There Is Always a Better Way
好方法无处不在
A blind boy sat silently on the stone steps of a tower building in the square with a hat by his feet. With his gloved fingers, he put a flat board on the ground. Written in crayon, the handwriting said:”I’m blind, please help.” The hat was nearly empty as there were only a few coins in the hat.
A stranger was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the board, turned it around, and printed some words on it with paint. He put the board back and fixed it at a height so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.
A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. Soon that hat began to fill up. That afternoon the man who had changed the board came to see how things were. The boy heard his footsteps and asked, “Were you the one who changed my board this morning? What did you write?”
The kind-heart man said, “I only wrote a sentence with the truth. I translated what you said but in a different way to improve the message and increase interest for people for your sign. It describes your experience.”
He recited the text he had written:”Today is a beautiful autumn day and I cannot see it.”
Do you think the first board and the second board had the same meaning? Of course both boardsexpressed to the people the fact that the boy had no sight.
But the first board plainly told people that the boy was blind and to help by putting some money in the hat. The second board told people that they were able to enjoy the fantastic, bright light of the day, but the boy could not enjoy it because he was blind. The second board suggested that people werelucky that they were not blind.
Should we be surprised that the second board’s choice of words succeeded better to get people’s attention and achieve more action from others?
译文
有个盲人小男孩默默地坐在广场里一座塔式大楼的台阶上，他的帽子放在脚边。他戴着手套，将一块扁平木板放在地面上，上面用蜡笔写上了几个字：“帮帮忙，我是一个盲人。”帽子里几乎是空的，里面只有几枚硬币。
一个陌生人正好走过。他从口袋里掏出几枚硬币，丢进帽子里。然后，他拿起木板，把它转过来，用颜料在上面印上了几个字。他把木板又放了回去，并放到了一个较高的位置，这样，路过的人都可以看到了。
越来越多的人把钱放进小男孩的帽子里。很快，帽子就被硬币填满了。这天下午，修改过木板的男人又来到了这里，看看事情怎么样了。盲童听出来脚步声，问到：“您就是今早修改木板上字的那个先生吧？您在上面写了什么呢？”
这个好心的男人说：“我只是写了一句大实话。我把你写的话换了一种方式写出来，把你木板上的信息修改了一下，以此来引起人们的关注。那些字写出了你的感受。”
这位男士把他写的话读出来：“今天是个美丽的秋日，可是我看不见。”
你认为第一次写的字和第二次写的字是同一个意思吗？当然，这两次都说明一个事实，那就是这个小男孩失明了。
但第一次写的话只是简单告诉别人这个小男孩失明了，帮忙给他一点钱。而第二次写的话告诉人们：你们可以看见如此美好的光明，而他却不能。第二次写的表达了这样的含义：没有失明的人是多么的幸运啊。
对于第二次，只是选择了另外几个字，就能引起人们的关注，并使他们付诸了行动，对此，我们应该感到惊讶吗？
拓展训练
A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: “I am blind, please help.” There were only a few coins in the hat. A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words. Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps(脚步) and asked: “Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?” The man said: “I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way.” What he had written was: “Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it.”
Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing? Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply told people to help by putting some money in the hat. The second sign told people that they were able to enjoy the day, but the boy could not enjoy it because he was blind. The first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign reminded people they were lucky that they were not blind.
There are at least two lessons we can learn from this simple story. The first is: Be thankful for what you have. Someone else has less. Help where you can. The second is: Be creative. Think differently. There is always a better way!
【小题1】 What did the boy do on the street?
A. He sold his old hat. B. He begged (乞讨) for money.
C. He was busy collecting coins. D. He showed his good handwriting.
【小题2】How did the man help the blind boy?
A. He took the boy’s sign away.
B. He gave the boy a lot of money.
C. He changed the words on the sign.
D. He asked other people to help the blind boy.
【小题3】 What does the underlined word "recognized" mean?
A. 辨认出 B. 看到 C. 承认 D. 注意到
【小题4】 Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. The man did nothing to help the blind boy except changing the words on the sign.
B. Before the man changed the words, the hat had been full.
C. Without the man’s help, the blind boy couldn’t get so much money.
D. The kind man was very thankful to the blind boy.
【小题5】 Which is the best title for the passage?
A. A kind and clever man. B. A blind boy in the street.
C. Let’s help the disabled people. D. Different words make a difference.
答案：BCACD