新世纪大学英语第二册课文TextA电子书

第二单元 Three Days to See ...................................................................................................................................... 4 第三单元：The Shadowland of Dreams ..................................................................................................................... 8 第四单元：Choose Optimism ................................................................................................................................... 15 第五单元：Why Character Counts ........................................................................................................................... 18 第六单元：The Creative Personality ........................................................................................................................ 23 第七单元：What Does Teamwork Really Mean? ..................................................................................................... 29 第八单元：Did You Have a Tough Childhood? ........................................................................................................ 32

第一单元：\"I Forgive You\"

True forgiveness is hard to achieve, especially when we believe we've been hurt too deeply. But many of us may not know that our life needs forgiveness. Just as the author puts it, forgiveness helps establish harmonious relationships between human beings. So let us follow the author's advice and take the first step toward living in harmony.

Marriage isn't the only relationship that needs forgiveness. It's required with our children, friends, workmates, neighbours and even strangers. In fact, no human relationship can survive without the oxygen of forgiveness. It's not the kind of quality that only good-tempered people choose to have; it's a universal necessity for relationships and for your own physical and mental health.

Some of us may think that we've been hurt too deeply, or too often, to forgive. But ironically, it's those of us who've been most hurt that really need to forgive, for one simple reason: like cancer, bitterness can destroy its host. Unless it's swiftly rooted out, it takes hold and grows, crippling and eventually even killing those who insist on clinging determinedly to it.

For the truth is that unless we can forgive, we can never recover. Our wounds will continue to grow worse and never heal. As the ancient Chinese proverb puts it,

\"Whoever seeks revenge should dig two graves.\"

For some people forgiveness seems impossible because they have no idea how to go about it. The first and most important thing you need to accept is that the act of forgiveness is not going to be easy. In fact, it will probably be the hardest thing most of us ever have to do.

It seems totally unfair that we should forgive when we're the ones who have been hurt. And that's the core of forgiveness.

The saying \"Forgive and forget\" may roll off the tongue, but it's as shallow as it is short. For one thing, it's totally impossible. For another, it misses the whole point of forgiveness. The things we most need to forgive in life are the things we can't forget. Rather than sweeping them under the carpet, we need to draw a line under them, deliberately choosing not to count them against the person who did them, and moving on.

That's why, sometimes, the initial act of forgiveness may seem relatively easy, but dealing with the emotions that follow every time you see that person, or speak to or just think about him or her, can be harder. True forgiveness is not a one-off act; it's a constant emotional confrontation.

And the longer you wait to forgive someone, the harder it becomes. Time really doesn't heal; it just gives the bitterness and resentment longer to eat away at you from inside. If you wait for the \"right time\

A question you should ask yourself before you begin to tackle the art of forgiveness is this: How many of us are ever completely innocent in any given situation?

Some years ago, my wife and I bought a piece of cheap furniture. For the first few months, it fooled everyone — it was smart, functional and impressive, and we felt it fitted our home perfectly. But as time rolled by, the thin covering slowly began to peel at the edges. It didn't create the same impression any more, but at least it was being honest!•The fact is that, like it or not, behind our smart covering, we're all just chipboard. So before we become other people's judge and jury, we'd be wise to take a long, hard look at ourselves in the mirror. And the more we see ourselves, warts and all, the more we'll want to and be able to forgive others for their flaws, and the more we forgive, the more we'll know true contentment.

Forgiving others can get a satisfying reaction. I've found that saying sorry to my kids has not only healed broken relationships but has helped ease the situation, making it easier for my kids to ask for forgiveness themselves. So if you think you're right and can't find it in yourself to forgive, ask yourself this question: would you rather be right or happy?

One of the hardest things about forgiveness is making that first move especially when you haven't spoken to the person who hurt you for a while. But remember they'll probably be happy to hear from you. They might even be impressed that you've done what they've wanted to do for years. But keep in mind you're doing this for you just as much as for them, so don't be upset if they don't

react as you hoped.

Of course, some people don't believe they've done anything wrong, or don't care, so telling them you forgive them would only frustrate them and you. But that doesn't mean you can't find forgiveness in your heart. In fact, that's what true forgiveness is: letting go of your anger and hurt, becoming at peace with what happened and moving on.

The more you nurture your resentment, the more unhappy you'll become. Unless you learn to develop the \"lost art\" of forgiving, you'll always remain a victim, not just of people who've done you wrong, but also of your own emotions.

Forgiving puts you in control. However tough it is, the alternative is far worse. The phrase \"Forgive us our sins, though we refuse to forgive those who sin against us\" doesn't exist in the Bible. And there's a reason for that.

第二单元 Three Days to See

We tend to take what we have for granted, and seldom do we think about the value of life. Yet, Helen Keller, being both blind and deaf, taught us how to make the fullest use of our wonderful senses to appreciate life from a wholly different view - with love and passion. Helen Keller

①All of us have read thrilling stories in which the hero had only a limited and specified time to live. Sometimes it was as long as a year; sometimes as short as

twenty-four hours. But always we were interested in discovering just how the doomed man chose to spend his last days or his last hours. I speak, of course, of free men who have a choice, not condemned criminals whose sphere of activities is strictly confined.(我们都读过一些扣人心弦的故事，主人公将不久于人世，长则一年，短则24小时。而我们总是很感兴趣，这个即将辞世的人会如何度过他最后的时日。当然，我指的是拥有选择权力的自由人，不是那些活动范围受到严格的死囚。)

②Such stories set us thinking, wondering what we should do under similar circumstances. What events, what experiences, what associations, should we crowd into those last hours as mortal beings? What happiness should we find in reviewing the past, what regrets?（这一类的故事会促使我们思考，在类似的处境下，我们自己会做些什么？身为生命有限的人类，我们会那什么样的事件、经历、联想塞进这最后的时光里？回首往事，我们又会有那些快乐和遗憾呢？）

