Each person has a unique set of character skills they learn and develop over time. These characteristics affect they way they think, feel, and behave. Examples are things like cooperation, open-minded, curious, thoughtful of others, responsible, etc. Take a moment to think about the character skills that make you who you are. Describe one of your character skills and a time or situation when that skill came in handy.
每个人在成长的过程中都慢慢形成自己的多种性格。这些性格影响人如何思考、感受以及做事情。人的性格可以包括合作的能力、思想开放度、好奇心、关心他人、责任感等。花点时间想想你有什么性格和能力，然后跟我们描述一下你的某个性格或能力，并同时跟我们描述一下在哪个时间点或在哪个情况下，你的这个性格和能力成为你的一部分。
题目解析：
1、这是更新后的SAO学生文书的新问题，也是一个比较难回答的问题，要学生深入了解自己，也考验学生的成熟度（适龄）。
2、这个问题的解答关键在于找到自己一个“蜕变”的时刻，并且这个“蜕变”对自己今后（在美国）的学习和生活应当有正面影响。必要时候可以请家长或者亲密的朋友帮助回忆，有时候旁观者会更清楚我们在成长路上的“蜕变”。
3、这个回答的内容要条理清晰地写出，不要冗长废话，不着重点，也切忌假大空。
萨利机长亲笔：强大的灵魂不应该被缺陷定义
在年初的一次竞选活动中，特朗普儿媳劳拉，当众讽刺了总统竞选者乔·拜登的口吃历史。她的话惹恼了许多人，其中包括传奇飞行员萨利机长。萨利机长在美国有着崇高地位，他曾沉着处理，避免了一场空难，让155人全部生还。从小也有口吃的萨利机长，在《纽约时报》上发表文章力挺拜登。他说，口吃是可以克服的，而且不妨碍他成为一名优秀飞行员；但在公众面前嘲笑他人，却会对全国许多孩子造成伤害。我们今天要读的，就是萨利机长的这篇文章。
Capt. ‘Sully’ Sullenberger: Like Joe Biden, I Once Stuttered, Too. I Dare You to Mock Me.
萨利机长：像乔·拜登一样，我也曾口吃。我谅你也不敢嘲笑我。
By Chesley B. Sullenberger III
👉 1.stutter UK /ˈstʌtə/ US /ˈstʌtər/
vi. 口吃（pause before you speak or repeat several times）
英式英语用：
stammer vi. 口吃
👉 2.mock UK /mɒk/ US /mɑːk/
vt. 嘲笑，取笑（copy and laugh at sb.）
👉 3.dare UK /deə/ US /der/
vt. 问……有没有胆量（做）（to ask sb. to do sth. that involves risk）
I dare you to ask her to dance.
我谅你也不敢请她跳舞。
What might a child who stutters, as I did, feel when they hear a grown-up on a public stage trying to make a bunch of other adults laugh by ridiculing a public figure who also stutters?
对于和曾经的我一样患有口吃的孩子来说，当他们听到一个大人在公众舞台上嘲笑一位口吃的公众人物，试图以此逗乐一群成年听众时，会做何感想？
👉 4. a bunch of
一群（a group of people）；一串
🌰 a bunch of keys 一串钥匙
🌰 a friendly bunch of people 一群友好的人
🌰 Qi Baishi, China’s painting master, always hung a bunch of keys on his girdle.
中国绘画大师齐白石的腰带上总是挂着一大串钥匙。
👉 5. ridicule UK /ˈrɪdɪkjuːl/ US /ˈrɪdəkjuːl/
vt. 嘲笑（to laugh at sb.）
Trump was mocked and ridiculed on his first official UK visit.
特朗普在第一次正式访问英国时受到了嘲笑和奚落。
He will probably be the most ridiculed president ever.
他可能是有史以来最受嘲笑的总统。
ridiculous adj. 可笑的，荒唐的
👉 6. a public figure
一个公众人物
Vice President Biden has spoken openly — and courageously, in my view — about the pain of his severe childhood stutter. He takes time to reach out to children who have suffered as he did.
美国前副总统乔·拜登曾公开地——在我看来也是勇敢地——谈论他童年时期所患的严重口吃给自己带来的痛苦。他花时间去帮助那些和他遭受了同样痛苦的孩子。
👉 7. courageously UK /kəˈreɪdʒəsli/ US /kəˈreɪdʒəsli/
adv. 勇敢地
👉 8. reach out to sb.
对某人感兴趣，愿意提供援助（to show sb. that you are interested in them and/or want to help them）
Now he is reaching out to those who want help starting a business.
他现在开始帮助那些想要创业的人。
As I grew older, I learned to manage and overcome my stuttering, through much hard work and intense focus. I learned to slow down and to enunciate each word with precision. I joined the church choir, and found that singing helped me to practice controlling my breath, and the formation of words. I learned to resist and overcome the bullying.
