A scholar (学者) asked a boatman to row him across the river. The journey was long and slow. The scholar was bored.

“Boatman,” he called out, “let’s have a talk.” He said to the backman, “Have you ever learned phonetics （语音学） or grammar?”

“No,” said the boatman, “those are not useful to me.”

“Too bad,” said the scholar. “You’ve wasted half your life. It’s useful to know the rules.”

Later, as the boat crashed into a rock in the middle of the river, the boatman turned to the scholar and said, “Forgive me. I’m not so clever as you. But, wise man,  please tell me if you have ever learned to swim.”

“No,” said the scholar, “I’ve never learned it.”

“In that case,” said the boatman, “you’ve wasted all your life. Look! The boat is sinking （下沉）!”

感悟智慧

不要取笑别人的短处，不要拿自己的长处与别人的短处比。其实，每个人都有自己的特长，只是在不同的环境下，每个人的特长有不同的用武之地罢了。切忌：The pot calls the kettle black. (看见人家黑，看不见自己黑。)

Exercises

1. 请用“waste”造句。

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2. 小朋友，除了上边提示的道理，你还能从这则故事得到什么启发呢？(用汉语作答即可)

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