【大学英语1_哔哩哔哩_bilibili】
Catching crabs
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1?In the fall of our final year, our mood changed.The relaxed atmosphere of the?preceding?summer?semester, the?impromptu?ball games, the?boatingon the?Charles River, the late-night parties had disappeared, and we all started to get our heads down, studying late, and?attendance?at classes rose?steeply?again.?We all sensed we were coming to the end of our stay here, that we would never get a chance like this again, and we became determined not to waste it.?Most important of course were the final exams in April and May in the following year.?No one wanted the?humiliationof finishing last in class, so the peer group pressure to work hard was strong.?Libraries which were once empty after five o'clock in the afternoon were standing room only until the early hours of the morning, and guys wore the bags under their eyes and their pale, sleepy faces with pride, like medals proving their?diligence.
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2?But there was something else.?At the back of everyone's mind?was what we would do next, when we left university in a few months' time.?It wasn't always the high-flyers?with the top grades who knew what they were going to do. Quite often it was the quieter, less impressive students who had the next stages of their life?mapped out.?One had landed a job in his brother's advertising firm in?Madison Avenue, another had got a?script?under?provisional?acceptance?in?Hollywood.?The most?ambitious?student among us was going to work as a party?activist?at a local level. We all saw him?ending up?in?congress?one day.?But most people?were either looking to continue their studies, or to make a living with a white-collar job in a bank, local government, or anything which would pay them enough to have a comfortable time in their early twenties, and then?settle down?with a family, a?mortgage?and some hope of?promotion.
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3?I went home at?Thanksgiving, and?inevitably, my brothers and sisters kept asking me what I was planning to do. I didn't know what to say.?Actually, I did know what to say, but I thought they'd probably?criticize?me, so I told them what everyone else was thinking of doing.
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4?My father was watching me but saying nothing.Late in the evening, he invited me to his study.?We sat down and he poured us a drink.
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5?"So?" he said.
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6?"Er … so what?"
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7?"So what do you really want to do?" he asked.
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8?My father was a lawyer, and I had always assumed he wanted me to go to law school, and follow his path through life. So I hesitated.
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9?Then I replied, "I want to travel, and I want to be a writer."
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10?This was not the answer I thought he would expect. Travel? Where? A writer? About what??I?braced?myself for some?resistance?to the idea.
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11?There was a long silence.
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12?"Interesting idea," he said finally.
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13?There was another long silence.
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14?"I kind of wish I'd done that when I was your age."
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15?I waited.
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16?"You have plenty of time. You don't need to go into a career which pays well just at the moment. You need to find out what you really enjoy now, because if you don't, you won't be successful later."
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17?"So how do I do this?"
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18?He thought for a moment.?Then he said, "Look, it's late. Let's take the boat out tomorrow morning, just you and me. Maybe we can catch some crabs for dinner, and we can talk more."
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19?It was a Small motorboat,?moored?ten minutes away, and my father had owned it for years.?Early next morning we set off along the?estuary. We didn't talk much, but enjoyed the sound of the seagulls and the sight of the estuary?coastline?and the sea beyond.
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20?There was no?surf?on the?coastal?waters at that time of day, so it was a Smooth half-hour ride until my father switched off the motor.?"Let's see if we get lucky," he said, picked up a?rusty?mesh?basket with a rope attached and threw it into the sea.
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21?We waited a while, then my father stood up and said, "Give me a hand with this," and we?hauled upthe crab cage onto the?deck.
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22?Crabs fascinated me. They were so easy to catch.?It wasn't just that they crawled into such an obvious trap, through a Small hole in the lid of the basket, but it seemed as if they couldn't be bothered to crawl out again even when you took the lid off. They just sat there, waving their claws at you.
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23?The cage was?brimming?with dozens of soft shell crabs, piled high on top of each other.?"Why don't they try to escape?"?I wondered aloud to my father.
