Believe In Yourself

曲永華

人生苦短，無論經歷什么，都要相信自己——這是本文作者的親身體會。那么作者曾經是怎樣一個人？是誰給了身陷困境的他一臂之力？他又是如何破蛹而出成就自己的輝煌的？請細細體會作者的苦與樂，并思考一下如何戰勝你自己吧！

①Life is not easy， so Id like to say “When anything happens， believe in yourself.”

②When I was a young boy， I was so shy to talk to anyone that my classmates often laughed at me. I was sad but could do nothing. Later， something happened， and it changed my life. It was an English speech contest. My mother asked me to take part in it. What a terrible idea！ It meant I had to speak before all the teachers and students of my school.

“Come on， boy. Believe in yourself. You are sure to win the contest. ” Then Mother and I talked about many different topics. At last I chose the topic “Believe in yourself”. I tried my best to remember all the speech and practiced it over 100 times. With the help of my mother， I did well in the contest.③I could hardly believe myself when the news came that I had won the first place. I heard the cheers from the teachers and the students. ④Those classmates who once looked down on me， now all said “Congratulations！” to me. My mother hugged me and cried excitedly.

Since then， everything has changed for me. When I do anything， I try to tell myself to be sure and I will find myself. This is not only for a person but also for a country.

精彩譯文：

相信自己

人生不輕松，所以我想說：“無論發生什么，都要相信自己。”

在我小時候，我很羞于和別人說話，我的同學們經常嘲笑我。我很傷心但是無能為力。后來發生的事情改變了我的生活。那是一次英語演講比賽，我的媽媽讓我參加。這可真是個壞主意！那就意味著我必須在學校全體師生面前演講。

“加油，兒子！相信自己！你一定會贏得比賽的。”然后媽媽和我討論了許多不同的話題。最后我選擇了這個題目“相信自己”。我盡力記住所有的內容，練習了不下100遍！在媽媽的幫助下，我在比賽中表現出色。當我贏得第一名的消息傳來時，我幾乎不敢相信我自己。我聽到了來自老師和同學們的歡呼聲。那些曾經看不起我的同學現在都向我表示祝賀。我的媽媽擁抱著我，興奮地哭了。

從那以后，我的一切都發生了變化。無論我做什么，我都盡力告訴自己要自信，而且我會找到自己的位置。這不僅是為了個人也是為了國家。

難句解讀：

①Life is not easy， so Id like to say “When anything happens， believe in yourself.”

人生不輕松，所以我想說：“無論發生什么，都要相信自己。”

本句中引號引起的直接引語作動詞say的賓語，其中When引導一個時間狀語從句。

②When I was a young boy， I was so shy to talk to anyone that my classmates often laughed at me.

在我小時候，我很羞于和別人說話，我的同學們經常嘲笑我。

When引導一個時間狀語從句，so... that引導結果狀語從句。laugh at意為“嘲笑，笑話”。

③I could hardly believe myself when the news came that I had won the first place.

當我贏得第一名的消息傳來時，我幾乎不敢相信自己。

When引導的時間狀語從句中，that引導一個同位語從句，其本位語是the news。引導同位語從句的連接詞在從句中不充當成分，但不可省略。

④Those classmates who once looked down on me， now all said “Congratulations！” to me.

那些曾經看不起我的同學現在都向我表示祝賀。

Who引導的定語從句修飾先行詞those classmates，look down on / upon意為“俯視，看不起，輕視”。