The article review(文章导读):
Being Yourself
As a youngster, there was nothing I liked better than Sunday afternoons at my grandfather’s farm in western Pennsylvania. Surrounded by miles of winding stone walls, the house an
Text(正文):
Being Yourself
As a youngster, there was nothing I liked better than Sunday afternoons at my grandfather’s farm in western Pennsylvania. Surrounded by miles of winding stone walls, the house and barn1 provided endless hours of fun for a city kid like me. I was used to neat-as-a-pin2 parlors3 that seemed to whisper, “Not to be touched!”
I can still remember one afternoon when I was eight years old. Since my first visit to the farm, I’d wanted more than anything to be allowed to climb the stone walls surrounding the property. My parents would never approve. The walls were old; some stones were missing, others loose and crumbling. Still, my yearning to scramble across those walls grew so strong that finally, one spring afternoon, I summoned all my courage4 and entered the living room, where the adults had gathered after Sunday dinner.
“I, uh--I wanna climb the stone walls,” I said hesitantly. Everyone looked up. “Can I climb the stone walls?” Instantly a chorus5 went up from the women in the room. “Heavens, no!” they cried in dismay6. “You’ll hurt yourself!” I wasn’t too disappointed; the response was just as I’d expected. But before I could leave the room, I was stopped by my grandfather’s booming7 voice. “Now hold on just a minute,” I heard him say. “Let the boy climb the stone walls. He has to learn to do things for himself.”
“Scoot8,” he said to me with a wink, “And come and see me when you get back.” For the next two and a half hours I climbed those old walls and had the time of my life9. Later I met with my grandfather to tell him about my adventures. I’ll never forget what he said. “Fred,” he said, grinning, “you made this day a special day just by being yourself. Always remember, there’s only one person in this whole world like you, and I like you exactly as you are.”
Many years have passed since then, and today I host the television program Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, seen by millions of children throughout America. There have been changes over the years, but one thing remains the same: my message to children at the end of almost every visit. “There’s only one person in this whole world like you,” the kids can count on hearing me say, “ and people can like you exactly as you are.”
注释：
1. barn [bB:n] n. 牲口棚
2. neat-as-a-pin 短语 neat as a new pin合成为形容词，意为非常整洁
3. parlor [5pB:lE] n. =parlour 客厅，起居室
4. summon one’s courage 鼓足勇气
5. chorus [5kC:rEs] n. 齐声，异口同声
6. dismay [dis5mei] n. 惊恐；惊愕
7. booming [5bu:miN] a. (声音等)低沉有回响的；隆隆作响的
8. scoot [sku:t] vi. 急走，飞奔，猛冲；int. 快走开
9. the time of one’s life 〈口〉一生中特别愉快(或激动)的一段时间
表现自己的个性
我小的时候，最喜欢在宾夕法尼亚州西部爷爷的农场上度过周日下午。由数英里蜿蜒的石头墙围着的房子和畜棚，为我这个城市男孩带来了无穷无尽的乐趣。生长在城市的我习惯了整洁无比的客厅，它们似乎在说：“不许乱动!”
我还记得8岁那年一个下午的情形。自从我第一次去农场，我就特别想得到允许，去爬农场周边的石头墙。我父母决不会同意的。这些石墙年头久了，有些石块不见了，有些石块松动快塌了。可是，我太想爬那些石墙了，最后，在一个春日的下午，我鼓足了勇气，走进客厅，大人们周日吃完午饭后都聚集在那儿。 |