随着年龄的增长，我通过大量努力和专注练习，学会了去控制并克服自己的口吃。我学会了放慢语速，准确发好每个单词的音。我加入了教堂的唱诗班，发现唱歌可以帮助我练习控制呼吸、成词。我学会了抵制和克服欺凌。
👉 9. enunciate UK /ɪˈnʌnsieɪt/ US /ɪˈnʌnsieɪt/
vt. 清晰地发音（pronounce words clearly and carefully）
👉 10. precision UK /prɪˈsɪʒən/ US /prəˈsɪʒən/
n. 准确度
👉 11. church choir
教堂唱诗班，教堂合唱团
choir n. 合唱团（a musical ensemble of singers）
👉 12. bullying UK /ˈbʊliɪŋ/ US /ˈbʊliɪŋ/
n. 欺负
The fact that I once stuttered did not keep me from being a successful U.S. Air Force fighter pilot.
我曾患口吃的事实，并没有阻挡我成为一名成功的美国空军战斗机飞行员。
👉 13. keep sb. from doing sth.
阻止某人做某事
Health problems kept him from traveling.
他因为身体健康问题而不能去旅行。
So, to every child who feels today, what I felt, after hearing those cruel remarks by an adult who should know better, here is what I want you to know:
因此，对于每一个现在有着和我过去同样感受的孩子，在听到一名理当更明事理的成年人说出那些残酷的话后，我想让你们明白：
👉 14. cruel UK /ˈkruːəl/ US /ˈkruːəl/
adj. 残酷的
people who are cruel to animals 对动物残忍的人
You are fine, just as you are. You can do any job you dream of when you grow up. A speech disorder is a lot easier to treat than a character defect. You become a true leader, not because of how you speak, but because of what you have to say — and the challenges you have overcome to help others.
你本来的样子就很好。长大后，你可以做任何你梦想的工作。语言障碍比性格缺陷更容易治疗。你成为一名真正的领导者，不是因为你说话的方式，而是因为你说的话——以及你为帮助他人而克服的挑战。
👉 15. disorder UK /dɪˈsɔːdə/ US /dɪˈsɔːrdər/
n. 混乱（a state of confusion）
The world economy is in disorder.
世界经济陷入混乱。
👉 16. defect UK /ˈdiːfekt/ US /ˈdiːfekt/ n. 缺陷
genetic defects 基因缺陷
birth defects 先天性缺陷
📌 Most common defects of character（常见性格缺陷）：
Resentment, coward, self-pity, self-justification, self-importance, self-condemnation, dishonesty, impatience, jealousy, laziness, procrastination, insincerity, intolerance, gossip and greed.
【拓展】
the miracle on the Hudson 哈德逊河奇迹
a skeleton in the closet 家丑
🌿 拜登妈妈对他说：
“Joey, remember you are defined by your courage and redeemed by your loyalty.”
🌿 拜登本人对口吃的看法：
“Things that people cannot control, it’s not their fault. No one has a right to mock it or make fun of it no matter who they are.”
🌿 奥巴马评价拜登的话：
"Through all his trials ... the young father who took the train home each night so he could tuck his children into bed."
📌 萨利机长的秘诀：
1. Setting clear priorities.
"I chose to do only the highest priority items and then I had the discipline to ignore everything I did not have time to do."
2. Never stop acquiring knowledge.
"I'm also well-read and I knew the neurobiology. I knew that multitasking is a myth. We are switching rapidly between tasks, not doing any of them well."
围棋大师吴清源告诫聂卫平：“博二兔，不得一兔。”
📌 罗素（Bertrand Russell）的三大追求：
Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.
🎬 推荐影片：
影片根据真实事件改编，2009年1月15日，萨利（汤姆·汉克斯 Tom Hanks 饰）在全美航空1549号班担任机长，飞机起飞两分钟后遭到飞鸟攻击，两架发动机全部熄火，萨利决定在哈德逊河上迫降，155人全数生还。但之后的调查显示他做了错误的抉择，认为大可选择返回拉瓜地亚机场。机内到底发生了什么呢？
📃 文书范例：
My field hockey team entered the pitch in utter silence – no cheering, laughing, or energy – and with all our heads were down. It was our last game of the season last year, but it was not the Finals for which we had worked tirelessly to reach. We had suffered a crushing 3-1 defeat in the semi-finals, but it was my resilience that helped my team win the bronze medal match.
Despite being as demoralized and depressed as many teammates, I was not ready to give up. Although I was not the captain of the team, I filled the stadium with words of encouragement on and off the pitch. I missed a great chance to score in the first half, but I picked myself back and did not stop trying. Although my team was frustrated and on the verge of quitting, I did not give up and gave my all. Diving, I finished my teammate’s low pass into the goal with a loud bang, breaking the deadlock to clinch a 1-0 win in the last minute.
My ability to stay tough even under pressure and low morale allowed my team to register one last win, and I feel that even though we didn’t achieve first place, we grow as much, if not more, from failures as success. This memory continues to serve as a constant reminder for me to always be resilient, motivating me in the many sports I pursue even today.
