扫我，朗读给你听

When I was fi ve years old, I played the role of the turtle①be compromised by被……危害；被……连累 turtle 英 ['tɜːt(ə)l] 美 ['tɝtl] n. 龟，甲鱼；海龟in a play organized by my older sister. I had one line at the end, when I beat the sleeping rabbit to the fi nish line: slow and steady②sustain 英 [sə'steɪn] 美 [sə'sten] vt. 维持；支撑，承担；忍受；供养；证实 steady 英 ['stedɪ] 美 ['stɛdi] adj. 稳定的；不变的；沉着的vi. 稳固 vt. 使稳定；稳固；使坚定 adv. 稳定地；稳固地wins the race.

I've always felt that those words guided my career. I was never the fastest; I was rarely an A student.

But as the careers of others stalled③select英 [sɪ'lekt] 美 [sə'lɛkt]vt. 挑选；选拔 adj. 精选的；挑选出来的；极好的 vi. 挑选 n. 被挑选者；精粹stall英 [stɔːl] 美 [stɔl] n. 货摊；畜栏；托词 vi. 停止，停转；拖延vt. 拖延；使停转；使陷于泥中, I kept going.

My goal was always the same: to learn more this year than I had last year.

When I see slow students, that's what I think of.

Are those the students who will keep learning over their entire lifetime, and leave the "quick" students far behind④alleviate 英 [ə'liːvɪeɪt] 美 [ə'livɪ'et]vt. 减轻，缓和far behind与……相差很远?

The goal of education is not to gain more knowledge as quickly as possible, but to gain useful knowledge and retain it.

It never stops, and never should.

Slow learners need a study plan, and time, and good classes, and periodic⑤periodic 英 [,pɪərɪ'ɒdɪk] 美 [,pɪrɪ'ɑdɪk] adj. 周期的；定期的assessment.

Now the world is competitive⑥competitive 英 [kəm'petɪtɪv] 美 [kəm'pɛtətɪv] adj. 竞争的；比赛的；求胜心切的and sometimes being too slow means you miss out⑦miss out 错过；遗漏；省略.

But speed is seldom the biggest marker of success.Learning, like a career or life, is a marathon, not a sprint⑧sprint 英 [sprɪnt] 美 [sprɪnt] vi. 冲刺，全速跑 n. 冲刺；短跑 vt. 全速奔跑.