I think it is to those southern farmers' great credit that they were able to see this adversity for what it really was a great blessing. Remember， it' s not what happens to us， but our response to what happens to us that makes the difference in the quality of our lives. I believe that everything that happens can be a lesson. Next time things don' t seem to be going the way you want， ask yourself what the positive aspect is. What' s the benefit in the adversity？ You' ll have greater enjoyment and learn more in the process.
大約五歲時，我和家人在亞拉巴馬恩特普賴斯住了幾個月。在此期間，我父親正在附近的洛克堡參加一個高級航空課程培訓。
在亞拉巴馬恩特普賴斯最值得留戀的就是位於鎮中心的一座奇怪的紀念碑。你一定不要錯過它，事實上路過時，你必須繞著它兜一圈，因為它正好坐落在馬路的中央。這座紀念碑是專門用來紀念棉鈴象鼻蟲的。
也許在世界上你不會找到第二座紀念昆蟲的雕塑。當然不是因為它的美學價值，棉鈴象鼻蟲是一種長相醜陋的昆蟲。讓人們頗感意外的是，豎立棉鈴象鼻蟲雕像的原因居然是它對周圍地區棉花作物的破壞。
他們為什麽要紀念這種昆蟲呢？倘若不是棉鈴象鼻蟲，該地不健康的經濟恐怕還要繼續依賴單一的作物、單一的產品。在此之前，棉花是當地人們唯一的依靠。當棉鈴象鼻蟲到來時，農民和所有依賴棉農的工商業都不得不認識到多種經營的必要性。
從長遠角度看，棉鈴象鼻蟲破壞農作物實際上反而給他們提供了一個機遇。他們再也不把所有的雞蛋投入棉花這一個籃子裏。他們轉向養豬、種植花生和其他經濟作物，整個地區的經濟由此繁榮起來。
我想那些南部農民是很令人欽佩的，因為他們能夠將這個災難視做極大的福祉。記住，並不是我們身邊發生的事，而是我們對事情的態度決定了我們生活的質量。我相信，每一件事情都是一種經驗財富。下一次，遇到不能如願的事情，就問問自己：這件事情積極的一麵是什麽？逆境將給予我們什麽樣的益處？你可以在這個過程中獲得更多的快樂，學到更多的東西。
有時，困境帶給人們更多的福祉。盡管人們不喜歡，困境卻常常使人們因禍得福，困境意味著問題，它促使人們想辦法克服問題、解決問題，而這個過程就是一個提高的過程。因此，在現實生活中，不管遭遇什麽困境，都應該以積極的心態勇敢去應對，山窮水盡之處往往也是柳暗花明之時。
aviation [，eivi'ein] n. 航空；航空學
A case in point is the successful launching of "Shenzhou V
Spacecraft" which sets china in a high position of aviation and space flight.
一個典型的例子就是“神舟五號”飛船的成功發射，使中國在航空和空間飛行中處於高端地位。
memorable ['memrbl] adj. 值得紀念的；值得記憶的
We have spent a great deal of memorable time here.
我們在這裏度過了許多難忘的時光。
aesthetic [i：s'etik] adj. 有關美的；美學的；審美的
Mozart himself was also a thinker with a unique personality， and
his aesthetic ideas to penetrate every area of his work.
莫紮特本人也是一個有著獨特個性的思想家，他的美學思想滲透到他作品的每個領域。
adversity [鎑'v：siti：] n. 逆境；厄運；（經濟方麵的）窘境
Adversity is the first road leading to truth.
逆境是到達真理的第一條道路。
當棉鈴象鼻蟲到來時，農民和所有依賴棉農的工商業都不得不認識到多種經營的必要性。
他們再也不把所有的雞蛋投入棉花這一個籃子裏。
記住，並不是我們身邊發生的事，而是我們對事情的態度決定了我們生活的質量。
When the boll weevil came， the farmers and all the other businesses that were reliant on the cotton farmers were forced to recognize the need to diversify.
be reliant on：依靠；離不開
In the long run， they saw that the boll weevil had， in fact， done them a favor by destroying their crops.
in the long run：從長遠看；終究
貝多芬和《第九交響曲》
Beethoven and His Symphony 9
佚名 / Anonymous
It' s a familiar tale： an aging Beethoven， ill and deaf， conducting the orchestra and chorus in the premiere of his Ninth Symphony， conducting even after they had ceased to perform， after they had reached the end of the stunning new work， after the audience had already begun to applaud. continuing to conduct until a singer turned him around so that he could see the thunderous cheers that were resounding throughout the hall.
The image is deeply moving， so much so that more cynical historians would like to discount it； it is， they feel， too perfect to be true. Yet this once， however， the cynics are apparently wrong， for several eyewitnesses tell the same tale of that fateful performance in Vienna on May 7， 1824. Their stories vary somewhat in detail. Some place the dramatic moment at the symphony' s conclusion. Others maintain it occurred at the end of the scherzo. This difference of opinion might merely be credited to the passage of years between the incident itself and the day long after when those observers at last spoke to a biographer. Whenever the applause occurred， the fact that it passed unheard by Beethoven makes clear that he could never have heard a note of this most magnificent composition. Think about that bitter fact， and then wonder that a man so crossed by fate could still demand a choir to sing rapturously of joy.
Beethoven had first encountered Schiller' s poem "An die Freude" over thirty years before he completed the Ninth Symphony. The poem had first appeared in print in 1785， and from that time on was quite popular in the German states. Evidence suggests that Beethoven may have set the text to music as early as 1792. Other attempts were made in 1808 and 1811， when Beethoven' s notebooks include remarks to himself concerning possible settings for the familiar text. These years of toying with Schiller' s ode were also years of personal and professional growth. When he first came to know the poem， he was an optimistic young artist who had not yet composed his First Symphony， yet Beethoven' s third approach to the poem， in 1812， came with the completion of the Eighth Symphony. Perhaps the professional experience he had gained in those decades led him to consider that a poem of such spiritual power required an equally powerful setting， for he soon embarked on the creation of his Ninth Symphony， the work in which Schiller' s words would be given glorious flight.