自考英语二（专升本）课后练习（9），配答案详解

TEXT A

Spilt Milk

Have you heard of the story about split milk? Well, we all know there is no use crying over split milk. But this story is different. I would hope all parents would respond in this manner.

I recently heard a story about a famous research scientist who had made several very important medical breakthroughs. He was interviewed by a newspaper reporter who asked him why he was so much more creative than the average person; what set him so far apart from others?

He responded that, in his opinion, it all came from an experience with his mother that occurred when he was about two years old. He had been trying to remove a bottle of milk from the refrigerator when he lost his grip on the slippery bottle and it fell, spilling its contents all over the kitchen floor – a veritable sea of milk!

When his mother came into the kitchen, instead of yelling at him, giving him a lecture, or punishing him, she said,” Robert, what a great and wonderful mess you have made! I have rarely seen such a huge puddle of milk. Well, the damage has already been done. Would you like to get down and play in the milk for a few minutes before we clean it up?”

Indeed, he did. After a few minutes, his mother said，”You know, Robert, whenever you make a mess like this, eventually you have to clean it up and restore everything to its proper order. So, how would you like to do that? We could use a sponge, a towel, or a mop. Which do you prefer?” he chose the sponge and together they cleaned up the spilt milk.

His mother then said, “You know, what we have here is a failed experiment in how to effectively carry a big milk bottle with two tiny hands. Let’s go out in the back yard and fill the bottle with water and see if you can discover a way to carry it without dropping it.” The little boy learned that if he grasped the bottle at the top near the lip with both hands, he could carry it without dropping it. What a wonderful lesson!

The renowned scientist remarked that it was at that moment that he knew he didn’t need to be afraid to make mistakes. Instead, he learned that mistakes were just opportunities for learning something new, which is, after all, what scientific experiments are all about. Even if the experiment “doesn’t work,” we usually learn something valuable from it.

Wouldn’t it be great if all parents would respond the way Robert’s mother responded to him?

参考翻译:

洒了的牛奶

你听说过洒出的牛奶这个故事吗？我们都知道，牛奶洒出去了我们哭也没有用。但是这里我要说的故事不一样。我希望所有的父母以这种方式作出反应。

最近我听说了一个在医学领域颇有成就的著名科学家的故事。他接受一家报纸记者的采访，记者问他为何他比常人更赋有创造性，是什么使他如此与众不同呢?

他回答说，在他看来，这都源于自己两岁多的时候和妈妈的一次经历。他试图从冰箱里取出一瓶牛奶，却没有抓住光滑的瓶子，瓶子掉了，牛奶洒得厨房满地都是-—白花花的一片。

当他妈妈赶到厨房，非但没有朝他喊叫，训斥他或是责罚他，反而说：“罗伯特，你把这里弄得如此杂乱，真是太厉害啦！我从来没有见过如此大的牛奶水洼。既然，后果已经造成了，在我们打扫干净之前，你愿意过去那里在牛奶堆里玩几分钟吗？”

事实上，他真那么做了。几分钟之后，他妈妈说：“罗伯特，你要知道，不管你弄得多么脏乱，最终你都要把它清扫干净，并恢复它原本的秩序。所以，你愿意这么做吗？我们可以用海绵块,毛巾，或是拖把。你更喜欢用哪个？”他选择用海绵块，然后他们一起把洒掉的牛奶清理干净。

然后他妈妈说：“你要知道,我们在这做了一次关于如何有效地用两只小手取出一大瓶牛奶的失败的实验。让我们出来到后院来，然后把瓶子装满水，看看你是否能够找到一个方法来拿住它而不掉下来。”小男孩明白了，如果他用双手抓住瓶子上部靠近瓶边的地方，他就能拿住瓶子不掉下来。这是多棒的一课啊!

这位知名科学家评论道，就是在那一刻，他懂得了你没必要害怕做错事。相反的，他认识到了这些错误正是从中学习新知识的机会，毕竟，任何科学实验都是如此。即使实验“没有成功”，我们通常也能从中得到宝贵的经验教训。

如果所有的父母都能像罗伯特的母亲做法一样，岂不是很伟大吗？