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当人们都把某个著名的运动员、演员或者歌星视作自己崇拜的偶像时，我却视母亲为我的偶像。她是我的灵感之源，而且至今依然如此。她教导我说，勤奋工作从来不会累死人。她是我心目中的英雄。母亲、我的家人以及朋友所给予我的快乐是生活中其他任何事物所不能及的。

Put the Effort in Every Day

As a young boy, I grew up with eight siblings in a tin-roofed shack in Summerfield, Louisiana. I didn’t see my circumstance as an obstacle, even though we didn’t even have a real toilet in the house. I saw my life more as a card that had been dealt to me and I tried to make the most of it.

I was the youngest of five boys and also had four sisters who had to pull together and take care of each other. Dad wasn’t around, so I never knew him well. He committed suicide when I was three years old, leaving Mom with the job of raising and providing for nine kids. She worked at a sawmill running a forklift for fifty dollars a week and had another job at a poultry plant. She was a very hard worker, and in order to make ends meet, she hardly ever rested.

My mom believed in doing all she could do to take care of her responsibilities, so no matter what, she never asked for a handout. You can imagine: we kids didn’t get what we wanted, but we always got the things we needed. With my mom as my example, I learned that hard work is the best way to get what you want.

While growing up, I was surrounded with temptations to do negative things like drugs, alcohol and all that. I chose not to go there. Even as a little boy, I knew I was going to be successful. Some people take that to be cocky or conceited, but I wasn’t going to let anybody tell me that I couldn’t do whatever I set out to do.

Of course, I dreamed about what I wanted to be when I grew up. At first, I wanted to be a state trooper, then I wanted to be in the Special Forces. After a while, I decided that I wanted to drive eighteen-wheelers. There was even a period of time that I wanted to be in construction. I wanted to play football in high school; in fact, I still do. But regardless of what I chose, I wanted to make my brothers, sisters and mom proud of me—not only by being successful in what I chose to do, but also as a person who could be looked up to for the right reasons.

Surprising as it might seem, basketball wasn’t in my plans. One day, my mom cut a rim off an old water barrel and then held it up for me to throw an old rubber ball through. By junior high, I started playing basketball on a team. I loved to compete. There was a positive high I got by going out and playing against other people and working hard to win.

For me, it paid off. I just let my success in basketball take its course but I always put the effort in every day. No matter what I’ve done, some people wait for my downfall, saying, “Karl Malone can’t do it.” Instead of letting people like that get to me, they are actually my motivation and I continue to prove them wrong every single day. I try to do the best job I can in a positive way on and off the court. I realize that no matter what I’m dealing with, there’s somebody else out there who has it a little bit worse off. I’ve been there. And I know that without continued hard work, I could be there again.

I am grateful for the life I’ve enjoyed as a basketball star. But when I see these shirts that say “Basketball is life,” I think Yeah, right! It is not life. It can be exciting. But the important thing about basketball is that it gives me a way to do good things for others as I move through this journey called life.

Success is really about choosing right from wrong, making a positive contribution to the world around you and valuing the things that are really important—like family and friend.

While everyone else was looking to popular athletes, actors and musicians as positive role models, my mom was my inspiration, and she continues to be all these years later. She taught me that hard work never killed anybody. My mom is my hero. She, my family and friends bring me more joy than anything else in life does.

At the end of my life, I don’t want to be remembered as the kind of person who just sat on his rear end and said, “I’ve made it.” I don’t ever want to have to say that I didn’t give it everything that I’ve got. Sure there are days that I don’t feel like working hard…but I do it anyway, because that’s who I am.

