michael Ryan
As a young boy, Albert Einstein did so poorly in school that teachers thought he was slow. The young Napoleon Bonaparte was just one of hundreds of artillery lieutenants in the French Army. And the teenage George Washington, with little formal education, was being trained not as a soldier but as a land surveyor.
Despite their unspectacular beginnings, each would go on to carve a place for himself in history. What was it that enabled them to become great? Were they born with something special? Or did their greatness have more to do with timing, devotion and, perhaps, an uncompromising personality?
For decades, scientists have been asking such questions. And, in the past few years, they have found evidence to help explain why some people rise above, while others—similarly talented, perhaps—are left behind. Their findings could have implications for us all.
Who is great? Defining who is great depends on how one measures success. But there are some criteria. "Someone who has made a lasting contribution to human civilization is great," said Dean Keith Simonton, a professor of psychology at the University of California at Davis and author of the 1994 book Greatness: Who Makes History and Why. But he added a word of caution: "Sometimes great people don't make it into the history books. A lot of women achieved great things or were influential but went unrecognized."
In writing his book, Simonton combined historical knowledge about great figures with recent findings in genetics, psychiatry and the social sciences. The great figures he focused on include men and women who have won Nobel Prizes, led great nations or won wars, composed symphonies that have endured for centuries, or revolutionized science, philosophy, politics or the arts. Though he doesn't have a formula to define how or why certain people rise above (too many factors are involved), he has come up with a few common characteristics.
A "never surrender" attitude. If great achievers share anything, said Simonton, it is an unrelenting drive to succeed. "There's a tendency to think that they are endowed with something super-normal," he explained. "But what comes out of the research is that there are great people who have no amazing intellectual processes. It's a difference in degree. Greatness is built upon tremendous amounts of study, practice and devotion."
He cited Winston Churchill, Britain's prime minister during World War II, as an example of a risk-taker who would never give up. Thrust into office when his country's morale was at its lowest, Churchill rose brilliantly to lead the British people. In a speech following the Allied evacuation at Dunkirk in 1940, he inspired the nation when he said, "We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end...We shall never surrender."
Can you be born great? In looking at Churchill's role in history—as well as the roles of other political and military leaders—Simonton discovered a striking pattern: "Firstborns and only children tend to make good leaders in time of crisis: They're used to taking charge. But middle-borns are better as peacetime leaders: They listen to different interest groups better and make the necessary compromises. Churchill, an only child, was typical. He was great in a crisis, but in peacetime he was not effective—not even popular."
Timing is another factor. "If you took George Washington and put him in the 20th century he
would go nowhere as a politician," Simonton declared. "He was not an effective public speaker, and he didn't like shaking hands with the public. On the other hand, I'm not sure Franklin Roosevelt would have done well in Washington's time. He wouldn't have had the radio to do his fireside chats."
Can you be too smart? One surprise among Simonton's findings is that many political and military leaders have been bright but not overly so. Beyond a certain point, he explained, other factors, like the ability to communicate effectively, become more important than innate intelligence as measured by an IQ test. The most intelligent U.S. Presidents, for example—Thomas Jefferson, Woodrow Wilson and John F. Kennedy—had a hard time getting elected, Simonton said, while others with IQs closer to the average (such as Warren G. Harding) won by landslides. While political and economic factors also are involved, having a genius IQ is not necessary to be a great leader.
In the sciences, those with "genius level" IQs do have a better chance at achieving recognition, added Simonton. Yet evidence also indicates that overcoming traditional ways of thinking may be just as important.
He pointed to one recent study where college students were given a set of data and were asked to see if they could come up with a mathematical relation. Almost a third did. What they did not know was that they had just solved one of the most famous scientific equations in history: the Third Law of Planetary Motion, an equation that Johannes Kepler came up with in 1618.
Kepler's genius, Simonton said, was not so much in solving a mathematical challenge. It was in thinking about the numbers in a unique way—applying his mathematical knowledge to his observations of planetary motion. It was his boldness that set him apart.
Love your work. As a child, Einstein became fascinated with the way magnets are drawn to metal. "He couldn't stop thinking about this stuff," Simonton pointed out. "He became obsessed with problems in physics by the time he was 16, and he never stopped working on them. It's not surprising that he made major contributions by the time he was 26."
"For most of us, it's not that we don't have the ability," Simonton added, "it's that we don't devote the time. You have to put in the effort and put up with all the frustrations and obstacles."
Like other creative geniuses, Einstein was not motivated by a desire for fame, said Simonton. Instead, his obsession with his work was what set him apart.
Where such drive comes from remains a mystery. But it is found in nearly all creative geniuses—whether or not their genius is acknowledged by contemporaries.
"Emily Dickinson was not recognized for her poetry until after her death," said Simonton. "But she was not writing for fame. The same can be said of James Joyce, who didn't spend a lot of time worrying about how many people would read Finnegans Wake."
Today, researchers have evidence that an intrinsic passion for one's work is a key to rising above. In a 1985 study at Brandeis University conducted by Teresa Amabile, now a professor of business administration at Harvard University, a group of professional writers—none famous—were asked to write a short poem. Each writer was then randomly placed in one of three groups: One group was asked to keep in mind the idea of writing for money; another was told to think about writing just for pleasure; and a third group was given no instruction at all.
The poems then were submitted anonymously to a panel of professional writers for evaluation. The poetry written by people who thought about writing for money ranked lowest. Those who thought about writing just for pleasure did the best. "Motivation that comes from enjoying the
work makes a significant difference, "Amabile said.
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The Gratitude We Need
A.J. Cronin
On a fine afternoon in New York, I got into a taxi. From the driver's expression and the way he slammed in his gears, I could tell that he was upset. I asked him what was the trouble. "I've got good reason to be sore," he growled. "One of my fares left a wallet in my cab this morning. Nearly three hundred bucks in it. I spent more than an hour trying to trace the guy. Finally I found him at his hotel. He took the wallet without a word and glared at me as though I'd meant to steal it." "He didn't give you a reward?" I exclaimed.
"Not a cent. But it wasn't the dough I wanted..." he fumbled, then exploded, "If the guy had only said something..."
Because his helpful, honest act had not been appreciated, that cabdriver's day was poisoned, and I knew he would think twice before rendering a similar service. The need for gratitude is something we all feel, and denial of it can do much to harm the spirit of kindness and cooperation.
During World War II a mother in Cincinnati received a letter from her son in the army in which he spoke of a woman in a village in Normandy who had taken him into her home when he was wounded and hungry, and hidden him from the Germans. Later on, unhappily, the boy was killed in the Ardennes offensive. Yet the mother was moved by an irresistible intention. She saved up for two years, crossed the Atlantic and located the village referred to by her son. After many inquiries, she found the woman who had sheltered her son—the wife of an impoverished farmer—and pressed a package into her hand. It was the gold wristwatch her son had received on his graduation, the only object of real value the boy had ever possessed. The mother's act of gratitude so touched people's hearts that it has become something of a legend in and around the village. It has done more than fine speeches to foster good feeling toward Americans.
Gratitude is the art of receiving gracefully, of showing appreciation for every kindness, great and small. Most of us do not fail to show our pleasure when we receive hospitality, gifts and obvious benefits, but even here we can perfect our manner of showing gratitude by making it as personal and sincere as possible. Recently, when touring in southern Italy with my wife, I sent to a friend in Connecticut several bottles of a local wine which had taken our fancy. It was a trifling gift, yet to our surprise, instead of the conventional letter of thanks, we receive a phonograph record. When we played it, we heard our friend's voice speaking after dinner, describing how he and his guests had enjoyed the wine and thanking us for our thoughtfulness. It was pleasant to have this unusual
proof that our gift had been appreciated.
