If the Dream Is Big Enough

　　志当存高远

　　A school was across the street from our home and I would often watch the kids from my window as they played basketball. One day, among the children a girl attracted me. She seemed so small as she muscled her way through the crowd of boys. Running circles around the other kids, she managed to shoot jump shots just over their heads and into the net with on one to stop her. Sometimes, I saw her play alone. She would practice dribbling and shooting over and over again, until dark.

　　我的家与一所学校只有一街之隔，我经常透过窗户看学校里孩子们打篮球。一天我注意到一个小姑娘。她在一群孩子中间，身材矮小，却在费劲地从男孩子们中间挤过。她在别人旁边兜来转去，设法地跳起投篮，“嗖——”，球恰好越过那些孩子的头顶飞入篮筐，竟无人能挡。有时候我看到她一个人在打球，一遍又一遍地练习运球和投篮，直到天黑。

　　One day I asked her why she practiced so much. Without hesitation, she said, "I want to go to college. The only way I can go is if I get a scholarship. If I were good enough, I would get a scholarship. I like basketball. My Daddy told me if the dream is big enough, the facts don't count." Then she smiled and ran towards the court to go on practice.

　　有一天我问她为什么这么刻苦地练球。她不假思索地说：“我想上大学。只有获得奖学金我才能上大学。我想只要我打得好，我就能获得奖学金。我喜欢打篮球。我爸爸告诉我说，只要主义真，铁杵磨成针。”说完她笑了笑，跑向篮球场继续练球。

　　I watched her through junior high and into high school. Every week, she led her varsity team to victory. One day in her senior year, I saw her sitting in the grass, head cradled in her arms. I went over there and sat down beside her. Quietly I asked her what was wrong. "Oh, nothing," She replied softly. "I am just too short." The coach told her that at 5'5"she would probably never get to play for a top ranked college team — much less be offered a scholarship — so she should stop dreaming about college.

　　我看着她这些年从初中升到高中。每个星期，她带领的学校篮球代表队都能够获胜。高中那会儿的某一天，我看见她坐在草地上，头埋在臂弯里。我穿过街道，坐到她旁边的清凉的草地上。我轻轻地问出什么事了。“哦，没什么，”她轻声回答，“只是我太矮了。”原来篮球教练告诉她，以五英尺五英寸的身材，她几乎是没有机会到一流的球队去打球的——更不用说会获得奖学金了——所以她应该放弃想上大学的梦想。

　　She was heartbroken and I felt my own throat tighten as I sensed her disappointment. I asked her if she had talked to her dad about it yet. She told me that her father said those coaches were wrong. They did not understand the power of a dream. He told her that if she really wanted to play for a good college, if she truly wanted a scholarship, that nothing could stop her except one thing — her own attitude. He told her again, "If the dream is big enough, the facts don't count."

　　她很伤心，我也觉得自己的喉咙发紧，因为我感觉到了她的失望。我问她是否与她的爸爸谈过这件事。她从臂弯里抬起头，告诉我，她爸爸说那些教练错了。他们根本不懂得梦想的力量。他告诉她，如果真的想到一个好的大学去打篮球，如果她真的想获得奖学金，任何东西也不能阻止她，除非她自己不愿意。他又一次跟她说：“心中有目标，风雨不折腰。”第二年，当她和她的球队去参加北加利福尼亚州冠军赛时，她被一位大学的招生人员看中了。她真的获得了奖学金，一个全面资助的奖学金，并且进入美国全国大学体育协会其中一队女子甲组篮球队。她将接受她曾梦想并为之奋斗多年的大学教育（美文摘抄 MeiWen.com.cn）。

　　The next year, as she and her team went to the Northern California Championship game, she was seen by a college recruiter, and was offered a full scholarship, to a NCAA women's basketball team. She was going to college, which she had dreamed of and worked toward for all those years.

　　第二年，当她和她的球队去参加北加利福尼亚州冠军赛时，她被一位大学的招生人员看中，并获得了全额奖学金，进入美国全国大学体育协会中的一个女子篮球队。她要去上大学了，那是她多年来梦想的，为之奋斗的目标。

　　It's true: If the dream is big enough, the facts don't matter.

　　没错：只要主义真，铁杵磨成针。

　　Permission to Fail

　　孰能无过

　　Each of us fails from time to time. If we are wise, we accept these failures as a necessary part of the learning process. But all too often as parents and teachers we deny this same right to our children. We tell them that failure is something to be ashamed of, that nothing but top performance will meet with our approval.

