“轻而易举”只是神话——罗杰·费德勒在达特茅斯学院2024毕业典礼上的演讲

“Effortless” is a myth ― 2024 Commencement Address by Roger Federer at Dartmouth

常速 | CET-4偏易| 748词 | 4min29s

刘立军供稿

CULTURE NOTE：

罗杰·费德勒（Roger Federer），前瑞士职业网球运动员，被广泛认为是历史上最伟大的网球选手之一。他在职业生涯中赢得了20个大满贯单打冠军，并保持了许多网球纪录，以其优雅的球风和出色的运动精神著称。

Part I. QUESTIONS

Listen to the speech and choose the best answer to each question you hear.

Q1. What did the speaker initially feel when people commented on his “effortless” play?

A. He was proud of his natural talent.

B. He was frustrated because it overlooked his hard work.

C. He was amused by their misunderstanding.

D. He was indifferent to their comments.

Q2. What realization did the speaker have after an opponent’s comment at the Italian Open?

A. He needed to work on his mental discipline.

B. He needed to improve his physical fitness.

C. He should rely more on his natural talent.

D. He should change his playing style.

Q3. What did the speaker do to amplify his game and expand his options?

A. He avoided targeting opponents’ strengths.

B. He focused on improving his baseline game.

C. He aimed at his opponents’ strengths.

D. He relied on his warm-up performance to intimidate opponents.

Q4. What inference can be made about the speaker’s attitude towards talent?

A. He believes talent is innate and unchangeable.

B. He thinks talent is only about physical abilities.

C. He suggests that talent is not important for success.

D. He considers talent to be broader than just natural gifts.

Q5. What is the main message of the speaker’s speech?

A. Talent is the most important factor for success.

B. Effort is necessary to achieve success.

C. Belief in oneself is the key to success.

D. Winning effortlessly is the ultimate goal.

Part II. TRANSCRIPT

“Effortless” is a myth ― 2024 Commencement Address by Roger Federer at Dartmouth

Today, I want to share a few lessons I’ve relied on through this transition. Let’s call them tennis lessons. I hope they will be useful in the world beyond Dartmouth.

Here’s the first: “Effortless” is a myth. I mean it. I say that as someone who has heard that word a lot: “Effortless.” People would say my play was effortless. Most of the time, they meant it as a compliment. (Q1) But it used to frustrate me when they would say, “He barely broke a sweat!” or “Is he even trying?” The truth is, I had to work very hard to make it look easy. I spent years whining, swearing, sorry, throwing my racket before I learned to keep my cool.

whine v. 抱怨

(Q2) The wakeup call came early in my career, when an opponent at the Italian Open publicly questioned my mental discipline. He said, “Roger will be the favorite for the first two hours, and then I’ll be the favorite after that.” I was puzzled at first. But eventually, I realized what he was trying to say. Everybody can play well the first two hours. You’re fit, you’re fast, you’re clear, and after two hours, your legs get wobbly, your mind starts wandering, and your discipline starts to fade. It made me understand I have so much work ahead of me, and I’m ready to go on this journey. I get it. My parents, my coaches, my fitness coach, everyone had been calling me out ― and now even my rivals were doing it. Players!!! Thank you! I’m eternally grateful for what you did, because you make me work harder. So I started to train harder. A lot harder, actually. But then I realized: winning effortlessly is the ultimate achievement. I got that reputation because my warm-ups at the tournaments were so casual that people didn’t think I had been training hard. But I had been working hard before the tournament, when nobody was watching. Maybe you’ve seen a version of this at Dartmouth.

wobbly adj. 摇摆的；不稳定的

call sb out 命令出动，请求出动

How many times did you feel like your classmates were racking up “A” after “A” without even trying while you were pulling all-nighters, loading up on caffeine maybe, crying softly in a corner of Sanborn Library? Hopefully, like me, you learned that “effortless” is a myth. I didn’t get where I got on pure talent alone. (Q5-1) I got there by trying to outwork my opponents. I believed in myself. But BELIEF in yourself has to be earned.

rack up 获胜，得分

pull all-nighters 开夜车，通宵学习

outwork v. 比……做得更好

There was a moment in 2003 when my self-belief really kicked in. I was at the ATP Finals, where only the best eight players qualify. I beat some of the top players I really, really, admired ― by aiming right at their strengths. Before, I would run away from their strengths. If a guy had a strong forehand, I would try to hit to his backhand. (Q3) But now, I would try to go after his forehand. I tried to beat the baseliners from the baseline. I tried to beat the attackers by attacking. I tried to beat the net rushers from the net.

kick in 开始生效，起作用

net rushers 网前攻击型选手

I took a chance by doing that. So why did I do it? To amplify my game and expand my options. You need a whole arsenal of strengths, so if one of them breaks down, you’ve got something left. When your game is clicking like that, winning is easy ― relatively. Then there are days when you just feel broken. Your back hurts, your knee hurts, and that’s a lot. Maybe you’re a little sick or scared. (Q5-2) But you still find a way to win. And those are the victories we can be most proud of. Because they prove that you can win not just when you are at your best, but especially when you aren’t.

arsenal n.（统称）武器

(Q4) Yes, talent matters. I’m not going to stand here and tell you it doesn’t. But talent has a broad definition. Most of the time, it’s not about having a gift. It’s about having grit. In tennis, a great forehand with sick racquet head speed can be called a talent. But in tennis, like in life, discipline is also a talent, and so is patience.

grit n. 勇气；毅力

racquet n. 球拍

Trusting yourself is a talent. Embracing the process, loving the process, is a talent. Managing your life, managing yourself ― these can be talents, too. Some people are born with them. Everybody has to work at them. From this day forward, some people are going to assume that because you graduated from Dartmouth, it all is gonna come easy for you. And you know what? Let them believe that as long as you don’t.

Part III. KEY

Q1. B. 细节题。文中提到：“The truth is, I had to work very hard to make it look easy... But it used to frustrate me when they would say, ‘He barely broke a sweat!’ Or ‘Is he even trying?’”当人们说他打球很轻松时，他感到沮丧，因为他认为这忽视了他所付出的努力。因此答案是B。

Q2. A. 细节题。文中提到：“The wakeup call came early in my career, when an opponent at the Italian Open publicly questioned my mental discipline.”这说明在意大利公开赛上，对手的评论让他意识到需要加强自己的心智训练。因此答案是A。

Q3. C. 细节题。文中提到：“But now, I would try to go after his forehand. I tried to beat the baseliners from the baseline. I tried to beat the attackers by attacking. I tried to beat the net rushers from the net.”这表明他通过主攻对手的优势，来增加比赛强度并拓展自己球路。因此答案是C。

Q4. D. 推理题。文中提到：“Yes, talent matters ... But talent has a broad definition. Most of the time, it’s not about having a gift. It’s about having grit.”他认为，天赋很重要，但天赋的定义应该更广泛。它不仅仅是指天赐的能力，还包括了毅力等其他品质。因此答案是D。

Q5. B. 主旨题。整个演讲强调了努力的重要性，所谓的“轻而易举”只是神话，并非事实。“I got there by trying to outwork my opponents.”和“But you still find a way to win. And those are the victories we can be most proud of.”这些句子都强调了努力以及迎难而上的必要性。因此答案是B。

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