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24?"Just watch them for a moment. Look at that one, there! He's trying to climb out, but every time the other crabs pull him back in," said my father.
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25?And we watched.?The crab climbed up the mesh towards the lid, and sure enough, just as it reached the top, one of its fellow crabs reached out,?clamped?its claw onto any available leg, and pulled it back.?Several times the crab tried to?defyhis fellow?captives, without luck.
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26?"Now watch!" said my father.?"He's starting to get bored with this game."
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27?Not only did the crab give up its lengthy struggle to escape, but it actually began to help stop other crabs trying to escape.?He'd finally chosen an easy way of life.
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28?Suddenly I understood why my father had suggested catching crabs that morning.?He looked at me. "Don't get pulled back by the others," he said. "Spend some time figuring out who you are and what you want in life. Look back at the classes you're taking, and think about which ones were most?productive?for you personally. Then think about what's really important to you, what really interests you, what skills you have. Try to?figure out?where you want to live, where you want to go, what you want to earn, how you want to work. And if you can't answer these questions now, then take some time to find out. Because if you don't, you'll never be happy."
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29?He paused.
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30?"So you want to travel?" he asked.
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31?"Yes," I replied.
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32?"Better get you a passport. And you want to be a writer?"
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33?"I think so."
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34?"Interesting choice. We've never had a writer in the family," he said.
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35?My father started the motor and we set off back home.
抓螃蟹
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1?大学最后一年的秋天，我们的心情变了。?刚刚过去的夏季学期的轻松氛围、即兴球赛、查尔斯河上的泛舟以及深夜晚会都不见了踪影，我们开始埋头学习，苦读到深夜，课堂出勤率再次急剧上升。?我们都觉得在校时间不多了，以后再也不会有这样的学习机会了，所以都下定决心不再虚度光阴。?当然，下一年四五月份的期末考试最为重要。?我们谁都不想考全班倒数第一，那也太丢人了，因此同学们之间的竞争压力特别大。?以前每天下午五点以后，图书馆就空无一人了，现在却要等到天快亮时才会有空座，大家熬夜熬出了眼袋，脸色苍白，睡眼惺忪，却很自豪，好像这些都是表彰他们勤奋好学的奖章。
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2?还有别的事情让大家心情焦虑。?每个人都在心里盘算着过几个月毕业离校之后该找份什么样的工作。?并不总是那些心怀抱负、成绩拔尖的高材生才清楚自己将来要做什么，常常是那些平日里默默无闻的同学早早为自己人生的下几个阶段做好了规划。?有位同学在位于麦迪逊大道他哥哥的广告公司得到了一份工作，另一位同学写的电影脚本已经与好莱坞草签了合约。?我们当中野心最大的一位同学准备到地方上当一个政党活动家，我们都预料他最终会当上国会议员。?但大多数同学不是准备继续深造，就是想在银行、地方政府或其他单位当个白领，薪水足够多，让他们得以在二十出头的时候过上舒适的生活，然后就娶妻生子，贷款买房，期望升职，过安稳日子。
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3?感恩节的时候我回了一趟家，兄弟姐妹们免不了不停地问我毕业后有什么打算，我不知道该说什么。?实际上，我知道该说什么，但我怕他们批评我，所以只对他们说了别人都准备干什么。
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4?父亲看着我，什么也没说。?夜深时，他叫我去他的书房。?我们坐了下来，他给我们俩各倒了杯饮料。
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5?“怎么样？”他问。
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6?“啊，什么怎么样？”
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7?“你毕业后到底想做什么？” 他问道。
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8?父亲是一名律师，我一直都认为他想让我去法学院深造，追随他的人生足迹，所以我有点儿犹豫。
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9?过了会儿我回答说：“我想旅行，我想当个作家。”
