lineh21世纪大学英语教程(第四册)Unit1课文原文

2021年1月26日发(作者：burglar)
21
世纪大学英语读写教程（第四册）
Unit1
课文原文

《
Who Is Great?
》

Michal
Ryan
As a young boy, Albert Einstein did so poorly in school that teachers thought he
was
slow.
The
young
Napoleon
Bonaparte
was
just
one
of
hundreds
of
artillery
lieutenants
in
the
French
Army.
And
the
teenage
George
Washington,
with
little
formal education, was being trained not as a soldier but as a land surveyor.
Despite their unspectacular beginnings, each would go on to carve a place for
himself in history. What was it that enabled them to become great? Were they born
with
something
special?
Or
did
their
greatness
have
more
to
do
with
timing,
devotion and, perhaps, an uncompromising personality?
For
decades,
scientists
have
been
asking
such
questions.
And,
in
the
past
few
years, they have found evidence to help explain why some people rise above, while
others
—
similarly
talented,
perhaps
—
are
left
behind.
Their
findings
could
have
implications for us all.
Who is great? Defining who is great depends on how one measures success. But
there
are
some
criteria.

who
has
made
a
lasting
contribution
to human
civilization
is
great,
said
Dean
Keith
Simonton,
a
professor
of
psychology
at
the
University of California at Davis and author of the 1994 book Greatness: Who Makes
History
and
Why.
But
he
added
a
word
of
caution:

great
people don't
make
it
into
the
history
books.
A
lot
of
women
achieved
great
things
or
were
influential but went unrecognized.
In writing his book, Simonton combined historical knowledge about great figures
with recent findings in genetics, psychiatry and the social sciences. The great figures
he focused on include men and women who have won Nobel Prizes, led great nations
or
won
wars,
composed
symphonies
that
have
endured
for
centuries,
or
revolutionized
science,
philosophy,
politics
or
the
arts.
Though
he
doesn't
have
a
formula
to
define
how
or
why
certain
people
rise
above
(too
many
factors
are
involved), he has come up with a few common characteristics.
A
is
an
unrelenting
drive
to
succeed.

a
tendency
to
think
that
they
are
endowed with something super-normal,
research is that there are great people who have no amazing intellectual processes.
It's
a
difference
in
degree.
Greatness
is
built
upon
tremendous
amounts
of
study,
practice and devotion.
He cited Winston Churchill, Britain's prime minister during World War II, as an
example
of
a
risk-taker
who
would
never
give
up.
Thrust
into
office
when
his
country's morale was at its lowest, Churchill rose brilliantly to lead the British people.
In a speech following the Allied evacuation at Dunkirk in 1940, he inspired the nation
when he said,
surrender.