美文聽寫:夢想終有成真時
At the end of the semester we invited Rose to make a speech to our football team. I'll never forget what she taught us. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her note card on the floor. A little embarrassed she simply said, "I'm sorry. This whiskey is killing me! I'll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know." As we laughed she cleared her throat and began:" We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing.
There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor every day. You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and don't even know it! There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity in change. Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets."
At the year's end Rose finished the college degree. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeral to honor the wonderful woman who taught by example that it's never too late to be all you can possibly be.
期末的時候,我們邀請羅斯給我們的橄欖球隊講話。我永遠都不會忘記她教給我們的東西。就在她要開始進行她事先準備好的演講時,她把寫了要點的卡片掉在了地上。她有點兒尷尬,但只是說,“對不起。這酒可真要命!我沒辦法再準備好我的講稿了,就讓我把我知道的東西告訴你們吧?!蔽覀冃α似饋恚辶饲迳ぷ?,開始演講:“我們并不是因為年老就不再玩耍;我們變老是因為我們不再玩耍。只有四個秘密可以讓你保持年輕,快樂,獲得成功。你必須每天都開懷大笑,尋找幽默。你必須有一個夢想。失去了夢想,你就會雖生猶死。我們周圍有很多人,他們已經‘死了’,自己卻不知道。成長和長大之間有著巨大的差距。如果你現在19歲,躺在床上整整一年什么都不做,你也還會變成20歲。每一個人都會長大,這不需要任何天賦和能力。要不斷地在變化中尋找機遇,這樣才是成長。不要留有遺憾。老年人通常不會為做過的事遺憾,而是為還沒有做過的事情感到遺憾。只有那些有遺憾的人才會怕死。”
年底的時候,羅斯獲得了大學學位。畢業(yè)一星期后,她在夢中安詳地離開了人世。兩千多名大學生參加了她的葬禮,來紀念這位通過自己的親身經歷來告訴我們永遠都可以成就自己的理想的了不起的老人。