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10?我想这不是他所期待的答案。旅行？去哪儿旅行？当作家？写什么呀？?我做好了遭到他反对的心理准备。
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11?接着是一段长长的沉默。
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12?“这想法有点意思，”他最后说。
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13?接着又是一段长长的沉默。
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14?“我有点希望自己在你这个年纪时能做这些事儿。”
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15?我在等他把话说完。
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16?“你还有很多时间，不必急于进入一个暂时报酬高的行业。你现在要搞清楚自己真正喜欢什么，如果你弄不清楚，以后就不可能成功。”
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17?“那我该怎么办？”
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18?他想了一会儿。?然后他说道：“瞧，现在太晚了。我们明天早晨乘船出海去，就我们两个。也许我们能抓点螃蟹当晚餐，我们还可以再谈谈。”
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19?那是一艘小小的机动船，停泊在离我们家约十分钟路程的地方，是好些年前父亲买的。?次日清晨，我们沿着港湾出发，一路上没说多少话，只是默默地欣赏着海鸥的叫声，还有港湾沿岸和远处大海的景色。
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20?在这个时候沿海水域没什么风浪，船平稳地航行了半个小时之后父亲把船停了下来。?他说：“咱们在这儿试试运气吧，”然后抓起一个系上绳子的生了锈的网状篓子抛到海里。
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21?我们等了一会儿，父亲站起来对我说：“来帮我一把。”于是我们一起将蟹篓子拽上了甲板。
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22?螃蟹吸引了我，它们太容易抓了。?不仅仅是因为它们顺着篓盖上的小孔爬进一个再明显不过的陷阱，更因为即便盖子打开了，它们似乎也懒得从里面爬出来，只会趴在那儿冲你挥动着蟹钳。
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23?篓子里挤满了几十只软壳螃蟹，一只压着一只，堆得老高。?“它们为什么不逃走啊？”?我满腹狐疑地问父亲。
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24?“你先观察一下，看那只螃蟹，那儿！它想爬出去，但每次都被同伴拽了回去，”父亲说。
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25?我们接着观察。?那只螃蟹顺着网眼向顶盖攀援，每当它爬到顶盖时，果然就会有另一只螃蟹举起蟹钳夹住它能够着的腿把这只螃蟹拽下来。?这只螃蟹尝试了好几次想挣脱它的狱中同伴，但都没能成功。
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26?“快看！”父亲说。?“它开始对这种游戏感到不耐烦了。”
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27?这只螃蟹不仅放弃了漫长的逃亡之战，而且还帮着把其他想逃跑的螃蟹拽下来。?它最终选择了一种轻松的活法。
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28?我忽然明白了父亲为什么提议早上来抓螃蟹。?他看着我说：“你可别被别人拽下来。花点时间想想你是哪一类人，你这一生希望得到什么，回顾一下你在大学修的课程，想想有哪些课对你个人来说最有益。然后再想想什么对你最重要，什么最使你感兴趣，你有什么技能。琢磨一下你想在哪里生活，你想去哪里，想挣多少钱，想做什么样的工作。如果你现在不能回答这些问题，你就得花点时间去找出答案。你不这样做的话，永远都不会幸福的。”
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29?他停顿了一下。
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30?“你想去旅行？”他接着问我。
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31?“对，”我回答说。
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32?“那就去申请护照吧。你想当作家？”
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33?“对。”
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34?“有趣的选择，我们家还没出过作家呢，”他说。
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35?父亲发动了马达，我们返航回家。
We are all dying
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1?I have some good news and some bad news for you (as the joke goes).?The bad news – and I'm very sorry to be the?bearer?– is that we are all dying.?It's true. I've?checked it out. In fact, I've double- and?triple-checked it.?I've had it?substantiated?and, well, there's no easy way to say it, we are dying.?It's something that I always kind of knew, but never really chose to think about too much.?But the fact is, within the next 70 or 80 years – depending on how old you are and how long you last – we are all going to be either?coffindwellers?or?trampled?ash in the rose garden of some local?cemetery.?We may not even last that long.?After all, we never quite know when the?hooded,?scythe-carrying, bringer-of-the-last-breath might come a-calling. It could be sooner than we'd like.?I have watched death from the?sidelines, quite recently in fact, and nothing underlines the?uncertainty?and absolute?frailty?of humanity like the?untimely?exit of a friend.
