异类之不一样的成功启示录 第172期:玛丽塔的契约

 　　So, which places are at the top of both lists? The answer shouldn't surprise you.

　　那么哪几个国家或地区将会出现在这两个数据的前几位呢？

　　Singapore, South Korea, China (Taiwan), Hong Kong, and Japan.

　　没有任何悬念，他们分别是新加坡、韩国、中国台湾、中国香港和日本。

　　What those five have in common, of course, is that they are all cultures shaped by the tradition of wet-rice agriculture and meaningful work.

　　当然，这五个地方都有共同的一点：

　　They are the kinds of places where, for hundreds of years, penniless peasants, slaving away in the rice paddies, three thousands hours a year,

　　几百年来，贫穷的农民每天都在稻田里辛勤劳作十几个小时，

　　with say things to each other like "No one who can rise before dawn three hundred and sixty days a year fails to make his family rich."

　　或许只有这样，他们才可以对其他人说：“早起的鸟有食吃。”

　　Chapter NINEMarita's Bargain

　　第九章 玛丽塔的契约

　　"ALL MY FRIENDS ARE FROM KIPP"

　　“现在我所有的朋友都毕业于KIPP。”

　　In the mid-1990s, an experimental public school called the KIPP Academy opened on the fourth floor of Lou Gehrig Junior High School in New York City.

　　20世纪90年代中期，试验性公立学校KIPP在纽约的卢格里克中学的教学楼四层开办。

　　Lou Gehrig in the seventh school district, otherwise known as the South Bronx, one of the poorest neighborhoods in New York City.

　　卢格里克高中属于第七校区，另外，它所在的布朗克斯南部，是纽约市最落魄的地方之一。

　　It's a squat¹, grey, 1960s-era building across the street from a bleak² collection of high-rises.

　　在满是白色高楼的街上，学校那些建造于20世纪60年代的低矮建筑穿插其间，灰灰的，毫不起眼。

　　A few blocks over is Grand Concourse, the borough's main thoroughfare.

　　几个街区旁边是格兰特大街，它是这个自治市最主要的大街。

　　These are not streets that you'd happily work down, alone, after dark.

　　在天黑以后，你不会愿意独自走在这几条街上。

　　KIPP is a middle school. Classes are large: the fifth grade has two sections of thirty-five students each. There're no entrance exams or admissions requirements.

　　KIPP是一所中学。班级人数众多：五年级有两个班，每班35名学生。无须入学考试或申请入读。

　　Students are chosen by lottery³, with any fourth grader living in the Bronx eligible⁴ to apply.

　　孩子们被随机抽选，任何住在布朗克斯四年级的孩子都可以申请。

　　Roughly half of the students are African American; the rest, Hispanic. Three-quarters of the students come from single-parent homes.

　　大概一半的申请学生是非洲裔美国人，其余的是拉丁美洲人；四分之三的孩子来自单亲家庭；

　　Ninety percent qualify⁵ for "free or reduced lunch," which is to say that their families earn so little that the federal government chips in so they can eat properly at lunchtime.

　　有90%的孩子是“不吃午饭或午饭减量”的，这说明他们的家庭收入很低，依靠联邦政府捐款，孩子们才能正常地吃午饭。

1 squat   

v.蹲坐，蹲下；n.蹲下；adj.矮胖的，粗矮的

参考例句：

• For this exercise you need to get into a squat.在这次练习中你需要蹲下来。
• He is a squat man.他是一个矮胖的男人。

2 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。

3 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

4 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

5 qualify   

vt.取得资格，有资格，限定，描述；vi.取得资格，有资格

参考例句：

• I won't qualify until next year.我明年才具备资格。
• You must qualify yourself for the post.你必须使自己具备担任这一工作的资格。