03　Bend, but Don’t Break彎而不折

One of my fondest memories as a child is going by the river and sitting idly on the bank. There I would enjoy the peace and quiet, watch the water rush downstream, and listen to the chirps of birds and the rustling of leaves in the trees.I would also watch the bamboo trees bend under pressure from the wind and watch them return gracefully to their upright after the wind had died down.

關于童年，我最美好的回憶就是去小河旁，懶散地坐在岸邊。在那里我享受著平和安靜，看著水直流而下，聽著鳥叫聲和樹葉的沙沙聲。我還觀察到竹子在風的壓力下彎曲，然后在風停后優雅地恢復直立狀態。

When I think about the bamboo tree's ability to bounce back, the word resilience comes to mind. When used in reference to a person, this word means the ability to readily recover from shock, depression or any other negative situation.Have you ever felt like you are about to snap?Have you ever felt like you are at your breaking point?Thankfully, you have survived the experience to live to talk about it.During the experience you probably felt a mix of emotions that threatened your health.You felt emotionally drained, mentally exhausted and you most likely endured unpleasant physical symptoms.

當我思考竹子恢復原狀的能力時，腦海中浮現出了“適應力”這個詞。把這個詞用在人身上，意味著受到沖擊、沮喪或是其他消極情況之后易恢復的能力。你曾經有沒有一刻覺得你快要崩潰了？或是覺得就在崩潰的那一點上了？真是幸運，你已經有了那種經歷，現在還能生龍活虎地來談論它。在那次經歷中，你可能會有一系列威脅到你身心健康的混合的情緒。你感到情感上消耗殆盡，心理上疲憊不堪，很可能身體上也忍受著痛苦。

Life is a mixture of good times and bad times, happy moments and unhappy moments. The next time you are experiencing one of those bad times or unhappy moments that take you close to your breaking point, bend but don't break.Try your best not to let the situation get the best of you.A measure of hope will take you through the unpleasant moments.With hope for a better tomorrow, things may not be as bad as they seem to be.

生活中有好有壞，有快樂也有悲傷。下次你再經歷那種痛苦得幾乎把你推到崩潰邊緣的時刻時，要學會彎而不折。盡你最大的努力讓那一刻的你保持最好的狀態。滿懷希望會幫助你克服那些痛苦。心里想著明天會更好，事情可能不像它們看起來那么糟糕。

單詞解析　Word Analysis

idly[?a?dli]adv.懶散地；漫不經心地

例　She sat in the sun, idly sipping a cool drink.

她坐在陽光下懶洋洋地抿著冷飲。

downstream[?da?n?stri?m]adv.朝下游方向

例　Is the water polluted at source or further downstream?

河水是在源頭還是在流出之后受到污染的？

chirps[t???ps]n.啾啾

例　My cricket chirps against thy mandolin.

我的蟋蟀在跟你的琵琶應和。

rustling[?r?sl??]n.瑟瑟聲；沙沙聲

例　There was a rustling of dresses, and the standing congregation sat down.

站著的人們在一片衣服的沙沙聲中坐了下來。

gracefully[?gre?sf?li]adv.優美地；斯文地

例　He dived gracefully into the water.

他動作優美地跳入水中。

resilience[r??z?li?ns]n.適應力；彈性

例　She has shown great resilience to stress.

她對壓力表現出了極大的適應能力。

snap[sn?p]v.噼啪作響；崩塌；砰地關上；猛咬；謾罵；拍攝

例　Most pine snaps as it burns.

大多數松木燃燒時都發出斷裂聲。

drain[dre?n]v.排出；排干；喝光；耗盡

例　We must dig a trench to drain away the water.

我們必須挖一條溝排水。

endure[?n?d?r]vt.容忍

例　I could not endure the insolence of his behavior.

我不能再忍受他那傲慢無禮的行為了。

symptoms[?s?mpt?mz]n.癥狀

例　She developed symptoms of consumption.

她顯示出肺病的癥狀。

語法知識點　Grammar Points

①One of my fondest memories as a child is going by the river and sitting idly on the bank.

這個句子中，one of+可數名詞的復數，后面的謂語動詞用單數。

例　One of my classmates is from London.

我有一個同學來自倫敦。

as　在這里是“作為”的意思，用作介詞。

例　As a policeman, he has the responsibility to protect us.

作為一名警察，他有責任保護我們。

As a schoolboy, he showed every sign of genius.

當他還是個小學生的時候，就顯示出了天資聰慧。

②I would also watch the bamboo trees bend under pressure from the wind and watch them return gracefully to their upright after the wind had died down.

這個句子中，would表示過去常常做的事情。

watch sb./sth. do看某人/某物做某事的全過程；watch sb./sth.doing看某人/某物正在做某事

例　He had watched me grow from childhood.

他是看著我長大的。

We were standing there watching them skipping rope.

我們站在那里看他們跳繩。

die down　漸漸消失；平息；變弱

例　Open the air hole；the fire is dying down.

把氣孔打開，火要熄了。

The fire died down, so we put more coal on it.

爐火變弱了，所以我們再加了些煤。

③When I think about the bamboo tree’s ability to bounce back, the word resilience comes to mind.

bounce back（受挫折后）恢復原狀

例　I bounce back from disappointment.

我很快就能從挫折中恢復過來。

It took　6　weeks to bounce back from the jungle.

從混亂恢復原狀用了六周的時間。

come to mind　想到

例　A number of possibilities come to mind.

我腦里出現了好幾種可能性。

For most people, only two options come to mind.

對大多數人來說，只有兩個選擇浮現腦海。

④When used in reference to a person, this word means the ability to readily recover from shock, depression or any other negative situation.

這個句子中，因為從句和主句的主語一致，所以從句中的主語被省略了。原句應該是“When this word is used in reference to a person, it means the ability to readily recover from shock, depression or any other negative situation.”

in reference to　關于；有關

例　In reference to the interview our representative had with you, we offer our service as shipping agent.

按照本公司代表與您的洽談結果，本公司愿作為貴公司的船運代理人。

He spoke in reference to Boy Scouts.

他講了些關于童子軍的事情。

recover from　是固定搭配，表示“從……中恢復過來”。

例　He’s now fully recovered from his stroke.

他現已從中風完全康復了。

經典名句　Famous Classics

1.Every noble work is at first impossible.

每一個偉大的工程最初看起來都是不可能做到的！

2.We improve ourselves by victories over ourselves.There must be contests, and we must win.

我們通過戰勝自己來改進自我。那里一定有競賽，我們一定要贏！

3.One friend in a lifetime is much, two are many, three are hardly possible.Friendship needs a certain parallelism of life, a community of thought, a rivalry of aim.

一生中有一個好友已經足夠，兩個就算很多，三個幾乎不可能。友誼需要兩人之間的平等，思想上的統一，以及實現共同目標的競爭。

4.False friends are like our shadow, keeping close to us while we walk in the sunshine, but leaving us the instant we cross into the shade.

損友如同我們的影子，在陽光燦爛時與我們形影不離，在黑暗慘淡時就不見蹤影。

5.A man is not old as long as he is seeking something.A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.

只要一個人還有追求，他就沒有老。直到后悔取代了夢想，一個人才算老。

6.One's real value first lies in to what degree and what sense he set himself.

一個人的真正價值首先取決于他在什么程度上和在什么意義上從自我解放出來。

7.Don't try so hard, the best things come when you least expect them to.

不要著急，最好的總會在最不經意的時候出現。

讀書筆記

______