③Sometimes I have thought it would be an excellent rule to live each day as if we should die tomorrow. Such an attitude would emphasize sharply the value of life. We should live each day with a gentleness, a vigor, and a keenness of appreciation which are often lost when time stretches before us in the constant panorama of more days and months and years to come. There are those, of course, who would adopt the motto of \"Eat, drink, and be merry\be punished by the certainty of death.（有时我想，把每天都当做生命的最后一天来度过，会是一个很好的原则。这样的态度将更能凸显人生的价值。每一天我们都会怀着柔情、充满活力、心存感激，而这些，在来日方长时却常被我们所忽视。当然，也有一些人会奉行享乐主义——吃喝玩乐，但是绝大多数人在得知死期将至是都会更加珍惜生命。）

④Most of us take life for granted. We know that one day we must die, but usually we picture that day as far in the future. When we are in good health, death is all but unimaginable. We seldom think of it. The days stretch out endlessly. So we go about our petty tasks, hardly aware of our listless attitude towards life.（我们大多数人都不珍惜生命。我们知道有一天自己定会死去，但是总觉得这一天很遥远。我们身体健康时，死亡是完全无法想象的，我们很少会加以考虑。日复一日，没有尽头。所以我们忙于琐事，几乎不曾意识到自己对生活的态度有多么的冷漠。）

⑤The same listlessness, I am afraid, characterizes the use of all our faculties and senses. Only the deaf appreciate hearing, only the blind realize the blessings that lie in sight. Particularly does this observation apply to those who have lost sight and hearing in adult life. But those who have never suffered loss of sight or hearing damage seldom make the fullest use of these blessed faculties. Their eyes and ears take in all sights and sounds hazily, without concentration, and with little appreciation. It is the same old story of not being grateful for what we have until we lose it, of not being conscious of health until we are ill.（在运用所有的感官时我们的态度恐怕同样冷漠。只有聋人才珍惜听力，只有盲者才知到能见光明的幸运。对于那些成年后才失明失聪的人来说尤其如此。但是那些听力或视力从未遭受损失的人却很少充分利用这些幸运的能力。他们眼睛看见的，耳朵听到的，都是模糊的，不专心，也不带感激。这个道理，就是常说的失去才懂得珍惜，生病才知健康可贵。）

⑥I have often thought it would be a blessing if each human being were stricken blind and deaf for a few days at some time during his early adult life. Darkness would make him more appreciative of sight; silence would teach him the joys of sound.

⑦Now and then I have tested my seeing friends to discover what they see. Recently I was visited by a very good friend who had just returned from a long walk in the woods, and I asked her what she had observed. \"Nothing in particular,\" she replied. I might have shown disbelief had I not been accustomed to such responses, for long ago I became convinced that the seeing see little.

⑧How was it possible, I asked myself, to walk for an hour through the woods and see nothing worthy of note? I who cannot see find hundreds of things to interest me through mere touch. I feel the delicate symmetry of a leaf. I pass my hands lovingly about the smooth skin of a silver birch, or the rough bark of a pine. In spring I touch the branches of trees hopefully in search of a bud, the first sign of awakening Nature after her winter's sleep. I feel the delightful texture of a flower, and discover its remarkable folds; and something of the miracle of Nature is revealed to me. Occasionally, if I am very fortunate, I place my hand gently in a small tree and feel the happy quiver of a bird in full song. I am delighted to have cool waters of a brook rush through my open fingers. To me a thick carpet of pine needles or soft grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug. To me the colorful seasons are a thrilling and unending drama, the action of which streams through my finger tips.

⑨At times my heart cries out with longing to see all these things. If I can get so much pleasure from mere touch, how much more beauty must be revealed by sight. Yet, those who have eyes apparently see little. The panorama of color and action which fills the world is taken for granted. It is human, perhaps, to appreciate little that which we have and to long for that which we have not, but it is a great

pity that in the world of light the gift of sight is used only as a mere convenience rather than as a means of adding fullness to life.

⑩Oh, the things that I should see if I had the power of sight for three days!

第三单元：The Shadowland of Dreams

It is perhaps human nature to be drawn towards fame and wealth. Yet, as Alex Haley points out through his own experience, in order to become successful, one must learn to struggle in the Shadowland of dreams - a deep forest that can swallow up those who swing and hesitate. Only the determined stand a chance of making it. Alex Haley

①Many a young person tells me he wants to be a writer. I always encourage such people, but I also explain that there's a difference between \"being a writer\" and writing. In most cases these individuals are dreaming of wealth and fame, not the long hours alone at the type-writer. \"You've got to want to write,\" I say to them, \"not want to be a writer.\"（很多年轻人告诉我，他们想当作家。我总是鼓励这些人，但我也会解释，“当作家”和写作是有区别的。在多数情况下，这些人是在梦想名利，而不是在打字机前独自度过漫长的时间。我对他们说，“你得渴望写作，而不是渴望当作家。”）

②The reality is that writing is a lonely, private and poor-paying affair. For every writer kissed by fortune, there are thousands more whose longing is never rewarded. Even those who succeed often know long periods of neglect and poverty. I did.(孤独、冷清、低薪，这就是写作的现实写照。幸运之神会眷顾一些作家，

但数以千计的人心中的渴望永远无法满足。就算是成功者，大多也曾长期无人问、穷困潦倒，包括我。)

③When I left a 20-year career in the Coast Guard to become a freelance writer, I had no prospects at all. What I did have was a friend with whom I'd grown up in Henning, Tennessee. George found me my home--a cleaned-out storage room in the Greenwich Village apartment building where he worked as superintendent. It didn't even matter that it was cold and had no bathroom. Immediately I bought a used manual typewriter and felt like a genuine writer.（我离开工作了20年的美国海岸警备队成为一名自由作家时，前途一片渺茫。唯一拥有的是一个儿时的朋友乔治，他跟我在田纳西州的亨宁一起长大。乔治在格林尼治村公寓看门，他在那里帮我找了间腾出来的储藏室。那儿很冷，又没有卫生间，可是我不在乎。我马上买了一部二手的打字机，感觉就像一个真正的作家了。）