　　我们每个人都会不时出错。聪明人承认自己的错误，并将其视为学习过程中的必不可少的一部分。但是我们作为老师和家长，却又常常不能接受孩子们和我们一样有犯错的权利。我们告诉他们犯错是件丢人的事，只有最好的表现才能得到我们的赞赏。

　　When I see a child subject to this kind of pressure, I think of Donnie, my youngest third-grader，he was a shy, nervous perfectionist. His fear of failure kept him from classroom games that other children played with joyous abandon. He seldom answered questions — he might be wrong. Written assignments, especially math, reduced him to nail-biting frustration. He seldom finished his work because he repeatedly checked with me to be sure he hadn't made a mistake.

　　我一看见有孩子遭受这种压力，就会想起唐尼。他是我三年级班里年龄最小的学生，他腼腆，惴惴不安，事事求全。他害怕出错，从不参加班里的游戏，可别人都玩得不亦乐乎。他从不回答自己没有把握的问题。写作业，尤其是数学作业急得他抓头搔耳，手足无措。他为了作业不出错反反复复和我校对答案，所以他经常不能完成作业。

　　I tried my best to build his self-confidence. But nothing changed until midterm, when Mary Anne, a student teacher, was assigned to our classroom. She was young and pretty, and she loved children. My pupils, Donnie included, adored her. But even enthusiastic, loving Mary was baffled by this little boy who feared of making mistake.

　　我想尽办法让他建立自信，都无济于事。直到期中，有一个实习教师分配到了我们班。这位年轻又漂亮的老师叫玛丽安妮。她爱孩子，我的学生们包括唐尼也都非常喜欢她。可是就连这位热情，充满爱心的玛丽老师也觉得这个小家伙害怕出错的行为难以理解。

　　Then one morning we were working math problems at the blackboard. Donnie had copied the problems with painstaking neatness and filled in answers for the first row. Pleased with his progress, I left the children with Mary Anne and went for art materials. When I returned, Donnie was in tears. He'd missed the third problem.

　　后来有一天早晨，我们在黑板上做数学题。唐尼煞费苦心工工整整地在黑板上抄写题目，并且把第一行的答案填了出来。看到他的进步我很高兴，放心地把孩子们留给玛丽照顾，我去拿了一趟美术用品。回来发现唐尼正在哭哭啼啼，原来他把第三题落了没抄。

　　Mary looked at me in despair. Suddenly her face brightened. From the desk we shared, she got a canister of pencils.

　　玛丽失望地看着我。这时她眼前突然一亮，从讲台的抽屉里拿出一筒铅笔。

　　"Look, Donnie," she said, kneeling beside him and gently lifting the tear-stained face from his arms. She placed the pencils on his desk.

　　“唐尼，你看，”玛丽老师说。一面蹲下身子靠近唐尼，一面轻轻地把他沾满泪水的小脸从他胳膊上抬起来。玛丽老师把一支支的铅笔摆在了唐尼的课桌上。

　　"See these pencils, Donnie?" she continued. "They belong to Mrs. Lindstrom and me. See how the erasers are worn? That's because we make mistakes too, lots of them. But we erase the mistakes and try again. That' what you must learn to do, too."

　　玛丽老师说道：“看到这些铅笔了吗？唐尼，这是我和林老师的铅笔。你知道为什么上面的橡皮磨下去许多吗？那是因为我们也犯错，也会犯很多错误。但是我们把错误擦掉再写一次。这也正是你要学会的啊。”

　　She kissed him and stood up. "Here," she said, "I'll leave one pencil to you so you'll remember that everybody makes mistakes, even teachers." Donnie looked up with love in his eyes and just a glimmer of a smile.

　　玛丽老师亲了一下小家伙站了起来。她说：“瞧，我给你留一支铅笔，这样你就会记住每个人都会犯错了，就连老师也一样。”唐尼抬头微微笑了笑，眼中带着感激，看了看老师。

　　The pencil became Donnie's prize. That, together with Mary Anne's frequent encouragement and unfailing praise for even Donnie's small successes, gradually persuaded him that it's all right to make mistakes — s long as you erase them and try again.

　　铅笔成了唐尼的奖赏。那支铅笔和玛丽老师不断的鼓励，再加上无论多小的成绩都能得到持久的表扬，渐渐地唐尼明白了犯错很正常，只要知错能改就是好孩子。

　　Full sail in spring wind

　　春风满帆

　　The youth have a wonderful time, brand--new life and promising future.

　　青年人拥有青春的美好时光、崭新的生活和美好的未来。

　　Try to face life positively, believe in yourself, be yourself and control yourself. Face the reality courageously and fight the difficulties. Strive to improve all-around qualities and build healthy and perfect personalities.

　　积极地面对人生，相信自己，坚持自己，把握自己；勇于面对现实，克服困难；努力提高个人的全面素质，塑造见去那完美的人格品质；

　　Have the courage to pursue your dreams, inspire yourself with great ideals, and motivate yourself with high spirits. Let’s look forward to having a brilliant future!

　　敢于追逐梦想，用崇高的理想激励自己，用昂扬的斗志鼓舞自己。让我们一起憧憬锦绣前程吧！