[00:00.00]A Better World 英语智慧背囊
[00:04.66]This is the true joy of life,
[00:08.05]being a force of nature to make the world a better place,
[00:11.76]instead of a selfish little clot,
[00:13.96]complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.
[00:17.99]It is our privilege to do for it what we can.
[00:21.38]Never Judge a Book by Its Cover 永远不要用一本书的封面来判断好坏
[00:29.93]A lady and her husband stepped off the train in Boston,
[00:34.52]and walked timidly without an appointment
[00:36.90]into the Harvard University President’s outer office.
[00:40.21]The Secretary could tell in a moment
[00:43.26]that such country hicks had no business at Harvard.
[00:46.23]She frowned as the man said softly,
[00:48.84]“We want to see the President.”
[00:51.67]“He’ll be busy all day,”
[00:53.71]the Secretary snapped.
[00:54.90]“We’ll wait,” the lady replied.
[00:57.54]For hours, the Secretary ignored them,
[01:00.48]hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged and go away.
[01:04.52]They didn’t;
[01:05.84]and the Secretary grew frustrated
[01:08.04]and finally decided to disturb the President.
[01:10.76]“Maybe if they just see you for a few minutes, they’ll leave,”
[01:15.06]she told him.
[01:15.84]He sighed and nodded.
[01:17.45]Someone of his importance obviously didn’t have the time to spend with them.
[01:21.74]The President, stern-faced with dignity,
[01:24.35]strutted toward the couple.
[01:25.67]The lady told him,
[01:27.43]“We had a son who attended Harvard for one year.
[01:30.59]He loved Harvard.
[01:32.22]He was happy here.
[01:33.32]But about a year ago,
[01:35.30]he was accidentally killed.
[01:37.17]And my husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him,
[01:40.66]somewhere on campus.”
[01:42.09]The President wasn’t touched,
[01:44.70]and she was shocked,
[01:46.13]“Madam,” he said gruffly.
[01:48.19]“We can’t put up a statue for every person
[01:51.05]who attended Harvard and died.
[01:52.68]If we did, this place would look like a cemetery. ”
[01:55.42]“Oh, no,” the lady explained quickly.
[01:58.37]“We don’t want to erect a statue.
[02:00.89]We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard.”
[02:04.27]The president rolled his eyes.
[02:06.47]He exclaimed,
[02:07.68]“A building,
[02:08.53]do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs?
[02:11.72]We have over seven and a half million dollars
[02:15.21]in the physical plant at Harvard.”
[02:16.21]For a moment the lady was silent.
[02:18.40]The president was pleased.
[02:20.68]He could get rid of them now.
[02:22.55]And the lady turned to her husband and said quietly,
[02:26.26]“Is that all it costs to start a University?
[02:29.21]Why don’t we just start our own?”
[02:31.52]Her husband nodded.
[02:33.27]The President’s face wilted in confusion and bewilderment.
[02:37.32]And Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford walked away;
[02:40.70]traveling to Palo Alto, California,
[02:43.44]where they established the university that bears their name,
[02:46.82]a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.
[02:50.65]You can easily judge the character of others
[02:53.95]by how they treat those who can do nothing for them or to them.