弱點(diǎn)還是優(yōu)勢(shì)

Weakness Or Strength

Sometimes your biggest weakness can become your biggest strength. There was one 10-year-old boy who decided to study judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a car accident. The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, but he couldn’t understand why, after three months of training, the master had taught him only one move. “Sensei,” the boy finally said, “shouldn’t I be learning more moves?” “This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you’ll ever need to know,” the sensei replied. Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training.

Several months later, the sensei took the boy to his first tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals. This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be overmatched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the sensei intervened. “No,” the sensei insisted, “l(fā)et him continue.” Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament. He was the champion. On the way home, the boy and sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind. “Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?” “You won for two reasons,” the sensei answered. “First, you’ve almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. Second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm.”

【助讀詞匯】

◇judo n. 柔道

◇sensei 日語(yǔ)中“先生”的讀音

◇tournament n. 比賽，錦標(biāo)賽

◇deftly adv. 靈巧地，熟練地

◇time-out n.1.（工作等中的）休息時(shí)間，（競(jìng)賽中的）暫停

◇referee n. 裁判員；推薦人

◇intervene vi. 干擾，阻撓，阻止

◇opponent n. 敵手，對(duì)手；反對(duì)者

◇critical adj. 決定性的，關(guān)鍵性的，危急的

◇resume vi. 重新開(kāi)始，中斷后繼續(xù)

◇summon vt. 召喚，傳喚；鼓起，振作

【參考譯文】

弱點(diǎn)還是優(yōu)勢(shì)

有時(shí)候，你最大的弱點(diǎn)能成為你最強(qiáng)的力量。有個(gè)10歲的男孩，決定去學(xué)柔道，盡管他在一次車禍中喪失了左臂。男孩在一位年老的日本柔道大師手下學(xué)藝。男孩學(xué)得很好，但是他不明白，為什么訓(xùn)練了3個(gè)月，大師只教了一個(gè)動(dòng)作。“老師，”男孩終于開(kāi)口了，“我是否應(yīng)該多學(xué)些動(dòng)作？”“這是你唯一懂得的動(dòng)作，也是你唯一需要知道的動(dòng)作。”大師回答道。男孩還是不太懂，但是他相信大師，不斷地訓(xùn)練。

幾個(gè)月之后，大師帶男孩參加第一次錦標(biāo)賽。讓男孩感到驚訝的是，他很輕松地贏得了頭兩場(chǎng)比賽。事實(shí)證明，第三場(chǎng)是要更難些，但是較量了一段時(shí)間后，他的對(duì)手失去了耐心，轉(zhuǎn)而進(jìn)攻，男孩則靈巧地用他唯一的動(dòng)作贏得了這場(chǎng)比賽。男孩進(jìn)入了決賽，盡管仍然為自己的成功感到驚奇。這一次，他對(duì)手更大、更強(qiáng)、更有經(jīng)驗(yàn)。有那么一會(huì)兒，男孩眼看要被打敗了。考慮到男孩可能會(huì)受傷，裁判叫了暫停。正當(dāng)裁判要暫停這場(chǎng)比賽時(shí)，大師阻止了。“不要，”大師堅(jiān)持著，“讓他繼續(xù)。”很快，比賽繼續(xù)了，男孩的對(duì)手犯了一個(gè)致命的錯(cuò)誤：他卸下了防守。男孩立即拿出他的那一招將對(duì)手絆倒。男孩贏得了那場(chǎng)比賽，贏得了錦標(biāo)賽。他是冠軍。回家途中，男孩和大師回顧了每場(chǎng)比賽的每一個(gè)動(dòng)作。最后，男孩鼓起勇氣，問(wèn)了大師在他腦海盤旋的問(wèn)題。“老師，我只學(xué)了一招，為什么我能贏？”“有兩個(gè)原因，”大師回答道。“首先，你差不多掌握了柔道里最難的一招；其次，唯一能克制這一招的招式是，你的對(duì)手抓住你的左臂。”

【人生啟迪】

有時(shí)候，你最大的弱點(diǎn)能變成你得天獨(dú)厚的優(yōu)勢(shì)，就像故事里小男孩一樣，雖然車禍奪走了他左臂，但是仍然可以學(xué)習(xí)柔道，并能贏得比賽。在我們的生活里，請(qǐng)不要因?yàn)楸簧系坳P(guān)上了某扇門就放棄尋找出口，思考并利用自己的特點(diǎn)，來(lái)“贏”得生活。