陸友軍

At my primary school， ①I was one of the smartest kids there. I never studied， but always got perfect scores. I was also a prodigy（不凡之人）in music according to myself. I could sing better than almost everyone else in my school. I was pretty（很）sure that once I got to sixth grade， everyone would be surprised by me. But actually， they weren’t.

When I arrived at my new class， ②I couldn’t wait to show everyone what I could do. However， there was always someone else who could do them better. My grades began to suffer（變差）. More talented（有天資的）girls often sang solo（獨唱）. I believed I wasn’t smart. I believed I wasn’t talented. I believed I was a failure.

Over the next two years， I had to work very hard. ③Every prize for the singing competition was given to me for hard work and effort（努力）. Grades were still very low but improving④little by little. I worked really hard. However， I was never the best at everything.

⑤I haven’t realized until recently that I really don’t have to be the best at everything. ⑥I was too hard on myself. In fact， when I did badly in a test， my classmates never laughed at me.

No one is perfect. There will probably always be someone better than me at something. Anyway， there are over seven billion people in this world. I will never be the number one at everything， and that’s really okay.

[精彩譯文]

在我上小學時，我是學校最聰明的學生之一。我不努力學習，卻總能取得高分。我自認為也是一位音樂奇才。在我們學校，幾乎沒人唱歌比我好。我十分確信，進入六年級時我會令每個人大為驚訝。但實際上，情況不是這樣。

當我進入新的班級，我迫不及待地表現(xiàn)自己，讓同學們知道我能干什么。然而，總有其他人比我干得更好。我的學習成績開始變差。更多有才華的女孩經(jīng)常獨唱。我開始認為我不夠聰明，沒有才華，甚至認為自己是一位失敗者。

在接下來的兩年內(nèi)，我不得不勤奮努力。“功夫不負有心人”，我囊括了歌唱比賽的每一個獎項。雖然學習成績依然很差，但也逐漸地在提高。我拼盡全力，然而還是沒能做到事事最好。

直到最近，我才意識到真的沒有必要做到事事最好。我對自己太苛刻了。事實上，當我考試考砸了，也沒有一個同學嘲笑我。

世上沒有十全十美的人。總會有人在某些方面比我強。畢竟，這世上有70多億人口。我永遠都不會成為事事第一，不過這真的沒關(guān)系。

[難點解讀]

①本句中使用了“one of + the + 形容詞的最高級 + 復數(shù)名詞”這一結(jié)構(gòu)，意思為“最……之一”。例如：

Bill is one of the most popular students in our class.

比爾是我們班最受歡迎的學生之一。

②can’t wait to do sth. 迫不及待地做某事。例如：

I couldn’t wait to turn on the TV as soon as I got home yesterday afternoon.

昨天下午一到家我就迫不及待地打開電視。

③本句涉及含有雙賓語的被動語態(tài)，還可以寫成：I was given every prize for the singing competition for hard work and effort. 例如：

My father bought me a computer last week. 還可以寫成：

I was bought a computer by my father last week.

A computer was bought for me by my father last week.

④little by little 漸漸地

⑤not ...until... 直到……才……。 例如：

He didn’t go to bed until 11 o’clock last night.昨晚直到11點鐘他才上床睡覺。

⑥be hard on ?對某人要求嚴格

（作者單位：江蘇省興化市安豐初級中學）