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What does“Hard Work Pays Off”mean?

As a young boy, I grew up with my eight siblings in a tin-roofed shack in Summerfield, Louisiana. I didn’t see my circumstance as an obstacle, even though we didn’t even have a real toilet in the house. I saw my life more as a card that had been dealt to me and I tried to make the most of it.

I was the youngest of five boys and also had four sisters who had to pull together and take care of each other. Dad wasn’t around, so I never knew him well. He committed suicide when I was three years old, leaving Mom with the job of raising and providing for nine kids. She worked at a sawmill running a forklift for fifty dollars a week and had another job at a poultry plant. She was a very hard worker, and in order to make ends meet, she hardly ever rested.

My mom believed in doing all she could do to take care of her responsibilities, so no matter what, she never asked for a handout. You can imagine; we kids didn’t get what we wanted, but we always got the things we needed. With my mom as my example, I learned that hard work is the best way to get what you want.

While growing up, I was surrounded with temptations to do negative things like drugs, alcohol and all that. I chose not to go there, even as a little boy, I knew I was going to be successful. Some people take that to be cocky or conceited, but I wasn’t going to let anybody tell me that I couldn’t do whatever I set out to do.

Of course, I dreamed about what I wanted to be when I grew up. At first, I wanted to be a state trooper, then I wanted to be in the Special Forces. After a while, I decided that I wanted to drive eighteen-wheelers. There was even a period of time that I wanted to be in construction. I wanted to play football in high school; in fact, I still do. But regardless of what I chose, I wanted to make my brothers, sisters and mom proud of me—not only by being successful in what I chose to do, but also as a person who could be looked up to for the right reasons.

Surprising as it might seem, basketball wasn’t in my plans. One day, my mom cut a rim off an old water barrel and then held it up for me to throw an old rubber ball through. By junior high, I started playing basketball on a team. I loved to compete. There was a positive high I got by going out and playing against other people and working hard to win. For me, it paid off. I just let my success in basketball take its course but I always put the effort in every day. No matter what I’ve done, some people wait for my down fall, saying,“Karl Malone can’t do it.”Instead of letting people like that get to me, they are actually my motivation and I continue to prove them wrong

every single day. I try to do the best job I can in a positive way on and off the court. I realize that no matter what I’m dealing with, there’s somebody else out there who has it a little bit worse off. I’ve been there.And I know that without continued hard work, I could be there again.

I am grateful for the life I’ve enjoyed as a basketball star. But when I see these shirts that say“Basketball is life”, I think Yeah, right! It is not life. It can be exciting. But the important thing about basketball is that it gives me a way to do good things for others as I move through this journey called life.

Success is really about choosing right from wrong, making a positive contribution to the world around you and valuing the things that are really important—like family and friends.

While everyone else was looking to popular athletes, actors and musicians as positive role models, my mom was my inspiration, and she continues to be all these years later. She taught me that hard work never killed anybody. My mom is my hero. She, my family and friends bring me more joy than anything else in life does.

At the end of my life, I don’t want to be remembered as the kind of person who just sat on his rear end and said,“I’ve made it.”I don’t ever want to have to say that I didn’t give it everything that I’ve got. Sure there are days that I don’t feel like working hard... but I do it anyway, cause that’s who I am.

年幼时，在路易斯州萨墨菲尔德有一间铁皮屋顶的小房子，我和八个兄弟姐妹就在那里长大。尽管我们的房子里甚至连个像样的厕所都没有，但是我并不认为这样的成长环境是一种障碍。我更多的是把生活看做手中掌控的一张牌，尽力使其作用发挥到极致。

五个男孩中，我是最小的，另外还有四个姐姐，她们相依为命、互相照顾。父亲去世得早，因此我对他的记忆是很模糊的。在我三岁那年，父亲自杀了，将养育九个孩子的重担抛给了母亲。母亲在一家锯木厂开铲车，每周收入50美元，同时她还在家禽养殖场做着一份工作。母亲工作很辛苦，为了养家糊口，她几乎一刻也没有停歇过。

母亲坚信，她能尽自己的一切能力完成自己的职责，因此，无论怎样，母亲从不接受别人的施舍。你可以想象得到，尽管我们得不到想要的东西，但所需的东西我们一定会有。因为有妈妈做榜样，我懂得了努力工作是实现理想的最佳方法。

