"The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked， 'Why did I receive an F？ ' The teacher said， 'This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. You have no money. You come from an itinerant family. You have no resources. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. You have to buy the land. You have to pay for the original breeding stock and later you' ll have to pay large stud fees. There' s no way you could ever do it.' Then the teacher added， 'if you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal， I will reconsider your grade.'
"The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked his father what he should do. His father said， 'Look， son， you have to make up your own mind on this. However， I think it is a very important decision for you.'
"Finally， after sitting with it for a week， the boy turned in the same paper， making no changes at all. He stated， 'You can keep the F and I' ll keep my dream.'"
Monty then turned to the assembled group and said， "I tell you this story because you are sitting in my 4000-square-foot house in the middle of my 200-acre horse ranch. I still have that school paper framed over the fireplace." He added， "The best part of the story is that two summers ago that same school teacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week." When the teacher was leaving， he said， 'Look， Monty， I can tell you this now. When I was your teacher， I was something of a dream stealer. During those years I stole a lot of kids' dreams. Fortunately you had enough gumption not to give up on yours."
Don' t let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart， no matter what.
我的朋友蒙提·羅伯茲在聖思多羅擁有一個牧馬場。他那寬敞的住宅經常被我借來舉辦籌募活動，募集的資金用來資助青少年冒險計劃。
在上次活動中，他致辭說：“我把房子借給傑克用是有原因的。這個故事要從一個小男孩說起，他的父親是位馬術師，他從小就跟著父親東奔西跑，求學過程並不順利。讀初中時，有一次，老師讓全班同學寫作文，題目是《我的夢想》。
“那晚，他一氣嗬成，整整寫了七頁，描述了他的宏圖大誌：擁有一個屬於自己的牧馬場。他仔細畫了一張200畝農場的設計圖，上麵標有馬廄、跑道等的位置，還要在農場中央建造一棟占地4000平方英尺的巨型豪宅。
“他費盡心思寫完作文，第二天交給了老師。兩天後文章發了下來，一個又紅又大的F赫然出現在第一頁，旁邊還有一行字：下課後來找我。
“下課後，帶著夢想的小男孩拿著作文去找老師：‘為什麽給我不及格？’老師答道：‘你年齡還小，理想太不切實際了。你沒錢，沒背景，一無所有。蓋農場是一個大工程，要花很多錢；你還要買地，買純種馬匹，雇人照料。對於你來說，這些都是不可能的。’他接著又說：‘如果你願意重寫一個現實的理想，我會重新給你打分。’
“男孩回家後，輾轉反側，思考了很久。後來又征求父親的意見。父親對他說：‘兒子，這個決定很重要，你要自己慎重考慮。’
“經過幾天的深思熟慮後，他決定原封不動地交回原稿。他告訴老師：‘就算得大紅的F，我也決不放棄夢想。’”
這時，蒙提對大家說：“我講這個故事，是因為各位現在就坐在200畝的農場，占地4000平方英尺的豪華住宅裏。我至今還保留著初中時寫的那篇作文。”他頓了頓說：“有趣的是，那位老師，在兩年前的夏天，帶著他的30個學生來我的農場露營一周。他離開前對我說：‘蒙提，你看，說來慚愧。我做你的老師的時候，曾打擊過你，這些年，我似乎對很多學生都這樣做過。幸好你有毅力堅持自己的夢想。’”
不管怎樣，都要追隨自己的夢想，不要被別人的話所擊退。
夢想有多大，舞台就有多大。不要抱怨自己一無所有，正因為一無所有，你才可以輕裝上陣，記著：夢想是你唯一的行李，勇氣是你必備的盤纏，帶上它們，出發吧。
itinerant [i'tinrnt] adj. 巡回的；遊曆的；流動的
Itinerant bike repairmen can be found on almost every street.
流動的自行車修理攤幾乎在每條街道都可以找到。
diagram ['dair鎚] n. 圖解；簡圖；圖表；示意圖
I made a diagram to show how the eye works.
我畫了一張簡圖說明眼睛是如何工作的。
ranch [r：nt] n. 牧場；大農場（尤指北美或澳大利亞的）
He left his Montana ranch to his spinster sister.
