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Lecturer Charles Hobbs sometimes tells about awomanwholived inLondon over a century ago. She savedwhatlittle moneyshe could working as ascullery maid and used it (little money) one eveningto hear a great speaker of her day.His speech moved herdeeplyand she waitedto visit with himafterward."How fineit must be to have had the opportunitiesyou have had in life," shesaid.
演說家（lecturer）查爾斯·霍布斯經常會在他的演說中引用(tell about)這樣的故事。一百多年前，倫敦住著一位女士，她以給人幫廚為生。生活雖然很艱難，她還是省吃儉用地攢了一點兒錢(she saved what littlemoney)，并用這點兒錢去聽了一場演講。演講者是一位在當時非常著名的演說家。他的演講深深地感染了她，也觸動了她。演講結束之后，她并沒有立即離去，而是去拜訪了那位演說家。“要能像您這樣一生中擁有這么多的機會那該有多好啊！”她羨慕道。
"My dear lady." he replied, "haveyou never received an opportunity?"
“哦，親愛的女士，”那位演講家問道，“難道您從未得到過任何機會嗎？”
"Notme.I havenever had a chance,"she said.
“是的，我從未得到過任何機會。”她很沮喪。
"What do you do?"the speaker asked.
“那您是做什么工作的？”演講家問道。
She answered, "I peel onions and potatoes in my sister'sboarding house."
“我在我姐姐開的寄宿公寓(boarding house)里幫廚，剝剝洋蔥，削削土豆。”她答道。
"How long have you been doing this?" he pursued.
“你做這事多長時間了？”演講家追問。
"Fifteen miserable years!" “都已經干了15年了，難熬的15年啊！”
"And where do yousit?" he continued.
“您工作的時候坐在哪里呢？”演講家繼續問。
"Why,onthe bottom stepin thekitchen." She lookedpuzzled.
“您為什么問這個？”她感到非常的迷惑，“我就坐在廚房最低的一級臺階上。”
"And where do you put your feet?" “那么您把腳放在哪里呢？”
"On thefloor," she answered,morepuzzled.
“放在地板上啊。”她驚訝地望著演講家。(puzzled adj. 困惑的；茫然的；搞糊涂的)
"What is thefloor?" “那地板是什么樣的？”
"It is glazed brick." “是用釉面磚鋪就的。”
Then he said, "My dear lady, I will give youanassignment today. Iwant you to write me a letter about the brick."
著名的演講家說道：“親愛的女士，今天，我要給您布置一項任務(an assignment)。我想讓您寫一封信給我，談一談您對磚的認識。”
Against her protests about being a poor writer, he made her promise to complete the assignment.
女士以自己根本就不會寫信為由拒絕他的建議(反對她的不會寫信的抗議)，但是，演講家堅持要她完成這項任務。
The next day,asshe sat down to peel onions, shegazed atthe brick floor. Thatevening she pulled oneloose, tookit to a brick factory andaskedthe ownerto explainto herhowbrickswere made.
第二天，當她坐在廚房的臺階上剝洋蔥的時候，目光不禁聚焦在了釉面磚鋪就的地板上。她專門跑到磚廠向廠主請教磚頭是如何制造出來的。
Still not satisfied, she went to a library andfound a bookon bricks. Shelearnedthat120 differentkinds of brick and tilewere being producedin Englandat the time. She discoveredhowclaybeds,whichexisted for millions of years,were formed. Her research captivated her imagination and shespentevery spare momentlearningmore. She returned to the librarynight after nightand this woman,who never had a chance, graduallybegan to climb the steps of knowledge.
對于廠長的解釋她并不滿意，于是，她又跑到了圖書館。通過查閱資料，她了解到，在當時的英國，一共有一百二十多種磚瓦(120 different kinds ofbrick and tile)在生產(were being produced 過去進行時的被動語態)。她還發現了已經存在了數百年的粘土層是如何形成的。她已經完全沉浸在她的研究之中了，她的思想也已經被她的研究完全占據了。每天晚上，她都會準時到圖書館查閱資料。
After months of study, she set out to write her letteras promised. She senta 36-page documentabout thebrick in her kitchen and, to her surprise, she received a letterback. Enclosed was payment for her research. Hehad publishedher letter! Andalong with the moneycame a new assignment- thistime he asked her to writeabout whatshe foundunderneath the brick.
經過幾個月的研究之后，她按照演說家的要求寫信(set out to write her letter as promised)。在這封長達36頁的信中，她詳細地介紹了廚房里地磚的有關情況。令她吃驚的是(to one’s surprise 使某人驚奇的是)，不久以后，她就收到了回信。隨信而來的(enclosed)，還有她的研究所獲得的報酬。原來，那位演講家把她的信拿去發表了！不僅如此，演講家又給她布置了一項新任務：寫一些她在廚房地磚下面發現的東西。
For the first time in her life shecould hardly wait to get back to thekitchen! She pulled up the brick and there was an ant. She held itinher hand and examined it.
女士一生中第一次受到極大的鼓舞，她迫不及待地（can hardly wait to do 迫不及待）返回廚房，她撬起一塊磚頭一看，發現下面有一只螞蟻。她把它拿在手心仔細地觀察。
That evening, she hurried back to the libraryto study ants. She learnedthatthere were hundreds of different kinds of ants.Some were so small they could stand on the head of a pin;whileotherswere so largeonecould feel the weight of them in one's hand.She startedher own ant colony and examined ants underneath a lens.
那天晚上一下班，她便急匆匆地趕到圖書館，去查閱有關螞蟻的書籍了。通過研究，她了解到世界上有好幾百種各種各樣的螞蟻。有的螞蟻很小很小，小到可以站在針尖上，而(while)有的則很大很大，大到放在手上都能感覺到它們的重量。為了便于研究，她還專門養了一群螞蟻，每天都拿著放大鏡(a lens)仔細觀察。
Several months later she wroteher findingsin a350-page "letter".It, too, was eventually published.She soon quit her kitchen jobto take up writing.
經過幾個月的觀察與研究，她把她研究螞蟻的發現寫成了一封長達350頁的“信”寄給了演說家。當然，這封“信”最終(eventually)也發表了。不久以后，她便辭去了那份幫廚的工作，開始了她的寫作生涯。
Before she died, shehadtraveledtothe lands of herdreamsandhad experiencedmore thanshe ever imaginedpossible! This is the womanwhohadneverhada chance.
直到她去世之前，她幾乎游歷了所有她夢寐以求要去的地方，而且還體驗了許多她曾經想都不敢想的事情！這就是那位曾經感嘆自己從未得到過任何機會的女人！(第一個had過去完成時的助動詞，第二個had實詞動詞“有”的過去分詞)
Some peoplewaitforopportunityto comeknocking. Here is a personwhosought itout,provingagainthatwe can bemore thanvictims of mere circumstance.
有些人等著機會來敲門，而這個人卻是去尋找機會（seek it out）。她再次證明我們不應該僅僅成為環境的受害者(victim)，我們可以做得更多。
If given a chance,willyou take it?Ifgiven no chance,canyou make one?
如果得到了機會，你能抓住它嗎？如果沒有機會，你能創造一個機會嗎？
