揚(yáng)起夢(mèng)想的風(fēng)帆的英語(yǔ)美文及翻譯
Public schools are supposed to remove barriers so people can succeed. For some, the system does remove barriers and provide a solid base for achievement. For others, the system replaces one set of barriers with another. For example, creativity is killed by pressuring students to accept the status quo, by establishing a fear to be different and a fear of failure. Independent thinking is replaced by dependency. In some cases, pressure to excel in academics kills ethics, loyalty and motivation, skills needed for success in the real world. People who have a vision, that motivates them, can overcome all barriers with integrity intact.
My story begins in Summit, NJ, at the age of sixteen, where I am sitting in a classroom starring out the window. Out of the first window I could see myself exploring the jungles of South America searching for gold, I could see myself drifting down the Amazon River on a raft, I could see monkeys swinging through the trees, I could see myself as Tarzan swinging on a vine. Through the next window, I could see the bow of my sailboat plowing through the towering waves, heading toward the South Pacific. I could see myself on a white sand beach chasing girls.
Then BANG! The teacher"s yardstick hitting my desk brought me back to the real world where subjects did not relate to my interest and dreamers are related to dummies. In a loud voice the teacher said, "You are a failure! If you don"t pay attention you will continue to be a failure!"
When the bell rang, instead of going to the next class I walked out of school never to return. I was tired of being called a failure. Right or wrong, I took charge of my future. When I left school, I carried the single most important element for success… A DREAM. During the next twenty years, every one of my teenage dreams came true.
You may be asking, "How does one make their dreams come true?" There are three elements:
First—We must have a dream that motivates us. No one has ever achieved anything without a dream attached to a burning desire.
Second—We must learn how-to-learn. In school, we learn how to memorize or be taught. Learning how to learn frees our dependency on others for knowledge.
Third—We must learn from failure and learn how to bounce back from failure. No one ever succeed without failure. In the classroom, failure is a no-no.
In my early teens, I read the book Kon-Tiki. This is a story about six Norwegians sailing a raft across the Pacific Ocean. Their adventure inspired my dream of duplicating their raft voyage. As a teenager, with normal parents, a dream like this was considered ridicules. Not only did friends and family not support my dream, they told me to get serious. But the Kon-Tiki dream turned me on. I wanted to know more about the ocean world and how it could be challenged. I went to the public library looking for more books and found plenty.
During the next few years, I joined the seas scouts, read boating magazines and nautical books, and went to boat shows. To help understand seamanship techniques, I made model charts, buoys, and boats. With models, comprehension was easy. Unknowingly, I was learning the art of learning how-to-learn… Self-education… A technique that would follow me the rest of my life, a technique that would bring me success and make my wildest dreams come true.
At the age of nineteen, during the Korean War, I was in the Marine Corps and in Japan. On my first day of duty an officer
told me, "You are a machinist and will be in charge of the machine shop." As he gave me the shop keys, he pointed to a trailer. In the Marine Corps, everything is on wheels. When I opened the doors, I had my first look ever at a machine shop. In the shop was one short instruction manual titled "How to Run a Lathe." When a job came in, I followed the manual"s instructions. I was surprised at my ability to complete assigned tasks. The Marine Corps experience launched my machinist career. It also made me realize that learning how-to-learn is a powerful tool. For example, every manmade object around us is the result of someone"s dream and failures. Consider the light bulb. Thomas Edison believed something could burn white-hot and not burn up. A wild unrealistic dream? Everyone knows everything burns up in a short time. A thousand failures later, Thomas Edison burned a steel wire white hot that never burned up. Continuous white heat creates light.
Opportunity is attracted to people with a dream. They are the first to be hired, first to be offered opportunity, and first to be promoted. Bigger the dream the faster doors open. People without a dream are last to be hired, last to be promoted, and first to be 14)laid-off in a force reduction. For non-dreamers, doors remain closed. "WHY?" People with a dream act differently than non-dreamers. Dreamers develop an attitude that radiates energy; they have a sense of purpose and meaning to their lives. Radiant energy is an attitude that bosses like and to which they offer opportunity. This is how the impossible becomes possible.
When I was discharged from the Marine Corps, I decided people were right, my wild teenage dream was ridicules. Real people do not drift across oceans on rafts. I am now an adult, I should think and act like one. The raft dream was dead. For the next five years my life went nowhere, my ambition, hope, dreams were gone. Something else was also gone… Opportunity that came fast during my earlier years also dried up.
One day I dusted off the Kon-Tiki book. My dream jumped off the pages and came to life. I said to myself, "I must find a way!" Two years later, I was in Hawaii and learned how the Polynesian people populated the Pacific Islands in dugout canoes 2,000 years ago. My dream was changed from a raft to a dugout canoe. At this time, opportunity came back and fast.