Gratitude is sometimes more than a personal affair. My son, studying medicine at McGill University, told me of a patient brought into hospital in Montreal whose life was saved by a blood transfusion. When he was well again he asked: "Isn't there any way I can discover the name of the donor and thank him?" He was told that names of donors are never revealed. A few weeks after his discharge he came back to give a pint of his own blood. Since then he has returned again and again for the same purpose. When a surgeon commented on this splendid record of anonymous service, he answered simply: "Someone I never knew did it for me. I'm just saying 'thanks'".
It is a comforting thought that gratitude can be not merely a passing sentiment but a renewal which can, in some instances, persist for a lifetime. A husband who recalls appreciatively some generous or unselfish act on his wife's part, or a wife who never forgets the gifts her husband has given her, does much to keep the domestic wheels spinning smoothly. W.H. Hudson, British author and naturalist, has written: "One evening I brought home a friend to share our usual evening meal. Afterward he said to me:‘You are fortunate to have a wife who, despite ill health and children to look after, cooks such excellent meals.' That tribute opened my eyes and taught me to show gratitude for my wife's day-to-day heroism, which I had hitherto taken for granted."
It is, above all, in the little things that the grace of gratitude should be most employed. The boy who delivers our paper, the milkman, the mailman, the barber, the waitress at a restaurant, the elevator operator—all oblige us in one way or another. By showing our gratitude we make routine relationships human and render monotonous tasks more agreeable.
A patient of mine in London who worked as a bus conductor once confided to me, "I get fed up with my job sometimes. People grumble, bother you, haven't got the right change for their tickets. But there's one lady on my bus morning and evening, and she always thanks me in a particularly friendly way when I take her ticket. I like to think she's speaking for all the passengers. It helps me to keep smiling."
Arnold Bennett had a publisher who boasted about the extraordinary efficiency of his secretary. One day Bennett said to her, "Your employer claims that you are extremely efficient. What is your secret?" "It's not my secret," the secretary replied. "It's his." Each time she performed a service, no matter how small, he never failed to acknowledge it. Because of that she took infinite pains with her work.
Some persons refrain from expressing their gratitude because they feel it will not be welcome. A patient of mine, a few weeks after his discharge from the hospital, came back to thank his nurse. "I didn't come back sooner," he explained, "because I imagined you must be bored to death with people thanking you."
"On the contrary," she replied, "I am delighted you came. Few realize how much we need encouragement and how much we are helped by those who give it."
Gratitude is something of which none of us can give too much. For on the smiles, the thanks we give, our little gestures of appreciation, our neighbors build up their philosophy of life.
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How to Change Your Point of View
Caroline Seebohm
Dr. Edward Jenner was busy trying to solve the problem of smallpox. After studying case after case, he still found no possible cure. He had reached an impasse in his thinking. At this point, he changed his tactics. Instead of focusing on people who had smallpox, he switched his attention to people who did not have smallpox. It turned out that dairymaids apparently never got the disease. From the discovery that harmless cowpox gave protection against deadly smallpox came vaccination and the end of smallpox as a scourge in the western world.
We often reach an impasse in our thinking. We are looking at a problem and trying to solve it and it seems there is a dead end. It is on these occasions that we become tense, we feel pressured, overwhelmed, in a state of stress. We struggle vainly, fighting to solve the problem.
Dr. Jenner, however, did something about this situation. He stopped fighting the problem and simply changed his point of view—from his patients to dairy maids. Picture the process going something like this: Suppose the brain is a computer. This computer has absorbed into its memory bank all your history, your experiences, your training, your information received through life; and it is programmed according to all this data. To change your point of view, you must reprogramme your computer, thus freeing yourself to take in new ideas and develop new ways of looking at things. Dr. Jenner, in effect, by reprogramming his computer, erased the old way of looking at his smallpox problem and was free to receive new alternatives.
That's all very well, you may say, but how do we actually do that?
Doctor and philosopher Edward de Bono has come up with a technique for changing our point of view, and he calls it Lateral Thinking.
The normal Western approach to a problem is to fight it. The saying, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going," is typical of this aggressive attitude toward problem-solving. No matter what the problem is, or the techniques available for solving it, the framework produced by our Western way of thinking is fight. Dr. de Bono calls this vertical thinking; the traditional, sequential, Aristotelian thinking of logic, moving firmly from one step to the next, like toy blocks being built one on top of the other. The flaw is, of course, that if at any point one of the steps is not reached, or one of the toy blocks is incorrectly placed, then the whole structure collapses. Impasse is reached, and frustration, tension, feelings of fight take over.
Lateral thinking, Dr. de Bono says, is a new technique of thinking about things—a technique that avoids this fight altogether, and solves the problem in an entirely unexpected fashion.
In one of Sherlock Holmes's cases, his assistant, Dr. Watson, pointed out that a certain dog was of no importance to the case because it did not appear to have done anything. Sherlock Holmes took the opposite point of view and maintained that the fact the dog had done nothing was of the utmost significance, for it should have been expected to do something, and on this basic he solved the case.
Lateral thinking sounds simple. And it is. Once you have solved a problem laterally, you wonder how you could ever have been hung up on it. The key is making that vital shift in emphasis, that sidestepping of the problem, instead of attacking it head-on.
Dr. A. A. Bridger, psychiatrist at Columbia University and in private practice in New York, explains how lateral thinking works with his patients. "Many people come to me wanting to stop smoking, for instance," he says. "Most people fail when they are trying to stop smoking because they wind up telling themselves, 'No, I will not smoke; no, 1 shall not smoke; no, I will not; no, I cannot...' It's a fight and what happens is you end up smoking more."
"So instead of looking at the problem from the old ways of no, and fighting it, I show them a whole new point of view—that you are your body's keeper, and your body is something through which you experience life. If you stop to think about it, there's really something helpless about your body. It can do nothing for itself. It has no choice, it is like a baby's body. You begin then a whole new way of looking at it—‘I am now going to take care of myself, and give myself some respect and protection, by not smoking.'
“There is a Japanese parable about a donkey tied to a p ole by a rope. The rope rubs tight against his neck. The more the donkey fights and pulls on the rope, the tighter and tighter it gets around his throat—until he winds up dead. On the other hand, as soon as he stops fighting, he finds that the rope gets slack, he can walk around, maybe find some grass to eat...That's the same principle: The more you fight something the more anxious you become—the more you're involved in a bad pattern, the more difficult it is to escape pain.
"Lateral thinking," Dr. Bridger goes on, "is simply approaching a problem with what I would call an Eastern flanking maneuver. You know, when a zen archer wants to hit the target with a bow and arrow, he doesn't concentrate on the target, he concentrates rather on what he has in his hands, so when he lets the arrow go, his focus is on the arrow, rather than the target. This is what an Eastern flanking maneuver implies—instead of approaching the target directly, you approach it from a sideways point of view—or laterally instead of vertically."