在成长的过程中，周围环境中充斥着的不良行为不断**着我，比如吸毒、酗酒等等。即使在很小的时候，我也选择不去那种地方，因为我知道将来自己一定大有可为。对于我的这种想法，有人认为是自大或妄想，但是，我不会让任何人说我不能完成任何立志要做的事。

当然，我梦想过长大以后会成为怎样的人。最初，我想成为一名警察，后来又想当特种兵。不久后，我决定要当一名集装箱卡车司机。甚至还有一段时间，我还想成为一名建筑工人。高中时，我想去踢足球，事实上，直到今天我还踢球。无论我选择做什么，我都希望让母亲和兄弟姐妹以我为荣——不仅是为了我在自己的事业上取得的成就，还为我正直地做人。

看起来似乎有些奇怪，因为篮球并未被我列入人生计划之中。一天，母亲把一个旧水桶沿边剪下一圈，然后举起来，让我往圈里投橡皮球玩。到初中的时候，我开始在一支球队打篮球。我喜欢比赛。每每我代表学校外出比赛，努力拼搏最终赢得胜利时，我就会有一种快感。对我而言，这就是天道酬勤。我并不刻意去争功得利，但我每天都在为之努力。不管我怎么做，都总会有人希望我倒下，他们说：“卡尔·马龙不行。”我非但没有被这些人击垮，他们反而给了我动力，我继续在每一天里证明给他们看：他们是错误的。无论在场上还是场下，我都

会用一种积极的方式，尽力让自己发挥出好的水平。我明白，无论我如何应对，总有其他人在走下坡路，而我还在这里。我知道，如果没有不断的努力，我也不会再次站在这里。

对于作为一名篮球明星所享受的生活，我充满了感激。当我看到这些写着“篮球就是生命”的T恤衫时，我想那是对的，的确是这样！但篮球不等同于生命，尽管它激动人心。然而，关于篮球运动，我觉得重要的是在我所谓的这段生命旅程中，它指给我一条为他人做好事的道路。

成功真可谓是去其糟粕，取其精华。多为你所在的世界作出积极的贡献，珍惜真正重要的东西，比如家人和朋友等。

别人都把著名运动员、演员或音乐家作为崇拜的偶像，而妈妈是我的偶像。这么多年以来她都是，以后也会是我灵感的来源。母亲教导我说，努力工作是不会累死人的。母亲是我心目中的英雄，她、家庭和朋友带给我最多欢乐，这是生活中其他任何东西都无法比拟的。

当我的生命即将结束时，我不希望给人们留下这样的记忆：一屁股坐在那儿，对别人说：“我成功了。”我也不想说，对自己拥有的一切我都没有付出最大努力。的确，有些时候我也不想努力工作。不管怎样，我还是去做了，因为那才是真正的我。

如果你贫穷，请用双手为自己创造财富；如果你拥有梦想，请努力为之奋斗。一分耕耘，一分收获，勤奋的人最终会得到生活的恩赐，洒下的汗水最终会浇灌出幸福的生活之花。

Ace in the Hole

Keywords and expressions

1. obstacle

作名词：障碍

例：Who has the psychoanalysis case of human relation obstacle?

谁有人际关系障碍的精神分析案例？

2. sawmill

作名词：锯机；锯木厂

例：I loved spending the night with grandpa at the sawmill.

我很喜欢晚上和外公一起待在锯木厂里。

3. temptation

作名词：**；引诱

例：She yielded to temptation and had another chocolate.

她禁不住**，又吃了一块巧克力。

4. grow up成长；逐渐形成

例：Tom wants to be a coach when he grows up.

汤姆长大后想当教练。

Chunks in Practice

Translate the following sentences into Enghish.

1.我并不刻意去争功得利，但我每天都在为之努力。

______________________________________________________________

2.成功真可谓是去其糟粕，取其精华。多为你所在的世界作出积极的贡献，珍惜真正重要的东西，比如家人和朋友等。

______________________________________________________________ 3.母亲是我心目中的英雄，她、家庭和朋友带给我最多欢乐，这是生活中其他任何东西都无法比拟的。

Now a Try

试着运用grow up, regardless of, anyway撰写一篇150字的短文。