08 Learn From Failure从失败中学习
Why are so many people so afraid of failure?Quite simply because no one tells us how to fail so that failure becomes an experience that will lead to growth. We forget that failure is part of the human condition and that every person has the right to fail.
为什么这么多人害怕失败呢？原因很简单，从没有人告诉我们如何失败，并且失败是成长过程中必须经历的。我们忘了，失败是人类生存条件的一部分，每个人都有与失败斗争的经历。
Most parents work hard at either preventing failure or protecting their children from the knowledge that they have failed. One way is to lower standards.A mother describes her child's hurriedly-made table as“perfect”！Even though it couldn't stand on uneven（not same in height）legs.Another way is to shift blame.If John fails in science, his teacher is unfair or stupid.
许多父母都努力工作，或许是为了避免失败，或许是为了不让自己的孩子知道他们曾经失败过。有一种办法是降低标准。一位母亲说自己孩子匆匆做成的桌子是“完美的”，哪怕这张桌子由于不均衡桌脚的支撑正摇摇欲坠。另一种办法是“嫁祸”，如果约翰考试没过，那他父母就会认为他的老师是不公平的或愚蠢的。
The trouble with failure-prevention methods is that they leave a child unequipped for life in the real world. The young need to learn that no one can be best at everything, that no one can win all the time and that it's possible to enjoy a game even when you don't win.A child who's not invited to a birthday party, who doesn't make the honor roll or the baseball team feel terrible, of course.But parents should not offer a quick comfort prize or say“It doesn't matter”because it does.The young should be allowed to experience disappointment and be helped to master it.
这些防止失败的策略所带来的麻烦是，他们没能使孩子在这个真实的世界里做好独立生活的准备。年轻人需要知道，没有谁能在各方面都做到最好，没有谁总能获胜，即使你没有获胜，你也可以享受这场比赛。一个没有收到生日宴会邀请，没有上光荣榜或者棒球队的孩子，必然会感到很沮丧。父母不应该给他们一个快速安慰奖励，或者是在事实上并不是没关系的情况下说“这都没关系的”。应该允许年轻人经历失望，并且帮助他们控制它。
Failure is never pleasurable. It hurts grown-ups and children exactly alike.But it can make a positive contribution to your life once you learn to use it.Step one is to ask“Why did I fail?”Control the natural impulse to blame someone else.Ask yourself what you did wrong, and how you can improve.If someone else can help, don't be shy about asking them.Success, which encourages repetition of old behavior, is not nearly as good a teacher as failure.You can learn from a bad party how to give a good one, from an ill-chosen first house what to look for in a second.Even a failure that seems definitive can cause fresh thinking, a change of direction.After twelve years of studying ballet, a friend of mine applied for a professional company.She was turned down.“Would further traning help?”She asked.That ballet master shook his head.“You will never be a dancer，”he said，“you haven't the body for it.”
失败不可能使人愉快。它会伤害到成年人，同样也会伤害到孩子。但是，一旦你学会运用它，它就能对你的生活有积极的贡献。第一步是问：“为什么我会失败？”不要受到本性冲动的影响去责备他人。问问自己到底做错了什么，如何才能改进。如果有人帮助你，就不要羞于请教。成功，会激发人们重复自己的行为，根本不会比失败更让人受益良多。你可以从一场糟糕的宴会上学会如何办一场成功的宴会。从第一次失败的选房经历中学会如何寻找第二个。明确的失败甚至会让人涌现出新的想法，改变方向。我的一个朋友在学了12年芭蕾舞之后去了一家专业公司进行面试。她被拒绝了。“我还需要进一步接受培训吗？”她问。芭蕾舞教练摇摇头。“你不可能成为一名舞蹈演员，”他说，“你不是块跳芭蕾舞的料。”
In such cases, the way to use failure is to take stock bravely asking“What have I left?What else can I do?”My friend put away her shoes and moved into dance treatment center, a field where she's both able and useful. Failure frees one to take risks because there's less to lose.Often there is recovery of energy—a way to find new possibilities.
在这样的情况下，利用失败的方法是勇敢地进行自我总结，问问：“我还剩下什么？我还可以做什么？”我的朋友收好了她的芭蕾舞鞋，然后转而从事舞蹈治疗，这是一个对她来说很在行也很实用的领域。失败可以让人不必再去冒险，因为失败的人几乎没有什么可以再失去的了。通常，失败还会让人精力复苏，认识到一些新的可能性。
单词解析 Word Analysis
例 A steady growth in the popularity of two smaller parties may upset the polls.
