温馨夜读II PART4 12.18 Holes in His Mind

 

[00:00.52]12.18 Holes in His Mind

[00:06.29]Major James Nesmeth had a dream of improving his golf game — and he developed a unique method of achieving his goal. 

[00:14.35]Until he devised this method, he was just your average weekend golfer, shooting in mid- to low-nineties. 

[00:21.86]Then, for seven years, he had not touched a club, for he had been in a Vietnamese prison, as a prisoner of war.

[00:28.94]Ironically, it was during the seven-year break from the game that Major Nesmeth came up with his amazingly effective technique for improving his game 

[00:38.31]— a technique we can all learn from. 

[00:40.82]In fact, the first time he played golf after his hiatus from the game, he shot an astonishing 74! 

[00:48.10]He had cut 20 strokes off his average without having swung a golf club in seven years! 

[00:54.75]Unbelievable. Not only that, but his physical condition had actually deteriorated¹ during those seven years of imprisonment².

[01:04.22]What was Major Nesmeth’s secret? Visualization³.

[01:07.82]During the entire time he was imprisoned⁴, he experienced no physical activity. 

[01:13.04]During the first few months he did nothing but pray for his release. 

[01:17.61]Then he realized he had to find some way to occupy his mind or he would lose his sanity⁵. 

[01:23.93]That’s when he learned to visualize⁶.

[01:26.76]In his mind, he selected his favorite golf course and started playing golf. 

[01:32.64]Every day, he played a full 18 holes at the imaginary country club, as if he saw himself dressed in his golfing clothes. 

[01:41.68]He smelled the fragrance⁷ of the trees and the freshly trimmed grass. 

[01:46.47]He experienced different weather conditions — windy spring days, overcast⁸ winter days, and sunny summer mornings. 

[01:55.08]In his imagination, every detail of the tee, the individual blades of grass, 

[02:01.07]the trees, the singing birds, the scampering⁹ squirrels and the lay of the course became totally real.

[02:07.93]He felt the grip of the club in his hands. 

[02:10.98]He instructed himself as he practiced smoothing out his down-swing and the follow-through on his shot. 

[02:17.07]Then he watched the ball arc down the exact center of the fairway, 

[02:21.99]bounce a couple of times and roll to the exact spot he had selected, all in his mind. 

[02:27.89]It took him just as long in imaginary time to play 18 holes as it would have taken in reality. 

[02:34.46]Not a detail was omitted.

[02:36.75]Seven days a week. Four hours a day. Eighteen holes. Seven years. 

[02:42.77]Twenty strokes off. Shot a 74.

1 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。

2 imprisonment   

n.关押，监禁，坐牢

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for committing bigamy.他因为犯重婚罪被判入狱一年。

3 visualization   

n.想像，设想

参考例句：

• In 2D visualization and drawing applications, vertical and horizontal scrolling are common. 在二维的可视化及绘图应用中，垂直和水平滚动非常普遍。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Ophthalmoscopy affords the only opportunity for direct visualization of blood vessels. 检眼镜检查法提供直接观察血管的唯一机会。

4 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

5 sanity   

n.心智健全，神智正常，判断正确

参考例句：

• I doubt the sanity of such a plan.我怀疑这个计划是否明智。
• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。

6 visualize   

vt.使看得见，使具体化，想象，设想

参考例句：

• I remember meeting the man before but I can't visualize him.我记得以前见过那个人，但他的样子我想不起来了。
• She couldn't visualize flying through space.她无法想像在太空中飞行的景象。

7 fragrance   

n.芬芳，香味，香气

参考例句：

• The apple blossoms filled the air with their fragrance.苹果花使空气充满香味。
• The fragrance of lavender filled the room.房间里充满了薰衣草的香味。

8 overcast   

adj.阴天的，阴暗的，愁闷的；v.遮盖，（使）变暗，包边缝；n.覆盖，阴天

参考例句：

• The overcast and rainy weather found out his arthritis.阴雨天使他的关节炎发作了。
• The sky is overcast with dark clouds.乌云满天。

9 scampering   

v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• A cat miaowed, then was heard scampering away. 马上起了猫叫，接着又听见猫逃走的声音。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• A grey squirrel is scampering from limb to limb. 一只灰色的松鼠在树枝间跳来跳去。 来自辞典例句