I helped crew a 36-foot sailboat from Hawaii to California. This provided my ocean sailing experience. Next, I was hired by the Panama Canal Company, Panama. Soon, my supervisor asked me to attend hard-hat diver school at company expense. With this skill, money was no longer a problem.
A short time later, I was living on a beach in Tahiti building a 40-foot Polynesian double-hull boat named Liki Tiki. The hulls were built by Choco Indians in the Darien Providence of Panama and shipped to Tahiti. I built the boat according to popular theory and information supplied by the Bishop Museum in Honolulu. Three days at sea convinced me the double-hull theory was wrong. The two hulls worked against each other and would soon breakup.
Back in Panama, I took the problem to the Indians in the Darien Jungle. They said, "18)Outriggers is what works." I then succeed in sailing a 36-foot dugout canoe with outriggers, named Liki Tiki Too, from Panama, 5,000 miles, to Hawaii.
Opportunity never stopped. For the Navy Undersea Center Hawaii I help develop a two-man Plexiglas submarine. Moving back to the Panama Canal Zone, I learned five computer languages and became supervisor of the computer department. I became Captain of the Canal Zone"s training schooner, Chief Aptakisic on which we took a group of teenagers to New York. My wife and I spent five years sailing the South Pacific Ocean in our own 50-foot sail boat, Hunky-Dory, which I designed and self-built. Opportunity came my way because I was motivated and did not let a wild teenage dream die.
公立學(xué)校普遍被認(rèn)為可以為學(xué)生走向成功而掃清障礙。對(duì)一些人來(lái)說(shuō)，公立學(xué)校的確取消了對(duì)他們的限制，并為他們未來(lái)的成就打下了堅(jiān)實(shí)基礎(chǔ);而對(duì)另一些人來(lái)說(shuō)，這種教育模式只是以一種限制代替另一種限制而已。比如說(shuō)，在這種教育模式的灌輸和壓力下，學(xué)生們變得安于現(xiàn)狀、不敢與眾不同、害怕失敗，這樣，學(xué)生的創(chuàng)造力自然也就被扼殺。而且，依賴性取代了獨(dú)立思考的精神。為了取到優(yōu)異的學(xué)習(xí)成績(jī)，學(xué)生們甚至舍棄了很多東西，如道德、忠誠(chéng)、激勵(lì)，以及其他在現(xiàn)實(shí)世界中成就事業(yè)所必需的技能。只有那些富有遠(yuǎn)見(jiàn)的人能不斷地鼓勵(lì)自己，能在克服障礙的同時(shí)不改變自己完整的人格。
我的故事要從新澤西州申美特這個(gè)地方說(shuō)起。那時(shí)我正在課堂上聽(tīng)講，16歲的我顯得心不在焉。透過(guò)第一個(gè)窗戶，我仿佛看見(jiàn)自己在南美叢林中探險(xiǎn)尋金;我還看見(jiàn)自己乘著木筏在亞馬遜河上漂流。只見(jiàn)頑猴在樹叢之間蕩來(lái)蕩去，我跟人猿泰山一樣懸蕩在藤蔓上。透過(guò)另一個(gè)窗戶，我仿佛看見(jiàn)自己正乘風(fēng)破浪向南太平洋進(jìn)發(fā)，還看到自己在白沙灘上和女孩子們追逐嬉戲。
突然“啪”一聲，老師的教鞭打在我桌上，我被拉回到了現(xiàn)實(shí)世界中來(lái)——在這個(gè)世界里，我對(duì)所學(xué)的科目沒(méi)有半點(diǎn)興趣，愛(ài)做夢(mèng)的我被當(dāng)成白癡。老師劈頭就吼：“你真是個(gè)笨蛋!如果上課你再開小差的話，你就永遠(yuǎn)也沒(méi)有出息!”