"I think the answer lies in that direction," affirms Dr. Bridger. "Take the situation where someone is in a crisis. The Chinese word for crisis is divided into two characters, one meaning danger and the other meaning opportunity. We in the Western wor ld focus only upon the ‘danger' aspect of crisis. Crisis in Western civilization has come to mean danger, period. And yet the word can also mean opportunity. Let us now suggest to the person in crisis that he cease concentrating so upon the dangers involved and the difficulties, and concentrate instead upon the opportunity—for there is always opportunity in crisis. Looking at a crisis from an opportunity point of view is a lateral thought."
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How to Become Gifted
Julius and Barbara Fast
In a study of educational techniques, a teacher was told r that her newclass were all gifted children. "You should get above-average results from them," she was advised, and by the end of the term she was getting just that, better than average work.
The remarkable thing about it all was that in reality the class was not unusual. They were just an average group of students with IQs within the normal range. The teacher had been deceived about their potential.
This study uncovered many answers to many questions about teaching and children, but it left even more questions unanswered. One point it did make with unusual clarity is that a child will usually live up to a teacher's expectations when the child believes those expectations are honest. An unanswered question was: In what way did the teacher communicate to the students that they were special and could do superior work? She didn't tell them that in so many words, but obviously something about her attitude convinced the students that they were gifted.
Further studies showed that the special "something" in the teacher's attitude was, in part, the type of work she gave the class, and in part how she presented it. But the strongest "something" was the teacher herself and her attitude toward the class and toward their ability.
There was an extra amount of confidence and interest in her voice that said, "You're bright children." There was a constant reassuring tone that told them they would do well, very well. The children picked up these signals and reacted positively to them.
When a student's work did not measure up to the teacher's expectations, as often happened, the student was not treated with disappointment, anger, or annoyance. Instead, the teacher assumed that this was an exception, an accident, a bad day, a momentary slip — and the student believed her and felt reassured. The next time around, he tried harder, determined to live up to what the teacher knew he could do.
The exact part of communication that tells a child, "I expect the best," is difficult to pinpoint. In part it consists of a level tone showing assurance, a lack of verbal impatience, an absence of negative qualities such as irony, put-downs, and irritation. The teacher who expects the best asks her questions with conviction, knowing the answers she gets will be right, and the child picks up that conviction.
Most of this is transmitted through the voice, but a surprising amount is in the attitude, in touch, and in facial expression.
An experiment similar to the one done with "gifted" children was done with "gifted" mice. A scientist was given a group of ordinary mice, but told that they were a special breed, trained to run a maze in record time. Working with these mice, the scientist found that they did learn faster than other mice and did run the maze more quickly.
But mice know nothing of our language. How was the scientist able to communicate his expectations to them? An examination of all the variables in the test concluded that the unusually good results were due to the way he had handled the mice, the way he talked to them and the tone, the confidence, the reassurance, and the certainty in his voice. They absorbed all the messages and performed accordingly!
In a broader view of both these experiments, the teacher and the scientist used a principle common to all societies at all levels — the principle of labeling. All our expectations are prejudiced, and we have very different expectations for different people, even on a national level. We think of people in terms of national characteristics. We expect Americans to be greedy, after the big buck, and we label them that way in our minds. We label Germans neat and orderly, English cold, distant, and reserved, Italians emotional, Japanese polite——and so it goes. We pin a very narrow label on a very broad, far from homogeneous group. We do it on racial levels too. Blacks are musical, Indians are stoic, Orientals inscrutable. We even label the sexes — men are aggressive, women
passive.
On a family basis, the labels are sometimes attached by the neighbors. "Those Joneses are trash...always on welfare." Or the label may be attached by the family itself. "We Smiths would rather go hungry than ask for government help！" The Smith boy, growing up with this label of awesome independence, lives up to it as readily as the Jones girl lives up to her label. "They all think we're trash? I'll act like trash！"
The label may be less inclusive, even sexist. One family might say proudly, "The men in our family are always professionals." When Bill, a son in this family finds that carpentry is the work he loves best, he faces a family conflict — and a conflict with himself. His inner strength may allow him to go through with his own desires and become a carpenter, but then he knows that he hasn't lived up to the family label and he goes through life with a sense of guilt. He may even create his own label. "I'm a failure, really." It doesn't matter that Bill is a success in his field, that in time he owns his own business and makes more money than his brother Bob, who became a lawyer. Bill is still not a professional man, and as a result his inner label still reads failure. Labeling within a family starts very early. Before the baby understands verbal language, he responds to body language and indirect communication. He senses the love in his parents' voice before he understands the words, and he also senses the rejection, indifference, fear, or hostility, and he reacts to those emotions too.
If he's treated with love and gentleness, he responds with both emotions. Later, when he understands speech, he accepts his label. Jimmy is the nice one in the family, or Sally, who's been a difficult baby, earns the label of troublemaker. Each child, along with his given name, picks up a label. She's the clever one. He's the pushy one. Norman is always late. Betty is so hard to love. Barbara is cold. Jack is wild. Natalie is sweet, and so on. The labels may reflect reality. Natalie may be sweet, but as often as not the reality has been imposed on the child by the label. If Natalie hears that she is sweet often enough, she begins to act sweet. You tend to live up to your label.
In the same way, the students in the teaching experiment were labeled bright, and they managed to be bright, to work beyond their ordinary ability.
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Prison Studies
Malcolm X
Many who today hear me somewhere in person, or on television, or those who read something I've said, will think I went to school far beyond the eighth grade. This impression is due entirely to my prison studies.
It had really begun back in the Charlestown Prison, when Bimbi first made me feel envy of his stock of knowledge. Bimbi had always taken charge of any conversation he was in, and I had tried to emulate him. But every book I picked up had few sentences which didn't contain anywhere from one to nearly all of the words that might as well have been in Chinese. When I just skipped those words, of course, I really ended up with little idea of what the book said. So I had come to the Norfolk Prison Colony still going through only book-reading motions. Pretty soon, I would have quit even these motions, unless I had received the motivation that I did.
I saw that the best thing I could do was get hold of a dictionary—to study, to learn some words. I was lucky enough to reason also that I should try to improve my penmanship. It was sad. I couldn't even write in a straight line. It was both ideas together that moved me to request a dictionary along with some tablets and pencils from the Norfolk Prison Colony school.
I spent two days just thumbing uncertainly through the dictionary's pages. I've never realized so many words existed! I didn't know which words I needed to learn. Finally, to start some kind of action, I began copying.
In my slow, painstaking, ragged handwriting, I copied into my tablet everything printed on that first page, down to the punctuation marks.
I believe it took me a day. Then, aloud, I read back, to myself, everything I've written on the tablet. Over and over, aloud, to myself, I read my own handwriting.
I woke up the next morning, thinking about those words—immensely proud to realize that not only had I written so much at one time, but I've written words that I never knew were in the world. Moreover, with a little effort, I also could remember what many of these words meant. I reviewed the words whose meanings I didn't remember. Funny thing, from the dictionary's first page right now, that "aardvark" springs to my mind. The dictionary had a picture of it, a long-tailed, long-eared, burrowing African mammal, which lives off termites caught by sticking out its tongue as an anteater does for ants.
I was so fascinated that I went on—I copied the dictionary's next page. And the same experience came when I studied that. With every succeeding page, I also learned of people and places and events from history. Actually the dictionary is like a miniature encyclopedia. Finally the dictionary's A section had filled a whole tablet—and I went on into the B's. That was the way I started copying what eventually became the entire dictionary. I went a lot faster after so much practice helped me to pick up handwriting speed. Between what I wrote in my tablet, and writing letters, during the rest of my time in prison I would guess I wrote a million words.