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2?Scary.
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3?Now that I have depressed you, here's the good news. Knowing that we are all?budding?crypt-kickers?takes away all the uncertainty of life.?We already know how the story ends. The?prologueand?epilogue?are already?typed in. All that's left is the middle bit and?that's down to us.?We get to choose?the meat of?the story.
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4?So, all those plans that you have?on the back burner, you know, the great things you're going to do with your life "when the time is right"??Well, the time is never quite right, I find.?It needs to be brought forward and done now, this minute,?pronto, in a hurry, as quick as your little legs will carry you.?The novel that you want to write, the trip to the?Grand Canyon?you've always planned to take, your mind's-eye dream job, the?West Endplay you want to direct – you have to do them now.We're dying, see.?It's official.
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5?So putting your dreams on the back burner until the circumstances are right means that they'll probably never be realized.?Our only regrets in life are the things we don't do. We owe it to ourselves to go out and do them now before it's too late.Tomorrow??It's all a lie; there isn't a tomorrow. There's only a?promissory note?that we?are often not in a position to cash.?It doesn't even exist.When you wake up in the morning it'll be today again and all the same rules will apply.?Tomorrow is just another version of now, an empty field that will remain so unless we start planting some seeds.?Your time, which is ticking away as we speak (at about 60 seconds a minute?chronologically; a bit faster if you don't?invest?your time?wisely), will be gone and you'll have nothing to show for it but regret and a?rear-view mirror?full of "could haves", "should haves" and "would haves".
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6?Have you ever noticed when you go to a?buffetrestaurant how they give you a bowl the size of a saucer and then say, "Have as much salad as you like but you can only go up once"??Life is like that Small salad bowl. Like the hungry people waiting for their main course, we can?cram?as much into that tiny bowl as we can carry.?I love watching people?ingeniously?stack the?cucumber?around the side of the bowl – like they're filling a?skip?– and then cramming it so high that they have to hire a?forklift truck?to get it back to the table.?They're not greedy. They just know that they only?have one shot at it.
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7?Fill your bowl. We come this way but once so let's?make the best of the short stay. Like the once-a-year holiday to?Florida?or?Spain.?Fit as much into the short time there as you can.?Make sure that you go back home?knackered?because you got so much done.
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8?If you don't want to be a postman then don't be a postman. Give it up and be a painter, a writer, a?tobogganist, whatever.?Just don't be something that you?patently?do not want to be.
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9?And now is the time, not tomorrow.?There is no time like the present.?If you can't have what you want this very second the least you can do is start the journey now, this minute, while the?inspirationis high.?We all have the same amount of minutes, we all get the same 24 hours as?Branson?and Gates.?It's just what we do with our time, how we invest it, that determines where our lives may lead.
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10?So what I'm thinking is (and this is not?molecularscience) if we are dying and our?allotted?time is?finite, why the hell aren't we doing all the things we want to do NOW??What's all this?back-burnerstuff??And why are we all waiting for the right time when we already know that the right time isn't going to show??The right time is the cheque that's?permanently?in the post, it never arrives.?It's the girl who keeps us standing at the corner of the?Co-op?looking like a?spanner.?No amount of clock watching will change the?inevitable. She's?stood us up.
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11?We wait; the right time never arrives.
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12?So I say stop waiting and meet?providencehalfway.?Start filling your life with the riches on offer so that when?the Reaper?arrives, you'll have achieved so much, crammed your time so full that he'll fall asleep waiting for your life to flash before your eyes.
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13?Act now or your time will?elapse?and you'll end up as a?sepia-coloured relative that no one can put a name to in a dusty photo album.
