父亲清楚儿子对运动一窍不通,而且多数男孩也不会想让沙亚加入他们的队伍。但他也明白,如果儿子能被接受,那将会给儿子带来快乐的归属感。因此,他走到球场内的一个男孩面前,询问能否让沙亚加入。
男孩环顾四周,想从队友那里得到意见,但没人回应。于是,他决定自己做主,说:“我们现在落后6分,但比赛已经是第8局了。我认为他可以加入我们队,我们会尽量让他第9局上场。”
沙亚的父亲喜出望外,沙亚也露出了灿烂的笑容。男孩们让他戴上手套打中外野手。第8局下半场时,尽管沙亚队赢得了几轮,但依旧落后3分。第9局下半场时,沙亚队又得分了。此时,出局的有两个垒手,满垒还拥有一个垒位打点,那是绝对有希望获胜的。按照计划,轮到沙亚上场了。如此关键的时刻,他们会放弃获胜的希望而让沙亚击球吗?出乎意料的是,他们把球棒递到了沙亚手中。沙亚连如何拿好球棒都不知道,更不用说击球了,因此所有人都明白,胜利是不可能了。当沙亚向垒板走去时,投手移动了几步,放低手,轻轻将球缓慢地投了过来,这样沙亚最起码有可能碰到球。第一次投球过来时,沙亚笨拙地抡了一下球棒,但没有击中。于是,一个队友走过来和沙亚一起握着球棒,面朝投手,等待着第二次投球。投手向前挪了几步,轻轻地将球朝沙亚投过来。球过来时,沙亚和他的队友一起挥动球棒,打出了一个很慢的滚地球。投手接起这个轻柔的滚地球,他本可以轻易地把它传给一垒手,这样沙亚就会出局,比赛也就会结束。
相反,投手拿到球后,高高地抛出一个大弧线,将球投到了右半场,这样一垒手根本接不着。所有人都开始喊:“沙亚,跑到一垒,跑到一垒!” 此前,沙亚还从未跑到过一垒去。他匆匆地跑过垒线,惊奇地睁大了眼睛。当他跑到一垒时,右外野手已接到球了。他本可以把球传给二垒手,这样就可以把奔跑中的沙亚触杀出局。但右外野手明白投手的意思,因此把球往远处抛去,甚至远高过了二垒手的头。人们都在喊:“跑到二垒,跑到二垒。”于是沙亚跑向二垒,同时队员已经疯狂地冲到他前面朝着本垒将垒围了起来。沙亚跑到二垒时,对方的游击手向他跑来,将他引向三垒并喊道:“往三垒跑。”当沙亚转到三垒时,两队的男孩都在他后面大喊:“沙亚,跑回本垒!”沙亚跑到本垒,站在本垒板上。18个男孩把他当做英雄举在肩膀上,因为他刚打了一个“满垒全垒打”,为自己这一队赢得了比赛。
“那一天,”这位父亲轻声说着,眼泪顺着脸颊淌了下来,“那18个孩子达到了上帝所创造的完美。”
cater ['keit] v. 满足需要;投合;迎合;提供饮食及服务
TV must cater for many different tastes.
电视节目必须迎合各种人的爱好。
query ['kwiri] n. 疑问;质问;疑问号
I can't answer his query.
我不能回答他的疑问。
athletic [?letik] adj. 运动的;运动员的;体格健壮的
Sports fans can see many types of athletic contests.
喜欢运动的观众可以观看各式各类的体育比赛。
inning ['ini] n. (棒球的)一局
The third inning has started, But there's no score yet .
第三局已经开始,但是双方都还没有得分。
上帝所做的一切都是尽善尽美的。
人们对这个孩子的态度就是他所寻求的完美。
沙亚的父亲喜出望外,沙亚也露出了灿烂的笑容。
At a Chush fund-raising dinner, the father of a Chush child delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended.
deliver a speech:发表讲话;发表演讲
Getting none, he took matters into his own hands and said.
take matters into one's own hands:亲自出马;自己动手
37你今天很郁闷吗
The Blue Day Book
佚名 / Anonymous
Everybody has blue days. These are miserable days when you feel lousy, grumpy, lonely and utterly exhausted. Days when you feel small and insignificant, when everything seems just out of reach. You can't rise to the occasion. Just getting started seems impossible. On blue days you can become paranoid that everyone is out to get you.(This is not always such a bad thing.) You feel frustrated and anxious, which can induce a nail-biting frenzy that can escalate into a triple-chocolate-mud-cake-eating frenzy in a blink of an eye! On blue days you feel like you're floating in an ocean of sadness. You're about to burst into tears at any moment and you don't even know why. Ultimately, you feel like you are wandering through life without purpose. You're not sure how much longer you can hang on and you feel like shouting, "Will someone please shoot me!" It doesn't take much to bring on a blue day. You might just wake up not feeling or looking your best, find some new wrinkles, put on a little weight, or get a huge pimple on your nose. You could forget your date's name or have an embarrassing photograph published. You might get dumped, divorced, or fired, make fool of yourself in public, be afflicted with a demeaning nickname, or just have a plain old bad-hair day. Maybe work is a pain in the butt. You're under major pressure to fill someone else's shoes, your boss is picking on you, and everyone in the office is driving you crazy. You might have a splitting headache, or a slipped disk, bad breath, a toothache, chronic gas, dry lips, or an ingrown toenail. Whatever the reason, you're convinced that someone up there doesn't like you. Oh what to do, what to do?
Well, if you're like most people, you'll hide behind a flimsy belief that everything will sort itself out. Then you will spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder, waiting for everything to go wrong all over again. All the while becoming crusty and cynical or a pathetic, sniveling victim. Until you get so depressed that you lie down and beg the earth to swallow you up or, even worse, become addicted to Billy Joel songs. This is crazy, because you're only young once and you're never old twice. Who knows what fantastic things are in store just around the corner?
After all, the world is full of amazing discoveries, things you can't even imagine now. There are delicious, happy sniffs and scrumptious snacks to share. Hey, you might end up fabulously rich or even become a huge superstar (one day). Sounds good, doesn't it? But wait, there's more!There are handstands, and games to play and yoga and karaoke and wild, crazy, bohemian dancing. But best of all, there's romance. Which means long dreamy stares, whispering sweet nothings, cuddles, smooches, more smooches and even more smooches, a frisky love bite or two, and then, well, anything goes. So how can you find that blissful "just sliding into a hot bubble bath" kind of feeling? It's easy.