The barracks at basic SEAL training is a nondescript three-story building located on the beach at Coronado, California, just one hundred yards from the Pacific Ocean.
nondescript
If you describe something or someone as nondescript, you mean that their appearance is rather dull, and not at all interesting or attractive.
story
a structure consisting of a room or set of rooms at a single position along a vertical scale
also storey
a set of rooms or an area making up one floor level of a building
e.g. The building is 20 stories high.
There is no air-conditioning in the building, and at night, with the windows open, you can hear the tide roll in and the surf pounding against the sand.
I like this sentence because next time when I want to explain the reason why I want to live in a house near the sea, I can say because I can hear the tide roll in and the surf pounding against the sand.
Standing at the foot of the bed, I snapped my heels together and stood up straight as a chief petty officer approached my position.
If you snap something into a particular position, or if it snaps into that position, it moves quickly into that position, with a sharp sound.
He snapped the notebook shut.
He snapped the cap on his ballpoint.
Over the past three years, I have been stopped on the street by great folks telling me their own stories: How they didn’t back down from the sharks, how they didn’t ring the bell, or how making their bed every morning helped them through tough times.
Here is another excerpt from Admiral William H. McRaven’s fantastic May 2014 commencement address to the graduates of the University of Texas at Austin:
land warfare phase of training, the students are flown out to San Clemente Island, which lies off the coast of San Diego. The waters off the coast of San Clemente are a breeding ground for great white sharks. To pass seal training there are a series of long swims that must be completed. One is the night swim. Before the swim the instructors joyfully brief the students on all the species of shark that inhabit the waters off the coast of San Clemente. They assure you, however, that no student has ever been eaten by a shark – at least, not that they can remember. But you were also taught that if a shark begins to circle your position, stand your ground. Do not swim away. Do not act afraid. And, if the shark, hungry for a midnight snack darts, towards you, then summon up all your strength and punch him in the snout, and he will turn and swim away. There are a lot of sharks in the world. If you hope to complete the swim, you’ll have to deal with them. So, if you want to change the world, don’t back down from the sharks.
I left the hospital seven days later but remained bedridden at my home for the next two months.
Someone who is bedridden is so ill or disabled that they cannot get out of bed.
And, up to this point, I had been right. Many times during my career I had encountered life-threatening incidents: midair collisions in another parachute; uncontrolled descent in a minisub; nearly falling hundreds of feet off an oil rig; getting trapped beneath a sinking boat; demolition that exploded prematurely; and countless more—incidents where a split second decided the fate between living and dying. Each time I had somehow managed to make the right decision, and each time I was physically fit enough to overcome the challenge before me. Not this time.
A split second is an extremely short period of time. 刹那; 瞬间
这本书的作者还真的是我喜欢的类型，不废话不罗嗦，每篇都是两个小故事，一个讲自己刚刚“入行”参加海报部队基本训练的时候，一个是若干年后，遥远的现在。作者用这样简单直接的方式想要告诉你，在海豹部队训练时所学到的每一课，不仅在生命最开始，给你指导，而且在每一刻，都给你最需要的帮助。
我最喜欢的两个小故事，分别是小个子蛙人和马戏团的故事。
作者的讲故事技艺真的很高明！我试着给大家讲讲其中一个小故事：
Only the size of your heart matters
只有心的大小才重要，标题里面的matter是动词，意思是说，很重要、起作用。接下来的副标题就是，如果你要改变世界，你就应该衡量一个人，以他的心的尺寸为标准。这印证了接下来作者讲的这个故事，人不可貌相，不能以貌取人，英语里也有句俗语是NEVER JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER ，所以说，心的大小才重要。
那天的浪有两米五高，海浪连成一条线一层层打过来足有三层多，咆哮着打到水面上的声音，让每名学员的心都跳的更快了一点。这句话简简单单的描述了出海那天的天气：凶恶，不怀好意！
教官也不怀好意地走到了我右边的新兵蛋子旁边，这小哥只有five foot four in height估摸着有一米六二，而教官足足有six foot two 大约一米九二！这教官打量着新兵蛋子小哥的救生衣，透过他的小肩膀看着远处波浪汹涌的大海，然后低下身来抓起了小哥的脚蹼，拿着脚蹼凑到小哥的面前悄声说：你真的想成为一个蛙人吗？这个蛙人frogman就是海豹部队中执行水下侦察爆破等各种特种任务的队员，能上天入海，很厉害。小哥也不甘示弱啊，站直了喊：Yes 长官，当然！
“You’re a tiny little man,” the instructor said, waving the flippers in his face. “Those waves out there could break you in half.” He paused and glanced toward the ocean. “You should think about quitting now before you get hurt.”
这段话很精彩啊，把教官坏坏的样子描绘地栩栩如生，你这个小个子，浪能把你劈成两半，趁着你还没受伤，赶紧考虑放弃回家吧！“I won’t quit!” 这个小哥也很坚决，牙关也咬紧了，拿牙关咬紧这个表达，我们看作者怎么描述的
Even out of the corner of my eye I could see the student’s jaw begin to tighten.
下巴都开始紧张了，有点像我们四川话说的“脚指拇儿都抓紧了” 很形象啊
那教官当然坏啦，凑到小哥耳边&**…%…*一通碎碎念，因为浪太大，我就没听见到底说的啥。
I couldn’t make out the words over the breaking waves.
这些话还是盖不过浪啊，
After all the trainees were inspected the instructors ordered us into the water, and we began our swim. An hour later, I crawled out of the surf zone, and standing on the beach was the young seaman recruit. He had finished the swim near the head of the class. Later that day, I pulled him aside and asked what the instructor had whispered to him.
接下来就是正常的游泳了，每个人都根据教官的指示按顺序下水开始游，一个小时以后，我从冲浪区域爬出来到了岸边，这小哥就站在岸边，他算是队伍里面打头的几个出来的。因为我也很好奇啊！就把他拉到一边问，到底教官叽里咕噜说了啥？
He smiled and said proudly, “Prove me wrong!”
证明我错了！
这是教官们惯用的激将法啊，虽然清楚是套路，但是看到这里的时候还是隐隐地被感动到，那种自豪感，透过文字从小哥身上散发出来感染了我。