2015年高考英语天津卷 - 阅读理解D

Once when I was facing a decision that involved high risk, I went to a friend. He looked at me for a moment, and then wrote a sentence containing the best advice I've ever had: Be bold and brave - and mighty forces will come to your aid.
有一次，当我面临一个高风险的决定时，我去了一位朋友那里。他看了我一会儿，然后写了一句话，其中一句是我有过的最好的建议：大胆一点，强大的力量会帮助你。

Those words made me see clearly that when I had fallen short in the past, it was seldom because I had tried and failed. It was usually because I had let fear of failure stop me from trying at all. On the other hand, whenever I had plunged into deep water, forced by courage or circumstance, I had always been able to swim until I got my feet on the ground again.
这些话让我清楚地看到，当我以往没有实现目标的时候，很少是因为我尝试了而失败，通常是因为我对失败的恐惧阻止了我去尝试。另一方面，每当我迫于勇气或环境的压力跳入深水时，我总是能够游泳，直到我再次踏上地面。

Boldness means a decision to bite off more than you can eat. And there is nothing mysterious about the mighty forces. They are potential powers we possess: energy, skill, sound judgment, creative ideas -even physical strength greater than most of us realize.
大胆意味着决定要超出你的能力。强大的力量并不神秘，它们是我们拥有的潜能：能量、技能、健全的判断力、创意——甚至比我们大多数人意识到的还要强大的体力。

Admittedly, those mighty forces are spiritual ones. But they are more important than physical ones. A college classmate of mine, Tim, was an excellent football player, even though he weighed much less than the average player. "In one game I suddenly found myself confronting a huge player, who had nothing but me between him and our goal line, "said Tim. "I was so frightened that I closed my eyes and desperately threw myself at that guy like a bullet - and stopped him cold."
当然，这些强大的力量是精神力量，但它们比身体力量更重要。我的一位大学同学蒂姆是一名优秀的足球运动员，尽管他的体重远小于一般球员。“在一场比赛中，我突然发现自己面对一名高大的球员，他和我们的球门线之间只有我一个人，”蒂姆说，“我吓坏了，闭上眼睛，拼命朝那个家伙扑过去，像子弹一样，把他挡了下来。”

Boldness - a willingness to extend yourself to the extreme-is not one that can be acquired overnight. But it can be taught to children and developed in adults. Confidence builds up. Surely, there will be setbacks and disappointments in life; boldness in itself is no guarantee of success. But the person who tries to do something and fails is a lot better off than the person who tries to do nothing and succeeds.
大胆——将自己发挥到极致的意愿不是一朝一夕就能获得的。但它可以教给孩子，在成年人中培养，自信会建立起来。当然，生活中会有挫折和失望大胆；本身并不能保证成功。但是，一个试图做某事却失败的人要比一个什么也不做却成功的人要好得多。

So, always try to live a little bit beyond your abilities - and you'll find your abilities are greater than you ever dreamed.
所以，生活中总是试着超出你的能力——你会发现你的能力比你想象的要强大。