A college professor had his sociology class go into slums to get case histories of 200 young boys.
一位大学教授让上他社会学课的学生去贫民区收集200个年轻男孩的案例。
They were asked to write an evaluation of each boy's future.
他要求学生们对每个男孩的未来做出评价。
In every case the students wrote, "He hasn't got a chance."
对于每一个案例，学生们都写道：“他没有什么成功的机会。”
Twenty-five years later another sociology professor came across the earlier study.
25年后，另一位社会学教授偶然看到了这个早期的研究。
He had his students follow up on the project to see what had happened to these boys.
他让学生们继续追踪这个项目，想知道那些男孩现在都怎么样了。
With the exception of 20 boys who had moved away or died,
除了已经搬家或死亡的20个男孩，
the students learned that 176 of the remaining 180 had achieved more than ordinary success as lawyers, doctors and businessmen.
学生们了解到剩下180个男孩中的176个已经获得了非凡的成就，他们中有律师、医生和商人。
The professor was astounded and decided to pursue the matter further.
教授很震惊，决定进一步了解这件事。
Fortunately, all the men were in the area and he was able to ask each one, "How do you account for your success?"
幸运的是所有人都还住在那片区域，所以他能够问每个人：“你认为你为什么会取得成功？”
In each case the reply came with feeling, "There was a teacher."
每个人都有感而发：“我遇到过一位老师。”
The teacher was still alive,
这位教师仍在人世，
so he sought her out and asked the old but still alert lady what magic formula she had used to pull these boys out of the slums into successful achievement.
所以他找到了她，并对这位年迈但思维依然敏捷的老人提出了疑问：她使用了什么魔法让这些男孩走出贫民区而获得了非凡成就。
The teacher's eyes sparkled and her lips broke into a gentle smile.
这位教师眼睛闪着光，温柔地微笑。
"It's really very simple," she said. "I loved those boys."
“非常简单，” 她说。“我爱这些孩子。”
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