英语短文名人故事 哲学思想家 第36期:戴尔·卡耐基

 18 Dale Carnegie 戴尔·卡耐基

The name of Dale Carnegie is synonymous with success and influence.  戴尔·卡耐基的名字几乎和成功、影响是同义词，

Perhaps the most well-known author in the field of communication and public speaking, Dale Carnegie was born into poverty on a small farm in Missouri, on November 24, 1888.  他也许是世界上在交流和演讲领域最有名的作家。卡耐基于1888年11月24日出生在密苏里州的一个农场。

His father, named John William Caraagie, was a poor farmer.  他的父亲约翰·威廉·卡耐基是一位贫苦的农民，

His mother, named Amanda Elizabeth Camagie, worked with his father on the farm.  母亲阿曼达·伊利沙白·卡耐基和和丈夫一起在农场工作。

Dale Camegey came from humble¹ beginnings.  戴尔·卡耐基就这样在贫苦中开始生活。

Yearly floods devastated² the farm and kept the family poor. 每年的洪水泛滥摧毁了农场，使这个家庭更加贫困。

The family was in debt, and as a young boy he had to get up at 4 a.m. every day to milk the cows and help on the farm, then to go to school.  家里负债累累。这个小男孩每天早上四点就要起床到农场帮忙挤牛奶，然后再去上学。

As a boy, Dale was known for one thing: reciting.  有一项能力让年轻的戴尔远近闻名：朗诵。

He used his talents in church functions and local events.  他经常在当地的活动和教堂的活动中为大家朗诵。

In high School he joined the debating team, but never won a debate.  中学时，他参加了辩论队，却从没有获胜过。

Frustrated³, he was determined⁴ to go to college and attended a state teacher's school.  沮丧之余，他下定决心上大学。

He couldn't afford to board at the school, so he rode a horse each day to class.  他进入了一所州立师范学院。由于住不起学校宿舍，他不得不骑着马去上学。

It was said that he practiced his reciting to the horse! 据说，他在马背上还练习朗诵。

As a child, Carnegie lacked of confidence and was often full of worries in those days.  卡耐基在孩提时代缺乏自信，充满焦虑。

One day, while helping⁵ his mother pit cherries, he began to cry.  一天，当他帮助妈妈给樱桃树挖坑时，他哭了。

His mother said, "Dale, what in the world are you crying about?" He blubbered, "I am afraid I am going to be buried alive!" 妈妈问："戴尔，你到底在哭什么呢？"戴尔抽噎着说："我怕我被活埋在这坑里。"

When thunderstorms came, he worried for fear he would be killed for lightning.  打雷时，他担心会被雷劈死；

When hard times came, he worried for fear they wouldn't have enough to eat.  年景不好时，担心以后没有食物充饥；

He worried for fear he would go to hell when he died.  还担心死后会不会下地狱。

He was terrified for fear an older boy, Sam White, would cut off his big ears 一 as he threatened to do...  他对一个叫西姆·怀特的大男孩感到恐惧，因为西姆曾威胁他说要割掉他的大耳朵…

Later he finally found out that 99 percent of his worries did not happen. 后来，他终于发现，他担心的事情99%都没有发生。

It's this humble and unconfident little boy who became a lecturer, giving hundreds of thousands of people confidence and optimism⁶ all over the world.  就是这样一个如此自卑，毫无自信的小男孩，最终成为给成千上万的人自信，让人们乐观的心理激励大师，

It's not difficult for one to imagine how arduous⁷ the development process involved has been. 这过程需要经历多少磨砺，洒下多少汗水，真是难以想象啊。

1 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

2 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

3 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 optimism   

n.乐观，乐观主义

参考例句：

• Don't pour cold water on their optimism.别给他们的乐观态度泼冷水。
• Optimism made him alive through the hard days.乐观主义使他在艰难的岁月里活了下来。

7 arduous   

adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的

参考例句：

• We must have patience in doing arduous work.我们做艰苦的工作要有耐性。
• The task was more arduous than he had calculated.这项任务比他所估计的要艰巨得多。