06 Big Rocks in Life人生的大石头

One day,an expert in time management was speaking to a group of students and,to drive home a point,used an illustration those students will never forget.

一天，时间管理专家为一群学生讲课。他现场做了演示，给学生们留下了一生都难以磨灭的印象。

As he stood in front of the group of overachievers he said，“OK,time for a quiz.”He pulled out a one-gallon,wide-mouth jar and set it on the table in front of him.He also produced about a dozen fst-sized rocks and carefully placed them,one at a time,into the jar.When the jar was flled to the top and no more rocks would ft inside,he asked，“Is this jar full?”

站在那些高智商高学历的学生前面，他说：“我们来做个小测验。”他拿出一个一加仑的广口瓶放在面前的桌上。随后，他取出一堆拳头大小的石块，仔细地一块一块放进玻璃瓶。直到石块高出瓶口，再也放不下了，他问道：“瓶子满了吗？”

Everyone in the class yelled，“Yes.”The time management expert replied，“Really?”He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel.He dumped some gravel in and shook the jar,causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks.He then asked the group once more，“Is this jar full?”

所有学生应道：“满了！”时间管理专家反问：“真的？”他伸手从桌下拿出一桶碎石，倒了一些进去，并敲击玻璃瓶壁使碎石填满下面石块的间隙。“现在瓶子满了吗？”他第二次问道。

By this time the class was on to him.“Probably not，”one of them answered.“Good！”he replied.He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand.He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel.Once more he asked the question，“Is this jar full?”

这一次学生们有些明白了，“可能还没有。”一位学生应道。“很好！”专家说。他伸手从桌下拿出一桶沙子，开始慢慢倒进玻璃瓶。沙子填满了石块和碎石的所有间隙。他又一次问学生：“瓶子满了吗？”

“没满！”学生们大声说。他再一次：“很好！”然后他拿过一壶水倒进玻璃瓶直到水面与瓶口平。抬头看着学生，问道：“这个例子说明什么？”一个心急的学生举手发言：“无论你的时间多少，如果你确实努力，你可以做更多的事情！”

“No！”the class shouted.Once again he said，“Good.”Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was flled to the brim.Then he looked at the class and asked，“What is the point of this illustration?”One eager student raised his hand and said，“The point is,no matter how full your schedule is,if you try really hard you can always ft some more things in it！”

“不！”时间管理专家说，“那不是它真正的重点。这个例子告诉我们，如果你不是先放大石块，那你就再也不能把它放进瓶子里了。那么，什么是你生命中的大石头呢？陪伴你爱的人、学历、梦想、崇高的事业、教育指导其他人？切记，先填满大石头，否则你永远都没法再放入大石头了。”

“No，”the speaker replied，“that's not the point.The truth this illustration teaches us is if you don't put the big rocks in first,you'll never get them in at all.What are the‘big rocks'in your life?Time with your loved ones,your education,your dreams,a worthy cause,teaching or mentoring others?Remember to put these big rocks in frst or you'll never get them in at all.”

单词解析Word Analysis

management[ˈmænɪdʒmənt]n.管理；管理人员

例The zoo needed better management rather than more money.

这座动物园需要更好的管理，而不是更多的资金。

illustration[ˌɪləˈstreɪʃn]n.插图；说明；例证；图解

例To give a definition of a word is more difficult than to give an illustration of its use.

给一个词下定义要比举例说明它的用法困难得多。

overachiever[ˌəʊvərə'tʃi：və（r）]n.优等生；高成就者

例I would love for people to think of me as a talented overachiever.

我想让人承认我的天赋，更希望他们肯定我的努力。

gravel[ˈgrævl]n.砾石；沙砾，碎石

例The gravel pits have been landscaped and planted to make them attractive to wildfowl.

砾石采掘坑已进行了景观美化并种上草木，希望能吸引野禽的到来。

dump[dʌmp]vt.倾倒

例We dumped our bags at the nearby Grand Hotel and hurried towards the market.

我们把包扔在附近的格兰德酒店后就匆匆赶往集市。

pitcher[ˈpɪtʃə（r）]n.大水罐；投掷的人

例As a pitcher,John is better than James by a long chalk.

作为一名棒球投手，约翰比詹姆斯高明得多。

eager[ˈi：gə（r）]adj.渴望的；热切的

例Arty sneered at the crowd of eager faces around him.

阿蒂对他身边那些期盼的面孔嗤之以鼻。

schedule[ˈʃedju：l]n.预定计划

例He has been forced to adjust his schedule.

他被迫调整了自己的日程安排。

mentor[ˈmentɔ：（r）]vt.指导

例She says you could also identify useful members of management and ask them to mentor you.

她说，你还可以在管理层内找到一些对你有用的人，请他们指导你。

语法知识点Grammar Points

①One day,an expert in time management was speaking to a group of students and,to drive home a point,used an illustration those students will never forget.

本句中drive home a point表示“清晰地阐述一个论点”。

例To drive his home point,he explained it again.

为了讲清楚自己的观点，他又解释了一遍。

②The truth this illustration teaches us is if you don’t put the big rocks in frst,you’ll never get them in at all.

本句中，that引导定语从句：the truth（that）this illustration teaches us……，先行词在从句中做宾语成分，that可省略；if引导条件状语从句。

例This is the TV set（that）my father bought last year.

这是我父亲去年买的电视机。

经典名句Famous Classics

1.Sometimes one pays most for the things one gets for nothing.

有时候一个人为不花钱得到的东西付出的代价最高。

2.To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive,and the true success is to labor.

怀着希望去旅行比抵达目的地更愉快；而真正的成功在于工作。

3.I might say that success is won by three things：first,effort；second,more effort；third,still more effort.

可以说成功要靠三件事才能赢得：努力，努力，再努力。

4.Only those who have the patience to do simple things perfectly ever acquire the skill to do diffcult things easily.

只有有耐心圆满完成简单工作的人，才能够轻而易举地完成困难的事。

5.The important thing in life is to have a great aim,and the determination to attain it.

人生之要事在于确立伟大的目标与实现这目标的决心。