正文
Every girl dreams and Li Xie is no exception. She has read dozens of books on how to be a ballerina（芭蕾舞女演员） and Swan Lake is her favorite. She hopes one day her dream will come true. She has taken ballet lessons and all her teachers confirm she is a good student.
每个女孩都有梦想，李勰也不例外。她读了很多书，学习怎样成为一名芭蕾舞演员。《天鹅湖》是她的最爱。她希望有一天自己能够梦想成真。她上芭蕾舞课，所有的老师都认定她是个好苗子。
One day she saw an advertisement that a famous ballerina troupe（剧团） will be performing in her hometown. Her thoughts ran wild, “I must meet up with the leader of the troupe and show him my skills,” she murmured（呐呐地说） to herself.
有一天，李勰看到一则广告，上面说著名芭蕾舞剧团要来她的家乡演出。她的心一下子野了起来，暗自小声嘀咕：“我得见见剧团领导，让她看看我的舞技。”
She dressed herself in her ballerina costume and managed to evade（规避） the guards and hid in the dressing room. To her luck the leader entered and she timidly（羞怯地） knocked at the door.
她穿上芭蕾舞衣，避过了保安，藏在更衣室里。幸运的是，领导走了进来，她羞怯地敲了敲门。
She bravely approached him and handed him a bunch of red roses and in her excitement the thorns pricked（刺破） her hand but she did not make much ado（麻烦） about the pain.
她勇敢地向领导走去，献上一束红玫瑰。她光顾着兴奋了，花刺扎破了手，可她毫不在意疼痛。
The leader observed her action as she told him her dream. “Alright, you dance and I will give you my verdict（裁定）.” But half way through the dance he stopped her and said, “I'm sorry you're not good enough!” On hearing this Li Xie ran as fast as her legs could carry her and was ashamed. She gave up her dream.
她诉说着自己的梦想，剧团领导观察着她的动作。“好吧，你跳吧，我来提提意见。”可是刚跳到一半，领导就让她停了下来，说：“很抱歉，你跳得不够好！” 一听到这话，李勰顿感羞耻，撒腿就跑掉了。她放弃了梦想。
Many years later, she heard that the same ballet troupe was performing in her town again. Bitter memories of the leader's harsh words came flooding back to her. This time she was determined to find out why the leader had told her she was not good enough when all her teachers thought otherwise. This was his reply, “I tell this to every student.”
多年以后，她听说这个芭蕾舞团又要来她家乡演出。她又想起剧团领导那刺耳的评价，苦涩的记忆如洪水般席卷而来。这次她决定追问领导为什么所有老师都说她是块料，而他却说她不够好。 她得到的答复如下：“我对每个学生都说同样的话。”
She angrily shot back, “You've ruined my life!” Then she got a further shock,
女孩愤怒地回击：“你毁了我的一生！”后来，当听到下面这一席话的时候，她更震惊了。
“I remember your gift of roses and how the thorns had pricked your fingers but you carried on bravely. If you only had treated ballet like that and did not give up so easily; therefore, you still deserve my verdict!”
“我记得当时你送我玫瑰花当礼物，你的手指被花刺扎破，可你仍然勇敢地坚持跳着。如果你也能那样对待芭蕾舞，不轻易放弃该有多好；所以啊，我当时对你的评价是中肯的。”
面对质疑，放弃初衷是最容易但也可能是最可惜的选择。
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