④After a year or so, however, I still hadn't received a break and began to doubt myself. It was so hard to sell a story that I barely made enough to eat. But I knew I wanted to write. I had dreamed about it for years. I wasn't going to be one of those people who die wondering, \"What if?\" I would keep putting my dream to the test--even though it meant living with uncertainty and fear of failure. This is the Shadowland of hope, and anyone with a dream must learn to live there.（然而，过了一年左右还没有时来运转，我开始怀疑自己。作品很难卖出去，我只能勉强维持生计，但我知道，我渴望写作，多少年来我一直梦想着写作。我不要像有些人一样，临死时还想，“假如……”我要坚持不懈的试验着我的梦，哪怕衣食无着，害怕失败，也决不放弃。这是希望的阴影地带，每个有梦的人都必须学会在那里安居。）

⑤Then one day I got a call that changed my life. It wasn't an agent or editor offering a big contract. It was the opposite, a kind of siren call tempting me to give up my dream. On the phone was an old acquaintance from the Coast Guard, now stationed in San Francisco. He had once lent me a few bucks and liked to egg me about it. \"When am I going to get the ＄15, Alex?\" he teased.（一天，我接到一个电话，我的一生从此改变。不是经纪人或编辑打来要和我签一份大额合同。刚好相反，这个电话像海妖的歌声，诱使我放弃梦想。打电话的是海岸警备队的一个老熟人，警备队现在设在旧金山。他借过一些钱给我，不时提起这件事。“我什么时候才能拿回来那15块钱啊，亚历克斯？”他挪揄道。）

⑥\"Next time I make a sale.\"（“等我下次卖了稿子吧。”）

⑦\"I have a better idea,\" he said. \"We need a new public-information assistant out here, and we're paying ＄6,000 a year. If you want it, you can have it.\"（他说，“我有个更好的主意。我们这里要新招一个公共信息助理，年薪六千。想要的话，这位子就是你的了。”）

⑧Six thousand a year! That was real money in 1960. I could get a nice apartment, a used car, pay off debts and maybe save a little something. What's more, I could write on the side.（一年六千！在1960年，那可是一大笔钱了。我可以买套不错的房子，一辆二手车，还清所有的债，甚至还可以有点积蓄，而且我还可以在业余时间写作。）

⑨As the dollars were dancing in my head, something cleared my senses. From deep inside a bull-headed resolution welled up. I had dreamed of being a

writer--full time. And that's what I was going to be. \"Thanks, but no,\" I heard myself saying. \"I'm going to stick it out and write.\"（钞票在我脑海中舞动，但我的头脑募得清醒了。从内心深处，一个固执的决定涌上心头。我的梦想是要当作家，全职作家。我一定要实现梦想。“谢谢，我不去，”我听到自己在这样说，“我要坚持写作。”）

⑩Afterward, as I paced around my little room, I started to feel like a fool. Reaching into my cupboard--an orange crate nailed to the wall--I pulled out all that was there: two cans of sardines. Plunging my hands in my pockets, I came up with 18 cents. I took the cans and coins and jammed them into a crumpled paper bag. There Alex, I said to myself. There's everything you've made of yourself so far. I'm not sure I ever felt so low.（放下电话，我在小小的房间里踱着步，开始觉得自己像个傻瓜。我把手伸进壁橱（一个钉在墙上的装橘子的板条箱），拿出里面所有所有东西：两个沙丁鱼罐头。我把手伸进口袋，找到了18分钱。我把罐头和硬币塞进一个皱巴巴的纸袋。我对自己说，看吧，亚历克斯，这就是你的全部家当了。我觉得前所未有的沮丧。）

11、I wish I could say things started getting better right away. But they didn't. Thank goodness I had George to help me over the rough spots.（我希望我可以说，情况马上有了好转，可是没有。幸亏还有乔治帮我渡过难关。）

12、Through him I met other struggling artists, like Joe Delaney, a veteran painter from Knoxville, Tennessee. Often Joe lacked food money, so he'd visit a neighborhood butcher who would give him big bones with small pieces of meat, and a grocer who would hand him some withered vegetables. That's all Joe needed to make his favorite soup.（通过他，我认识了一些正在苦苦奋斗的艺术家，比如乔德莱尼，绘画多年，来自田纳西州的诺克斯维尔。乔经常穷得连食物都买不起，所以

他会去附近的一家肉店，那屠夫会给些沾着肉末的大骨头，他还去杂货店，店主会给他一些焉了的蔬菜。用这些，乔就可以做他喜爱的汤了。）

13、Another Village neighbor was a handsome young singer who ran a struggling restaurant. Rumor had it that if a customer ordered steak, the singer would dash to a supermarket across the street to buy one. His name was Harry Belafonte.（村里还有一位邻居，是个英俊的年轻歌手，开一家生意清淡的餐馆。据说，要是顾客点了牛扒，这歌手就会冲到街对面的超市买一份回来。他的名字叫哈里·贝拉方特。）

14、People like Delaney and Belafonte became role models for me. I learned that you had to make sacrifices and live creatively to keep working at your dreams. That's what living in the Shadowland is all about.（德莱尼和贝拉方特等人成了我的楷模。我懂得了，要追求梦想，就得做出牺牲，有创意的生活。在梦想的阴影里生活就是这样的。）

15、As I absorbed the lesson, I gradually began to sell my articles. I was writing about what many people were talking about then: civil rights, black Americans and Africa. Soon, like birds flying south, my thoughts were drawn back to my childhood. In the silence of my room, I heard the voices of Grandma, Cousin Georgia, Aunt Plus, Aunt Liz and Aunt Till as they told stories about our family and slavery.（我品味着这个教训，这时我文章的销路也慢慢好起来。我写的是当时街头巷尾大众谈论的话题：公民权利、美国黑人、非洲。很快，就像南归的鸟儿一样，我的思绪回到了童年。在寂静的房间里，我仿佛可以听见亲人的声音，祖母、乔治亚表姐、普鲁斯阿姨、利兹阿姨、幕尔阿姨，在向我讲述我们的家族历史和奴隶制度。）