I suppose it was inevitable that as my word-base broadened, I could for the first time pick up a book and read and now begin to understand what the book was saying. Anyone who has read a great deal can imagine the new world that opened. Let me tell you something; from then until I left that prison, in every free moment I had, if I was not reading in the library, I was reading on my bunk. You couldn't have got me out of books with a wedge. Between Mr. Muhammad's teachings, my correspondence, my visitors, and my reading of books, months passed without my even thinking about being imprisoned. In fact, up to then, I never had been so truly free in my life...
As you can imagine, especially in a prison where there was heavy emphasis on rehabilitation, an inmate was smiled upon if he demonstrated an unusually intense interest in books. There was a sizable number of well-read inmates, especially the popular debaters. Some were said by many to be practically walking encyclopedias. They were almost celebrities. No university would ask any student to devour literature as I did when this new world opened to me, of being able to read and
understand.
I read more in my room than in the library itself. An inmate who was known to read a lot could check out more than the permitted maximum number of books. I preferred reading in the total isolation of my own room.
When I had progressed to really serious reading, every night at about ten p.m. I would be outraged with the "lights out." It always seemed to catch me right in the middle of something engrossing. Fortunately, right outside my door was a corridor light that cast a glow into my room. The glow was enough to read by, once my eyes adjusted to it. So when "lights out" came, I would sit on the floor where I could continue reading in that glow.
At one-hour intervals the night guards paced past every room. Each time I heard the approaching footsteps, I jumped into bed and feigned sleep. And as soon as the guard passed, I got back out of bed onto the floor area of that light-glow, where I would read for another fifty-eight minutes—until the guard approached again. That went on until three or four every morning. Three or four hours of sleep a night was enough for me. Often in the years in the streets I had slept less than that.
I have often reflected upon the new vistas that reading opened to me. I knew right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life. As I see it today, the ability to read awoke inside me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive. I certainly wasn't seeking any degree, the way a college confers a status symbol upon its students. My homemade education gave me, with every additional book that I read, a little bit more sensitivity to the deafness, dumbness, and blindness that was afflicting the black race in America. Not long ago, an English writer telephoned me from London, asking questions. One was, "What's your alma mater?" I told him, "Books." You will never catch me with a free fifteen minutes in which I'm not studying something I feel might be able to help the black man...
Every time I catch a plane, I have with me a book that I want to read—and that's a lot of books these days. If I weren't out here every day battling the white man, I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity—because you can hardly mention anything I'm not curious about. I don't think anybody ever got more out of going to prison than I did. In fact, prison enabled me to study far more intensively than I would have if my life had gone differently and I had attended some college. I imagine that one of the biggest troubles with colleges is there are too many distractions. Where else but in prison could I have attacked my ignorance by being able to study intensely sometimes as much as fifteen hours a day?
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The EQ Factor
Nancy Gibbs
It turns out that a scientist can see the future by watching four-year-olds interact with a marshmallow. The researcher invites the children, one by one, into a plain room and begins the gentle torment. You can have this marshmallow right now, he says. But if you wait while I run an
errand, you can have two marshmallows when I get back. And then he leaves.
Some children grab for the treat the minute he's out the door. Some last a few minutes before they give in. But others are determined to wait. They cover their eyes; they put their heads down; they sing to themselves; they try to play games or even fall asleep. When the researcher returns, he gives these children their hard-earned marshmallows. And then, science waits for them to grow up. By the time the children reach high school, something remarkable has happened. A survey of the children's parents and teachers found that those who as four-year-olds had enough self-control to hold out for the second marshmallow generally grew up to be better adjusted, more popular, adventurous, confident and dependable teenagers. The children who gave in to temptation early on were more likely to be lonely, easily frustrated and stubborn. They could not endure stress and shied away from challenges. And when some of the students in the two groups took the Scholastic Aptitude Test, the kids who had held out longer scored an average of 210 points higher.
When we think of brilliance we see Einstein, deep-eyed, woolly haired, a thinking machine with skin and mismatched socks. High achievers, we imagine, were wired for greatness from birth. But then you have to wonder why, over time, natural talent seems to ignite in some people and dim in others. This is where the marshmallows come in. It seems that the ability to delay gratification is a master skill, a triumph of the reasoning brain over the impulsive one. It is a sign, in short, of emotional intelligence. And it doesn't show up on an IQ test.
For most of this century, scientists have worshipped the hardware of the brain and the software of the mind; the messy powers of the heart were left to the poets. But cognitive theory could simply not explain the questions we wonder about most: why some people just seem to have a gift for living well; why the smartest kid in the class will probably not end up the richest; why we like some people virtually on sight and distrust others; why some people remain upbeat in the face of troubles that would sink a less resilient soul. What qualities of the mind or spirit, in short, determine who succeeds?
The phrase "emotional intelligence" was coined by Yale psychologist Peter Salovey and the University of New Hampshire's John Mayer five years ago to describe qualities like understanding one's own feelings, empathy for the feelings of others and "the regulation of emotion in a way that enhances living." Their notion is about to bound into the national conversation, handily shortened to EQ, thanks to a new book, Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman. Goleman, a Harvard psychology Ph.D. and a New York Times science writer with a gift for making even the most difficult scientific theories digestible to lay readers, has brought together a decade's worth of behavioral research into how the mind processes feelings. His goal, he announces on the cover, is to redefine what it means to be smart. His thesis: when it comes to predicting people's success, brainpower as measured by IQ and standardized achievement tests may actually matter less than the qualities of mind once thought of as "character" before the word began to sound old-fashioned. At first glance, there would seem to be little that's new here to any close reader of fortune cookies. There may be no less original idea than the notion that our hearts hold dominion over our heads. "I was so angry," we say, "I couldn't think straight." Neither is it surprising that "people skills" are useful, which amounts to saying, it's good to be nice. "It's so true it's trivial," says Dr. Paul McHugh, director of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. But if it were that simple, the book would not be quite so interesting or its implications so controversial.
This is no abstract investigation. Goleman is looking for antidotes to restore "civility to our streets and caring to our communal life." He sees practical applications everywhere for how companies
should decide whom to hire, how couples can increase the odds that their marriages will last, how parents should raise their children and how schools should teach them. When street gangs substitute for families and schoolyard insults end in stabbings, when more than half of marriages end in divorce, when the majority of the children murdered in this country are killed by parents and stepparents, many of whom say they were trying to discipline the child for behavior like blocking the TV or crying too much, it suggests a demand for remedial emotional education.
And it is here the arguments will break out. Goleman's highly popularized conclusions, says McHugh, "will chill any veteran scholar of psychotherapy and any neuroscientist who worries about how his research may come to be applied." While many researchers in this relatively new field are glad to see emotional issues finally taken seriously, they fear that a notion as handy as EQ invites misuse. Goleman admits the danger of suggesting that you can assign a numerical value to a person's character as well as his intellect; Goleman never even uses the phrase EQ in his book. But he did somewhat reluctantly approve an "unscientific" EQ test in USA Today with choices like "I am aware of even subtle feelings as I have them," and "I can sense the pulse of a group or relationship and state unspoken feelings."
