周一晚上, 一个法国的女同学邀请我去East Hall参加他们举行的Burger Party. 整个party很热闹,大概有三十多个老外参加.由于我同学是法国人,所以她请的人百分之六十也是法国人. 法国人讲英语的口音我早就领教过了,虽然听得吃力,可是大意还是懂的.
就在大家吃汉堡而且聊得起劲时, 我突然发现有一个女孩子长得很像中国人, 她也在和一群老外边吃边聊.好奇之下, 我和正在与我聊天的那两个法国学生说了声 “Excuse me, I will be back later”, 就拿着一杯啤酒走向那个女孩子, 然后问她: “Excuse me, are you Chinese?”她听了似乎有点吃惊,但不一会功夫,她就笑着对我说: “No, I am not Chinese.” 我听了刚想问她是不是韩国或者日本人时, 她接着说: “I am Taiwanese.”我当时正在喝着啤酒, 差点没有吐出来. 我笑着说: “Taiwanese? So you are also Chinese, right?” 她听了有点不愉快地说: “No, I am not Chinese. I am Taiwanese.” 我听了就觉得纳闷了: 台湾人不也是中国人吗? 怎么又不是中国人呢? 于是我继续说: “Taiwan is part of China, isn’t it? So both of us are Chinese.”那个女孩听了好像有点生气了, 她惊讶地说: “No! Taiwan is independent of China now and I did not hear any claims that Taiwan has already been part of China!”我当时听了真可谓是目瞪口呆! 我想一般中国人听了都会骂她 “叛徒”.然后我又问她: “So most of the people of your age think that Taiwan is independent of and does not belong to China?” 她很肯定地说一句: “Yes! At least my friends in Taiwan do not have too much sense that we are Chinese. We always call ourselves Taiwanese.”
听了这个女孩子的话,我觉得我的心好像打翻了五味瓶, 什么滋味都有. 至今为止我仍然不明白为什么台湾仍然没有被收复.我记得我从小学的时候, 老师和书本就一直在强调: “我国一定要收复台湾, 而且不排除使用武力!”这样的言论一直到我高中学习政治仍然存在.掐着指头数数, 不知不觉也有十多年了,可是为什么至今台湾仍然没有回到祖国的怀抱呢? 或许政治这东西真的很复杂, 我也不是什么精通国家大事和政治的高才生,但是我真的搞不明白这个问题. 时至今日,至从陈水扁下台,马英九上台后, 台湾问题好像不了了之了,再也没有人提起收复台湾的事情. 台湾就这样一直处于独立的状态.一水之隔,祖国和台湾仿佛越来越遥远.
或许有人听了这话会反问: “怎么会越来越远呢? 台湾人民不是和祖国大陆有越来越多的交往了吗?” 是的,无可否认,台湾和中国大陆有越来越多的经贸往来,但这并不意味着收复台湾的日子越来越近了.世界各国和中国的经贸往来也是日趋频繁, 难道这就意味着我们有一天会将他们收复? 恐怕不见得. 在台湾, 最有思念祖国情感的人是老一辈人,特别是经历了二战以及内战的人.他们一直都是力撑台湾回归祖国的主张.然而可惜的是, 这一辈人已经很老很老了,而且相当大一部分人已经离开人世.他们的后代,虽然受到祖辈的影响,仍有祖国情结,可是已经大不如前.等到了我们这一代,甚至是90后以及20后的一代,感情更加淡了,似乎回不回归祖国已经没关系了. 如果任由这样的趋势发展下去, 我想恐怕我们收复台湾的希望最后只能在无声无息中破灭, 甚至到后面,比如说十年二十年以后, 再也没有人会谈起台湾问题了.
有时我真的搞不懂中国政府的做法. 以前说陈水扁搞 “台独”, 大家都大力支持连战啊马英九啊等一系列人物. 好了, 我们好不容易盼到陈水扁成为阶下囚了, 我们力捧的马英九也上台了.可是结果却并没有如我们的意.马英九上台不久的那段时间里, 我们都会看到一些新闻报道, 今天说马英九发表了什么有益于中台关系的言论, 明天说马英九宣布什么有益于中台关系的政策. 这些东西表面看来好像挺不错的, 但是仔细一琢磨, 大家不免心生疑惑: 这言论和政策一浪接一浪, 可是压根就没有提到台湾回归中国的事情啊! 再想想, 不免又有另一层担忧: 难不成马英九想成为第二个陈水扁? 关于这样的评论, 网上不少论坛早已出现. 有些网友甚至直言: “谁会有皇帝不当而去当个臣子?”
本人对中国的政治了解不多, 平时也不是非常关注各类政治事件, 所以对于网上的评论对错与否也无法甄别.我只知道, 在一片看似祥和与繁荣的氛围里, 台湾问题绝对不可忽视.如果中国当局不采取更加强而有力的措施, 不再给台湾当局的领导人施压, 我想收复台湾终究只会是黄粱一梦.而等到哪天台湾真正宣布独立时, 我想当届的国家要员恐怕都会成为中国的千古罪人.这个罪名, 我想任何人也担待不起. 不过,我还是对中国政府有信心的.中国的势力日益崛起, 已经成为世界的焦点.泱泱大国连一个小岛也无法收复, 岂不成为天下人的笑话? 真心希望在我有生之年可以看到台湾回归祖国的那一天! 我想,这也是广大中国人民和台湾人民的希望!