16、These were stories that black Americans had tended to avoid before, and so I mostly kept them to myself. But one day at lunch with editors of Reader's Digest, I told these stories of my grandmother and aunts and cousins. I said that I had a dream to trace my family's history to the first African brought to these shores in chains. I left that lunch with a contract that would help support my research and writing for nine years.（以前，美国黑人对这些故事而不谈所以我也很少向别人说起。但有一天，我与《读者文摘》的编辑们共进午餐时，我讲了祖母、阿姨和表姐她们的故事。我说，我有一个梦想，就是要追溯我的家族史，找到那戴着枷锁来到美国海岸的第一个非洲人。午餐结束时，我已经得到一份合同，资助我的调查与写作，为期九年。）

17、It was a long, slow climb out of the shadows. Yet in 1970, 17 years after I left the Coast Guard, Roots was published. Instantly I had the kind of fame and success that few writers ever experienced. The shadows had turned into dazzling limelight.（爬出阴影所在，是一个漫长而艰难的过程。不过，到了1970年，我离开海岸警备队十七年之后，《根》发表了。一夜之间，我拥有了大多数作家都不曾拥有的名望和成功。阴影已经变成了令人目眩的聚光灯。）

18、For the first time I had money and open doors everywhere. The phone rang all the time with new friends and new deals. I packed up and moved to Los Angeles, where I could help in the making of the Roots TV mini-series. It was a confusing, exciting time, and in a sense, I was blinded by the light of my success.（生平第一次，我有钱了，机会之门处处为我敞开。电话响个不停，总是有新的朋友，还有新的合约。我收拾好，搬到洛杉矶，协助拍摄《根》的电视系列短片。这段时间，我应接不暇，令我精神振奋。在某种意义上，我被成功的光环蒙蔽了双眼）

19、Then one day, while unpacking, I came across a box filled with things I had owned years before in the Village. Inside was a brown paper bag.（有一天，整理行李时，我看到一个箱子，装的是多年前我在格林尼治村时的家当。里面有一只棕色的纸袋。）

20、I opened it, and there were two corroded sardine cans, a nickel, a dime and three pennies. Suddenly the past came flooding in like a tide. I could picture myself once again huddled over the typewriter in that cold, bleak, one-room apartment. And I said to myself, The things in this bag are part of my roots, too. I can't ever forget that.（我打开来，看到两个锈迹斑斑的沙丁鱼罐头，一枚五分硬币，一枚十分硬币，三枚一分硬币。突然，往事潮涌而来。我仿佛看到自己又蜷缩在打字机前，在那个凄冷的单间里。我对自己说，这袋子里的东西也是我的一部分根。我可不能忘了。）

21、I sent them out to be framed. I keep that clear plastic case where I can see it every day. I can see it now above my office desk in Knoxville, along with the Pulitzer Prize, a portrait of nine Emmys awarded to the TV production of Roots, and the Spingarn medal - the NAACP's highest honor. I'd be hard pressed to say which means the most to me. But only one reminds me of the courage and persistence it takes to stay the course in the Shadowland.（我请人把这些东西镶起来。我把这个透明塑料盒放在每天都能看到的地方。我现在就可以看到它，就放在洛克斯维尔十五办公桌上方，放在一起的还有普利策奖杯，一张有电视版《根》所获九个艾美奖的照片，还有斯宾甘奖牌——“全国有色人种协进会”（NAACP）最高荣誉。要是问我，哪一个对我意义最大，我会感到很难回答。但这中间，只有一样东西会提醒我，在梦想的阴影里坚持自己的方向需要怎样的勇气和毅力。）

22、It's a lesson anyone with a dream should learn.（这个教训，每一个有梦的人

都应该汲取。）

第四单元：Choose Optimism

Some psychologists believe that one's state of mind has great influence over one's social and intellectual performance, and the quality of life depends much on one's attitude towards life. If this is the case, then can we consciously make our emotions work for us in a constructive way? The following passage provides a positive answer: by simply choosing optimism, we can lead a better life. Rich DeVos

If you expect something to turn out bad, it probably will. Pessimism is seldom disappointed. But the same principle also works in reverse. If you expect good things to happen, they usually do! There seems to be a natural cause-and-effect relationship between optimism and success.

Optimism and pessimism are with powerful forces, and each of us must choose which we want, so as to shape our outlook and our expectations. There is enough good and bad in everyone's life—ample sorrow and happiness, sufficient joy and pain—to find a rational basis for either optimism or pessimism. We can choose to laugh or cry, bless or curse. It's our decision: From which perspective do we want to view life? Will we look up in hope or down in despair? 乐观与悲观都具有强大的力量，我们每个人都必须选择我们想要的，来塑造我们的前途与希望。在每个人的一生中有足够的幸运与不幸，充裕的哀伤与喜悦，充足的欢欣与痛苦，是我们找到乐观或悲观的理由。我们可以选择哭泣或微笑，祝福或诅咒，这是我们的决定：用什么样的视

角去看待生活？是积极向上还是垂头丧气？

I believe in the upward look. I choose to highlight the positive and slip right over the negative. I am an optimist by choice as much as by nature. Sure, I know that sorrow exists. I am in my 70's now, and I've lived through more than one crisis. But when all is said and done, I find that the good in life is far greater and more important than the bad.

An optimistic attitude is not a luxury; it's a necessity. The way you look at life will determine how you feel, how you perform, and how well you will get along with other people. Conversely, negative thoughts, attitudes, and expectations feed on themselves; they become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Pessimism creates a sad and hopeless place where no one wants to live in.

Years ago, I drove into a service station to get some gas. It was a beautiful day, and I was feeling great. As I walked into the station to pay for the gas, the attendant said to me, \"How do you feel?\" That seemed like an odd question, but I felt fine and told him so. \"You don't look well,\" he replied. This took me completely by surprise. A little less confidently, I told him that I had never felt better. Without hesitation, he continued to tell me how bad I looked and that my skin appeared yellow.

