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it is also the tallest because no other trees block its sunlight,
還因為沒有別的樹木遮蔽它的陽光，
because the soil around it was deep and rich,
因為樹木周圍的土壤肥沃而深厚；
because no rabbit chewed through its bark as a sapling,
當這棵樹還是幼苗的時候，沒有野兔咬啃它的樹皮，
and because no lumberjack cut it down before it matured.
也沒有伐木工人在這棵樹木還沒長成參天大樹之時來砍伐。
We all know that successful people come from hardy seeds.
我們知道所有的成功人士都來自一粒堅硬的種子，
But do we know enough about the sunlight that warm them,
但我們是否知道照耀他們的陽光，
the soil in which they put down their roots,
知道他們植根的土壤，
and the rabbits and lumberjacks they were lucky enough to avoid?
知道他們能夠幸運地躲避野兔或者伐木工人的遭遇？
This is not a book about tall trees.
這不是一本專注于一棵大樹的書籍，
It's a book about forests- and hockey is a good place to start,
這是一本放眼整片森林的書籍一曲棍球運動是這本書的絕好的起點，
because the explanation for who gets to the top of the hockey world
因為要了解一個運動員為什么能夠站在曲棍球世界的頂峰，
is a lot more interesting and complicated than it looks.
的的確確是一件看起來容易實際上很復雜的事。
In fact, it's downright peculiar.
其實，這種分析完全可以說是陌生的。
If you were to look at the player roster of the 2007 Medicine Hat Tigers.
下面是2007年梅迪辛哈特猛虎隊注冊球員的名單。
You might see something strange about it.
仔細瞧瞧，看你能否發現其中的一些奇怪的特點。
But even if you didn't, you shouldn't feel bad,
看到了嗎？但愿你不會覺得詫異，
because for many years in the hockey world, no one did.
因為多年來都沒有人注意到曲棍球運動員的年齡問題。
It wasn't until the mid-1980s, in fact,
事實上，知道20世紀80年代，
that a Canadian psychologist named Roger Barnsley
才有一位名叫羅杰·巴恩斯利的
first drew attention to the phenomenon of relative age.
加拿大心理學家注意到這種與年齡相關的現象。
Barnsley was at Lethbridge Broncos hockey game in southern Alberta,
有一次，巴恩斯利在南亞爾伯達省觀看萊斯布里奇野馬隊的曲棍球的比賽，
a team that played in the same Major Junior A league as the Vancouver Giants and the Medicine Hat Tigers.
這是一支甲A聯賽的球隊，與溫哥華巨人隊、梅迪辛哈特猛虎隊
He was there with his wife, Paula, and their two boys,
他的妻子保拉以及他們的兩個孩子一同觀看了這場比賽。
and his wife was reading the program,
就像你觀看比賽那樣，他的妻子瀏覽完出場球員的名單，
when she read across the roster list,
準備開始觀看這場比賽。
"Roger," she said, "do you know when these young men were born? "
“羅杰”她說，“你知道這些年輕人都是什么時候出生的嗎？”
Barnsley said yes.
羅杰肯定地回答說：
"They're all between sixteen and twenty, so that they'd be born in the late 1960s"
“他們的年齡都在16歲到20歲之間，所以他們應該都是在60年代后期出生的。”
"No, no," Paula went on. "What month?"
“不，不，”保拉繼續問，“他們是什么月份出生的？”
"I though she was crazy," Barnsley remembered.
“我起初認為她瘋了，”巴恩斯利回憶說，
"But I looked through it, and what she was saying jumped out at me.
“但我還是再仔細看了一遍，她的發現令我大吃一驚。
For some reason, there were incredible number of January, February and March birth dates."
大部分球員都出生在1月、2 月和3月，無論出自哪種原因，這都令人難以置信。”