每次只追前一名
作者: 来自小故事网
译者: 爱尔兰UCD 赖小琪
一个女孩，小的时候由于身体纤弱，每次体育课跑步都落在最后。这让好胜心极强的她感到非常沮丧，甚至害怕上体育课。这时，女孩的妈妈安慰她“没关系的，你年龄最小，可以跑在最后。不过，孩子你记住，下一次你的目标就是：只追前一名。”
There once was a girl who was always left behind to the last one in the running exercise in PE class due to her physically weak body. It made her, an ambitious girl, feel very depressed and fear taking PE class. At that time, her mother comforted her by saying, “Never mind, my dear! You are the youngest and can be understood to be the last one! But you should keep in mind that you should outrun one of your classmates each time.”
小女孩点了点头，记住了妈妈的话。再跑步时，她就奋力追赶她前面的同学。结果从倒数第一名，到倒数第二、第三、第四……一个学期还没结束，她的跑步成绩已到中游水平，而且也慢慢地喜欢上了体育课。
The little girl nodded and kept her mother’s words in mind. Since then, she tried to outrun one classmate every time they ran. Gradually, she ranked further and further in the running. Before the semester concluded, she already made huge progress and ranked in the middle of all the students, which made her gradually fall in love with the PE class.
接下来，妈妈把“只追前一名”的理念，引申到她的学习中，“如果每次考试都超过一个同学的话，那你就非常了不起啦！”
Later, her mother extended the notion of “outrunning one classmate each time” to her studies by telling her, “If you could outrun one of your classmates in each exam, then you will be exceptional!”
就这样，在妈妈这种理念的引导教育下，这个女孩2001年居然从北京大学毕业，并被哈佛大学以全额奖学金录取，成为当年哈佛教育学院录取的唯一一位中国应届本科毕业生。她就是朱成。其后，朱成在哈佛攻读硕士学位、博士学位。读博期间，她当选为有11个研究生院、1.3万名研究生的哈佛大学研究生总会主席。这是哈佛370年历史上第一位中国籍学生出任该职位，引起了巨大轰动。
Thanks to her mother’s enlightenment, the girl graduated from Peking University in 2001 and was admitted to Harvard University with a full scholarship, making her the only undergraduate who was admitted to Harvard Education College in China that year. Her name is Zhu Cheng. Later she successfully got the master’s and doctor’s degree in Harvard. During her PhD’s studies, she was elected as the general president of Harvard Graduate Association which was in charge of 13,000 postgraduate students in 11 graduate colleges. It caused enormous sensation that she was the first Chinese president of the association in Harvard University which enjoys a history of 370 years.
“只追前一名”，就是所谓的“够一够，摘桃子”。没有目标便失去了方向，没有期望便失去了方向，没有期望便失去了动力。但是，目标太高、期望太大的结果，不是力不从心，便是半途而废。明确而又可行的目标，真实而又适度的期望，才能引领人脚踏实地，胸有成竹的朝前走。
The philosophy of “outrunning one classmate each time” is indeed indicating to set a proper and achievable goal. Without goals we may lose our direction, anticipation and motivation. However, if the goal is set too high, we may feel too hard to achieve and give up halfway. Only the clear and feasible goal and proper anticipation can guide us to strive forward with great confidence step by step.
“只追前一名”的理念不像其他的大道理难听又难懂，相反，它简单易行，很容易激起孩子的自信心和高昂的斗志，目标虽小但是具体。在实现这个目标时，孩子会心无杂念，扎扎实实，认认真真地去做。孩子在一次次小的成功中，得到了他人认可和赏识，就会逐步走向大的成功，就会做出一番大的事业来。
The philosophy of “outrunning one classmate each time”, unlike other tough-to-understand philosophies, is literally simple to exercise. Its goal, though small, is actually specific and can ignite children’s self-confidence and ambition. In the course of realizing the goal, children will feel totally committed to it and spare no effort to realize it. Every small success will win the children compliment from others, which will spur them to stride faster to a greater success and establish their own career.
一句话可以毁掉一个人的信心，甚至破灭他对生存的希望；但一句话也可以鼓励一个人从失落中走出来，或让人从新的角度认识自己，从此改变他的人生。所以在任何时候，我们不要吝啬说一句鼓励的话，给一个信任的眼神，做一件力所能及的小事。一个人的力量对于自己也许是很有限的，但他却可能帮助激发另一个人的无穷潜能。
One word may destroy a person’s confidence or even his hope for living, while it can also invigorate him to pull himself together from depression and reflect on himself from a new perspective, thereby changing his life for better. Therefore, in any circumstance, we should not be too thrifty to give others an encouraging word and a trustful look, which can make them do what they can successfully, however tiny it may be. Our ability may be limited, but we can help to bring out the best of others by encouraging them! |
