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had debated whether or not I should attend the meet. But there I was, preparing for the 3,200-meter run.
“Ready… set…” The gun popped and we were off. The other girls darted ahead of me. I realized I was limping and felt humiliated as I fell farther and farther behind.
The first place runner was two laps ahead of me when she crossed the finish line.“Hooray!” shouted the crowd. It was the loudest cheer I had ever heard at a meet.
“Maybe I should quit,”I thought as I limped on.“Those people don’t want to wait for me to finish this race.” Somehow, though, I decided to keep going. During the last two laps, I ran in pain and decided not to compete in track next year. It wouldn’t be worth it, even if my foot did heal. I could never beat the girl who had lapped me twice.
When I finished, I heard a cheer — just as enthusiastic as the one I’d heard when the first girl passed the finish line. “What was that all about?” I asked myself. I turned around and, sure enough, the boys were preparing for their race. “That must be it; they’re cheering for the boys.”
I went straight to the bathroom where a girl bumped into me. “Wow, you’ve got courage!” she told me.
I thought,“Courage? She must be mistaking me for some one else. I just lost a race!”
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“I would never have been able to finish those two miles if I were you. I would have quit on the first lap. What happened to your foot? We were cheering for you. Did you hear us?”
I couldn’t believe it. A complete stranger had been cheering for me — not because she wanted me to win, but because she wanted me to keep going and not give up. Suddenly I regained hope. I decided to stick with track next year. One girl saved my dream.
That day I learned two things:
First, a little kindness and confidence in people can make a great difference to them.
And, second, strength and courage aren’t always measured in medals and victories. They are measured in the struggles we overcome. The strongest people are not always the people who win, but the people who don’t give up when they lose.
I dream only that someday — perhaps as a senior — I will be able to win a race with a cheer as big as the one I got when I lost that race as a freshman.
追寻我的梦想
这是地区的田径运动会——我们整个季节都在为之训练的田径运动会。我的脚 早些时候受了伤，此时还没有痊愈。实际上，我一直在考虑是否应该参加这次运 动会。但我还是去了，准备参加3200 米跑。
“各就各位……跑……”发令枪砰的一响，我们就出发了。别的女孩子都冲到了 我前面。我意识到我在一瘸一拐地跑，并且因为越来越落在后面而感到很丢脸。
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跑第一的选手冲过终点线时领先了我两圈。“好哇！”观众喊道。这是我在田径运 动会上听到过的最响亮的欢呼声。
“也许我应该放弃,” 我一边一瘸一拐地往前跑一边在想。“那些人并不想等着 我跑完全程。”可是不知怎么的，我还是决定继续跑下去。在最后两圈，我跑得 很痛苦，决定下一年不参加田径比赛了。即使我的脚真的好了，这也不值得。我 永远也不可能战胜那个领先我两圈的女孩。
当我跑完时，我听到了一片欢呼声——就像第一个女孩冲过终点线时我听到的 欢呼声一样热烈。“这是怎么回事？”我问自己。我转过身去，果然，是男孩子 们正在准备开始比赛。“这肯定没错：他们在为那些男孩子欢呼。”
我径直向盥洗室走去，在那里一个女孩跟我撞了个满怀。“哇，你真有勇气！”她 对我说。
我想:“勇气？她一定是把我误认为别人了。我刚输掉了一场比赛！”
“如果我是你的话，我绝不可能跑完那两英里。我第一圈就会放弃。你的脚跟怎 么啦？我们都在为你欢呼。你听到我们的欢呼吗？” 31
我真不敢相信。一个完全陌生的人在为我欢呼——并不是因为她想要我获胜， 而是因为她希望我坚持跑下去不要放弃。突然我重新获得了希望。我决定下一年 继续参加田径比赛运动。一个女孩挽救了我的梦想。 那一天我认识到两件事。
第一，对别人表示一点好意和信任可以对他们产生很大的影响。
第二，力量和勇气并非总是以奖牌和胜利来衡量的。它们是以我们进行的拼搏和 战胜的困难来衡量的，最坚强的人并不总是赢得胜利的人，而是那些在失败时不
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放弃的人。
我只是梦想将来某一天——也许在大四时——我能赢得比赛，得到与我在大一 输掉比赛时得到的同样热烈的欢呼。
第七课课文The Smile
Many Americans are familiar with The Little Prince, a wonderful book by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. This is a whimsical(异想天开的) and fabulous(寓言般的) book and works as a children’s story as well as a thought-provoking(发人深省的) adult fable. Far fewer are aware of Saint-Exupery’s安东尼·圣艾修伯other writings, novels and short stories. Saint-Exupery was a fighter pilot who fought against the Nazis(纳粹) and was killed in action. Before World War II, he fought in the Spanish Civil War西班牙内战 against the fascists(法西斯主义者). He wrote a fascinating story based on that experience entitled
The Smile (Le Sourire). It is this story which I’d like to share with you now. it isn’t clear
whether or not he meant this to be autobiographical(自传的) or fiction(虚构的). I choose to believe it to be the former.
He said that he was captured by the enemy and thrown into a jail cell. He was sure that from the contemptuous(蔑视的) looks and rough treatment he received from his jailers(狱卒) he would be executed(处决) the next day. From here, I’ll tell the story as I remember it in my own words.
“I was sure that I was to be killed. I became terribly nervous and distraught(心神错乱的). I
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