By the time I left the service station, I was feeling a little uneasy. About a block away, I pulled over to the side of the road to look at my face in the mirror. How did I feel? Did I look that bad? Was everything all right? By the time I got home, I was

beginning to feel a little sick. Did I have a bad liver? Had I picked up some rare disease?

The next time I went into that gas station, feeling fine again, I figured out what had happened. The place had recently been painted a bright but disgusting yellow, and the light reflecting off the walls made everyone inside look as though they had hepatitis! I wondered how many other folks had reacted the way I did. I had let one short conversation with a total stranger change my attitude for an entire day. He told me I looked sick, and before long, I was actually feeling sick. That single negative observation had a profound effect on the way I felt and acted.

The only thing more powerful than negativism is a positive affirmation, a word of optimism and hope. One of the things I am most thankful for is the fact that I have grown up in a nation with a grand tradition of optimism. When a whole culture adopts an upward look, incredible things can be accomplished. When the world is seen as a hopeful, positive place, people are given the power to attempt and to achieve.

Optimism doesn't need to be naive. You can be an optimist and still recognize that problems exist and that some of them are not dealt with easily. But what a difference optimism makes in the attitude of the problem solver! For example, through the years I've heard some people say that the money spent on our space program has been wasted. \"Instead of spending ＄455 million to put a man on the moon,\" they say, \"why not spend that money here on earth on the poverty problem?\" But when you ask them exactly how they would spend that money to

solve the poverty problem, most of them don't have an answer. \"Give me a solution,\" I tell them, \"and I'll raise you the money.\" Think in positive terms about how to address the issue rather than criticizing money spent on another program, such as America's space program, which has resulted in many positive discoveries that have benefited mankind.

Optimism draws our attention away from negativism and channels it into positive, constructive thinking. When you're an optimist, you're more concerned with problem—solving than with useless fault-finding. In fact, without optimism, issues as big and ongoing as poverty have no hope of solution. It takes a dreamer—someone with hopelessly optimistic ideas, great persistence, and unlimited confidence—to tackle a problem that big. It's your choice.

第五单元：Why Character Counts

Many tend to believe that the only things we need for success are talent, energy and personality. Yet the story of the young and competent executive in the following text demonstrates that such values as integrity, honesty, and loyalty are even more essential for our success and happiness. Stephen R. Covey

Some time ago I was asked to consult for a bank that was having a problem with employee morale. \"I don't know what's wrong,\" complained their young president sadly. Bright and attractively capable, he'd risen through the ranks only to see his institution faltering. Productivity and profits were down. He blamed his employees. \"No matter what incentives I provide,\" he said, \"they won't shake off

this gloom and doom.\"

He was right. The atmosphere seemed poisoned with suspicion and lack of trust. For two months I ran workshops, but nothing helped. I was stumped.

Finally, in more casual conversations, the truth emerged. The boss, who was married, was having an affair with an employee. And everyone knew it.

It was obvious now that the company's poor performance was caused by his conduct. But the greatest damage this man was doing was to himself. He was thinking only of his own pleasure and satisfaction disregarding long-term consequences. Moreover, he had violated a sacred trust with his wife.

In a word, his failing was one of character.

What Really Matters

Character is made up of those principles and values that give your life direction, meaning and depth. These constitute your inner sense of what's right and wrong based not on laws or rules of conduct but on who you are.

They include such traits as integrity, honesty, courage, fairness and generosity which arise from the hard choices we have to make in life. So, wrong is simply in doing wrong, not in getting caught.

Yet some people wonder if our inner values matter anymore. After all, hasn't

our noted bank executive succeeded in every visible way, despite his moral failing?

This question demonstrates a dilemma of our modern life. Many have come to believe that the only things we need for success are talent, energy and personality. But history has taught us that who we are is more important than who we appear to be.

During the nation's first century and a half, almost everything in the literature of success and self-help focused on what could be called the character ethic. Such eminent figures as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson made clear their belief that we can only experience true success and happiness by making character the guideline of our lives.

After we moved into the industrial age and after World War I, the basic view of success shifted to what we could call the personality ethic. Success became more a function of charm, skills and techniques that lubricate the process of human interaction. Rather than struggle with difficult issues of right and wrong, we turned to making things run smoothly.

Some of that philosophy expressed itself with harmless but superficial mottoes, such as \"smiling wins more friends than frowning.\" Other ideas were even deceptive, faking interest in others' hobbies so they will like you, for instance.

With a value system based solely on skill and personality, we find heroes in athletes, musicians and in powerful business executives. But despite the

admiration we feel for these achievers, we shouldn't necessarily look upon them as role models. While skill is certainly needed for success, it can never guarantee happiness and fulfillment. These come from developing character.

Start at Home

You can begin to build character at any age. The key is learning how to look within to work inside out.

With the inside-out approach, private victories precede public victories. These private victories are simply promises you make to yourself and others and then keep.

Day by day, as you make and keep increasingly challenging promises, you will be making deposits in your \"character account.\" What begins as great effort will eventually become a habit. And as you get into the habit of building character in the smaller areas of your life, your ability to develop character strength in more important spheres will grow.

Private victories therefore lead to your larger public victories. For instance, to gain more freedom to think and act in your job, you must first be a more responsible employee. To create a happy marriage, first be the kind of person who generates love, generosity, dependability and trust.

There's no more essential ingredient for character growth than trust. Whether

it is trust we earn from colleagues or a spouse, it is built slowly over time in an infinite variety of circumstances.

Another way to build character is to admit your mistakes. Character is revealed in how we handle things that go wrong.

The best opportunities to build character, however, are within our families, where we are constantly tested and most vulnerable to lapses. True character begins at home.

Often we sense that we can get away with things around those who know us best, who will love us regardless of our conduct. This can end up destroying our character and our relationships. How often have we heard of someone who is an excellent employee but treats his or her spouse like a piece of furniture?

