Read the article quickly and answer the following question.
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.
年幼時，在路易斯州薩墨菲爾德有一間鐵皮屋頂的小房子，我和八個兄弟姐妹就在那裏長大。盡管我們的房子裏甚至連個像樣的廁所都沒有，但是我並不認為這樣的成長環境是一種障礙。我更多的是把生活看做手中掌控的一張牌，盡力使其作用發揮到極致。
五個男孩中，我是最小的，另外還有四個姐姐，她們相依為命、互相照顧。父親去世得早，因此我對他的記憶是很模糊的。在我三歲那年，父親自殺了，將養育九個孩子的重擔拋給了母親。母親在一家鋸木廠開鏟車，每周收入50美元，同時她還在家禽養殖場做著一份工作。母親工作很辛苦，為了養家糊口，她幾乎一刻也沒有停歇過。
母親堅信，她能盡自己的一切能力完成自己的職責，因此，無論怎樣，母親從不接受別人的施舍。你可以想象得到，盡管我們得不到想要的東西，但所需的東西我們一定會有。因為有媽媽做榜樣，我懂得了努力工作是實現理想的最佳方法。
在成長的過程中，周圍環境中充斥著的不良行為不斷**著我，比如吸毒、酗酒等等。即使在很小的時候，我也選擇不去那種地方，因為我知道將來自己一定大有可為。對於我的這種想法，有人認為是自大或妄想，但是，我不會讓任何人說我不能完成任何立誌要做的事。
當然，我夢想過長大以後會成為怎樣的人。最初，我想成為一名警察，後來又想當特種兵。不久後，我決定要當一名集裝箱卡車司機。甚至還有一段時間，我還想成為一名建築工人。高中時，我想去踢足球，事實上，直到今天我還踢球。無論我選擇做什麽，我都希望讓母親和兄弟姐妹以我為榮——不僅是為了我在自己的事業上取得的成就，還為我正直地做人。
看起來似乎有些奇怪，因為籃球並未被我列入人生計劃之中。一天，母親把一個舊水桶沿邊剪下一圈，然後舉起來，讓我往圈裏投橡皮球玩。到初中的時候，我開始在一支球隊打籃球。我喜歡比賽。每每我代表學校外出比賽，努力拚搏最終贏得勝利時，我就會有一種快感。對我而言，這就是天道酬勤。我並不刻意去爭功得利，但我每天都在為之努力。不管我怎麽做，都總會有人希望我倒下，他們說：“卡爾·馬龍不行。”我非但沒有被這些人擊垮，他們反而給了我動力，我繼續在每一天裏證明給他們看：他們是錯誤的。無論在場上還是場下，我都
會用一種積極的方式，盡力讓自己發揮出好的水平。我明白，無論我如何應對，總有其他人在走下坡路，而我還在這裏。我知道，如果沒有不斷的努力，我也不會再次站在這裏。
對於作為一名籃球明星所享受的生活，我充滿了感激。當我看到這些寫著“籃球就是生命”的T恤衫時，我想那是對的，的確是這樣！但籃球不等同於生命，盡管它激動人心。然而，關於籃球運動，我覺得重要的是在我所謂的這段生命旅程中，它指給我一條為他人做好事的道路。
成功真可謂是去其糟粕，取其精華。多為你所在的世界作出積極的貢獻，珍惜真正重要的東西，比如家人和朋友等。
別人都把著名運動員、演員或音樂家作為崇拜的偶像，而媽媽是我的偶像。這麽多年以來她都是，以後也會是我靈感的來源。母親教導我說，努力工作是不會累死人的。母親是我心目中的英雄，她、家庭和朋友帶給我最多歡樂，這是生活中其他任何東西都無法比擬的。
當我的生命即將結束時，我不希望給人們留下這樣的記憶：一屁股坐在那兒，對別人說：“我成功了。”我也不想說，對自己擁有的一切我都沒有付出最大努力。的確，有些時候我也不想努力工作。不管怎樣，我還是去做了，因為那才是真正的我。
如果你貧窮，請用雙手為自己創造財富；如果你擁有夢想，請努力為之奮鬥。一分耕耘，一分收獲，勤奮的人最終會得到生活的恩賜，灑下的汗水最終會澆灌出幸福的生活之花。
Ace in the Hole
Keywords and expressions
1. obstacle
作名詞：障礙
例：Who has the psychoanalysis case of human relation obstacle?
誰有人際關係障礙的精神分析案例？
2. sawmill
作名詞：鋸機；鋸木廠
例：I loved spending the night with grandpa at the sawmill.
我很喜歡晚上和外公一起待在鋸木廠裏。
3. temptation
作名詞：**；引誘
例：She yielded to temptation and had another chocolate.
她禁不住**，又吃了一塊巧克力。
4. grow up成長；逐漸形成
例：Tom wants to be a coach when he grows up.
湯姆長大後想當教練。
Chunks in Practice
Translate the following sentences into Enghish.
1.我並不刻意去爭功得利，但我每天都在為之努力。
______________________________________________________________
2.成功真可謂是去其糟粕，取其精華。多為你所在的世界作出積極的貢獻，珍惜真正重要的東西，比如家人和朋友等。
______________________________________________________________ 3.母親是我心目中的英雄，她、家庭和朋友帶給我最多歡樂，這是生活中其他任何東西都無法比擬的。
Now a Try
試著運用grow up, regardless of, anyway撰寫一篇150字的短文。