鈴聲響了，我沒(méi)有去上下一節(jié)課，而是頭也不回地步出了校門。我已經(jīng)厭倦了給人說(shuō)我沒(méi)出息。不管對(duì)錯(cuò)，我要主宰自己的前途。離開學(xué)校的時(shí)候，我一無(wú)所有，只有一個(gè)夢(mèng)想——而夢(mèng)想正是成功最需要的元素。在接下來(lái)的20年里，我年少時(shí)的每個(gè)夢(mèng)想都得到逐一實(shí)現(xiàn)。
你可能會(huì)問(wèn)：“要怎樣才能實(shí)現(xiàn)夢(mèng)想呢?”答案是，要具備以下三大要素。
首先，我們必須要有一個(gè)激勵(lì)自己的夢(mèng)想。沒(méi)有夢(mèng)想加熱情，人們就會(huì)一事無(wú)成。
其次，我們必須學(xué)會(huì)如何學(xué)習(xí)。在學(xué)校里，我們學(xué)的是如何死記硬背，如何更好地接受老師的教誨。學(xué)會(huì)了怎樣學(xué)習(xí)，我們就可以不倚賴別人也能學(xué)到知識(shí)。
最后，我們必須善于從錯(cuò)誤中學(xué)習(xí)，學(xué)會(huì)從失敗中振作起來(lái)。沒(méi)有失敗的磨礪也就沒(méi)有成功人士�？上г谡n堂里，失敗犯錯(cuò)卻是個(gè)禁忌。
我十幾歲的時(shí)候看過(guò)一本叫《木筏之旅》的書，講的是六個(gè)挪威人乘坐木筏橫渡太平洋的故事。他們的探險(xiǎn)經(jīng)歷讓我突發(fā)奇想，有一天我也要像他們那樣來(lái)一次木筏航行。作為普通家庭出身的少年，我的這個(gè)夢(mèng)想人人都覺(jué)得荒謬。親朋好友都不支持我，他們還叫我不要開這樣的玩笑。但這個(gè)木筏夢(mèng)想?yún)s在我心里燃燒，我想更深入地了解海洋世界的奧秘，學(xué)習(xí)怎樣挑戰(zhàn)它。于是我開始往公共圖書館里跑，并找了很多相關(guān)的書籍來(lái)看。
后來(lái)的幾年，我參加了海洋探險(xiǎn)訓(xùn)練營(yíng)，閱讀航船雜志和航海專著，還觀摩了多次的船艇展覽。為了學(xué)習(xí)船舶駕駛技巧，我做了航海圖、浮標(biāo)和船艇的模型。有了模型做參考，理解起來(lái)就容易多了。其實(shí)當(dāng)時(shí)我是不自覺(jué)地學(xué)習(xí)如何學(xué)習(xí)，也就是自學(xué)的技巧。這個(gè)本領(lǐng)使我終生受用，成就了后日的輝煌，也讓我那遙不可及的夢(mèng)想成為了現(xiàn)實(shí)。
十九歲那年正值朝鮮戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)，我加入了海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)，并被派遣到了日本。第一天報(bào)到的時(shí)候，一個(gè)軍官跟我說(shuō)：“你現(xiàn)在是我們的機(jī)械師，負(fù)責(zé)機(jī)修部�！彼呏钢惠v拖車，邊遞給我一串鑰匙。在海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)里，所有的東西都連接到了車軌上。我打開拖車的門，第一次看到了海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)的機(jī)修車間。里面有本操作手冊(cè)，標(biāo)題是《如何操作車床》。以后每次接到任務(wù)的時(shí)候，我就按著手冊(cè)的指引去做，連我也有點(diǎn)不敢相信自己可以勝任派遣的任務(wù)。海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)的經(jīng)歷開始了我的機(jī)械工程師生涯，也讓我懂得學(xué)會(huì)怎么學(xué)就是一種有力的工具。其實(shí)，我們身邊所有的人造發(fā)明都凝聚了一些人的夢(mèng)想和挫敗�？纯措姛襞莸睦�，愛(ài)迪生就相信總有某些物質(zhì)可以達(dá)到白熾而不會(huì)燒起來(lái)。有點(diǎn)癡人說(shuō)夢(mèng)吧?人人都知道任何東西都會(huì)在短時(shí)間內(nèi)燒完。不過(guò)愛(ài)迪生在千次失敗嘗試后，的的確確找到了一種可以升溫至白熾?yún)s不會(huì)燒起來(lái)的鋼絲，持續(xù)的白熾就帶來(lái)了燈光。