All our relationships follow the patterns of life; they have ups and downs. This is why our families provide a critical measure of our character and the opportunity, again and again, to nurture it.

What became of the bank president who was involved sexually with an employee? When I confided to him what I knew of his affair and the effect it was having on his staff, he ran his fingers through his hair. \"I don't know where to begin,\" he said.

\"Is it over?\"

He looked me directly in the eye. \"Yes. Absolutely.\"

\"Then begin by talking with your wife,\" I answered.

He told his wife, who forgave him. Then he called a meeting of his staff and addressed their morale problem. \"I have found the cause of the problem,\" he said. \"It is me. I am asking you to give me another chance.\"

It took time, but eventually the employees' morale, a sense of openness, optimism and trust improved. In the end, however, the executive was doing himself the greatest favor. He was finding his own path to character.

第六单元：The Creative Personality

How do creative people live and work? What are the qualities that make creative people different from others? Read the following passage and see what the author says. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

I have devoted 30 years of research to how creative people live and work. If I had to express in one word what makes their personalities different from others, it's complexity. They contain contradictory extremes; instead of being an \"individual\我花了30年的时间研究富有创意的人是如何生活和工作的。如果要用一个词来概括他们的性格与常人的差别所在，那就是“复杂”。他们身上有着极其矛盾的特征，他们不是“个体”，每个有创意的人都是“复合体”)

Here are some traits that are often found in creative people. These traits are integrated with each other in a dialectical manner.（下面就是富有创意的人身上常会具备的一些特征。这些特征有机组合，辩证统一。）

1. Creative people have a great deal of physical energy, but they are also often quiet and at rest. They can work long hours with great concentration while remaining fresh and enthusiastic all the time. This does not mean that creative people are always active. In fact, they rest often and sleep a lot. The important thing is that they know how to control their energy, which is not ruled by the calendar, the clock or an external schedule. When necessary, they can focus it like a laser beam; when not, creative types immediately recharge their batteries. This is not a biorhythm inherited with their genes; it was learned by trial and error as a strategy for achieving their goals.（富有创意的人精力充沛，但也经常安静地休息。他们可以注意力高度集中的工作很长时间，而始终神采奕奕、兴致勃勃。这并不是说富有创意的人超级亢奋。事实上，他们经常休息，睡得也很多。重要的事，他们知道如何掌握自己的精力，而人的经历并不是由日历、时钟或外在的日程安排来控制的。有必要时，他们就能像激光一样专注；没必要时，富有创意的人就会立刻开始充电。这不是得自遗传基因的生物节奏；而是为达到目标而通过反复尝试掌握的一种策略。）

2. Creative people tend to be smart yet naive at the same time. Another way of expressing this dialectic is the contrasting poles of wisdom and childishness. As Howard Gardner reveals in his study of the major creative geniuses of the 20th century, a certain immaturity, both emotional and mental, can go hand in hand with deepest insights.（富有创意的人往往精明而又天真。换句话说，这个矛盾体就是智慧和幼稚这两个极端。霍德华·加德纳对二十世纪的重要创意天才进行了研究，结果表明，

最深邃的洞察力可能与某种程度的不成熟（包括情感和思维方面的）共生共存。）

Earlier studies on superior mental abilities show that children with very high IQs do well in life, but after a certain point, IQ does not seem to be correlated any longer with superior performance in real life. Later studies suggest that it might be difficult to do creative work with a lower IQ, but an IQ beyond 120 does not necessarily imply higher creativity.（以前对于卓越的思维能力的研究也表明，高智商儿童生活很成功，但过了一定的数值，智商似乎不再与卓越的现实生活成正比。后来的研究也说明，智商太低的人要做富有创意的工作可能比较困难，但拥有120以上的智商未必就更有创造力。）

Furthermore, creative people seem able to use well two opposite ways of thinking: the convergent and the divergent. Convergent thinking is measured by IQ tests, and it involves solving well-defined, rational problems that have one correct answer. Divergent thinking leads to no agreed-upon solution. It involves the ability to generate a great quantity of ideas; flexibility, or the ability to switch from one perspective to another; and originality in picking unusual associations of ideas. Yet divergent thinking is not much use without the ability to tell a good idea from a bad one, and for this, we must rely on convergent thinking.（此外，富有创意的人似乎能很好地使用两种互为对立的思维方式：趋同与求异。趋同思维由智商测试来衡量，涉及的是解决定义清楚、有唯一正确的答案的理性问题。求异思维能产生另类的解决之道，它涉及的是产生大量想法的能力；灵活性，或者说是从一个角度转换到另一个角度的能力；以及能够独辟蹊径地产生非凡联想的能力。但求异思维本身是没多大用处的，除非有能力判断一个想法是好是坏，要做到这一点，我们必须依赖于趋同思维。）

3. Creative people alternate between imagination and a deeply-rooted sense of reality. Great art and great science involve a leap of imagination into a world that is different from the present. In fact, the whole point of art and science is to go beyond what we now consider real and create a new reality. （富有创意的人既有丰富的想象力，也有根深蒂固的现实感。伟大的艺术和伟大的科学都是借助想象，跃进与现实迥异的世界中去。事实上，艺术与科学的核心所在，便是超越我们目前所认识的现实而创造出一个新的现实。）

4. Creative people tend to be both extroverted and introverted. We're usually one or the other, either preferring to be in the thick of crowds or sitting on the sidelines and observing the passing show. In fact, in current psychological research, extroversion and introversion are considered to be the most stable personality traits that distinguish people from each other. Creative individuals seem to exhibit both traits at the same time.（富有创意的人往往既外向又内向。我们一般都二者居其一，要么偏爱呆在人群之中，要么独坐一旁，冷眼看戏。事实上，在目前的心理研究中，外向和内向被视为能区分彼此的最稳定的性格特点，但富有创意的个体似乎同时显示这两种特点。）

