Reading Part @ Aug. 21, 2017

Chapter 7: The Road to Extraordinary（180-206）

• Starting Out
• Becoming Serious
• Commitment
• The Benefits of Starting Young
• More Lessons from Perfect Pitch
• Pathbreakers

---

Summary & Reflection:

今天阅读的这部分内容，通过描述杰出人物的路线发展，将前面提到的几个主要概念，比如刻意练习，动机，身体与大脑的适应能力，年龄因素等，又全部串在一起，让读者有个更全面系统的认识。

成为杰出人物需要经历三个阶段：有兴趣的开始（Starting Out）、认真对待（Becoming Serious）、全情投入（commitment）。这三个阶段的持续都离不开动机（motivation）的刺激，从最开始完全靠外界的激励，到最后的自我激励。而所有的这些激励动机中，来自父母的鼓励和支持是最初的也是最重要的，直接影响到了孩子以后的成长。

可是反思到实际生活中，现在的很多父母又有多少是真心会顾虑孩子的真正兴趣发展的呢？大多数还都是人云亦云的吧，别人家的孩子都学钢琴，那我们家的娃也要学钢琴；别人家的孩子都选择医生专业，这个前途好赚钱多，那我们家的娃长大后也要当医生；别人家的孩子当公务员多轻松，那我们家的娃以后也要考公务员。。。我想这种现象短期内还是很难改变的吧？

想起当年在纽约 transfer orientation 的时候，碰到的几个俄罗斯女孩，大家聊起之前的专业时，很惊讶的发现，人家的专业真是五花八门的“冷”，有人类学的，有生物学的，还有文学的。。。再想想自己身边的女性朋友，光是当 “老师” 和 “会计” 的就有好几个。。。当然，并不是对这两个职业有什么其他的想法，只是一种感慨罢了。

---

Words and Expressions:

When he was wooing Klara, he outlined his theories and explanied that he was looking for a wife who would collaborate with him to test his theories on their own children.

woo, 及物动词，

• 表示 “追求；向…求爱” ，old-fashioned : to try to make (someone) love you.
  例句：He wooed [=courted] her with flowers and dinner.

• 表示 “恳求”，to attempt to persuade (someone) to buy something from you, vote for you, work for you, etc.
  例句：The company must find creative ways to woo new employees.

---

In particular, psychologists have found that an expert's development passes through four distinct stages, from the first glimmers of interest to full-fledged expertise.

full-fledged, 形容词，表示 “全面的，合格的，完备的”，fully developed；meeting all the necessary requirements to be something.

例句：a full-fledged lawyer/member
仿造句：The conflict turns out to be a full-fledged war.

---

......how many of them had older siblings to be inspired by, to learn from, to compete with, and to model themselves after.

这几个短语形容兄弟姐妹之间的关系，很是贴切又生动，值得学习。

inspire by，受...鼓舞
learn from，从...学习到
competet with，与...竞争
model after，以...为模范（榜样）

8月英文原版读书会 图/Eric