機(jī)遇只會(huì)眷顧那些有夢(mèng)想的人。他們總是最先被錄用、最先被賜予機(jī)遇、也是最先被提升的。夢(mèng)想越是宏大，機(jī)會(huì)之門就會(huì)開得越快。沒(méi)有夢(mèng)想的人，招聘升遷的好事總輪不到他，人員精簡(jiǎn)的時(shí)候卻會(huì)被最先給刷下來(lái)。對(duì)沒(méi)有夢(mèng)想的人，機(jī)會(huì)之門始終是緊閉的。為什么?這是因?yàn)橛袎?mèng)想和沒(méi)有夢(mèng)想的人的處事方式完全不同。有夢(mèng)想的人為人處世散發(fā)出一股熱力，他們對(duì)自己的生命有種使命感，積極追求人生的意義。這種四射的熱忱正是上司欣賞的特質(zhì)，機(jī)遇也就因此而降臨。這也就是有夢(mèng)想的人化腐朽為神奇的秘密。
從陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)退役下來(lái)以后，我發(fā)覺(jué)別人的看法是對(duì)的——我年少時(shí)的夢(mèng)想實(shí)在太荒唐了�，F(xiàn)實(shí)生活中的人是不會(huì)乘坐皮筏漂流橫渡大海的.，我都長(zhǎng)成個(gè)成人了，想法和做法要像個(gè)成人才行。于是我的皮筏漂流夢(mèng)就這樣灰飛煙滅了。在接著的五年時(shí)間里，我沒(méi)有一絲的長(zhǎng)進(jìn)，什么抱負(fù)、愿望、理想統(tǒng)統(tǒng)都給拋諸腦后了。有些東西也就隨之消失了……年輕時(shí)常降臨的機(jī)遇也慢慢枯竭了。
有天在我替那本《木筏之旅》撣塵的時(shí)候，我的夢(mèng)想立即從書本里跳出來(lái)復(fù)活了。我對(duì)自己說(shuō)：“我得找條出路!”兩年后，我跑到了夏威夷。在那里我學(xué)到了2000年前波利尼西亞人是怎樣靠獨(dú)木舟來(lái)到這個(gè)太平洋小島定居的。我的夢(mèng)想已經(jīng)從木筏轉(zhuǎn)為獨(dú)木舟航行了，這時(shí)候幸運(yùn)之神再次光臨。
我在一艘36英尺長(zhǎng)帆船上謀到了一份船員的工作，這艘船常年游弋在夏威夷和加州之間，這就培養(yǎng)了我的航海經(jīng)驗(yàn)。接著巴拿馬運(yùn)河公司聘請(qǐng)了我，沒(méi)多久，部門主管就派我到專門的深海潛水學(xué)校接受培訓(xùn)，費(fèi)用由公司負(fù)責(zé)。學(xué)會(huì)了這個(gè)本領(lǐng)，錢也就再也不是問(wèn)題了。
過(guò)了不久，我來(lái)到了塔希提島的一個(gè)海灘上，在這里我造了一艘長(zhǎng)40英尺的雙層船身波利尼西亞船，命名為L(zhǎng)iki Tiki。它的船身是在巴拿馬的達(dá)里恩省由巧克族印第安人做的，然后運(yùn)到塔希提島來(lái)。我根據(jù)我的航海知識(shí)和在檀香山的主教博物館里找到的資料，建造了這艘船。在海上試航三天后，我就確信雙層船身理論是錯(cuò)誤的。因?yàn)檫@樣的話，兩層船殼互相抗衡，熬不了多久船身就會(huì)斷裂。
回到巴拿馬，我到達(dá)里恩叢林里向當(dāng)?shù)氐挠〉诎踩苏?qǐng)教。他們告訴我：“加上舷外支架就可以了。”于是我重新造了一只長(zhǎng)36英尺的獨(dú)木舟，裝上了舷外支架，我把它也命名為L(zhǎng)iki Tiki，乘著它我成功地航行了5000英里，從巴拿馬到了夏威夷。
機(jī)會(huì)一直在閃現(xiàn)，我為夏威夷海軍海底中心研發(fā)了一種承載雙人的樹脂玻璃潛艇。在搬回巴拿馬運(yùn)河區(qū)后，我學(xué)會(huì)了五種電腦程序語(yǔ)言，當(dāng)上了電腦部的主管。我還是運(yùn)河區(qū)一艘訓(xùn)練用帆船Chief Aptakisic號(hào)的船長(zhǎng)，帶過(guò)一批青少年去紐約。我自己另外又設(shè)計(jì)了一艘50英尺的帆船——Hunky-Dory號(hào)，我和妻子乘這艘帆船在南太平洋上航行了五年。得到機(jī)遇的眷顧是因?yàn)槲曳e極主動(dòng)，而且不讓年少輕狂的夢(mèng)想之火熄滅。
【揚(yáng)起夢(mèng)想的風(fēng)帆的英語(yǔ)美文及翻譯】相關(guān)文章：
揚(yáng)起夢(mèng)想風(fēng)帆作文500字06-01
揚(yáng)起夢(mèng)想風(fēng)帆作文500字06-01
揚(yáng)起夢(mèng)想風(fēng)帆作文400字06-01
揚(yáng)起夢(mèng)想的風(fēng)帆演講稿03-31
揚(yáng)起夢(mèng)想的風(fēng)帆演講稿范文06-03