1.aptitude NOUN
natural ability or skill at doing sth 天資；天生的才能；天賦 = talent
aptitude for sth
aptitude for doing sth
仿 He shows a great aptitude for painting.
原who was pretty naive and most likely didn’t have the slightest aptitude for running a business, wouldn’t be able to make a go of it.
2.pinpoint
VERB
pinpoint sth
to find and show the exact position of sb/sth or the exact time that sth happened 明確指出，確定（位置或時間）
to be able to give the exact reason for sth or to describe sth exactly 準確解釋（或說明）
ADJ
if sth is done with pinpoint accuracy,it is done exactly and in exactly the right position 準確的；精確的
NOUN
a very small area of sth, especially light 極小的範圍；光點
仿We pinpointed the flaws in her summary.
原I can pinpoint the exact moment when I first thought I could write a novel.
3.prestigious ADJ
[usually before noun ] respected and admired as very important or of very high quality 有威望的；聲譽高的
仿 He graduated from a prestigious university.
原Both Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973 were nominated for the prestigious Akutagawa Prize, for which they were said to be strong contenders, but in the end neither won.
4.thrilled ADJ
very excited and pleased 非常興奮；極為激動
thrilled (about/at/with sth)
thrilled (to do sth)
thrilled (that…)
仿We were thrilled at the news.
原My whole body thrilled at the thought of how wonderful—and how difficult—it is to be able to sit at my desk, not worrying about time, and concentrate on writing.
5.picture
NOUN
a painting or drawing 圖畫；繪畫
photograph 照片
an image on a television screen 電視圖像
description 描述
mental image 印象
general situation 局面
movies 電影
the cinema/the movies 電影院；影劇院
be/ look a picture好看；悅目
be the picture of health, guilt, misery, etc.
顯得非常健康（或內疚、不愉快等）
get the picture
明白，瞭解（別人描述的情形）
in/out of the picture在局內╱局外
put/keep sb in the picture
介紹情況；使瞭解情況
VERB
imagine 想像
picture sb/sth
picture sb/sth as sth
picturesb/sth doing sth
describe 描繪
show in photograph 照片顯示
仿I can still picture the old house I grew up in.
原There were untouched veins still dormant within me, I felt, and now I could actually picture myself making a living as a novelist.
6.keep one's head above water 勉强生活
crop up （尤指意外地)出現，發生
make a go of it. 使获得成功, 干好
flat out 竭尽全力；用全速；疲惫
out of the blue 出乎意料；突然；晴天霹靂
7Sentences
And after giving it a lot of thought, I decided to close the business for a while and concentrate solely on writing. At this point my income from the jazz club was more than my income as a novelist, a reality I had to resign myself to.
我们都有一些很美好并且想要实现的想法，但是很多时候我们都选择了放弃。而村上春树先生选择的做自己喜欢的事情，即使其他的事业再怎么成功也要给喜欢的事让道。大概这就是为什么专一的人更容易成功的原因吧。
I’m the kind of person who has to totally commit to whatever I do. I just couldn’t do something clever like writing a novel while someone else ran the business. I had to give it everything I had. If I failed, I could accept that. But I knew that if I did things halfheartedly and they didn’t work out, I’d always have regrets.
其实读这里真心想哭。不由自主的会想起前两年的情景，一直在后悔当初为什么不坚持自己的选择。到头来，已经选择的无法更改，后悔的也和我没有什么关系了。时间一直在流逝，我和两边的路都越差越远。幸好领悟的时候自己还有希望，否则恐怕未来的自己又要一直后悔现在的行为。所以一定要在现在的道路上好好前进。像村上春树先生一样努力为它奉献出自己的一切。
Life is basically unfair. But even in a situation that’s unfair, I think it’s possible to seek out a kind of fairness. Of course, that might take time and effort. And maybe it won’t seem to be worth all that. It’s up to each individual to decide whether or not it is. 大众心声
The most important thing we ever learn at school is the fact that the most important things can’t be learned at school.
8.Summary
The author told us the process of becoming a writer and why he kept running.Most of us are born with no strong aptitude, but we can through our own efforts to become our ideally selves. Of course, the premise is that we chase our dreams bravely and stick it.Just like Mr. Haruki Murakami.