Great Love

本杰明·卡森 / Benjamin Carson

There is no job more important than parenting. I can find the answer from my mother.

My belief began when I was just a kid. I dreamed of becoming a doctor.

My mother was a domestic. Through her work， she observed that successful people spent a lot more time reading than they did watching television. She announced that my brother and I could only watch two to three pre-selected TV programs during the week. With our free time， we had to read two books each week from the Detroit Public Library and submit to her written book reports. She would mark them up with check marks and highlights. Years later we realized her marks were a ruse. My mother was illiterate. She had only received a third-grade education.

Although we had no money， between the covers of those books， I could go anywhere， do anything and be anybody.

When I entered high school I was an A student， but not for long， I wanted the fancy clothes. I wanted to hang out with the guys. I went from being an A student to a B student to a C student， but I didn’t care. I was getting the high fives and the low fives and the pats on the back. I was cool.

One night my mother came home from working her multiple jobs and I complained about not having enough Italian knit shirts. She said， “Okay， I’ll give you all the money I make this week scrubbing floors and cleaning bathrooms， and you can buy the family food and pay the bills. With everything left over， you can have all the Italian knit shirts you want.”

I was very pleased with that arrangement but once I got through allocating money， there was nothing left. I realized my mother was a financial genius to be able to keep a roof over our heads and any kind of food on the table， much less buy clothes.

I also realized that immediate gratification wasn’t going to get me anywhere. Success required intellectual preparation.

I went back to my studies and became an A student again， and eventually I fulfilled my dream and I became a doctor.

My story is really my mother’s story—a woman with little formal education or worldly goods who used her position as a parent to change the lives of many people around the globe. There is no job more important than parenting. This I believe.

世界上再?zèng)]有比為人父母更偉大的工作了。我從母親身上，就可以看到這一點(diǎn)。

我想成為一名醫(yī)生，這個(gè)夢想在我孩提時(shí)就已產(chǎn)生。

母親做過傭人。她在工作中發(fā)現(xiàn)，成功的人會用更多的時(shí)間看書，而不是看電視。因此母親規(guī)定，我和哥哥每周只能看預(yù)先挑選的兩三個(gè)節(jié)目。空閑時(shí)，母親會讓我們閱讀從底特律公共圖書館借來的書，并寫心得交給她。她會在上面做出審核過的各種標(biāo)記。多年后，我們才意識到那是母親的計(jì)策。其實(shí)她幾乎不識字，受教育水平也僅僅是小學(xué)三年級。

盡管我們很窮，但是在書的每一頁中我可以暢游世界，體驗(yàn)任何事，了解各種人的各方面生活。

剛踏入中學(xué)時(shí)，我是A等生，然而沒多久，我就開始對奇裝異服情有獨(dú)鐘，還常常和一幫男孩在校園里瞎混。很快，我就從A等生下滑到B等生，最終退到C等生，但我并不在乎這些。身邊的人有支持我的，有潑冷水的，也有安慰我的。我覺得自己很酷。

一天晚上，做了多份工作的母親疲倦地回到家。我向她抱怨說沒有一件好的意大利針織衫。母親說：“好吧，我把這周擦地板和洗廁所掙的錢都交給你，你來安排家庭的各項(xiàng)開支。余下的錢就可以用來買你想要的針織衫。”

對于這樣的安排，我萬分欣喜。但安排完所有的開支后，我才發(fā)現(xiàn)幾乎分文不剩。我這才意識到母親簡直是位理財(cái)專家，她將我們的衣食住行都安排得很好。

我也懂得了，一時(shí)的滿足并不能帶給我什么。成功是需要知識和才能作為儲備的。

于是，我重新回到學(xué)習(xí)當(dāng)中，并再次成為了A等生。最終，我實(shí)現(xiàn)了夢想，成為了一名醫(yī)生。

事實(shí)上，我的故事就是母親的故事—— 一位目不識丁的貧窮婦女以母親的身份改變了世上很多人的生活。世上最偉大的工作就是為人父母，我深信這一點(diǎn)。

記憶填空

1. My was a domestic. Through her work， she observed that people spent a lot more time reading they did watching television. She announced that my and I could only watch to three pre-selected TV programs the week.

2. When I entered school I was an A student， but not for ， I wanted the fancy clothes. I wanted to out with the guys. I went being an A student to a B student to a C student， but I didn’t . I was getting the high fives and the fives and the pats on the back. I was cool.

佳句翻譯

1. 世界上再?zèng)]有比為人父母更偉大的工作了。

2. 盡管我們很窮，但是在書的每一頁中我可以暢游世界，體驗(yàn)任何事，了解各種人的各方面生活。

3. 我也懂得了，一時(shí)的滿足并不能帶給我什么。成功是需要知識和才能作為儲備的。

短語應(yīng)用

1. I wanted to hang out with the guys.

hang out：閑逛，溜達(dá)

2. I was very pleased with that arrangement but once I got through allocating money， there was nothing left.

be pleased with：對……感到滿意，感到知足