Rising to the Top

By Amirah Ahmad

在美国这样一个有着多样化生源的环境中，亚裔学生的学习成绩常常会遥遥领先，给同龄的美国学生带来巨大压力。《华尔街日报》曾报道过发生在加州一所高中的“白人逃离”现象——亚裔软件工程师的子女让这所学校变成了竞争残酷的地狱，拿B成绩的学生在班上也算是差生，于是白人孩子们纷纷转校。那么，亚洲学生的学习方法以及他们对于成功的定义是否可取呢？让我们来听一听美国女孩Amirah的意见吧。

Looking up at the ceiling, Na He Jeon pours porridge into her mouth.She gingerly dips the bowl forward, dropping clumps of porridge directly down her throat, careful not to touch the 15 ulcers in her mouth.1. gingerly: 谨慎地，轻手轻脚地；dip: 倾斜；clump: 团，块；ulcer:溃疡。But it was the week before midterms, so she still had to study. Jeon was 1st out of 330 students on her exams that year. “Thank god I did,” she says, “If I hadn’t done well I would have been regarded as a failure.” By the end of the week, 14-year-old Jeon weighed a meager2. meager: 瘦的。83.6 pounds.

In high schools that display rankings, you’re likely to see students with last names like Li, Lee, Cho, Wang, or Kim at the top. With the highest test scores and grades in the class, Asians are demonstrating their academic talents to the utmost degree.3. demonstrate: 证明，展示； utmost:极度的，最大的。But they’re also exhibiting one important characteristic that causes people to either detest or admire the race: their inexorable work ethic.4. 但是他们同样展示了这样一个重要的特点，使得人们厌恶或是钦佩这个民族，那就是他们不屈不挠的职业道德。exhibit: 显示，展示；detest: 厌恶，憎恨；inexorable: 不屈不挠的，不可阻挡的；ethic: 伦理，道德。

Like Jeon, there are countless numbers of first generation Asian-Americans who strive to excel at everything.5. strive to: 努力去做某事；excel at:擅长。Yet the children themselves cannot all be put to blame for their efforts. Typically, it is the parents who are vicariously living a seemingly perfect life through their children.6. vicariously: 间接体验他人感受地，有同感地；seemingly: 看起来似乎，表面上看来。One such occurrence7. occurrence: 事件。is when I was at my hotel in Beijing. It was roughly around 8:00 p.m. when I decided to take a dip in the pool after dinner.8. roughly: 大致上，粗略地；take a dip: 去游泳。I jumped into the pool that was already spotted with a few Chinese children and I hadn’t realized what was going on until I took notice of the parents calling out orders and instructing their children. I saw various children all under the age of 10 taking laps9. lap: 圈。across the pool trying various styles. If a child’s foot was too bent, her parent would demand that she straighten it. If a child was kicking too slowly, his parent would order that he go faster. I couldn’t help but pity the children who were being mindlessly instructed. What I assumed was that while on vacation, these parents were taking the opportunity to give a swimming lesson, rather than just let them enjoy their time. Even when I left the pool around 9:00 p.m., the same children kept on swimming while their parents watched on the sidelines, ready to pounce on the opportunity to make a critique.10. sideline:（球场等的）界外地区；pounce on: 抓住并大肆利用……；critique: 评论，批评。

Either because of their parents or their own desire, first-generation Asian-Americans put forth11. put forth: 使出，发挥。their 110% in order to be accepted into one of the best American colleges. Driven by the merit of their actions, Asian-American students want to see A’s, 100%’s, and perfect scores. According to Jeon,Asians complain that students with a 4.0 GPA and 2,400 SAT simply cannot be rejected from top schools.12. GPA: Grade Point Average，平均成绩点数；SAT: Scholastic Assessment Test，（美国）学术能力评估测试，相当于美国高考。To their dismay13. dismay: 失望，沮丧。, however, they often are.

Their preparation prior to college is vexing14. vexing:令人烦恼的。. With such rigorous15. rigorous: 严格的，严厉的。studying for examinations and time put into their school work, I cannot even keep up. Some parents have already decided what college they want their child to attend. One of my father’s friends is already sure that she wants her child to attend college in Australia.

With such determination to succeed, however, these Asian contaminate a school’s atmosphere with cut-throat competition in education.16. 然而，这些志在必得的亚洲人用激烈残酷的学习竞争“污染”了学校的氛围。cut-throat: 凶狠的，残酷的。And although competition helps to motivate other students to do well, not everyone can put forth hours of reading textbooks, searching for online lectures, and meticulously creating detailed study plans for upcoming tests.17. motivate: 激励，使有动机；meticulously: 细致地，一丝不苟地。“One of my Chinese friends was the number one rank in GPA in our entire tenth grade class. The majority of Asians in my school are in the top fifty ranks for GPA,”said Maliha Ahmad, an up-coming junior in her Californian high school.Ahmad also admits to the stress she feels to do well among such hardworking students.

This relentless work ethic also manifests itself via sports and other extracurricular activities.18. 他们这种残酷的职业道德同样体现在体育运动和课外活动方面。relentless:无情的，残酷的；manifest: 表明，显示；via: 通过；extracurricular: 业余的，课外的。The other day I visited a gym. I walked in and adults were playing badminton and ping pong but what caught my eye were a little girl and a little boy near the ping pong tables. They were taking a brief rest when they resumed their lesson with each of their mentors.19. resume: 重新开始，继续；mentor: 指导者。Both the children looked so flushed and their eyes were clouded with such intensity that it was unsettling.20. 两个孩子都面红耳赤，神情紧张不安。 flushed:脸红的；intensity: 强度，紧张；unsettling:不安的。Like robots, they moved back and forth behind the table and smacked21. smack:（用某物）啪啪地打。the ping pong as soon as it approached them.

In the same way, Asian-American students tend to try and find an extracurricular activity. Typically, they choose an instrument. What sets Asian-Americans apart, however, is that they strive to be excellent in whatever it is that they do. Be it playing the piano or performing in math competitions, Asian-Americans look to be in first place.

Although it may cause unnecessary stress, such a driven work ethic is a commendable22. commendable: 值得赞美的。quality. Often blamed for lacking in creativity, Asian-Americans can actually counter the absence of imagination with their determination.23. 亚裔美国学生通常被指缺乏创造力，但是他们却可以用决心和毅力来弥补想象力的缺失。counter: 反击，还击。The average American can dream creative dreams, but that only matters if he or she can make it happen in reality. Asian-Americans, instead, can gather creative ideas to produce something tangible24. tangible: 切实的，有形的。.

Yet with such a drive to succeed, Asian-Americans have skewed25. skew: 歪曲，曲解。their definition of success. Rather than looking at personal achievement, they refer to numbers, statistics and scores to rate their success. It seems as if desire and the sense of free will are nonexistent in certain Asian-American students as they mercilessly drive themselves to an inevitable burnout.26. 在一些亚裔美国学生看来，似乎欲望和自由意识都是不存在的，他们只是无情地驱动自己直到精疲力竭。mercilessly: 残忍地，无情地；burnout:（因拼命工作导致的）精疲力竭。Their desire to be the most-talented is an impossible dream. In a futile27. futile: 无用的，徒劳的。attempt, they try to be the best in a world already full of winners.