2020年高考英语天津卷(二)

After years of observing human nature,I have decided that two qualities make the difference between men of great achievement and men of average performance: curiosity and discontent. I have never known an outstanding man who lacked either. And I have never known an average man who had both.The two belong together. 经过多年对人性的观察，我认为有两种品质决定了成就卓越的人和普通人之间的区别：好奇和不满足。我从来没有见过杰出的人会缺少这两样特质，也从来没有见过普通人会拥有这两样特质，二者密不可分。

Together, these deep human urges count for much more than ambition. Galileo was not merely ambitious when he dropped objects of varying weights from the Leaning Tower at Pisa and timed their fall to the ground. Like Galileo, all the great names in history were curious and asked in discontent, "Why?Why?Why?" 另外。这些强烈的人类驱策力要比雄心壮志更重要。伽利略从比萨斜塔上扔下了不同重量的物体，并确定了它们落地的时间，他不只是雄心勃勃。像伽利略一样，历史上所有的伟大人物都拥有好奇心，并不满足地问道：“为什么？为什么？为什么？”

Fortunately, curiosity and discontent don't have to be learned. We are born with them and need only recapture them. 幸运的是，好奇心和不满足不需要学习。我们天生就有，只需要重新获取。

"The great man," said Mencius,"is he who does not lose his child's heart." Yet most of us do lose it. We stop asking questions. We stop challenging custom. We never doubt. We just follow the crowd that desires only the calm and restful average. The crowd encourages us to occupy our own little corner, to avoid foolish leaps into the dark, to be satisfied. 孟子说：“伟大的人不会失去童心。”然而，我们大多数人确实失去了童心。我们不再问问题，不再挑战这个习俗，不再怀疑。我们只是追随那些只渴望平静和安宁的普通人，人们鼓励我们待在自己的小角落，学会满足，避免愚蠢地跳入黑暗。

Most of us meet new people, and new ideas, with hesitation. But once having met and liked them, we think how terrible it would have been, had we missed the chance. We will probably have to force ourselves to waken our curiosity and discontent and keep them awake. 我们大多数人遇到新的人和新的想法时都会犹豫。但一旦遇到并喜欢上了它们，我们就会想，如果我们错过了这个机会，那会是多么糟糕。我们可能不得不强迫自己唤醒我们的好奇心和不满足，让它们保持清醒。

How should you start, modestly, so as not to become discouraged? I think of one friend who couldn't arrange flowers to satisfy herself. She was curious about how the experts did it. Now she is one of the experts,writing books on flower arrangement. 你应该如何谦虚地开始，以免气馁？我想起了一位不能用插花来满足自己的朋友。她很好奇专家们是如何做到的。现在她是专家之一，写有关插花的书。

One way to begin is to answer your own excuses. You haven't any special ability? Most people don't; there are only a few geniuses. You haven't any time? That's good, because it's always the people with no time who get things done. Harriet Stowe, mother of six, wrote parts of Uncle Tom's Cabin while cooking. You're too old? Remember that Thomas Costain was 57 when he published his first novel, and that Grandma Moses showed her first pictures when she was 78. 开始做就是解决你自己借口的答案。你没有什么特殊能力吗？大多数人都没有，只有少数天才。你没有时间吗？这很好，因为完成事情的人总是那些没有时间的人。哈丽特·斯托是六个孩子的母亲，在做饭的时候写了《汤姆叔叔的小屋》一部分。你太老了？记得托马斯·科斯坦出版第一部小说时57岁，祖母摩西78岁时展示了她的第一张照片。

However you start,remember there is no better time to start than right now,for you'll never be more alive than you are at this moment. 无论你如何开始，请记住，没有比现在更好的开始时间了，因为你永远不会比现在更有活力。