【正文】 er Bannister broke the fourminute mile, John Landy beat Bannister39。s time by nearly two full seconds. Since then, close to eight hundred runners have broken the fourminute mile!可是，有一個(gè)人證明那些專家錯(cuò)了。奇跡中的奇跡是，在羅杰班尼斯特打破4分鐘一英里的紀(jì)錄6個(gè)星期之后，約翰蘭迪又以幾乎快出整整2秒的成績(jī)打破了班尼斯特的紀(jì)錄。此后，有大約800多名運(yùn)動(dòng)員打破了4分鐘一英里的記錄。19 Several years ago my daughter Mimi and I took a crack at running the New York Marathon. At the gun, 23,000 runners started and 21,244 finished. First place went to a Kenyan who pleted the race in two hours, 11 minutes and one second. The 21,244th runner to finish was a Vietnam veteran. He did it in three days, nine hours and 37 minutes. With no legs, he covered miles. After my daughter and I passed him in the first few minutes, we easily found more courage to finish ourselves.幾年前，我和女兒米米參加了紐約馬拉松比賽。發(fā)令槍一響，23,000名運(yùn)動(dòng)員沖出起跑線—最后有21,244名運(yùn)動(dòng)員到達(dá)終點(diǎn)。第一名是一位以2小時(shí)11分鐘零1秒跑完全程的肯尼亞人。第21,244名運(yùn)動(dòng)員是一位越戰(zhàn)老兵。他用了3天9小時(shí)37分鐘跑完全程。我和女兒在比賽的最初幾分鐘內(nèi)超過了他，當(dāng)時(shí)頓覺勇氣倍增，一定要跑完全程。20 Don39。t ever let anyone tell you that you can39。t acplish your goals. Who says you39。re not tougher, harder working and more able than your petition? You see, a goal is a dream with a deadline: in writing, measurable, identifiable, attainable.別聽旁人說你不能實(shí)現(xiàn)自己的目標(biāo)。誰說你不比你的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手更堅(jiān)強(qiáng)、更努力、更能干？要知道，所謂目標(biāo)就是有最后限期的夢(mèng)想：寫成文字，可測(cè)量，可確認(rèn)，可實(shí)現(xiàn)。21 4. Find a way to make a difference. In my opinion, the majority of New York cabdrivers are unfriendly, if not downright rude. Most of the cabs are filthy, and almost all of them sport an impenetrable, bulletproof partition. But recently I jumped into a cab at LaGuardia Airport and guess what? It was clean. There was beautiful music playing and no partition.4. 想方設(shè)法顯得與眾不同。在我看來，紐約大多數(shù)的出租車司機(jī)即使不算無禮透頂，至少也是不友好的。車輛大都十分骯臟，幾乎所有的車都觸目地裝有難以穿透的防彈隔離裝置?？山瘴以诶系蟻啓C(jī)場(chǎng)跳上了一輛出租車，你猜怎么樣？車子竟然干干凈凈。放著優(yōu)美的音樂，而且沒有隔離裝置。22 Park Lane Hotel, please, I said to the driver. With a broad smile, he said, Hi, my name is Wally, and he handed me a mission statement. A mission statement! It said he would get me there safely, courteously and on time.“請(qǐng)到帕克街酒店，”我對(duì)司機(jī)說。他笑容滿面地說：“你好，我叫沃利，”他說著遞給我一份保證書。一份保證書！上面寫著他將安全、禮貌、準(zhǔn)時(shí)地將我送到目的地。23 As we drove off, he held up a choice of newspapers and said, Be my guest. He told me to help myself to the fruit in the basket on the back seat. He held up a cellular phone and said, It39。s a dollar a minute if you39。d like to make a call.車開后，他拿出幾份報(bào)紙說：“請(qǐng)隨意翻閱?！彼€讓我隨意品嘗后座籃子里的水果。接著他又拿出手機(jī)說：“您要是想打電話，每分鐘1美元。”24 Shocked, I blurted, How long have you been practicing this? He answered, Three or four years.我大吃一驚，脫口問道：“你這么做有多久了？”他回答說：“有三、四年了?！?5 I know this is prying. I said, but how much extra money do you earn in tips?“我知道不該問，”我說，“可是，你能多掙多少小費(fèi)？”26 Between $12,000 and $14,000 a year! he responded proudly.“一年12,000到14,000美元左右，”他得意地回答說。27 He doesn39。t know it, but he39。s my hero. He39。s living proof that you can always shift the odds in your favor.他不知道他成了我心目中的英雄。他就是一個(gè)生動(dòng)的例證，說明你總是可以爭(zhēng)取到成功的機(jī)會(huì)。