5. Creative people are humble and proud at the same time. These individuals stand \"on the shoulders of giants\". Their respect for the area in which they work makes them aware of the long line of previous contributions to it. And they're usually so focused on future projects and current challenges that past accomplishments, no matter how outstanding, are no longer very interesting to them.（他们既谦虚又傲气。这些个体站在“巨人的肩膀上”。他们尊重自己工作的领域，因而能意识到前人的大量贡献。他们通常如此专注于未来的工程和当前的挑战，过往的成

就，不论多么出色，都无法再引起他们太多的兴趣。）

6. Creative people are both rebellious and conservative. Being only traditional leaves an area unchanged; constantly taking chances without regard to tradition rarely leads to novelty. But the willingness to take risks is absolutely necessary. The economist George Stigler is very emphatic in this regard, \"I'd say one of the most common failures of able people is a lack of nerve. They just play safe games. In innovation, you have to play a less safe game, if it's going to be interesting. It's not predictable that it'll go well.\"（富有创意的人既叛逆又保守。一味传统，会令一个领域殊无变化，而时时冒险，罔顾传统亦鲜有创新，但冒险精神是绝对必要的。经济学家乔治·施蒂格勒特别强调这个方面：“我会说，有能力的人之所以失败，大多都是由于缺少冒险精神，凡事四平八稳。要创新，你就不能太求稳，结果才可能有意思。结果是否会顺利是无法预测的。”）

7. Most creative people are very passionate about their work, yet they can be extremely objective about it as well. Without the passion, we soon lose interest in a difficult task. Yet without being objective about it, our work is not very good and lacks credibility. （绝大数人富有创意的人对工作激情如火，同时也极为冷静客观。没有激情，我们很快就会对困难任务失去兴趣。但如果不够客观，我们的工作就难以出色，缺乏可信度。）

8. Creative people's openness and sensitivity often exposes them to suffering and pain, yet also to a great deal of enjoyment. Inventors have a low threshold of pain. Things bother them. A badly designed machine causes pain to an inventive engineer, just as the creative writer is hurt when reading bad prose.（富有创意的人

胸无城府而敏感，这往往令他们痛苦，但同时也令他们体会到很多乐趣。发明家们对痛苦的容忍度很低，身边的事物会让他们看不顺眼。设计拙劣的机器会令富有创意的工程师痛苦，儿富有创意的作者看到蹩脚的文字同样也会感觉受伤。）

Being alone at the forefront of a discipline also leaves you exposed and vulnerable. Eminence invites criticism and often vicious attacks. When an artist has invested years in making a sculpture, or a scientist in developing a theory, it is devastating if nobody cares.（居于科学前沿，也会令你暴露于众人视线中，易受攻击。卓越会招致批评，甚至往往是恶毒攻击。艺术家倾注多年心血终于完成一件雕塑作品，科学家皓首穷年提出一种理论，到头来若是无人问津，这种打击无疑是灾难性的。）

Perhaps the most difficult thing for creative individuals to bear is the sense of loss and emptiness they experience when, for some reason, they cannot work. This is especially painful when a person feels his or her creativity drying out.（对于富有创意的个体而言，最难以忍受的事情莫过于由于某种原因而无法工作的那种失落感和空虚感。如果一个人自觉创意枯竭，或许就更加痛苦不堪了。）

Yet when a person is working in the area of his or her expertise, worries and cares fall away, replaced by a sense of happiness. Perhaps the most important quality, the one that is most consistently present in all creative individuals, is the ability to enjoy the process of creation for its own sake. Without this trait, poets would give up striving for perfection and would write commercial jingles; economists would work for banks where they would earn at least twice as much as they do at universities; and physicists would stop doing basic research and join industrial laboratories where the conditions are better and the expectations more

predictable.（而当一个人在自己擅长的领域里工作室，他的一切担心和忧虑都会消失，取而代之的是一种愉悦感，也许最重要的品质，在一切富有创意的人身上最常见的一种品质，就是能够享受创造过程本身。没有这种品质，诗人将不再追求完美而写些商业性的喧嚣之作；经济学家将会失去银行任职，收入至少会是大学里的两倍；物理学家也会停止基础研究而加入工业实验室，那里条件优越而且结果也容易预测。）

第七单元：What Does Teamwork Really Mean?

We often hear the word \"teamwork\". But what is the essence of teamwork? How do individuals relate to one another in a team? Are you a team player? Understanding these questions can surely promote team spirit as well as individual development. Sharon Saw

In many job interviews, a common question is whether the interviewee is a \"team player\". More often than not (unless the interviewee is particularly stupid, or maybe particularly honest but doesn't want the job), he or she will say \"yes\". But what does being a team player really mean?

On the most basic level, a team player is someone who can work within a group of people. This group is a number of people greater than one. Even if there are only two people in the group, they can be called a \"team\". Therefore it is an essential requirement of any employment that any potential employee is a team player.

On a deeper level, a team player is someone who can play a role in the team,

to achieve and support the goals set and agreed upon by the team. The simplest analogy to the corporate team would be a sports team. There are two main aims of the football team. One is to score goals and the other is to prevent the opposition team from scoring. In football, there are eleven players per side, and almost the same number of players in reserve. There are also other vital members of the team in the background, such as the coach, the doctor, etc.

Every member of the team has a very specific role - as a captain, goalkeeper, striker, midfielder or defender. Every member of the team is vital to the success of the team. If there is one player missing, the team is handicapped. If one player does not perform to the best of his or her ability, the team is handicapped.

The captain is there to give direction to the team, in strategy, motivation and inspiration. But he or she also has to play as part of the team. Egos do not play any part in teamwork. If one's ego gets in the way, such as if one player wants to score a goal and be a hero, he or she may take rash actions instead of maybe letting another person score or helping to create the opportunity to score.

Similarly in the corporate world, each company has its clearly defined goals. Usually these are not as easily specified as in a football match. And it is the job of every employee to ensure that these goals are met. Every member of the corporate team should have specific roles and responsibilities in view of achieving these goals.