"You don't want to take an average of your emotional skill," argues Harvard psychology professor Jerome Kagan, a pioneer in child-development research. "That's what's wrong with the concept of intelligence for mental skills too. Some people handle anger well but can't handle fear. Some people can't take joy. So each emotion has to be viewed differently." EQ is not the opposite of IQ. Some people are blessed with a lot of both, some with little of either. What researchers have been trying to understand is how they complement each other; how one's ability to handle stress, for instance, affects the ability to concentrate and put intelligence to use. Among the ingredients for success, researchers now generally agree that IQ counts for about 20%; the rest depends on everything from class to luck to the neural pathways that have developed in the brain over millions of years of human evolution.
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Running a Successful Company: Ten Rules that Worked for Me
Sam Walton
A whole lot has changed about the retailing business in the forty-seven years we've been in it—including some of my theories. We've changed our minds about some significant things along the way and adopted some new principles — particularly about the concept of partnership in a
Unit5 Text A 约翰·肯尼迪就职演说 1961年1月20日，星期五 今天我们并不是在庆祝政党的胜利，而是在庆祝自由的胜利；它象征着一个结束，也象征着一个开始；它意味着一种更新，也意味着一种变革。因为我已在你们和上帝面前，宣读了庄重的誓言，与我们的先辈在175年前所拟定的相同。 现在的世界已大不相同了，因为人类的手中掌握着既能消灭人间的各种贫困，又能毁灭所有人类生命的力量。但我们先辈为之奋斗的相同的革命信念，在世界各地仍然有着争论。这个信念就是：人权并非来自国家的慷慨施舍，而是来自上帝的恩赐。 今天，我们不敢忘记我们是第一次革命的继承者。让我们的朋友和敌人都能够听见我此时此地的讲话：(革命的)火炬已经传给了新一代的美国人——他们出生在本世纪，经历过战争的洗礼和严峻而艰苦的和平的考验，为我国悠久的传统感到自豪——他们不愿目睹或容许我国一向坚持，并且今天仍在国内和国际做出承诺的人权渐趋毁灭。 让每个国家都知道，不论是祝福我们的，还是诅咒我们的，为确保自由的存在和胜利，我们将不惜付出任何代价，承受任何沉重负担，应付任何艰难险阻，支持任何朋友，反对任何敌人。 这就是我们的保证——而且还不止于此。 对于那些和我们有着共同文化和精神渊源的昔日盟邦，我们保证会像对待挚友般忠诚。只要团结起来，在许多需要合作的事业中几乎没有什么事是办不到的。我们如果分歧对立，就会一事无成，因为我们在这种情况下，就不敢应付强有力的挑战。 对于那些我们欢迎其加人到自由国家行列中来的新国家，我们将恪守诺言：决不让一种更为严酷的暴政来取代消失的殖民统治，，我们并不总是指望他们会支持我们的观点，但我们始终希望他们能坚决捍卫自身的自由，而且铭记，在历史上，凡是愚蠢地骑在虎背上谋求权力的人，都是以葬身虎口而告终的。 对那些遍布半个地球的身居茅舍和乡村、为摆脱赤贫桎梏而挣扎的人们，我们保证尽最大努力帮助他们自救，不管需要花多长时间——之所以这样做，并不是因为共产党可能在这样做，也不是因为我们需要他们的选票，而是因为这样做是 正确的，，自由社会如果不能帮助众多的穷人，也就无法保护少数的富人。 最后，对于那些与我们敌对的国家，我们提出的不是保证，而是要求：在科学释放出可怕的破坏力量，把全人类卷入到预谋的或意外的自我毁灭的深渊之前，让我们双方重新开始寻求和平。我们不敢以示弱来引诱他们。因为只有当我们毋庸置疑地拥有足够的军备，我们才能毫无疑问地确信永远不会使用这些军备。 所有这些在最初的100天内不会完成，在最初的1000天内也不会完成，在本届政府仔期内也不会完成，甚至我们在这个星球上的有生之年都不会完成。但是让我们开始行动。同胞们，我们的事业最终成败与否，与其说掌握在我的手中，不如说掌握在你们的手中。自从合众国建立以来，每一代美国人都受到过召唤去证明他们对国家的忠诚。曾经响应召唤而献身的美国青年的坟墓遍及全球。 现在，号角已再次吹响——不是召唤我们拿起武器，尽管我们需要武器，不是召唤我们去作战，虽然我们严阵以待——而是召唤我们为迎接黎明而肩负起漫长斗争的重任，年复——年，“从希望中获得欢乐，在苦难中保持坚韧”，去反对人类共同的敌人：专制、贫困、疾病和战争本身。我们能不能结成一个包括东西南北各方的全球大联盟，以反抗这些敌人，确保人类有更为富足的生活呢?你们愿意加入这场历史性的斗争吗? 在悠久的世界历史中，只有少数几代人被赋·子这种使命，能够在面临最大的危机时捍卫自由，、我们在这场奋斗中所奉献的精力、信念和献身精神，将照亮我们的国家和所有
21世纪大学实用英语课文翻译及课后答案 Text A 大学——我一生中的转折点 佚名 作为一名一年级新生初进大学时，我害怕自己在学业上搞不好。我害怕独自一人在外，因为我是第 一次远离家人。这里周围都是我不认识的人，而他们也不认识我。我得和他们交朋友，或许还得在我要学的课程上 跟他们在分数上进行竞争。他们比我更聪明吗？我跟得上他们吗？他们会接受我吗？ 我很快就认识到，我的生活现在就取决于我自己了。如果我要在学业上取得成功，我就必须制定一份学习计划。我 必须调整花在学习上的时间和花在社交上的时间。我必须决定什么时候上床睡觉，什么时候吃什么，什么时候喝什 么，对什么人表示友好。这些问题我都得自己回答。 开始时，生活有点艰难。我在怎样利用时间上犯了错误。我在交朋友上花的时间太多了。我还在怎样选择大学里的 第一批朋友上犯了一些错误。 然而不久，我就控制住了自己的生活。我做到了按时上课，完成并交上了第一批作业，而且以相当好的成绩通过了 前几次考试。此外，我还交了一些朋友，跟他们在一起我感到很自在，我能把我担心的事告诉他们。我建立了一种 真正属于我自己的常规——一种满足了我的需要的常规。 结果，我开始从一个不同的视角看待我自己了。我开始把自己看作是一个对自己负责也对朋友和家人负责的人。凡 事自己做决定并看到这些决定最终证明是明智的决定，这种感觉很好。我猜想这就是人们所说的“成长”的一部分 吧。 我未来的生活将会怎样呢？在人生的这一阶段，我真的不能确定我的人生之路最终将会走向何方，我真的不知道在 以后的几年中我会做什么。但我知道，我能应对未来，因为我已经成功地跃过了我生命中的这一重要障碍：我已经 完成了从一个依赖家人给予感情支持的人向一个对自己负责的人的过渡。 Practice 5 1. smart 2. succeed 3. shortly 4. managed 5. share 6. fear 7. responsible 8. however 9. enter 10. surrounded 11. handle 12. comfortable Practice 6 1. is up to 2. keep up with 3. under control 4. at first 5. grew up 6. make friends with 7. turned out 8. as a result 9. set up 10. in addition Practice 7 1. how to play the game 2. where I wanted to go 3. whether they would accept him or not 4. what to do and how to do it 5. whom to love and whom not to 6. when he made that decision Practice 8 1. I see Li Ming as my best friend. We share the same hobbies and interests. 2. They looked upon their math teacher as their best teacher. 3. We think of this place as our home. 4. They looked on their college life as their happiest years in their life. Practice 9 1. John is both smart and responsible. He likes to make friends with other people. 2. I have made the decision to compete for the new post. You can compete for it, too. 3. Shortly after the doctor came, he managed to have my father’s illness under control. 4. As freshmen, most of us do not know what college life has in store for us, but we all know that we must do well in our studies. 5. To succeed in college, we must keep up with the other students and set up a routine that meets out needs. 6. Though the assignments last week turned out to be more difficult than I thought, I handed them in
