智慧背囊 浮华背后-13-专心致志

[00:03.27]Commitment专心致志
[00:05.84]I will never forget what my old headmaster told me.
[00:09.58] Normally when you are only 15 years of age
[00:12.84]you do not remember most of the things that are preached¹ by your teachers.
[00:16.78] But, this particular story is one such lesson that I will never forget.
[00:22.35] Every time I drift off course, I get reminded of this story.
[00:26.62]It was a normal Monday morning at an assembly,
[00:30.00]and he was addressing the students on important things in life
[00:33.58]and about committing ourselves to what is important to us.
[00:37.40]This is how the story went:
[00:39.54]An old man lived in a certain part of London,
[00:42.81]and he would wake up every morning and go to the subway.
[00:46.42] He would get the train right to Central London,
[00:49.40] and then sit at the street corner and beg.
[00:52.21] He would do this every single day of his life.
[00:55.39] He sat at the same street corner and begged for almost 20 years.
[00:59.65]His house was filthy²,
[01:01.90]and a stench came out of the house and it smelled horribly.
[01:05.62] The neighbors could not stand the smell anymore,
[01:08.69] so they summoned³ the police officers to clear the place.
[01:12.19] The officers knocked down the door and cleaned the house.
[01:16.56] There were small bags of money all over the house that he had collected over the years.
[01:22.36]The police counted the money,
[01:24.34]and they soon realized that the old man was a millionaire.
[01:27.83]They waited outside his house in anticipation⁴ to share the good news with him.
[01:33.19]When he arrived home that evening,
[01:35.51]he was met by one of the officers
[01:37.91]who told him that there was no need for him to beg any more
[01:40.61] as he was a rich man now, a millionaire.
[01:43.76]He said nothing at all;
[01:45.96] he went into his house and locked the door.
[01:48.69]The next morning he woke up as usual, went to the subway, got into the train,
[01:54.05] and sat at the street corner and continued to beg.
[01:57.33]Obviously, this old man had no great plans,
[02:01.07]dreams or anything significant for his life.
[02:04.69]We learn nothing from this story other than staying focused on the things we enjoy doing, commitment.
[02:11.78] We should remain true to our course,
[02:14.28]although it may mean committing ourselves to things that people around us would normally disapprove⁵.
[02:19.64]Just keep it in mind that Commitment attracts wealth.

1 preached   

v.布道( preach的过去式和过去分词 )；劝诫；说教；宣传

参考例句：

• She preached to the congregation about forgiveness. 她向会众宣讲宽恕的道理。
• The friar preached against stealing and had a goose in his sleeve. 口是心非。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 filthy   

adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories.整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
• You really should throw out that filthy old sofa and get a new one.你真的应该扔掉那张肮脏的旧沙发，然后再去买张新的。

3 summoned   

传唤( summon的过去式和过去分词 )； 召唤； 传讯（出庭）； 鼓起（勇气）

参考例句：

• He was summoned to appear before the magistrates. 他被传唤在地方法院出庭。
• The students were summoned in turn to be interviewed. 学生依次被召入进行口试。

4 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。

5 disapprove   

v.不赞成，不同意，不批准

参考例句：

• I quite disapprove of his behaviour.我很不赞同他的行为。
• She wants to train for the theatre but her parents disapprove.她想训练自己做戏剧演员，但她的父母不赞成。