True heroes never seek accolades1. When they see a need， they simply do what needs to be done， often at a substantial2 cost to themselves. One such hero is Oral Lee Brown of Oakland， California.

Oral： It was one morning that I was headed to the store and a little girl asked me for a quarter， and I had a five dollar bill， so I asked her to come and go to the store with me， and when I got to the store I just told her to get whatever she wanted， and she ended up getting baloney3， cheese， bread. And so， as we left the store I began to talk to her， and asked her did she go to school， she just stated， “sometimes，”and I asked， “Well， where is your mother？” and so she said， “She’s at home.” It shoulda been the end of the story， but it wasn’t because I could not sleep.

The image of this little girl stayed with Oral Lee Brown， and the next day she asked around the neighborhood what school this girl might be attending. Brown went to the school and met with the principal， but was unable to locate the girl. What she did find were classes of inner-city first-graders who were obviously at risk. Without knowing what prompted4 her， Brown turned to the school’s principal and set into motion a process that would change lives.

Oral： I don’t know， I just looked up at her and said，“May I adopt a class？”， and then she， you know， at that point， you know， she said， “Well， who are you？”

What Brown proposed is that every year she would save $10，000 out of her $45，000 salary as a real estate agent for the students’ college education. The students， in turn， were to stay in school and graduate with good enough grades to qualify for acceptance into a college. And， after a month and a half of background checks and reviews， Oral Lee Brown was given permission to adopt a class. She was given a class of 23 students， all of whom came from poverty， and many of whom lived in broken homes， spent their young lives surrounded by violence and had little chance of ever finishing high school.

People sat back and waited for Brown to fail.

Brown immediately set to work. Not only did she put aside money from her paycheques， she also spent time getting to know the students in her class.

Oral： And so I was a fairy-tale mother. I…I was someone that they truly loved. I can remember going into the classroom periodically and I would…I would go from desk to desk talking to them， helping them with whatever they was [were] working with， and again， I guess I have a fondest memory was probably in the playground， because I would try to be there for play time， and we would go out and we would play and just talk.

Brown also made certain that her students had what they needed to attend class， buying them food， clothing and shoes. Combine these expenses with the $10，000 she was saving， Brown gave up over a quarter of her earnings every year.

Coming from a background of poverty herself， Brown understood some of the challenges her students faced. Brown claims that the values of hard work and sharing instilled in her by her parents gave her not only what she needed to educate herself and change her life， but it gave her lessons that she could pass on to her students to help change their lives. Whenever her kids complained about how hard their lives were， she would share her life’s lessons.

Oral： Don’t ever start pitying yourself， because whatever you got is more than you had yesterday. So you…you learn to deal with it， and it…it doesn’t matter how much money you have. You know， money doesn’t make you. The measure of a man is not the money. So it…it’s only a tool to get what you want， and， normally， there’s other ways to get what you want.

And as they got older， I used to always say to them， “I’m gonna always respect you and you’ve got to respect me.”

The result of this mutual respect was that， out of the 23 original students， 19 graduated from high school and went on to college.

The story could end here with more than a happy ending. However it has not ended for Oral Lee Brown. Oral Lee Brown continues to adopt classes and change lives. Upon hearing Brown’s amazing story， other individuals and businesses have stepped up and contributed. With the donations received by the Oral Lee Brown Foundation， Brown continues her work of changing and saving lives.

真正的英雄從不尋求贊美。當他們看到有人需要幫助時，他們只會簡單地給予幫助，而這常常卻讓他們付出不菲的代價。其中一位這樣的英雄就是奧洛爾·李·布朗。

奧洛爾：那是某天早上，我正往商店走去，一個小女孩問我要一個兩角五分硬幣，我當時只有一張五美元鈔票，于是我讓她跟我到商店去。到了商店，我讓她自己去拿想要的東西，結(jié)果她拿了香腸、干酪和面包。之后，我們離開商店，我開始跟她聊天，我問她有沒有上學，她只是說有時候會上，我問她：“那你媽媽在哪兒呢？”她說：“她在家里?！边@故事本應(yīng)就這么完了，但事情卻不是這樣，因為我睡不著。

