人生之求03-巨大的挑战

[00:00.00]Big Challenges 巨大的挑战
[00:05.19]“Keep staring! I might do a trick！”
[00:09.67]That’s the message on a T-shirt of mine.
[00:13.63]People stare at me all the time
[00:15.91]so I thought this shirt would be funny.
[00:18.22]See I’m a dwarf¹.
[00:20.17]Most of the time people aren’t trying to be rude—
[00:24.65]they just haven’t seen many dwarfs² like me before.
[00:28.61]I can understand that.
[00:31.00]But I also want to let them know
[00:33.53]that I see them staring.
[00:35.37]Usually the T-shirt makes
[00:37.57]them laugh at themselves not at me.
[00:39.74]I was born with achondroplasia,
[00:42.94]the most common form of dwarfism.
[00:45.44]I have an average-size torso,
[00:47.96]but my arms and legs are shorter
[00:50.58]and my head is bigger than average.
[00:52.88]Right now I’m almost four feet tall
[00:55.38]and that’s about as tall as I’m going to get.
[00:58.47]I’m not going to pretend
[01:00.41]that my height isn’t a challenge.
[01:02.39]It is. Light switches and counters are usually too high for me.
[01:07.32]I can’t reach some shelves in the grocery stores.
[01:10.81]It takes me almost three steps to keep up
[01:13.67]with one step of an average-size adult.
[01:16.50]And my mom has to hem³ almost all of my pants.
[01:20.10]But everyone faces challenges.
[01:22.52]You just have to face them with a good attitude.
[01:25.38]So I have a long barbecue fork to pull things down
[01:29.53]from pantry shelves.
[01:30.93]I’m a great climber
[01:32.14]and I can make a stool⁴ out of just about anything.
[01:35.21]I’ll even be able to drive a car with the help of pedal⁵ extensions.
[01:39.70]If all else fails, I ask for help.
[01:42.53]Due to the way I see it,
[01:44.84]I can do just about anything that an average-size person can do.
[01:49.21]So I’ll never play professional sports
[01:52.27]but I have no problem testing my limits.
[01:55.34]I have to. For instance, everyone uses stoves.
[01:59.60]Little people just have to figure out
[02:02.43]how to use them in different ways.
[02:04.31]I use a stool to reach mine at home.
[02:07.36]It may take me longer and it may be harder
[02:10.44]but I can still do it.
[02:11.95]My T-shirt shows people the real me—
[02:14.92]a kid with a sense of humor.
[02:16.87]And maybe that’s the real trick showing others
[02:20.06]that I’m just like them.
[02:21.38]I play sports and video games,
[02:23.88]I go to school and I hang out with my friends.
[02:26.85]I’m just shorter.
[02:28.47]I mean no one is exactly the same.
[02:31.44]And anyway, I’m proud of who I am.

1 dwarf   

n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小

参考例句：

• The dwarf's long arms were not proportional to his height.那侏儒的长臂与他的身高不成比例。
• The dwarf shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. 矮子耸耸肩膀，摇摇头。

2 dwarfs   

n.侏儒，矮子（dwarf的复数形式）vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Shakespeare dwarfs other dramatists. 莎士比亚使其他剧作家相形见绌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The new building dwarfs all the other buildings in the town. 新大楼使城里所有其他建筑物都显得矮小了。 来自辞典例句

3 hem   

n.贴边，镶边；vt.缝贴边；(in)包围，限制

参考例句：

• The hem on her skirt needs sewing.她裙子上的褶边需要缝一缝。
• The hem of your dress needs to be let down an inch.你衣服的折边有必要放长1英寸。

4 stool   

n.凳子；粪便；根株；v.长出新枝，排便

参考例句：

• The stool is steady enough.这个凳子很稳。
• The boy was straining at stool.那个男孩在用力大便。

5 pedal   

n.踏板；adj.脚的，踏脚的；v.用脚踏动，踩踏板

参考例句：

• He pressed down the accelerator pedal of his car.他踩下汽车的加速器踏板。
• I saw him pedal to school every morning.我看到他每天早晨骑自行车上学。