英语励志美文精华 34

You Cannot Fix a Real Faith

When I learned that members of my team, boys whom I had trusted and to whom I had devoted¹ intense training and guidance---when I learned that these boys had been fixed² by professional gamblers, my faith and belief in the basic integrity of youth received a severe blow. Any weaker confidence in the principles upon which I have tried to base my life might well have folded under its force. Yet I can honestly say that my belief in the real decency³ of the great majority of our young men and the value of athletics⁵ is as strong as ever. The indiscretions of a few youngsters cannot destroy a faith built up by thirty-four years of experience with other boys who have justified⁶ that faith.

Throughout the years I’ve seen thousands of boys getting important training on the athletic⁴ field. I have seen them learn honestly and fair play, and I’ ve seen them learn to subordinate themselves for the benefit of their team. What is more important, I’ve seen them take the lessons they have learned here into the situations they’ve had to face in later life. Many of the boys I’ve helped to teach have become outstanding members of their communities.

I realized that the responsibilities of any teacher are great and that those of a coach who spends more time with his pupils than any other teachers are even greater. Not only do I spend more time, but I feel emotionally closer to them, seeing and sustaining my students when they lose as well as when they win.

Because of this peculiarly intimate relationship with the members of my team in their most impressionable and formative years, I know that I can exercise great influence for good or bad on them. I try by the example of my own character and actions to set them a standard of moral behavior. For this reason, I have always tried to be very clear in my own mind about the principles in which I believe.

Take the desire to win, fundamental with every competitor. Naturally, it’s important to me, both as a player and coach and as a human being. I believe the competitive urge is a fine, wholesome⁷ direction of energy. But I also realize that the desire to win must be wedded⁸ to an ideal, an ethical⁹ way of life. It must never become so strong that it dwarfs¹⁰ every other aspect of the game or of life.

As a coach I have always tried to emphasize that winning is not enough. The game must be played right. I have often said that I would rather see my teams lose a game in which they played well than win with a sloppy¹¹ performance that reflected no credit, except that it was sufficient to win. So I’ve tried to develop a way of thinking that sees life, and the things I do, as a whole, with every act relating to anther set. This puts things in true perspective.

I believe in the resilience, in the bounce, of youth. I get rich satisfaction from working with young people, providing leadership and friendship during the tortuous¹² but exciting years that shape them toward maturity¹³. I honestly think no more worthwhile activity could occupy my time.Edwin Markham has summed it up better than I could. He wrote:

There is a destiny that makes us brothers,

None goes his way alone,

All that we send into the lives of others,

Comes back into our own.

1 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

2 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

3 decency   

n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重

参考例句：

• His sense of decency and fair play made him refuse the offer.他的正直感和公平竞争意识使他拒绝了这一提议。
• Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。

4 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

5 athletics   

n.运动，体育，田径运动

参考例句：

• When I was at school I was always hopeless at athletics.我上学的时候体育十分糟糕。
• Our team tied with theirs in athletics.在田径比赛中，我们队与他们队旗鼓相当。

6 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

7 wholesome   

adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的

参考例句：

• In actual fact the things I like doing are mostly wholesome.实际上我喜欢做的事大都是有助于增进身体健康的。
• It is not wholesome to eat without washing your hands.不洗手吃饭是不卫生的。

8 wedded   

adj.正式结婚的；渴望…的，执著于…的v.嫁，娶，（与…）结婚( wed的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She's wedded to her job. 她专心致志于工作。
• I was invited over by the newly wedded couple for a meal. 我被那对新婚夫妇请去吃饭。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

10 dwarfs   

n.侏儒，矮子（dwarf的复数形式）vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Shakespeare dwarfs other dramatists. 莎士比亚使其他剧作家相形见绌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The new building dwarfs all the other buildings in the town. 新大楼使城里所有其他建筑物都显得矮小了。 来自辞典例句

11 sloppy   

adj.邋遢的，不整洁的

参考例句：

• If you do such sloppy work again,I promise I'll fail you.要是下次作业你再马马虎虎，我话说在头里，可要给你打不及格了。
• Mother constantly picked at him for being sloppy.母亲不断地批评他懒散。

12 tortuous   

adj.弯弯曲曲的，蜿蜒的

参考例句：

• We have travelled a tortuous road.我们走过了曲折的道路。
• They walked through the tortuous streets of the old city.他们步行穿过老城区中心弯弯曲曲的街道。

13 maturity   

n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期

参考例句：

• These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
• This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。