這個小女孩的樣子一直留在奧洛爾·李·布朗的腦海中。第二天，她就向附近的鄰居打聽這女孩可能上的是哪所學校。布朗去了那所學校，與那里的校長見了面，卻找不到小女孩在哪個班級。然而，她卻發(fā)現(xiàn)了市中心貧民區(qū)里一年級學生入學情況岌岌可危的事實。不知哪來的勇氣，布朗轉(zhuǎn)向那所小學的校長，從而展開了一場將會改變許多人命運的行動。

奧洛爾：我也不知道，我只是抬頭看著她，說道：“我可以認領(lǐng)一個班嗎？”而她那時，你知道，說道：“你是誰？”

布朗的計劃是每年她將從自己當?shù)禺a(chǎn)經(jīng)紀的四萬五千美元的年薪中省下一萬美元，用于資助這些學生的大學教育。這些學生，反過來，得待在學校里并且以足夠被大學錄取的成績畢業(yè)。經(jīng)過一個半月的背景調(diào)查和評估，奧洛爾·李·布朗獲準認領(lǐng)一個班。她得到了一個有23名學生的班，里面所有的學生都來自貧困家庭，其中許多人生活在破碎家庭之中，年輕的生命處處伴隨著暴力，連從高中畢業(yè)也毫無把握。

人們都坐等布朗以失敗收場。

布朗立刻展開工作。她不光從自己的收入中投入金錢，還花時間去了解自己班里的學生。

奧洛爾：因此，我成為了神仙媽媽，成了他們真正愛戴的人。我記得自己會定期走進教室，我會一張桌子接一張桌子地挨個和他們交談，幫他們干手頭上的活兒，我想我最美妙的記憶很可能就是在操場上，因為在游戲時間我會盡量出現(xiàn)在那里，我們會到外面去，我們會一起玩，或者只是聊天。

布朗還確保她的學生有上學的必需品，她給他們買吃的、衣服和鞋子。這些開支連同她省下的一萬美元占了布朗每年收入的四分之一以上。

布朗自己也來自貧窮家庭，所以她明白她的學生所面對的一些挑戰(zhàn)。布朗認為她父母灌輸給她的關(guān)于努力工作和樂于分享的價值觀不光足以讓她自律并且改變命運，還啟發(fā)了她，使她明白自己可以將其傳遞給她的學生，幫助他們改變命運。無論何時，當她的孩子們抱怨自己命運多舛時，她就會和他們分享自己的人生教訓。

奧洛爾：千萬別自憐自艾，因為你今天承受的總會比昨天多。因此，你得學會處理，你身上有多少錢并不重要。你知道，錢不能塑造你。衡量人的尺度不是錢。那只是獲取你所需的一種手段，而通常還有其他方法滿足你所需。

當他們大一點，我常常跟他們說：“我會始終尊重你們，而你們也得尊重我?！?/p>

這種互尊互重的結(jié)果是，原來的23名學生中，19人從高中畢業(yè)并且上了大學。

這個故事到此本已不止是結(jié)局完滿了，然而對奧洛爾·李·布朗來說，卻還沒有結(jié)束。她繼續(xù)認領(lǐng)班級，改變命運。聽說了布朗的感人故事后，其他人和企業(yè)也參與其中，出錢出力。布朗用奧洛爾·李·布朗基金會收到的捐助，繼續(xù)改變命運和拯救生命。

單詞卡片

1.accolade n. 贊美

2.substantial adj.實質(zhì)的，真實的

3.baloney n.大香腸

4.prompt v. 鼓動，促使

幽默小故事

兩個警察

One day， a father and his little son were going home. At this age， the boy was interested in all kinds of things and was always asking questions. Now， he asked， “What’s the meaning of the word ‘drunk’， Dad？”

“Well， my son，” his father replied， “l(fā)ook， two policemen are standing there. If I regard the two policemen as four then I am drunk.”

“But， dad，” the boy said， “there’s only one policeman！”

一天，一位父親帶著他的兒子一起回家，小孩在這個年齡，總是對什么事情都很感興趣，喜歡問問題。這時，小男孩問道：“爸爸，‘喝醉’是什么意思??？”

爸爸回答道：“兒子，你看，那里站著兩個警察，如果我看成了四個警察，我就是喝醉了。”

小男孩說：“可是爸爸，那里明明只有一個警察呀！