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14?Better to leave a?biography?as thick as a whale?omelette?than an?epitaph:
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15?"Joe Smith?… hmm. He didn't do much, did he?"
我们都在走向死亡
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1?我给你带来一条好消息，还有一条坏消息（正如笑话所说的）。?坏消息是：我们都在走向死亡——很抱歉是我带来了这条坏消息。?这可是真的，我已经核实过了，事实上我已经三番五次地核实过了。我也找到了证据，可是要说出这个事实实在是不容易，不过我们的确都在走向死亡。?这件事我过去多少知道一点，但不愿过多地去想它。?但事实是，再过70年或80年——这要取决于你现在年龄有多大，寿命有多长——我们都会躺到棺材里，或者变成某个地方公墓玫瑰园里任人踩踏的骨灰。?我们甚至活不到这么老。?毕竟，我们从来就不清楚那位戴着头巾、手持长柄镰刀、命人吐出最后一口气的死神什么时候会来拜访我们，有可能会比我们希望的要早。?其实我最近就曾经从局外人的角度观察过死亡，没有什么比朋友的早逝更能表明人生的无常和生命的脆弱了。
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2?真可怕。
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3?我已经让你够沮丧的了，现在告诉你那条好消息吧：知道了我们都在走向坟墓，我们就不再有人生无常的感觉了。?我们已经知道故事的结局，开场白和尾声都确定了，剩下的就是介于两者之间的那些事儿了，这些事是我们做得了主的。?我们必须挑选故事情节。
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4?所以，那些被你搁置在一边的计划，即那些“当时机成熟时”你会用生命来完成的伟大事业怎么办呢？可我发现时机永远不会有成熟的时候。?时间必须提前，必须马上行动，就在这一刻，不能拖延，必须赶紧，而且越快越好，只要你的小腿能够承受。?不管是你想写的小说，还是你一直在筹划的去大峡谷的旅行，你心仪的工作，你想导演的伦敦西区话剧，你都必须现在就去做。?知道吗？我们都在走向死亡。?这是已经定了的。
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5?因此，把自己的梦想搁置起来，等到时机成熟之后才开始实现它，这就意味着梦想可能永远都不会实现。?人生的遗憾莫过于还有事情没有做，我们有必要现在就去做这些事，不然就晚了。?明天行吗？明天只是个谎言；根本就没有什么明天，只有一张我们常常无法兑现的期票。?明天甚至压根儿就不存在。?你早上醒来时又是另一个今天了，同样的规则又可以全部套用。?明天只是现在的另一种说法，是一块空地，除非我们开始在那里播种，否则它永远都是空地。?你的时间会流逝（时间就在我们说话的当下嘀嗒嘀嗒地走着，每分钟顺时针走60秒，如果你不能很好地利用它，它会走得更快些），而你没有取得任何成就来证明它的存在，唯独留下遗憾，留下一面后视镜，上面写满了“本可以做”、“本应该做”、“本来会做”的事情。
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6?你是否注意过，自助餐馆里服务员会给你一个茶杯碟大小的碗，并告诉你：“你想盛多少沙拉都可以，但只能盛一次”？?生活就像那只盛沙拉的碗，我们可以和那些饥肠辘辘等着主菜的人一样在那只小碗里装上尽可能多的沙拉。?我喜欢看人们巧妙地把黄瓜片插在沙拉碗的四周——就像往废料桶里堆东西那样——把沙拉堆得老高老高，最后不得不雇个叉车把沙拉拉回餐桌。?他们不是贪婪，而是明白自己只有一次机会。
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7?把你的碗盛满吧，我们在这个世上只走一遭，既然来了就好好利用这短暂的一生，就像我们牢牢抓住一年一度去佛罗里达或西班牙度假的机会那样。在短暂的人生中填入尽可能多的内容吧。?确保每天回家后你都会因为干了很多事而感到精疲力尽。
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8?如果你不想当邮递员就别当邮递员，放弃这份工作去当个画家、作家、滑雪运动员，干什么都行。千万不要干自己明明就不喜欢的事情。
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9?现在就开始行动吧，不要等到明天。?没有比现在更好的时间了。?如果在这一刻你不能得到你想得到的东西，你至少可以趁灵感还在的时候马上开始你的旅程，即刻起程。?我们有同样多的时间，我们和布兰森以及盖茨一样，每天都有24个小时。?决定我们这一生成败的是我们把时间花在什么事情上，是我们如何来分配时间。
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10?因此，我正在琢磨的是（这可不是分子科学）：如果我们正在走向死亡，而且分配给我们的时间是有限的，那么我们到底有什么理由不现在就去做所有想做的事情呢？?这些被暂时搁置的事情到底又是什么呢？?为什么明明知道成熟的时机永远不会到来，而我们却都还在等待呢？?成熟的时机是一张支票，它永远都在邮寄的路上，永远都不会到来。?它就是那位让我们在Co-op超市旁边像桥墩那样站着傻等的女孩，?我们再怎么看表也无济于事，她失约了。
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11?我们傻等着，而成熟的时机却永远不会到来。
