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11、Hurry Up,Plants 拔苗助长 A wise man named Mengzi once told this story:A long, long time ago, there was a farmer who lived with his son in the State of Song. However, they weren’t musical. They were hardworking and rarely sang. The farmer was particularly serious. His closest neighbor had even called him a worrier.Once the weather was good, the farmer and his son planted rice together. They were tired and proud when all the seeds had been planted. The farmer hoped they had done everything perfectly.He wanted to watch the rice grow. Starting at sunrise every day, he stood in the flooded fields, waiting. He wondered if the small green sprout near the boulder had been there an hour ago. He got excited. Maybe it was a new plant! When he looked closer, he saw that it was an old plant. What a disappointment. He went back to watching the fields. He waved his arms to scare birds. Many days passed just in this way.Soon, he began to get worried. It seemed that the shoots had not grown for several days. They looked the same as they had the day before, and the day before that, and the day before that too.He decided to stop at his closest neighbor’s house. As they drank tea, the farmer asked the question that had been bothering him. “By the way, how is your rice growing?” he asked. “I am worried about mine. It seems to have stopped growing!”“Oh, my rice is growing green and healthy!” replied the neighbor. “I am very happy with the progress. Nature will provide.”This conversation did not put the farmer’s mind at ease. He quickly returned to his fields to check on his rice. It looked like it still hadn’t grown. Not even a millimeter! He started to panic. He looked again. Was the rice even shorter than yesterday? Perhaps there was something wrong with his rice!“What if my crop never grows?” he thought aloud. He began pacing back and forth on the side of the rice field. “I must find a way to help my shoots grow faster.”When he got home that night, he told his son about the fields. “The rice does not seem to be growing,” the farmer complained. “What should I do to help it grow?”“Dad,” replied the son, “I think you need to wait. The rice is growing, you just don’t notice it! Have patience. We will harvest the rice in the late summer.”Not satisfied with this answer, the farmer said, “I don’t think so, Son. I think the rice really does need my help. I must do something!”The next morning, the farmer awakened with an idea. “This is so smart!”he congratulated himself. He rushed out to the rice fields. He went from shoot to shoot, pulling them each a few inches upward.He finally finished as the sun was setting. He was tired from the full day of work. But he was happy that he had finished his plan. As he entered the house, he said, “Son, I did so much today! I worked very hard and am tired. But it is worth the pain to help our rice shoots grow faster.”“What did you do?” asked the son. He didn’t wait for an answer.He immediately ran out to the fields. He feared his father had done something foolish. There, he found all the rice had withered and died. He was devastated. All their hard work had gone to waste, and there was no crop left to be saved.By telling this story, the wise man Mengzi wanted people to understand that they should respect the laws of nature. Because the farmer was impatient, he tried to change nature’s natural pace. But instead of helping the rice, he accidentally destroyed it. Even though the rice grew slowly, he should have waited. With patience, his rice would have grown eventually, and he would have enjoyed a good harvest.Question: Have you ever been impatient with nature? Why, and what did you do? 核心词汇 flood v. 淹没，浇灌水于 sprout n. 新芽，嫩枝 boulder n. 卵石 shoot n. 苗 bother v. 烦扰 millimeter n. 毫米 panic v. 惊慌失措 pace v. 踱步 back and forth 来回地，反复地 patience n. 耐心 harvest v. 收获 worth prep. 具有……的价值，值得…… immediately adv. 立即 wither v. 枯萎 devastate v. 压倒，使垮掉，使混乱 destroy v. 毁坏 eventually adv. 最终 
以下翻译来自百度翻译： 很久很久以前，宋国有一个农民，他和儿子住在一起。然而，它们不是音乐。他们工作努力，很少唱歌。这个农民特别严肃。他最亲近的邻居甚至称他为忧患者。天气一好，农夫和儿子就一起种水稻。当所有的种子都种下时，他们既累又骄傲。农夫希望他们把每件事都做得很完美。他想看着水稻生长。从每天日出开始，他站在被洪水淹没的田地里等待。他想知道巨石附近的小绿芽一小时前是否还在那里。他很激动。也许这是一种新植物！当他走近看时，他发现那是一株老植物。真令人失望。他回去看田野。他挥动手臂吓唬鸟。许多天就这样过去了。不久，他开始担心起来。这些嫩芽似乎已经好几天没长了。他们看起来和前一天一样，前一天，前一天也一样。他决定在他最近的邻居家停下来。他们喝茶时，农夫问了一个一直困扰他的问题。”“顺便问一下，你们的水稻长得怎么样？”他问道我担心我的。它似乎已经停止生长了！”“哦，我的米长得又绿又健康！”邻居回答说我对这一进展感到非常高兴。自然会提供。”这番谈话并没有使农夫安心。他很快回到田里去检查他的稻子。看起来它还没有长大。一毫米也没有！他开始惊慌失措。他又看了看。米饭比昨天还要短吗？也许他的米饭有问题！“如果我的庄稼永远长不出来呢？”他大声想。他开始在稻田边来回踱步。”我必须想办法让我的嫩芽长得更快。”当晚回到家时，他告诉儿子有关田地的事。”农民抱怨道：“大米似乎没有长出来。”我应该做些什么来帮助它成长？”“爸爸，”儿子回答，“我想你需要等一等。水稻正在生长，你只是没有注意到而已！耐心点。我们将在夏末收割水稻。”农夫对这个回答不满意，说：“我不这么认为，孩子。我想大米确实需要我的帮助。我必须做点什么！”第二天早上，农夫醒来时想到了一个主意。”这太聪明了！”他祝贺自己。他冲向稻田。他从一个镜头切换到另一个镜头，把每个镜头向上拉了几英寸。太阳落山时，他终于完成了。他整天工作累了。但他很高兴他已经完成了他的计划。当他走进房子时，他说：“儿子，我今天做了那么多！我工作很努力，很累。但是，帮助我们的稻苗更快生长是值得的。”他立刻跑向田野。他担心他的父亲做了一些愚蠢的事。在那里，他发现所有的大米都枯萎了。他非常震惊。他们所有的辛劳都白费了，再也没有庄稼可以挽救了。通过讲述这个故事，智者孟子希望人们理解他们应该尊重自然法则。因为农夫不耐烦，他试图改变大自然的自然节奏。但他并没有帮助大米，而是意外地把它毁掉了。即使稻子长得很慢，他也应该等待。如果有耐心，他的稻子最终会长成，他会获得丰收。
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