經(jīng)典英語散文:挑戰(zhàn)極限，你能跳得更高

How High Can You Jump?

Flea trainers have observed a predictable and strange habit of fleas while training them. Fleas are trained by putting them in a cardboard box with a top on it. The fleas will jump up and hit the top of the cardboard box over and over and over again.

跳蚤訓(xùn)練人在訓(xùn)練跳蚤時發(fā)現(xiàn)跳蚤有一個奇怪的習(xí)慣。若把跳蚤放在一個有頂蓋的盒子里，他們會不斷地跳起來，撞擊頂蓋。

Noteflea n. 跳蚤 cardboard n. 紙板

As you watch them jump and hit the lid, something very interesting becomes obvious. The fleas continue to jump, but they are no longer jumping high enough to hit the top. Apparently, Excedrin headache 1738 forces them to limit the height of their jump.

你觀察他們跳起來撞擊頂蓋，會慢慢發(fā)現(xiàn)一個有趣的現(xiàn)象。他們?nèi)詴饋?，但不會再撞到頂蓋。

When you take off the lid, the fleas continue to jump, but they will not jump out of the box. They won't jump out because they can't jump out. Why? The reason is simple. They have conditioned themselves to jump just so high.

當(dāng)你把頂蓋拿開時，跳蚤還會接著跳，但卻不會跳出盒子。為什么呢?原因很簡單。它們已經(jīng)習(xí)慣了只跳那么高。

Once they have conditioned themselves to jump just so high, that's all they can do!

一旦它們習(xí)慣只跳這么高之后，它們就只能跳這么高了。

Many times, people do the same thing. They restrict themselves and never reach their potential. Just like the fleas, they fail to jump higher, thinking they are doing all they can do.

很多時候，人們也是一樣。他們自己限制了自己，從來不去發(fā)掘自己的潛力。就像跳蚤一樣，沒能跳得更高，還以為已經(jīng)到了自己能力的極限。

Noterestrict v. 限制、約束　　potential n. 潛能、潛力