目录 Unit1 Text A Mr. Doherty Builds His Dream Life 1 Unit1 Text B American Family Life: The Changing Picture 4 Unit2 Text A The Freedom Givers 10 Unit3 Text A The Land of the Lock 14 Unit3 Text B Why I Bought A Gun16 Unit4 Text A Was Einstein a Space Alien? 21 Unit5 Text A Writing Three Thank-You Letters 25 Unit6 Text A The Last Leaf 28 Unit7 Text A Life of a Salesman33 Unit7 Text B Bricklayer's Boy41 Unit8 Text A Human Cloning: A Scientist’s Story47 Unit8 Text B Second Thoughts on Cloning 50 Unit1 Text A Mr. Doherty Builds His Dream Life 多尔蒂先生创建自己的理想生活吉姆·多尔蒂Jim Doherty 1 There are two things I have always wanted to do -- write and live on a farm. Today I'm doing both. I am not in E. B. White's class as a writer or in my neighbors' league as a farmer, but I'm getting by. And after years of frustration with city and suburban living, my wife Sandy and I have finally found contentment here in the country. 有两件事是我一直想做的――写作与务农。如今我同时做着这两件事。作为作家，我和E·B·怀特不属同一等级，作为农场主，我和乡邻也不是同一类人，不过我应付得还行。在城市以及郊区历经多年的怅惘失望之后，我和妻子桑迪终于在这里的乡村寻觅到心灵的满足。 2 It's a self-reliant sort of life. We grow nearly all of our fruits and vegetables. Our hens keep us in eggs, with several dozen left over to sell each week. Our bees provide us with honey, and we cut enough wood to just about make it through the heating season. 这是一种自力更生的生活。我们食用的果蔬几乎都是自己种的。自家饲养的鸡提供鸡蛋，每星期还能剩余几十个出售。自家养殖的蜜蜂提供蜂蜜，我们还自己动手砍柴，足可供过冬取暖之用。
21世纪大学英语应用型综合教程一-1-5章课后题答案
英语课后题复习资料 Unit 1. 一． flexibility duration option definitely actually ignore convince survive 1.Economic crises destroy the capitalist system,and they grow in size and duration. 2.Stability also depends upon the flexibility of the local economy. 3.He was sentenced to do hard labor without the option of a fine. 4.She states her views very definitely. 5.Did he actually say in so many words that there was no hope of a cure? 6.The baby felt ignored by her parents. 7.You need to convince the employers that you can do the job. https://www.doczj.com/doc/ae17373977.html,panies will have to do more than this if they are to survive the earthquake.
二． 1.I only cautht a glimpse of him sitting in the car (瞥见他坐在车里),so I can’t tell exactly what he looked like. 2.They are seeking/searching for(寻求新的机会) to reach their final goals. 3.It happened without my being aware of it(在我不知不觉中). 4.We are/get involved in different activities(投入到各项课外活动中) on campus. 5.Some guys always do everything as they like,that ignore the feelings of others(却忽视了别人的感受) . 三． 1.你的老师在评卷的时候会把你生病的情况考虑在内。 Your teacher will take your illness into consideration when marking your exams. 2.因为他总是轻信别人，所以很容易受伤。 He is likely to be hurt because he always believes/trusts others easily. 3.他的肤色跟他是不是好律师无关。
21世纪大学英语第一册课文的翻译 Unit1 TextA 优等生的奥秘 埃德温·基斯特莎莉·瓦伦丁·基斯特 现在是剑桥大学理科一年级学生的阿历克斯，曾在曼彻斯特的中学校队里踢足球，还导演过学校的戏剧演出——但他中学毕业时得了五个A。在布里斯托尔大学攻读英语的阿曼达在中学里参加过戏剧演出，还经常打网球，但她仍然得到了四个A。 像他们这样的优等生是如何做到这一点的呢？脑子好使并不是唯一的答案。最有天赋的学生未必在考试中取得最好的成绩。懂得如何充分利用自己的才能要重要得多。 学习刻苦也不能说明全部问题。在这些成绩优秀的学生中，有些人投入的时间其实比那些分数低的同学还少。班级中拔尖学生的成功之道在于他们掌握了一些基本的技巧，这些技巧其他人也能很容易地学到。根据教育专家和学生们自己的叙述，优等生成功的奥秘有以下几点。 1.全神贯注！拔尖生不允许他们的学习时间受到干扰。一旦书本打开，便电话不接，电视不看，报纸不读。“这并不意味着对生活中的重要事情置之不理，”阿曼达解释说，“这意味着要安排好学习时间，以便能全神贯注。要是我牵挂一位患病的朋友，我会在做功课之前先给她打个电话。这样我坐下来学习时，就能真正集中心思了。” 2.在任何地方——或所有的地方学习。亚利桑那州一位教授曾奉命辅导一些成绩欠佳的大学运动员。他记得有一名赛跑运动员每天都要训练。他曾说服他利用这段时间记忆生物学术语。另一名学生则把词汇表贴在盥洗室墙上，每天刷牙时都记住一个生词。 3.安排好资料。汤姆在中学时打过篮球。“我非常忙，不可能为了找一支铅笔或一本不见的笔记本而浪费时间。我把每样东西都放在随后可取的地方，”他说。新墨西哥州学生保罗为每门功课备有两个文件夹，一个放当天布置的作业，另一个放已完成要交的家庭作业。一个抽屉把必需的用品放在一起，这样就可减少因找东西而浪费的时间。 4.安排好时间。当教师布置写一篇长论文时，阿历克斯会花两三天时间去阅读与题目有关的资料并做笔记，然后写出草稿，再写成论文。他会计划好在作业该交的前两三天完成，以便如果花费的时间超过预期，他还能在规定的最后期限前完成。阿曼达严格遵守一张学习时间表，其中包括每两小时休息一次。“在你过度疲劳时还试图学习并不明智，”她指出，“短暂的休息，哪怕只是伸展一下身体，呼吸呼吸新鲜空气，也能带来意想不到的效果。” 5.学会阅读。“我过去常花许多时间阅读一些无关的资料，”阿曼达回忆说，“但后来我习惯了快读；如果一段文章的第一句话无关紧要，我便接着读下一段。”“我修过的最好的一门课便是快速阅读，”一名俄克拉荷马州的学生说，“我不仅提高了每分钟阅读的词数，而且学会了首先看书的目录和插图。这样，当我开始阅读时，我就对阅读材料先有了一些了解，而且能记住更多的内容。”在这些学生看来，有效阅读的奥秘就在于做一个主动的阅读者，即能不断提出一些能使自己充分理解所读材料的问题。 6.做好笔记。“在写任何东西之前，我先把一页纸分成两部分，”阿曼达说，“左边部分约占纸宽的三分之一；右边部分占三分之二。我把笔记写在宽的一边，而把中心思想写在左边。这在复习时非常有用，因为你马上就能看到为什么这些材料是有关的，而不用为信息量太大而发愁。”在下课铃响起之前，多数学生便已经合上书本，收好作业，和朋友们说说话儿，准备离开了。而聪明的学生却利用这几分钟，用两三句话写出这堂课的要点，下一次上课之前，他便可以把这些要点浏览一遍。 7.问问题。“如果你问问题，你立刻就会知道，你是否已经掌握了要点，”阿历克斯说。课堂参与是一种求知欲的显示。例如，在经济学课上，好奇的学生会问，中国经济怎么可能既是社会主义的，又是市场驱动的，从而使他们不仅对于“什么”，而且对于“为什么”和“怎么样”产生兴趣。 8.一起学习。一起学习的价值从加州大学伯克利分校的一项试验中显示了出来。该校的
Unit 1 The idea of becoming a writer had come to me off and on since my childhood in Belleville, but it wasn't until my third year in high school that the possibility took hold. Until then I'd been bored by everything associated with English courses. I found English grammar dull and difficult. I hated the assignments to turn out long, lifeless paragraphs that were agony for teachers to read and for me to write. When our class was assigned to Mr. Fleagle for third-year English I anticipated another cheerless year in that most tedious of subjects. Mr. Fleagle had a reputation among students for dullness and inability to inspire. He was said to be very formal, rigid and hopelessly out of date. To me he looked to be sixty or seventy and excessively prim. He wore primly severe eyeglasses, his wavy hair was primly cut and primly combed. He wore prim suits with neckties set primly against the collar buttons of his white shirts. He had a primly pointed jaw, a primly straight nose, and a prim manner of speaking that was so correct, so gentlemanly,