28 My mentor, Curt Carlson, is the wealthiest man in Minnesota, owner of a hotel and travel pany with sales in the neighborhood of $9 billion. I had to get to a meeting in New York one day, and Curt generously offered me a ride in his jet. It happened to be a day Minnesota was hit with one of the worst snowstorms in years. MinneapolisSt. Paul International Airport was closed for the first time in decades.我的良師益友柯特卡爾森是明尼蘇達(dá)州的首富，擁有一家酒店和旅行社，營(yíng)業(yè)收入約達(dá)90億美元。一次我要去紐約赴會(huì)，柯特慷慨地請(qǐng)我乘坐他的私人飛機(jī)。碰巧那天明尼蘇達(dá)州遭受多年不遇的暴風(fēng)雪襲擊。明尼阿波利斯—圣保羅國際機(jī)場(chǎng)幾十年來第一次關(guān)閉。29 Then, though the storm continued to pound us, the airport opened a runway for small craft only. As we were taxiing down it to take off, Curt turned to me and said gleefully, Look, Harvey, no tracks in the snow!雖然暴風(fēng)雪仍在肆虐，機(jī)場(chǎng)還是特地為小型飛機(jī)清出了一條跑道。我們正在跑道上滑行準(zhǔn)備起飛時(shí)，柯特轉(zhuǎn)過頭來興奮地說：“看哪，哈維，雪地上沒有痕跡啊！”30 Curt Carlson, 70 years old at the time, rich beyond anyone39。s dreams, could still sparkle with excitement about being first.柯特卡爾森，當(dāng)時(shí)年屆70，富甲一方，竟然還會(huì)因?yàn)樽约菏堑谝粋€(gè)而如此興奮。31 From my standpoint, that39。s what it39。s all about. Prepare to win. Never stop learning. Believe in yourself, even when no one else does. Find a way to make a difference. Then go out and make your own tracks in the snow.在我看來，這些正是關(guān)鍵之所在。準(zhǔn)備去贏。永不中斷學(xué)習(xí)。相信自己，哪怕沒人相信你。想方設(shè)法顯得與眾不同。然后就出發(fā)，在雪地上留下你自己的足跡。Is America going to decline like other great nations have before? The author thinks not, arguing that the type of society being created in America is quite unlike any that has gone before it. Read what he has to say and see whether you agree.美國是否會(huì)如同歷史上其他強(qiáng)國一樣走向衰亡？作者持否定觀點(diǎn)，認(rèn)為美國創(chuàng)建的社會(huì)模式不同于任何已出現(xiàn)的社會(huì)模式。讀一讀他的觀點(diǎn)，看看你是否同意。Unit5Some people seem easy to understand: their character appears obvious on first meeting. Appearances, however, can be deceptive.有些人似乎容易了解：他們的個(gè)性在初次交往時(shí)就表露無遺。然而，外表可能具有欺騙性。A Friend in NeedSomerset Maugham1 For thirty years now I have been studying my fellowmen. I do not know very much about them. I shrug my shoulders when people tell me that their first impressions of a person are always right. I think they must have small insight or great vanity. For my own part I find that the longer I know people the more they puzzle me.患難之交薩默塞特毛姆三十年來，我一直研究我的人類同胞，但至今了解不多。每當(dāng)有人跟我說他對(duì)一個(gè)人的第一次印象向來不錯(cuò)的時(shí)候，我就聳聳肩。我想這種人不是無知，就是自大。拿我自己來說，我發(fā)現(xiàn)，認(rèn)識(shí)一個(gè)人的時(shí)間越長(zhǎng)，我就越感到困惑。2 These reflections have occurred to me because I read in this morning39。s paper that Edward Hyde Burton had died at Kobe. He was a merchant and he had been in business in Japan for many years. I knew him very little, but he interested me because once he gave me a great surprise. Unless I had heard the story from his own lips, I should never have believed that he was capable of such an action. It was more startling because both in appearance and manner he suggested a very definite type. Here if ever was a man all of a piece. He was a tiny little fellow, not much more than five feet four in height, and very slender, with white hair, a red face much wrinkled, and blue eyes. I suppose he was about sixty when I knew him. He was always neatly and quietly dressed in accor