随后，埃里克森和他的同事又在钢琴业余演奏者和专业演奏家之间作了比较，

　　The same pattern emerged.

　　得到的情形一模一样。

　　The amateurs never practiced more than about three hours a week over the course of their childhood,

　　钢琴业余演奏者在童年时期，每周练习的时间从来没有超出过3个小时，

　　and by the age of twenty had totaled two thousand hours of practice.

　　到20岁左右，他们练习的全部时间大约是2,000个小时：

　　The professionals, on the other hand, steadily increased their practice time every year,

　　与他们形成鲜明对比的是，那些专业演奏家，他们毎年都会有计划地逐步增加自己每周的练习时间，

　　until by the age of twenty they had reached ten thousand hours.

　　在他们20岁左右，练习钢琴的全部时间达到了10 000个小时。

　　The thing about Ericsson's study is that he and his colleagues couldn't find any "naturals",

　　埃里克森和他同事的研究，让人们惊讶地发现，在卓越者中并没有“与生俱来的天才”

　　musicians who floated effortlessly to the top while practicing a fraction of the time their peers did.

　　如果和其他人一样仅练习很少的时间，任何一位音乐工作者都不可能成为佼佼者。

　　Nor could they find any "grinds," people who worked harder than everyone else,

　　他们也发现很少有“劳而不获者”，一个比他人更勤勉工作的人，

　　yet just didn't have what it takes to break into the top ranks.

　　不会仅停留在一个较高的水准，而会寻求更大的突破。

　　Their research suggested that once you have enough ability to get into a top music school,

　　埃里克森和他同事的研究表明，如果一个人拥有进入顶级音乐学校的实力，

　　the thing that distinguishes one performer from another is how hard he or she works. That's it.

　　那么，看他是否比其他人更勤勉，就能断定他是否能从学生中脱颖而出。

　　And what's more, the people at the very top don't just work harder than everyone else.

　　那些最为卓越的人，不仅比他人勤勉，

　　They work much, much harder.

　　而且，他们非常非常地勤奋刻苦，这不是一般人能想象的。

　　This idea that excellence at a complex task requires a critical minimum level of practice surfaces again and again in studies of expertise.

　　也就是说，一定程度的紧张练习对那些能够肩负重要使命的卓越者而言，是必不可少的——他们需要一遍一遍研习专业技能。

　　In fact, researchers have settled on what they believe is the magic number for true expertise: ten thousand hours.

　　事实上，研究者们都认为，卓有成效的练习时间必须达到10,000个小时，这真是不可思议！

　　"The emerging picture from such studies is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve

　　44这项研究的结果表明，一个人的技能要达到世界水平，

　　the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert in any thing." writes the neurologist Daniel Levitin.

　　他的练习时间就必须超过10,00个小时,任何行业都不例外神经学专家丹尼尔.利瓦廷写道，

　　In study after study, of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice skaters, concert pianists, chess players, master criminals, and what have you,

　　无论是作曲家、篮球运动员、作家、滑冰运动员、钢琴演奏家、棋手，还是作案屡屡得手的惯犯，

　　this number comes up again and again.

　　对他们的练习时间进行统计的结果，一次次毫不例外地都得到10,000这同一个数字，

　　Ten thousand hours is equivalent to roughly three hours a day or twenty hours a week of practice over ten years.

　　10,000个小时相当于每天练习3个小时，或者一周练习20个小时，总共10年的练习时间。

　　Of course, this doesn't address why some people get more out of their practice sessions than others.

　　当然，这并不能解释为什么有些人的练习时间远远超过其他人。

　　But no one has yet found a case in which true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time.

　　然而，不需要花费多少时间练习，一个人的技能就达到世界水准，目前还没有这样的案例。