Unit1 Americans believe no one stands still. If you are not moving ahead, you are falling behind. This attitude results in a nation of people committed to researching, experimenting and exploring. Time is one of the two elements that Americans save carefully, the other being labor. "We are slaves to nothing but the clock,” it has been said. Time is treated as if it were something almost real. We budget it, save it, waste it, steal it, kill it, cut it, account for it; we also charge for it. It is a precious resource. Many people have a rather acute sense of the shortness of each lifetime. Once the sands have run out of a person’s hourglass, they cannot be replaced. We want every minute to count. A foreigner’s first impression of the U.S. is li kely to be that everyone is in a rush -- often under pressure. City people always appear to be hurrying to get where they are going, restlessly seeking attention in a store, or elbowing others as they try to complete their shopping. Racing through daytime meals is part of the pace
21世纪大学英语应用型综合教程二 1.In the six-and-one half years sincet the federal government beagan certifying food as “organic,”Americans have taken to the idea with considerable enthusiasm.自联邦政府六年半前认证“有机”食品以来，美国人以极大的热情接受了这一概念。 2.To eat well, says Michael Pollanthe,the author of"In Defense of Food,"means avoiding "edible food_like substances"and sticking to real ingredients,increasingly from theplant Kingdom. “吃得好”，《食物无罪》的作者迈克尔波轮说，“意味着避免摄入‘可食用的类似的物质’，并坚持从蔬菜中获取真正营养成分的原则。 3.Neither the enabling legislation nor the regulations address food safety or nutrition. 不论有机食品的立法或是法规都未涉及食品安全或是营养问题. 4.Professor Howard that major corporations now are responsible for at least 25 perceent of all organic manufacturing and marketing. 霍华德教 授估计，大公司现在承担了至少25%的有机食品生产和销售。 5.Popularizing such choices may not be as marketable as creating a logo that says"organic" . 推广这样的做法可能不会像设计一个“有机”的标志那 么有市场. 1. The two former elephant trainers had seen enough abuse and neglect at circuses and zoos to inspire them to create a sanctuary where
Unit 1 subjects in schools would reduce some children's enjoyment of them? risk and danger — he'd be bored in a safe, steady job. 3. Elizabeth is certainly talented enough to succeed in her career; she just doesn't have in her own abilities. 4. I'm sorry you're in trouble, but as you made your decision on your own you'll just have to face 5. Many educators would be delighted to abolish exams, but they also worry that without for students to work hard. known as "dead-Eye Bean." it all in Internet companies. 8. Psychologists say that our behavior is influenced by many factors too subtle for us to 9. He's always had for books. If he could work in a library, it would be a dream come true. 10. Look at those three whispering in the corner again —something, I just don't know what! 参考答案： (1)compulsory (2)relish (3)confidence (4)consequences (5)incentive (6)h enceforth (7)invest (8)perceive (9)passion (10)scheming The suffix -ess can be added to some nouns to refer to female humans and animals.(U1TA) e.g.: prince →princess tiger →tigress A. Add this suffix to the following nouns so that they refer to a female person or animal. Be sure to make any necessary spelling changes.
1.In the six-and-one half years sincet the federal government beagan certifying food as “organic,”Americans have taken to the idea with considerable enthusiasm.自联邦政府六年半前认证“有机”食品以来，美国人以极大的热情接受了这一概念。 2.To eat well, says Michael Pollanthe,the author of"In Defense of Food,"means avoiding "edible food_like substances"and sticking to real ingredients,increasingly from theplant Kingdom. “吃得好”，《食物无罪》的作者迈克尔波轮说，“意味着避免摄入‘可食用的类似的物质’，并坚持从蔬菜中获取真正营养成分的原则。 3.Neither the enabling legislation nor the regulations address food safety or nutrition. 不论有机食品的立法或是法规都未涉及食品安全或是营养问题. 4.Professor Howard that major corporations now are responsible for at least 25 perceent of all organic manufacturing and marketing. 霍华德教授估计，大公司现在承担了至少25%的有机食品生产和销售。 5.Popularizing such choices may not be as marketable as creating a logo that says"organic" . 推广这样的做法可能不会像设计一个“有机”的标志那么有市场. 1. The two former elephant trainers had seen enough abuse and neglect at circuses and zoos to inspire them to create a sanctuary where elephants could live out their lives. 这两位前驯象员在马戏团和动物园见过太多大象所遭受的虐待和忽视，于是决心为大象建立一座可以颐养天年的憩息所. 2. Soon Hohenwald was rockingas the two greeted each other with ttrumpeting and celebratory bumping.不一会儿，霍恩沃尔德因他们相遇时互致问候的吼声和庆祝性的碰撞而震动起来 3. Shirley and Jenny instantly fell into their old routine,wandering the sanctuary side by side.雪莉和詹妮很快恢复了她们的老习惯：肩并肩地在保护区内闲逛. 4. At one point, the four spent therr hours trumpeting----the vibrations felt by evey living being in the sanctuary.有一次，四头大象持续三小时的鸣吼使保护区内的每个生命都为之震颤。 5. Elephants wear their hearts on their trunks ,as it were,so it was easy to tell that Shirley was not dealing well with Jenny is death----her eyes were half shut and her trunk dragged on the ground. 可以说大象不会隐藏他们的心情，因此和容易看出雪莉无法承受詹妮之死所带来的打击——他的眼睛半闭着，鼻子拖在地上。 1. Sport has the power to change the world,the power to inspire,the power to unite people in away that little else can.体育运动员具有改变世界的力量，其激励人心，团结众人地力量，在某种程度上难有匹敌。 2.During his 27 years in captivity ,mainly on Robben Island,sport helped sustain the spirits of Mandela and his fellow inmates.在他27年的铁窗生活中（主要关押在罗本岛），体育运动支撑着他和难友们的精神。 3.Cities make huge efforts when bidding to stage major sporting events,not just for their commercial worth but for the long---term social benefits
