英语课外阅读一

奥运冠军论坛最初是在 00 年悉尼奥运会 时开始的 创始人是悉尼大学才智中心的 Allen Snyder 斯奈德 教授 北京奥运会 这次是第二届 现在已经定下来 12 年在伦 敦奥运会开幕前也要举行冠军论坛 What makes a Champion 冠军论坛的本质就是 探究冠军背后的共同特质 这里的冠军并 不一定是体育界的 可以是其他任何领域 的成功者 也可以是生活中普普通通的一 个平凡人 每个人都可以是冠军 2008 年奥运冠军论坛开幕式上最闪 亮的应该算是英国前首相 Tony Blair 布 莱尔 了 但是获得全场欢呼的却是东道 主北京大学的校长许智宏院士 当然还有 一个人可以与许爷爷相提并论 他就是北 京奥运形象大使成龙 除了上面提到的几 位嘉宾之外 出席的还有美国奥委会主席 Peter Ueberroth 尤伯罗斯 国际奥委 会新闻委员会主席 Kevan Gosper 高斯帕 中国银行的董事长肖钢 联想集团的柳 传志 是什么造就了冠军 这是值得我们 任何人去认真思考的问题 是坚持 是激 情 还是勤奋 相信每个人的心中都会有 自己的答案 What makes a champion This is a thought provoking question Diligence perspiration Answers to the question vary from person to person 下面的文章是英国前首相 Tony Blair 布莱尔 在开幕式上的精彩发言 他认为冠军要具备七个条件 成功来自奋 斗 富有创造力 不断探究的精神 自律 勇气 既能享受成功 又能承受失败 超 越自己 我很喜欢他的演讲 和朋友一起 分享一下 Speech to WhatWhat MakesMakes a a ChampionChampion in Beijing This is China s moment A A moment to celebrate its culture civilisation and achievement A A moment to thank the Chinese people for their warmth their ingenuity and their enterprise A A moment to recognise that whatever the challenges political social and economic there is in this country the will the determination and the humanity to make the future work for China and in partnership with other nations and cultures to make it work for people everywhere WhatWhat makesmakes a a ChampionChampion We must start with an uncomfortable truth natural talent helps and especially in sport I remember still almost 45 years ago now running in my first competitive race at my school Sports Day I remember the running track grass freshly mowed A A sunny day The race was over 440 yards Four times round our small track I settled in behind the lead runner calculating to overtake him on the last bend before the straight run to the finish The race went to plan until just as I reached the bend I tried to sprint forward Suddenly my legs just didn t have the energy The mental will was there The physical capacity was not I remember that feeling of shock and disappointment now as clear as I did then the disconnection between desire and ability I still have my silver cup for coming second But silver was not whatwhat I wanted I wanted gold We will applaud the champions of the Olympics knowing that most of us would never have been able to do whatwhat they have done But I chose to try to be a a championchampion in a a different field and it is also true that most people have innate talent at something Champions are not just athletes They are scientists entrepreneurs artists philanthropists They are people who the world sees in photos and on TV people of fame and wealth But they are just as often people no one outside a a small circle has heard of champions of compassion of fortitude under suffering of works of humanity towards others Such champions often enjoy less fame or fortune when alive but are more often commemorated after death They are champions of the human spirit So it is right that not everyone can be a a championchampion But many perhaps even most of us have the capacity to do something exceptionally well Most of us have a a gift The issue is how to develop that gift WhatWhat are the qualities that take the talent and turn it into an achievement that translate the ordinary into the extraordinary Because for sure there is a a part perhaps even the major part of being a a championchampion that is not to do with natural physique or natural intellect but is to do with character attitude the dimension of the mind that can be discovered and developed You can improve You can in doing so cross the line between the average and the good and in time even the line between the good and the outstanding It can be dangerous to describe rules of improvement to try to codify the qualities Champions are about exceptions not rules Nonetheless I believe it is possible to identify characteristics you find in champions I have chosen seven First success comes to those who strive Striving is a a better concept than merely being competitive In the Bible Jacob is renamed after wrestling with God whilst asleep He was thereafter called Israel meaning striving with God To me striving is more than wanting to be the best It means even if you are the best striving to be better It is the product of a a spirit that is restless for still greater things It can mean a a state of perpetual dissatisfaction certainly with yourself Of course it shows up in a a strong competitive streak when in a a race be that in sport or a a political campaign or anything else But it is also an attitude that illustrates that the competitor is as much competing with himself as with others in the same race Secondly champions are creative people They are innovative They are always pushing to the new frontier They don t accept the givens of any field of endeavour They challenge them They are non conventional people Anyone I have ever met in any field who is successful is creative That applies incidentally to the lawyer or the banker as much as the artist or thinker The creative process is always fascinating to behold It begins with an analytical capability that is free not hidebound not shackled to whatwhat has gone before I always found in politics that people had an amazing predisposition to conduct a a debate within very defined parameters This is whatwhat to be left wing meant This is whatwhat right wing meant This is the way the state works This is how public services or welfare systems operate Within the parameters debate is lively But the parameters themselves are rarely challenged Creative people challenge the parameters They go back to the first principles of a a subject They ask not the superficial but the profound questions Which brings me to the third quality Champions are endlessly inquisitive I begin every day hoping to learn something new I regularly contemplate the vast