Dr. Gibbs 吉布斯医生

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[00:03.33]Dr. Gibbs 吉布斯医生

[00:05.06]When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Dr. Gibbs.

[00:10.43]He was very nice, and never yelled at us for playing in his yard.

[00:14.36]When Dr. Gibbs wasn’t saving lives, he was planting trees.

[00:19.17]His house sat on ten acres, and his life’s goal was to make it a forest.

[00:24.64]He never watered his new trees, which flew in the face of conventional wisdom.

[00:29.56]Once I asked why. He said that watering plants spoiled them,

[00:34.18]and that if you water them, each successive tree generation will grow weaker and weaker.

[00:39.07]So you have to make things rough for them and weed out the weenie trees early on.

[00:43.90]He talked about how watering trees made for shallow roots,

[00:48.39]and how trees that weren’t watered had to grow deep roots in search of moisture.

[00:52.65]I took him to mean that deep roots were to be treasured.

[00:56.14]So he never watered his trees.

[00:58.67]He’d planted an oak and, instead of watering it every morning,

[01:01.72]he’d beat it with a rolled-up newspaper.

[01:03.81]Smack! Slap! Pow! I asked him why he did that,

[01:08.29]and he said it was to get the tree’s attention.

[01:10.68]Dr. Gibbs went to glory a couple of years after I left home.

[01:14.53]Every now and again, I walked by his house and looked at the trees

[01:18.35]that I’d watched him plant some twenty-five years ago.

[01:20.52]They’re granite¹ strong now. Big and robust².

[01:24.04]I planted a couple of trees a few years back.

[01:27.53]Carried water to them for a solid summer. Sprayed them. Prayed over them. The whole nine yards.

[01:32.79]Two years of coddling has resulted in trees that expect to be waited on hand and foot.

[01:38.14]Whenever a cold wind blows in, they tremble and chatter³ their branches.

[01:42.74]Funny things about those trees of Dr. Gibbs’.

[01:45.92]Adversity and deprivation⁴ seemed to benefit them in ways comfort and ease never could.

[01:51.15]Every night before I go to bed, I pray for my two sons.

[01:55.22]Mostly I pray that their lives will be easy.

[01:58.16]But lately I’ve been thinking that it’s time to change my prayer.

[02:01.54]So I’m changing my prayer. Because life is tough, whether we want it to be or not.

[02:06.68]Too many times we pray for ease, but that’s a prayer seldom met.

[02:11.61]What we need to do is pray for roots that reach deep into life,

[02:15.78]so when the rains fall and the winds blow, we won’t be swept asunder⁵.

1 granite   

adj.花岗岩，花岗石

参考例句：

• They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。
• The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。

2 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

3 chatter   

vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战

参考例句：

• Her continuous chatter vexes me.她的喋喋不休使我烦透了。
• I've had enough of their continual chatter.我已厌烦了他们喋喋不休的闲谈。

4 deprivation   

n.匮乏；丧失；夺去，贫困

参考例句：

• Many studies make it clear that sleep deprivation is dangerous.多实验都证实了睡眠被剥夺是危险的。
• Missing the holiday was a great deprivation.错过假日是极大的损失。

5 asunder   

adj.分离的，化为碎片

参考例句：

• The curtains had been drawn asunder.窗帘被拉向两边。
• Your conscience,conviction,integrity,and loyalties were torn asunder.你的良心、信念、正直和忠诚都被扯得粉碎了。