名校勵(lì)志英語(yǔ)演講 第15期:失敗的額外收益和想象力的重要性

[00:00.21]However, my parents, both of whom came from impoverished backgrounds and neither of whom had been to college, 然而， 我的父母家境都很貧困，兩個(gè)人都沒上過大學(xué)， [00:06.48]took the view that my overactive imagination was an amusing personal quirk， 他們認(rèn)為我過于豐富的想象力是令人驚訝的個(gè)人怪癖， [00:11.44]that would never pay a mortgage, or secure a pension. 根本不足以讓我支付按揭，或者獲得足夠的養(yǎng)老金。 [00:15.48]I know that the irony strikes with the force of a cartoon anvil, now. 我現(xiàn)在明白了反諷就像用卡通鐵砧去打擊你，但...... [00:22.03]So they hoped that I would take a vocational degree; I wanted to study English Literature. 他們希望我取得高職學(xué)位，而我卻想攻讀英國(guó)文學(xué)。 [00:27.51]A compromise was reached that in retrospect satisfied nobody,and I went up to study Modern Languages. 最后，我和父母達(dá)成了妥協(xié)，我改學(xué)現(xiàn)代語(yǔ)言。 [00:35.30]Hardly had my parents' car rounded the corner at the end of the road， 現(xiàn)在回想起來，當(dāng)時(shí)雙方都不怎么滿意。 [00:39.04]than I ditched German and scuttled off down the Classics corridor. 于是，父母的車剛一開遠(yuǎn)，我就丟下德語(yǔ)，去學(xué)習(xí)古典文學(xué)。 [00:44.21]I cannot remember telling my parents that I was studying Classics; 我不記得告訴過父母自己在學(xué)習(xí)古典文學(xué)， [00:48.27]they might well have found out for the first time on graduation day. 他們可能是在我畢業(yè)典禮那天才知道的。 [00:53.19]Of all the subjects on this planet, I think they would have been hard put to name one less useful， 我想，他們也許認(rèn)為，在全世界所有專業(yè)中，不會(huì)有比研究希臘神話更沒用的專業(yè)了， [00:59.42]than Greek mythology when it came to securing the keys to an executive bathroom. 那甚至無(wú)法換來一間獨(dú)立寬敞的衛(wèi)生間。 [01:06.35]I would like to make it clear, in parenthesis, that I do not blame my parents for their point of view. 在這里我想說明一點(diǎn)：我不會(huì)因?yàn)楦改傅挠^點(diǎn)而責(zé)怪他們。 [01:12.56]There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction; 不要因?yàn)楦改附o你的人生路指錯(cuò)了方向就無(wú)休止地埋怨他們。 [01:17.01]the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you. 當(dāng)你到了一定年齡，可以自己把握人生時(shí)，就應(yīng)該自己承擔(dān)責(zé)任。

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