expanses of my ignorance I was hopeless at science at school I regretted it ever since I would love to learn about it now But even in my chosen field of politics I am always searching for new insights for original thinking for something that makesmakes me think anew and afresh This also means knowing you can be wrong You may have to re think and possibly radically The characteristic of a a championchampion is that they are prepared to do so All of this takes application and hard work The fourth quality is therefore self discipline That is more than just the hours you put in But it is the discipline to lay aside other pleasures and concentrate hard on your own development It is about focus and single mindedness I remember meeting a a famous pop star once who you may have thought was just a a good time rock and roller I asked him how do you do it and before he could reply his partner said simply he is the most disciplined person I know It is not just about deciding to work rather than spend an extra hour in the bar It is about absorption in your task about deep not shallow thought about getting down to the core of whatwhat you are trying to achieve It is about not accepting second best about knowing in your heart when something is not good enough and can and should be better Notice that this is self discipline Past a a certain point you and only you can provide that intensity of will The fifth quality is courage No championchampion is without courage It may be physical it may be intellectual It may be of mind or body There is no greater courage than that shown by the Paralympians These are the people who have not just demonstrated the normal will power of champions but in doing so have overcome by their passion to succeed their disability Their courage gives hope to all Special salutations to them Courage is invariably found in a a championchampion Inevitably a a championchampion is out in front Championship is like leadership When things are in the balance when you cannot be sure when others are uncertain or hesitate when the very point is that the outcome is in doubt that is when a a leader steps forward The soldier who comes to help his fallen comrade The health worker who risks their life to save the lives of others The political activist who stands up for whatwhat is right when whatwhat is right is not whatwhat is popular or expedient This is the person who when the mantle of responsibility is floating free reaches out and puts it on The courage lies not in acting without fear but in acting despite fear Such people are the people who are prepared just to go for it to back their instinct when their instinct is all the certainty they are going to get Taking the uncalculated risk is just foolhardy But a a calculated risk is still a a risk Calculate too much and you miscalculate You wait for the perfect moment when such moments rarely if ever exist At a a certain point you have to step forward with an insecure terrain beneath your feet WhatWhat this means is that you must also be prepared to fail This is the sixth and possibly the toughest quality of all The strange irony of the championchampion is that the championchampion must be able to live with failure as well as enjoy success The very act of courage of leadership that sees you step out into the unknowable carries with it the possibility of defeat You must be willing to be humbled as well as exalted You must accept that the risk however calculated may not pay off One of the most common reasons why people don t strive is the fear of failure Yet virtually no one I have ever met who has succeeded has not failed first The question is whatwhat you learn from the experience whatwhat you learn not just about the process of competing but about yourself the strengths you should exploit the weaknesses you must eliminate The seventh quality is one some will disagree with but which I think is the most essential of all I believe that if you are to be a a true championchampion you must be motivated by more that you If the striving is purely selfish if the love of personal achievement is purely the personal glory something is missing some aspect of championship that is elusive in definition but critical in action Some people may see this in spiritual terms that is one way of looking at it Another way is simply a a belief that to achieve to the highest level and beyond to extend the frontiers of human knowledge or activity is in and of itself something good or worthy noble even that fulfils a a purpose beyond your own recognition of your own self worth There is a a reason why so many people who are champions look to use their success in helping others Such a a sentiment is located somewhere in the championchampion s character It is the same reason you chose Nelson Mandela to launch this idea at the Sydney Olympics in the year 2000 Over the next three to six weeks or so of the Olympics and Paralympics this city will be sparkling with the glittering accomplishments of the greatest sporting event in the world and billions around the world will share in the expectation excitement and exhilaration of it all But we know in this same world there is poverty ignorance and disease all of it preventable if humanity had the will We know there is conflict and discord where fellow human beings suffer and die We know there are challenges like the changing of our climate which call us to take responsibility and to lead This month it is the Olympics Next month with rather less fanfare and publicity will be the UN General Assembly where we will debate the Millennium Development Goals set by the world s nations in the year 2000 and due to be met in the year 2015 At present we will not meet them We will fail and if we do the price is paid in the lives and misery of those