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12?所以我要说，别再等待了，走到路上去迎接天意。?开始给你的生活增添所有你能得到的财富，这样当死神到来时，你已经完成了那么多事，你的一生是那么的充实。当生命在你眼前回放时，死神等着等着就睡着了。
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13?现在就行动吧，不然你的时间会流逝的，而你最终将成为尘封的相册里一位谁都叫不上名字的亲戚，你的相片也因为古旧而呈红褐色。
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14?还是给人间留下一本厚厚的传记吧，那可比仅仅留下这样一块碑铭强：
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15?“乔?史密斯…… 嘿嘿，他没干过什么，对吧？”
Rites of passage
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Is life just “one damned thing after another”, as the American author?Elbert Hubbard?wrote a hundred years ago, taking a rather?fatalisticviewpoint? Or is it an?obstacle race?, in which the?contestants?– human beings everywhere – have to show their worth at certain?crucial?stages of their lives?
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The sad?clown?Jacques?in Shakespeare’s play?As You Like It?suggests that there are “seven ages” to a person’s existence, and the phenomenon of rites of passage in almost every society confirms that we prefer to think of life in terms of these stages, such as childhood, middle age and old age.
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A rite of passage is a?formal?recognition of change,?imposed?by society, of a move from one stage to another, the most?universally?recognized one being the?transition?between childhood and?adulthood. This can take very different forms. For example, in Jewish tradition one of the most important moments in a boy’s life, marked by a religious ceremony and a family?feast, is the?bar mitzvah, when boys become responsible for their actions – at the age of 13. This is roughly the same age that children can be held?legally?responsible in many countries.
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A very different rite of passage is the tradition of the?prom?at the end of American high school. This is a dance with a difference. Students have to wear formal clothes – many for the first time in their lives – and it is usual to hire an expensive?limousine?to arrive at the prom. It is as if, for one night, they behave like adults twice their age – or at least look older than they really are.
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Perhaps one of the most interesting rites of passage is the?walkabout?of Australian aborigines, when?adolescents?would be required to spend about six months walking alone through the wilderness, following the paths of their ancestors along the age-old “songlines” which mapped out the country. In so doing they?penetrated?the heart of?aboriginal?culture – the oldest?continuous?culture in the world – and, in the process, discovered themselves too.