两个较小政党的支持率稳步上升，可能会打乱投票结果。
例 She told Parliament she had no knowledge of the affair.
她告诉议会她对此事并不知情。
例 He tramped hurriedly round the lake towards the garden.
他匆匆地迈着沉重的步伐绕过湖边向花园走去。
例 What kids experience now is an uneven rate of development.They are forced to be older than their years.
小孩子现在的问题是成长速度不均衡。他们被迫变得比自己的实际年龄老成。
例 The American plane makers continue to accuse Airbus of unfair competition.
美国飞机制造商继续指控空中客车公司不正当竞争。
例 The trouble with failure-prevention devices is that they leave a child unequipped for life in the real world.
这种防止失败的策略的问题是使孩子们对现实的世界毫无准备。
例 They were beaten to death with baseball bats.
他们被人用棒球棒打死了。
例 Jackson remained calm and always master of his passions.
杰克逊镇定自若，始终克制着情绪。
例 The most pleasurable experience of the evening was the wonderful fireworks display.
这个晚上最让人高兴的就是精彩的焰火表演。
例 American economists have made important contributions to the field of financial and corporate economics.
美国的经济学家们在金融和企业经济学领域做出了重要的贡献。
例 Unable to resist the impulse, he glanced at the sea again.
他抑制不住冲动，又向海面瞥了一眼。
语法知识点 Grammar Points
①Quite simply because no one tells us how to fail so that failure becomes an experience that will lead to growth.
本句中because引导原因状语从句，so that引导结果状语从句，最后一个that引导定语从句，先行词an experience在从句中做主语；lead to表示“导致，通向”。
例 A lack of prudence may lead to financial problems.
不够谨慎可能会导致财政上出现问题。
so that 主要引导两种从句：目的状语从句和结果状语从句。
例 My old father began to study computer at the age of sixty so that he might keep up with times.
父亲六十岁时才开始学习电脑，以便跟上时代。（目的状语从句）
She had not planned her time well, so that she did not finish her homework on time.
她没把时间计划好，所以没按时完成家庭作业。（结果状语从句）
②Most parents work hard at either preventing failure or protecting their children from the knowledge that they have failed.
本句中 either……or……表示“要么……要么……”；protect sb.from 表示“保护某人免于”。
例 They gave money to the Conservative Party either personally or through their companies.
他们要么以个人名义要么通过他们的公司捐钱给了保守党。
The most important trees were tagged to protect them from being damaged by construction machinery.
最珍贵的树木都被贴上了标签，以防被建筑机械毁坏。
③A child who’s not invited to a birthday party, who doesn’t make the honor roll or the baseball team feel terrible, of course.
本句较长，分析出句子的主干A child feel terrible，句中两个who均引导定语从句，先行词在从句中做主语。
④But it can make a positive contribution to your life once you learn to use it.
本句中，once为连词，引导条件状语从句；once引导的从句不能用将来时，如果谓语动词是将来发生的动作，动词常用一般现在时来代替将来时。
例 Once you begin, you must go on.
一旦开了头，就应该继续下去。
Once you see the film, you will never forget it.
一旦你看了这部电影，你将永远不会忘记。
make contribution to 表示“为……做出贡献”。
例 I think this will make contribution to our Jilin educational reform.
我想这对我们吉林的教育改革将会有很大贡献。
Let's work hard to make contribution to our country in the future.
让我们努力工作，为我们的国家做出更大的贡献。
经典名句 Famous Classics
1.A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else.
一个人可以失败很多次，但是只要他没有开始责怪旁人，他还不是一个失败者。
2.If you have great talents, industry will improve them；if you have but moderate abilities, industry will supply their deficiency.
如果你很有天赋，勤勉会使其更加完善；如果你能力一般，勤勉会补足其缺陷。
3.Few things are impossible in themselves；and it is often for want of will, rather than of means, that man fails to succeed.
事情很少有根本做不成的；其所以做不成，与其说是条件不够，不如说是由于决心不够。
4.Dare and the world always yields.If it beats you sometimes, dare it again and again and it will succumb.
大胆挑战，世界总会让步。如果有时候你被它打败了，不断地挑战，它总会屈服。
5.Ideal are like the stars—we never reach them, but like mariners, we chart our course by them.
理想犹如天上的星星，我们犹如水手，虽不能达到天上，但是我们的航程可凭借它指引。
6.Health is certainly more valuable than money, because it is by health that money is procured.
健康当然比金钱更为重要，因为拥有了健康我们才能获得金钱。