? ? ? 作文是學(xué)生向?qū)W校展現(xiàn)自己獨(dú)特魅力的機(jī)會，是學(xué)校的招生人員除了考試分?jǐn)?shù)等硬指標(biāo)外評價(jià)學(xué)生的最重要的依據(jù)。往往，一篇作文定終身，下面的這篇作文是一篇極為優(yōu)秀的范文，作者為 Lanren A Hackney，被耶魯大學(xué)，麻省理工學(xué)院和波士頓學(xué)院同時(shí)錄?。?/p>

（上面是英文版，譯文放最下面）

? ? I used to dislike running.?"If you don'twin this game, you're all running five miles tomorrow," the field hockeycoach used to warn, during those last days of October when the average temperature seemed to be decreasing exponentially. And so, occasionally, my grief-stricken team would run numerous miserable laps around the fields. At theend of these excursions, our faces and limbs would be numb, and we would all have developed those notorious flu-like symptoms; but the running made usbetter in the long run, I suppose. Nevertheless, I counted down the days untilthe end of the field hockey season, vowing never to put on a pair of runningshoes again.?

? ? Then I surprised myself by signing up for outdoor track in thesecond half of sophomore year. I was foolish to have believed that I could ever escape this insidious and magnetic addiction.

? ? Anyone would have thought that I'd be off the team in a few days, but the last week of January caught me splashing through puddles of melted ice, and February winds nearly blew me off the track. I looked forward to practices this time around, to the claps and the persistent cheers of my fellow trackies. I was feeling a "runner's high" spurred by the endorphins released by exercise. But to attribute my affinity for running solely to chemistry diminishes the personal importance that running has for me.?

? ? I like running—inthe cool shade of the towering oak trees, and in the warm sunlight spilling over the horizon, and in the drops of rain falling gently from the clouds.Certain things become clear to me when I'm running—only while running did I realize that "hippopotami" is possibly the funniest word in theEnglish language, and only while running did I realize that the travel sectionof The York Times does not necessarily provide an accurate depiction of the entire world. Running lends me precious moments to contemplate my life: while running I find time to dream about changing the world, to think about recent death of a classmate, or to wonder about the secret to college admission.

? ? Running is the awareness of hurdles between me and the finish line; running isthe desire to overcome them. Running is putting up with aches and pains,relishing the knowledge that, in the end, I will have built strength andendurance. Running is the instant clarity of vision with which I can see myfuture just one hundred yards in the distance; it is the understanding that these crucial steps will determine victory or defeat.Running is not the most important thing inthe world to me, but it is what fulfills me when time permits. And right now,before the sun goes down, I like to take advantage of the road that lies ahead。

譯文：

? ? "今天我要去跑步。我不是擔(dān)心一天的卡路里消耗，我也不是渴望在冬季保持自己的身材。我只是想去跑步。我過去并不喜歡跑步。?“如果你們沒有贏得這場比賽，明天你們所有人都得跑5英里。”曲棍球教練過去常常警告；那是十月的最后幾天，平均氣溫仿佛呈指數(shù)般驟降。是的，偶爾，我們可憐的球隊(duì)隊(duì)員會在田徑場上痛苦地跑上很多圈。在長跑結(jié)束的時(shí)候，我們的臉和四肢會變得麻木，我們都會出現(xiàn)類似臭名昭著的流感一樣的癥狀；我猜想，就長遠(yuǎn)而言長跑對我們有利。盡管如此，我都會數(shù)著距離曲棍球賽季結(jié)束還剩幾天，并發(fā)誓絕不再穿上跑鞋。

? ? ? 然后，連我自己也感到驚奇，十年級下學(xué)期的時(shí)候，我又報(bào)名參加了室外徑賽隊(duì)。我傻乎乎地以為我本可擺脫這種漸漸積累且磁性般的跑步癮。

? ? ? 任何人都以為我會在幾天內(nèi)脫離徑賽隊(duì)，但一月的最后一個(gè)星期，我跑過冰雪消融后的水坑，水花飛濺；二月的風(fēng)里，我?guī)缀醣淮惦x跑道。我期待在這個(gè)時(shí)節(jié)訓(xùn)煉，以回應(yīng)同伴隊(duì)友的鼓勵(lì)和不斷的喝彩。我感受到因鍛煉釋放的內(nèi)啡肽刺激產(chǎn)生的跑步者的快感。但是，僅僅把我對跑步的愛好歸結(jié)于化學(xué)反應(yīng)是降低了跑步對我個(gè)人的重要性。

? ? 我喜歡跑步－在高聳橡樹陰涼的樹蔭里，在從地平線溢漫出的溫暖陽光里，在從云彩中落下的雨滴里。當(dāng)我跑步時(shí)，有些事情對我會變得清晰。只有當(dāng)我跑步時(shí)，我才意識到，河馬可能是英語里最搞笑的單詞；只有當(dāng)我跑步時(shí)，我才意識到《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》的旅游版并不一定提供了對整個(gè)世界的準(zhǔn)確描繪。跑步給了我思考我的人生的寶貴時(shí)刻：跑步時(shí)，我有時(shí)間去夢想改變世界，去思考最近去世的同學(xué)，或去猜想大學(xué)招生的秘密。

? ? 跑步是對我和終點(diǎn)之間的障礙的意識;跑步是克服這些障礙的愿望。跑步是忍受疼痛，品味這樣的認(rèn)知：最終，我會建立起力量和耐力。跑步是瞬間視野的清晰，使我看到我的未來只在百碼以外；跑步是一種理解：剩余的關(guān)鍵步子將決定成敗。

初中時(shí)我家人分享的一篇文章，不是特別重視，

幾年過去了，距離高考還有一百多條，再一次將它從塵封的盒中取回，閱讀它

受益良多呀，更多的，則是對自己不得體的過往的感慨。

各位，加油