通过仪式
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生活是否如同对生活持宿命论看法的美国作家艾伯特·哈伯德在一百年前所描述的那样，是“该死的事情一桩接着一桩”？抑或是一场障碍赛跑，其间每个参赛者，即世界各地的人们，不得不在生命的各个重要阶段展现自己的价值？
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莎士比亚的戏剧《皆大欢喜》中那个悲伤的小丑雅克认为，人的一生要经历“七个年龄段”，几乎每个社会都有的通过仪式也证明，我们往往是把生命分为这几个阶段来看待的，比如童年、中年和老年。
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通过仪式是社会对个人从一个阶段走向另一阶段的正式的认可，其中被广泛认同的是由少年步入成年时举行的成年礼。成年礼有多种形式。例如，在犹太传统中，人生最重要的时刻之一就是“犹太男孩成人仪式”，人们为年满13岁的男孩举办宗教仪式和家宴，这标志着从此以后这个孩子要对自己的行为负责了。13岁也差不多是许多国家规定开始承担法律责任的年龄。
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美国中学生活结束前的毕业舞会是另一种截然不同的通过仪式。这次舞会非同寻常，学生们不仅穿着正式（许多学生平生第一次这么穿），他们通常还乘坐着一辆租来的豪华轿车到达舞会现场。就在那一天晚上，他们似乎要表现得和年龄是他们两倍的成年人一样，至少是看上去要比自己的实际年龄成熟。
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世界上最有趣的通过仪式之一或许就是澳大利亚原住民的“徒步旅行”了。还处于青春期的少年必须在野外独自行走六个月，沿着划定国土疆域的“歌之版图”追寻祖先的足迹。通过这样的仪式，他们深入到土著文化这一世界上最古老而持久的文化的精髓之中，并在这一过程中发现自我。
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翻译
According to the National Center ? for Education Statistics, about 80 percent of students in the United States ? end up changing their major at least once. Some students start college with a ? major their parents or relatives picked for them. In most cases, these ? students struggle to make a decision, because they don't know how to confront ? their loved ones about a change in their intended career. Some students ? decide to change majors because they are struggling in basic courses for ? their intended major, while some others have come to so detest their major ? that they find it necessary to switch to another that they really love. ? Experts believe that there is nothing wrong with realizing that your major ? doesn't suit your skills and talents. In fact, the ability to make such a ? realization is a sign of maturity. The trick is to find a major that does ? suit you Better. Before making the switch, you need to meet with an academic ? advisor, research your choice by talking to professors or professionals, and ? ask yourself serious questions about whether it is the right choice for you.
美国国家教育统计中心的数据表明，大约80%的美国大学生至少要换一次专业。有些学生上大学时就读父母或亲戚为他们选择的专业。在大多数情况下，这些学生难以做出决定，因为他们不知道在决定变换被规划好的职业的时候该如何面对自己的亲人。有些学生决定转专业是因为他们无法应付所学专业的基础课，而另一些学生则是因为他们实在厌恶所学的专业，必须换一个自己真正喜欢的专业。专家认为，意识到所学专业不适合自己的技能和天赋没什么错。实际上，能意识到这一点是成熟的标志。重要的是找到一个真正适合你的专业。在转专业之前，你需要见学业导师，跟教授或专业人员谈谈，做一些调查，问自己几个严肃的问题，看看你的选择是否正确。
中国有一句话，叫“人贵有自知之明”。这个观念的最早提出者是老子。老子在《道德经》里说“知人者智，自知者明”。有“自知之明”是指人应该对自己有正确的认识，了解自身的优点和缺点，清醒地知道自己能做什么。我们把人的自知视为“贵”，可见做到“自知”是多么的不易。“自知之明”是一种人生哲学，也是一种品德。它可以帮助我们不断地修正自己，朝着更高的人生目标迈进。
As the Chinese saying goes, it is important to know oneself. The first person to put forward this notion was Laozi, who wrote in his book?Dao De Jing: "A person who knows others is intelligent, but a person who knows himself is insightful." To know oneself is to have a correct understanding of oneself, including one's strengths and limitations, and to be clear-minded about what one can do. We cherish this virtue so much precisely because it is really hard for people to know themselves. Knowing oneself is both part of a philosophy of life and a virtue that can facilitate self-improvement and attainment of a higher life goal.
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