参考译文

每一天都要努力

NBA巨星卡尔.马龙

在路易斯安那州萨墨尔菲尔德的一间简陋铁皮屋顶房子里，我和八个兄弟姐妹一起度过了我的童年。那里甚至连一个像样的厕所都没有。但是，我并没有把这样的家庭环境看成是什么不幸，而是把它看作一张发到自己手里的牌，我要努力让这张牌发挥出它最大的用处。

我是家里五兄弟中最小的，另外还有四个姐妹，大家相依为命。父亲已经不在了，他在我三岁时就自杀了，我对他几乎没有什么印象。父亲死后，抚养九个孩子的重担就落在了母亲的肩上。母亲是锯木厂开叉车的工人，每星期有50美元的收入。此外，她在家禽场兼了份工。我母亲是个非常吃苦耐劳的女人，为了养家糊口，她拼命工作，几乎没有停息过。

她坚信只要自己努力就一定能够养活全家，所以她从不接受别人的任何施舍。你可以想象我们这帮孩子的生活状况：我们买不起自己想要的东西，但是日常生活的必需品还是能满足的。从母亲身上，我懂得了勤奋是获得一切的最佳途径。

随着年龄的增长，我逐渐暴露在各种不良行为的诱惑之下，比如吸毒、酗酒，凡此种种。可我并没有走上歧途，因为我从小就相信自己长大以后一定能大有作为。有些人将我的这种想法视为骄傲或自负，但我不这么认为。只要我确定了自己想做的事情，就不允许别人说我做不到。

当然，我也梦想过长大以后想做什么。起初，我想当国民警卫队员，还想过进特种兵部队。后来，我想当一名集装箱大卡车司机。还有一段时间，我甚至想当一名建筑工人。上高中的时候，我喜爱美式足球，直到现在我还依然喜欢。但不管我选择做什么，我的最终目的是要让母亲和兄弟姐妹们为我骄傲，不仅要为我在事业获得成功而骄傲，更要为我受人尊重而骄傲。

说来也怪，篮球当时并没有被列入我的人生计划中。还记得有一天，母亲把一只旧水桶沿边剪下一个圈来，为我举着，让我投橡皮球玩。到了初中，我开始在篮球队里打。我喜爱打比赛，与人比拼，努力取胜，它给我一种快感。对我来说，这叫做“天道酬勤”。我并不刻意却争抢成功和荣誉，但是我的的确确每天都在为此付出努力。不管我怎么做，总有些人对我怀在敌意。他们说：“卡尔·马龙不行。”我一点儿也不计较那些不中听的话，相反，它们倒成了我拼搏的动力。不论赛场内外，我总是努力做到最好，每一天以自己的实际行为证明他们的话是错误的。我也发现，不管从事的是什么，身边总有一些人是在退步。我也曾走下坡路，所以我明白不进则退的道理。

作为一个篮球明星，我很感谢生活赐予我的这一。当我看见这些T恤衫上写着“篮球就是生命”时，我就想这说得简直太对了。但其实篮球并不等于生命，尽管它很刺激。篮球能够让我在这段所谓“生命”的旅程中为别人做一些好事，我认为这才是最重要的。

成功其实意味着弃恶扬善，为你身边的人们做点好事以及珍惜一切珍贵的东西，比如家人和朋友。

当人们都把某个著名的运动员、演员或者歌星视作自己崇拜的偶像时，我却视母亲为我的偶像。她是我的灵感之源，而且至今依然如此。她教导我说，勤奋工作从来不会累死人。她是我心目中的英雄。

母亲、我的家人以及朋友所给予我的快乐是生活中其他任何事物所不能及的。

到我的生命走到尽头的时候，我不愿意给人们留下的印象是一屁股坐在那里，对人说：“我已功成名就了。”我也不想告诉别人的是我的一切来得很容易，没有付出最大的努力。当然，这中也有过放松的日子……但不管怎样我还是要付出努力，因为那才是真实的我。

词汇释义

1.sibling n. 兄弟姐妹

I have two brothers and a sister: three siblings in all.
我有两个哥哥和一个妹妹: 共有三个兄妹.

2.sawmill n. 锯机, 锯木厂

There are many sawyers in that sawmill.
那家锯木厂有很多锯木工。

3.trooper n. 骑兵, 伞兵, 运兵船

He became a trooper in the Royal Tank Regiment.
他当上了皇家坦克团的装甲兵。