他把他在蒙大拿州的大牧場留給了他未婚的妹妹。
realistic [，ri'listik] adj. 現實的；實際可行的；現實主義的
Charles Dickens is the great critical realistic writer.
狄更斯是偉大的批判現實主義作家。
那晚，他一氣嗬成，整整寫了七頁，描述了他的宏圖大誌：擁有一個屬於自己的牧馬場。
你沒錢，沒背景，一無所有。
不管怎樣，都要追隨自己的夢想，不要被別人的話所擊退。
He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch.
in great detail：極其詳細地
Look， son， you have to make up your own mind on this.
make up one' s mind：決定；下決心
曲而不折地去生活
Bend， But Don' t Break
佚名 / Anonymous
One of my fondest memories as a child is going by the river and sitting idly on the bank. There I would enjoy the peace and quiet， watch the water rush downstream， and listen to the chirps of birds and the rustling of leaves in the trees. I would also watch the bamboo trees bend under pressure from the wind and watch them return gracefully to their upright or original position after the wind had died down.
When I think about the bamboo tree' s ability to bounce back or return to its original position， the word resilience comes to mind. When used in reference to a person this word means the ability to readily recover from shock， depression or any other situation that stretches the limits of a person' s emotions.
Have you ever felt like you are about to snap？ Have you ever felt like you are at your breaking point？ Thankfully， you have survived the experience to live to talk about it.
During the experience you probably felt a mix of emotions that threatened your health. You felt emotionally drained， mentally exhausted and you most likely endured unpleasant physical symptoms.
Life is a mixture of good times and bad times， happy moments and unhappy moments. The next time you are experiencing one of those bad times or unhappy moments that take you close to your breaking point， bend but don' t break. Try your best not to let the situation get the best of you.
回想起童年，我最美好的回憶便是在小河邊漫步，或懶懶地坐在河岸邊。我可以靜靜地享受那份悠閑，看著流水潺潺，傾聽著鳥鳴啾啾，樹聲縈耳。除此之外，我還喜歡看那片竹林。清風拂來，它們全都被壓彎了腰；風勢漸微，它們又都優雅地挺立起來，恢複之前的姿態。
每次我想到竹子從彎曲中重新挺拔身姿時，“韌性”一詞便會在腦海中浮現。用這個詞來描述人，即指此人輕鬆地從震驚、沮喪或其他心理極限的考驗中恢複過來的能力。
你是否曾有過自己馬上就要折斷的感覺呢？是否曾有過自己已經到了崩潰邊緣的感覺？感謝上帝，你曆經磨難，現在才有機會去追憶那不堪回首的往事。
在那一段經曆中，你也許感到交織的情緒正侵蝕著你的健康。你感到心靈麻木、腦力枯竭，甚至你正經受身體的各種不適。
人生跌宕起伏，悲歡交織。 當不幸或痛苦再一次將你帶到崩潰的邊緣時，切記：曲而不折。努力吧，不要讓這樣的困境埋沒傑出的你。
resilience [ri'ziljns] n. 還原能力；彈力；韌性
She has shown great resilience to stress.
她對壓力表現出了極大的適應能力。
stretch [stret] v. 伸展；拉緊；延伸
Summer is the time for growing ， and all the growing things stretch up
to meet the hot sunshine.
夏天是生長發育的季節，正在發育的萬物舒展開來，去迎接火熱的陽光。
survive [s'vaiv] v. 比……活得長；經曆……之後還存在
She survived her husband by twenty years.
她丈夫去世後，她又活了二十年。
emotion [i'mun] n. 情緒；情感
Love is a strong emotion.
愛是一種強烈的情意。
清風拂來，它們全都被壓彎了腰；風勢漸微，它們又都優雅地挺立起來，恢複之前的姿態。
感謝上帝，你曆經磨難，現在才有機會去追憶那不堪回首的往事。
當不幸或痛苦再一次將你帶到崩潰的邊緣時，切記：曲而不折。
...watch them return gracefully to their upright or original position after the wind had died down.