英语美文：学会站起来

 　Bringing a giraffe into the world is a tall order. A baby giraffe falls 10 feet from its mother' s womb and usually lands on its back. Within seconds it rolls over and tucks its legs under its body. From this position it considers the world for the frist time and shakes off the last vestiges¹ of the birthing fluid from its eyes and ears. Then the mother giraffe rudely introduces its offspring to the reality of life. 

　　In his book, A View from the Zoo, Gary Richmond describes how a newborn giraffe learns its first lesson. 

　　The mother giraffe lowers her head long enough to take a quick look. Then she positions herself directly over her calf². She waits for about a minute, and then she does the most unreasonable³ thing. She swings her long, pendulous⁴ leg outward and kicks her baby, so that it is sent sprawling⁵ head over heels. 

　　When it doesn't get up, the violent process is repeated over and over again. The struggle to rise is momentous⁶. As the baby calf grows tired, the mother kicks it again to stimulate⁷ its efforts. Finally, the calf stands for the first time on its wobbly legs. 

　　Then the mother giraffe does the most remarkable⁸ thing. She kicks it off its feet again. Why? She wants it to remember how it got up. In the wild, baby giraffes must be able to get up as quickly as possible to stay with the herd⁹, where there is safety. Lions, hyenas¹⁰, leopards¹¹, and wild hunting dogs all enjoy young giraffes, and they'd get it too, if the mother didn' t teach her calf to get up quickly and get with it. 

　　The late Irving Stone understood this. He spent a lifetime studying greatness, writing novelized biographies of such men as Michelangelo, Vincent van Gogh, Sigmund Freud, and Charles Darwin. 

　　Stone was once asked if he had found a thread that runs through the lives of all these exceptional people. He said,"I write about people who sometime in their life have a vision or dream of something that should be Accomplished¹² and they go to work." 

　　"They are beaten over the head, knocked down, vilified¹³, and for years they get nowhere. But every time they' re knocked down they stand up. You cannot destroy these people. And at the end of their lives they've accomplished some modest part of what they set out to do." 

　　长颈鹿初到这个世界就如同“从天而降”。小长颈鹿从它妈妈的子宫口掉下地，通常是背部着地，垂直距离有十英尺高。几秒钟之内，它翻过身来，四条腿蜷缩在身体下面。用这个姿势是它第一次打量大千世界，同时抖掉眼睛和耳朵里面残余的羊水。然后，母长颈鹿近乎粗暴地将它带到现实生活中。 

　　在《动物园景观》中，盖瑞·瑞奇蒙描述了一只新生的长颈鹿是怎样上它的第一堂课的。 

　　母长颈鹿深深地低下头，看了一眼她的新宝宝。然后，它轻移脚步，直直地站在新生儿的上方。等了大概一分钟，接下来它做的是最不合情理的事情了。它向外甩开长长的蹄子，开始踢小长颈鹿，把它们踢得满地打滚。 

　　如果小长颈鹿还不站起来，母长颈鹿就接连不断地一次次猛踢。小长颈鹿站立起来是至关重要的。如果小长颈鹿挣扎累了，母长颈鹿一再地去踢、激励它。最后，小家伙终于第一次颤巍巍地站了起来。 

　　接着，母长颈鹿再次做出异乎寻常的举动，它再次将小家伙踢倒。为什么呢?它想让小家伙记住自己是怎样站起来的。在野外，小长颈鹿必须尽快地站起来跟上大部队，才能确保安全。小长颈鹿的嫩肉是狮子、土狼、猎豹和野狗都喜欢享用的，假如母长颈鹿没有教会它的孩子怎样很快站起来跟上队伍，小长颈鹿就一定会成为它们的美食。 

　　已故的欧文·斯通深谙此理。他一生都在研究伟人的生平，他的传记小说包括米开朗基罗、文森特·梵高、西格蒙德·弗洛伊德和查尔斯·达尔文。 

　　一次有人问斯通，是否有一条主线贯穿于这些优秀人物的一生。他说：“我写传记的这些人，在生命中的某个时刻他们想入非非，并且踌躇满志，然后他们着手实施这些梦想。 

　　“他们遭到过当头棒喝，被打倒在地，被贬低，甚至多年一事无成。但是每次被打倒后他们又站了起来，这些人是不能被摧毁的。这样，当走到生命尽头时，他们实现了他们既定目标的一小部分。” 

　　注释： 

　　giraffen．长颈鹿；鹿豹座 

　　offspringn．子孙；产物，后代 

　　pendulousadj．下垂的，摇摆不定的，摇摆的 

　　remarkableadj．不平常的，显著的，值得注意的 

　　leopardn．豹，美洲豹 

　　biography n．传记 

1 vestiges   

残余部分( vestige的名词复数 )； 遗迹； 痕迹； 毫不

参考例句：

• the last vestiges of the old colonial regime 旧殖民制度最后的残余
• These upright stones are the vestiges of some ancient religion. 这些竖立的石头是某种古代宗教的遗迹。

2 calf   

n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮

参考例句：

• The cow slinked its calf.那头母牛早产了一头小牛犊。
• The calf blared for its mother.牛犊哞哞地高声叫喊找妈妈。

3 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。

4 pendulous   

adj.下垂的；摆动的

参考例句：

• The oriole builds a pendulous nest.金莺鸟筑一个悬垂的巢。
• Her lip grew pendulous as she aged.由于老迈，她的嘴唇往下坠了。

5 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

6 momentous   

adj.重要的，重大的

参考例句：

• I am deeply honoured to be invited to this momentous occasion.能应邀出席如此重要的场合，我深感荣幸。
• The momentous news was that war had begun.重大的新闻是战争已经开始。

7 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

8 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

9 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

10 hyenas   

n.鬣狗( hyena的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These animals were the prey of hyenas. 这些动物是鬣狗的猎物。 来自辞典例句
• We detest with horror the duplicity and villainy of the murderous hyenas of Bukharinite wreckers. 我们非常憎恨布哈林那帮两面三刀、杀人破坏，干尽坏事的豺狼。 来自辞典例句

11 leopards   

n.豹( leopard的名词复数 )；本性难移

参考例句：

• Lions, tigers and leopards are all cats. 狮、虎和豹都是猫科动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• For example, airlines never ship leopards and canaries on the same flight. 例如，飞机上从来不会同时运送豹和金丝雀。 来自英语晨读30分（初三）

12 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

13 vilified   

v.中伤，诽谤( vilify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was vilified in newspapers. 他在报纸上受到了诽谤。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She was vilified by the press for her controversial views. 因她持有异议，新闻界对她横加挞伐。 来自互联网