异类之不一样的成功启示录 第71期:起跑线上的悬殊

 As it turns out, Alex Williams is black and Katie Brindle is white.

亚历克斯·威廉斯是黑人而卡蒂·布琳德尔是白人。

Alex has those skills because over the course of his young life, his mother and father, in the manner of educated families, have painstakingly¹ taught them to him,

这是因为优势。亚历克斯之所以有这些技能，是因为在他年轻的生命中，他的父亲和母亲——以富有教养的家庭的一贯作风——颇费心机地把自己身上曾受过的教育方法用在孩子身上，

nudging, and prodding² and encouraging and showing him the rules of the game, right down to that rehearsal³ in the car on the way to the doctor's office.

向他展示游戏的规则，不断提醒他、刺激他、激励他，即便是驾车去看医生的路上，也没忘记来一场逼真的小预演。

When we talk about the advantages of class, Lareau argues, this is in large part what we mean.

拉里奥认为，我们所说的阶层优势事实上包含很多方面。

Alex Williams is better off than Katie Brindle because he's wealthier and because he goes to better school,

亚历克斯·威廉斯的境遇好于卡蒂·布琳德尔，是因为他生活在富有的家庭，因为他在一所较好的学校念书，

but also, and perhaps, even more critically, because the sense of entitlement that he has been taught is an attitude perfectly⁴ suited to succeeding in the modern world.

另一个原因,并且这可能是最为重要的原因——是因为他接受到了权利观念的教育，这种意识是一个人在现代社会取得成功必不可少的因素。

This is the advantage that Oppenheimer had over Christ Langan.

这就是奥本海默拥有但克里斯·兰根缺乏的优势。

He was raised in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Manhattan, the son of an artist and a successful garment manufacturer.

奥本海默是一位艺术家和一位成功的外衣制造商的儿子，他自小生长在邻近曼哈顿的一个最富有的地区。

His childhood was the embodiment of concerted cultivation⁵.

孩童时候的奥本海默完全属于协同培养。

On weekends, the Oppenheimers will go driving in the countryside in a chauffeur-driven Packard.

一到周末，便有专人驾驶帕克汽车把奥本海默送到郊区；

Summers he wiould be taken to Europe to see his grandfather.

夏天，他会到欧洲探望他的祖父。

He attended the Ethical⁶ Culture Shool on Central Park West, perhaps the most progressive school in the nation, where, his biographers write, students were "infused with the notion that they have been groomed⁷ to reform the world."

他进入了位于中央公园西部路的道德文化学校，这也许是美国最进步的学校，正如奥本海默的传记里面说的，这里的学生“被不断灌输自己是为改善世界而生的观念”。

When his math teacher realized he was bored, she sent him off to do independent work.

当奥本海默的数学老师终于厌倦了奥本海默的纠缠时，她就让奥本海默自己去琢磨问题。

As a child, Oppenheimer's great passion was rock collecting.

还在孩童时期，奥本海默就非常喜好收集岩石。

At the age of twelve, he began corresponding with local geologists⁸ about rock formations he had seen in Central Park.

12岁那年，他尝试和当地的地质学家通信，讨论在中央公园看到的那些岩石的构成，

And he soon impressed them, they invited him to give a lecture before the New York Mineralogical Club.

这给地质学家们留下了深刻的印象，他们邀请奥本海默到纽约矿物学俱乐部发表演说。

As Sherwin and Bird write, Oppenheimer's parents responded to their son's hobby in an almost textbook example of concerted cultivation.

根据舍温和博德的记录，奥本海默的父母对他们儿子这个业余爱好的反应完全可以写入协同培养经典教材的案例：

1 painstakingly   

adv. 费力地 苦心地

参考例句：

• Every aspect of the original has been closely studied and painstakingly reconstructed. 原作的每一细节都经过了仔细研究，费尽苦心才得以重现。
• The cause they contrived so painstakingly also ended in failure. 他们惨淡经营的事业也以失败而告终。

2 prodding   

v.刺，戳( prod的现在分词 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳

参考例句：

• He needed no prodding. 他不用督促。
• The boy is prodding the animal with a needle. 那男孩正用一根针刺那动物。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 rehearsal   

n.排练，排演；练习

参考例句：

• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。
• You can sharpen your skills with rehearsal.排练可以让技巧更加纯熟。

4 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

5 cultivation   

n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成

参考例句：

• The cultivation in good taste is our main objective.培养高雅情趣是我们的主要目标。
• The land is not fertile enough to repay cultivation.这块土地不够肥沃，不值得耕种。

6 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

7 groomed   

v.照料或梳洗（马等）( groom的过去式和过去分词 )；使做好准备；训练；（给动物）擦洗

参考例句：

• She is always perfectly groomed. 她总是打扮得干净利落。
• Duff is being groomed for the job of manager. 达夫正接受训练，准备当经理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 geologists   

地质学家，地质学者( geologist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Geologists uncovered the hidden riches. 地质学家发现了地下的宝藏。
• Geologists study the structure of the rocks. 地质学家研究岩石结构。