21世纪大学英语课文翻译第二册.txt﹃根网线''尽赚了多少人的青春い有时候感动的就是身边微不足道的小事。﹎破碎不是最残酷的最残酷的是踩着这些碎片却假装不疼痛固执的寻找﹎将来就算我遇见再怎么完美的人,都有一个缺点,他不是你,_____下辈子要做男生，娶一个像我这样的女生。第一单元 温斯顿?丘吉尔——他的另一种生活 玛丽?索姆斯 我的父亲温斯顿?丘吉尔是在40几岁开始迷恋上绘画的，当时他正身处逆境。1915年，作为海军大臣，他深深地卷入了达达尼尔海峡的一场战役。原本那次战役是能够缩短一场血腥的世界大战的，但它却失败了，人员伤亡惨重，为此丘吉尔作为公务员和个人都付出了代价：他被免去了海军部的职务，失去了显赫的政治地位。 “我本以为他会因忧伤而死的。”他的妻子克莱门泰因说。被这一不幸压垮的他同家人一起退隐到萨里郡的一个乡间居处---耘锄农场。在那儿，正如丘吉尔日后所回忆的，“绘画女神拯救了我!” 一天他正在花园里漫步，正巧碰上他的弟妹在用水彩画素描。他观看了她几分钟，然后借过她的画笔，试了一下身手----于是缪斯女神施展了她的魔法。自那天以后，温斯顿便爱上了绘画。 任何能让沉浸在忧思中的温斯顿分心的事情都让克莱门泰因高兴。于是，她赶紧去买来她所能找到的各种颜料和画具。水彩颜料、油画颜料、纸张、帆布画布---很快耘锄农场里便堆满了一个绘画者可能想要或需要的各样东西。 画油画最终成了温斯顿的一大爱好---但是最初几步却出奇地艰难。他凝视着他的第一块空白画布，异乎寻常地紧张。他日后回忆道：“我迟疑不决地选了一管蓝色颜料，然后小心翼翼地在雪白的底子上的画上蚕豆般大小的一笔。就在这时，我听到车道上传来一辆汽车的声音，于是惊恐地丢下我的画笔。当我看清是谁从汽车里走出来时，更是惊慌失措。来者正是住在附近的著名画家约翰?莱佛利爵士的妻子。 “‘在画画呢!’她大声说道。‘多么有趣。可你还在等什么呢? 把画笔给我---大的那支。’她猛地用笔蘸起颜料，还没等我缓过神来，她已经挥笔泼墨在惊恐不已的画布上画下了有力的几道蓝色。谁都看得出画布无法回击。我不再迟疑。我抓起那支最大的画笔，迅猛异常地向我可怜的牺牲品扑了过去。自那以后，我再也不曾害怕过画布。” 后来教丘吉尔画画的莱佛利曾经说起过他这位不同寻常的学生的艺术才能：“如果他当初选择的是绘画而不是政治，他定会成为一位驾驭画笔的大师。” 在绘画中，丘吉尔发现了一个将陪他走过大半人生的伴侣。1921年，他的母亲去世，两个月后，他又失去了他和克莱门泰因的3岁爱女玛丽戈尔德。那时，绘画是他的慰藉。悲痛欲绝的温斯顿住到了苏格兰朋友们的家中---并在他的绘画中寻得安慰。他写信给克莱门泰因：“我外出画了一条在午后阳光下的美丽的河流，背景是红色和金黄色的山峦。爱怜的思绪油然而生……啊，我一直感受到失去玛丽戈尔德的痛楚。” 生命、爱和希望慢慢地复苏了。1922年9月，克莱门泰因和温斯顿的另一个孩子出生了：那就是我。同年，温斯顿买下了查特威尔，这是他将在以后40年里画出其所有不同风貌的他所钟爱的家。 20世纪20年代中期，我父亲在伦敦举行的一次享有盛名的业余画展中赢得了一等奖，当时他一定颇为得意。参赛作品不署名，所以一些评委坚持认为温斯顿的画---有关查特威尔的第一批画作中的一幅---是一位专业画家而不是一位业余画家的作品，所以应该取消其参赛资格。但最后，他们同意信赖那位艺术家的诚实，而在得知那幅画为丘吉尔所作时他们都很高兴。 史学家们一直把1929年温斯顿再次被免职后的10年称为他无所作为的十年。也许政治
Para1 An artist who seeks fame is like a dogchasing his own tail who, when he captures it, does not know what else to do but to continue chasing it.The cruelty of success is that it often leads those who seek such success to participate in their own destruction. 艺术家追求成名，如同狗自逐其尾，一旦追到手，除了继续追逐不知还能做些什么。成功之残酷正在于它常常让那些追逐成功者自寻毁灭。 "Don't quit your day job!" is advice frequently given by understandably pessimistic family members and friends to a budding artist who is trying hard to succeed. The conquest of fame is difficult at best, and many end up emotionally if not financially bankrupt. Still, impure motives such as the desire for worshipping fans and praise from peers may spur the artist on. The lure of drowning in fame's imperial glory is not easily resisted. 对一名正努力追求成功并刚刚崭露头角的艺术家，其亲朋常常会建议“正经的饭碗不能丢！”他们的担心不无道理。追求出人头地，最乐观地说也困难重重，许多人到最后即使不是穷困潦倒，也是几近精神崩溃。 Fame's spotlight can be hotter than a tropical jungle－a fraud is quickly exposed, and the pressure of so much attention is too much for most to endure.It takes you out of yourself: You must be what the public thinks you are, not what you really are or could be. The performer, like the politician, must often please his or her audiences by saying things he or she does not mean or fully believe. Curiously enough, it is those who fail that reap the greatest reward: freedom! They enjoy the freedom to express themselves in unique and original ways without fear of losing the support of fans. Failed artists may find comfort in knowing that many great artists never found fame until well after they had passed away or in knowing that they did not sell out. They may justify their failure by convincing themselves their genius is too sophisticated for contemporary audiences. Unit2 He was an immensely talented man, determined to a degree unusual even in the ranks of Hollywood stars. His huge fame gave him the freedom—and, more importantly, the money—to be his own master. He already had the urge to explore and extend a talent he discovered in himself as he went along. "It can't be me. Is that possible? How extraordinary," is how he greeted the first sight of himself as the Tramp on the screen. But that shock rousedhis imagination.Chaplin didn't have his jokes written into a script in advance; he was the kind of comic who used his physical senses to invent his art as he went along. Lifeless objects especially helped Chaplin make "contact" with himself as an artist. He turned them into other kinds of objects. Thus, a broken alarm clock in the movie The Pawnbroker became a "sick" patient undergoing surgery; boots were boiled in his film The Gold Rush and their soles eaten with salt and pepper like prime cuts of fish (the nails being removed like fish bones). This physical transformation, plus the skill with which he executed it again and again, is surely the secret of Chaplin's great comedy. He also had a deep need to be loved—and a corresponding fear of being betrayed. The two were hard to combine and sometimes—as in his early marriages—the collision between them resulted in disaster. Yet even this painfully-bought self-knowledge found its way into his comic creations. The Tramp never loses his faith in the flower girl who'll be waiting to walk into the sunset with him; while the other side of Chaplin makes Monsieur Verdoux, the French wife killer, into a symbol of hatred for women.