There can only be one captain of the company, and he or she should be

responsible for giving leadership and guidance to the team members. The leader should also continuously communicate the overall business strategy, as well as providing motivation and inspiration to the team. The leader has to have the loyalty of the team. If the team is not loyal or has no respect for the leader, the members of the team will not listen to the captain and the objectives of the company would not be achieved.

In every action of the team, the objectives of the company, and / or, business strategy, MUST be first and foremost. The success of the team relies completely on every member of the team carrying out their roles and responsibilities in line with the direction of the leader. There has to be a \"oneness\" of the corporate culture. There is no room in the company for anyone who does not share the same corporate goals or objectives.

Being a team player does not mean that you do not have any ideas of your own. It does not mean you should always agree with the rest of the team. It does not mean that you should merely follow the herd. There are times when your vision may differ from the vision of the company, the leader or the rest of the team. It may be a valid vision and if you believe in it strongly enough, you should share it with the rest of the team. Your idea may complement the corporate objectives and goals. Or it may not. If the leader is a competent one, he or she will assess it on its merits and not let ego get in the way. However, should the team not agree with your vision, don't take it personally.

They may find the idea inappropriate, not YOU personally. Don't take it as a

sign of personal rejection. A good leader should be able to communicate this to a team member, but if he or she doesn't, and it turns out as appearing to be a rebuff, don't lose heart. If the team found YOU inappropriate, you would be the first to know. If your leader or team members see that you can handle rejection of your ideas in a mature manner, it is only to your own credit.

Don't be afraid to offer new ideas even seemingly crazy ones. Everyone in the team should feel free to offer ideas and not worry about them being dismissed. Usually when ideas are not taken up, people may take it as a personal rejection. Don't. Just accept it, and move on. There is work to be done.

The pleasure of working in an environment where every member of the team is a team player is unparalleled. If you are not enjoying your working environment, chances are high that your team is also not working well. Ask yourself this:

Are you a team player?

Are your own objectives in line with those of the team?

Are your team objectives in line with those of the company? If not, why not?

第八单元：Did You Have a Tough Childhood?

It is said that childhood obstacles and hardships restrain one's growth and development. But with the examples of many eminent people, the author makes it

clear that adversity is the cradle of success. Jill Ammon-Wexler

Many claim unhappy and terrible childhood experiences \"damage\" people in their adult years. But is this necessarily true? Actually, just the opposite seems to be true. Intense difficulties, hardships and major obstacles are actually often major contributors to success. It's true that difficult childhoods do leave some people wounded and disadvantaged. But for others, a tough childhood actually drives them to remarkable achievement and success!

In a classic book entitled Cradles of Eminence, researchers reviewed the childhood family life of 700 of the world's most successful people. Their goal was to identify the early experiences that contributed to the remarkable achievements of these successful people. All of their \"research subjects\" are widely known for their personal accomplishments. Their names are easily recognizable: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Helen Keller, Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, etc.

What they discovered is truly fascinating! Three-quarters of these successful people (525 of the 700) came from deeply troubled childhoods. They had endured extreme poverty, broken homes, and even parental abuse. Over one-fourth (199 of the 700) had to deal with very serious physical handicaps such as deafness, blindness or crippled limbs. And over 80% of those who became successful writers and playwrights had watched their own parents struggle with intense psychological dramas.

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, a former US \"First Lady\" provides an excellent

example. Anna lost her parents at the age of 10, and had a very unpleasant childhood. As a young girl she was painfully aware of being very homely. And her childhood writings reveal she never had a sense of \"belonging\" anywhere, or to anyone. But as she matured, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt refused to remain \"disadvantaged\". She hauled herself up by her own bootstraps and began to strive for a higher, more powerful consciousness.

After marrying Franklin D. Roosevelt, she ended up courageously nursing her husband through crippling polio. Then when he was elected to the US Presidency in the depth of the Great Depression, Mrs. Roosevelt quickly transformed the position of First Lady. As First Lady, she became an outspoken supporter for the disadvantaged people of all races, religions and countries. At the same time, she helped her husband manage the White House and raised six children.

After her husband's death, she spent the remainder of her life as a highly respected American spokesperson to the United Nations. At her death, this shy, disadvantaged, homely and withdrawn young woman had become one of the most loved and respected women of her entire generation.

Why did this happen? Eleanor Roosevelt made a personal choice to lift herself beyond her perceived \"limitations\". She displayed a tough, unyielding courage, tempered by remarkable self-control and self-discipline.

Obstacles and hardships do NOT have to lead to failure. Scientific evidence has proven that \"well-being\" is NOT always an advantage for either plants or

animals. Where there is no challenge, obstacle or hardship, growth and development is often limited. Biologists refer to this as the \"adversity principle\".

Consider Lou Gehrig: Lou was such a clumsy kid that the boys in his neighborhood wouldn't let him play on their baseball team. But he tapped into his resources of inner courage and determination. Lou Gehrig is today listed in the baseball \"Hall of Fame\" as one of the greatest ball players of all time.

Then there was Woodrow Wilson, who couldn't read until he was ten years old. Wilson went on in his life to become the twenty-eighth President of the United States. Thomas Edison was deaf. Booker T. Washington was born in slavery, and a \"club foot\" crippled Lord Byron. The famous writer Robert Louis Stevenson had tuberculosis. Alexander Pope had a hunchback. Yet each of these individuals became famous historic figures in spite of their handicaps.

Helen Keller, who could not hear or see, transformed an entire nation when she graduated with honors from college. She is still a source of inspiration for millions. Then there's Ludwig van Beethoven. Beethoven began to lose his hearing in his 20s, and was completely deaf by 50. Yet he created some of the world's most beautiful music. Beethoven was once overheard shouting at the top of his voice, \"I will take life by the throat!\"

Your attitude toward any perceived personal \"handicap\" determines its impact on your life. This IS your life! Why not make it all it can be? To become all we can be, we MUST stop making excuses. Use any personal adversity or perceived limitations

to do what Beethoven did: Grab life by the throat! And this is a good day to take action to claim more of your true potential. Get past your \"old stuff\and fire yourself up! If not now, when?