Hello. Welcome back.

大家好！欢迎回到华美中加高中!

Have you ever wondered why your friend can always eat so much and never seems to get heavy, or how easily a friend plays sports, or how easily some people make friends?你曾想过为什么别人吃那么多却从来不会发胖，为什么你的朋友很容易就学会各种运动，为什么一些人轻而易举就交上朋友？

Maybe you wonder why some of your classmates always seem to get high marks when you don’t, even though you know you’re working hard. Or how some people seem to be so good at English. 也许你会问为什么我的同学总是拿高分而你却不能，尽管你知道自己很努力地学习。或者会问一些人好像天生就是学英语的料。

Do you ask yourself why your roommate can always have the latest phone, handbag or basketball shoes? Or why they get to travel around the world on vacations.也许你会问自己为什么我的同学总有最潮的手机，最漂亮的手袋，最流行的运动鞋？为什么他们可以在假期时到世界各地旅游？

Do you?你问过自己吗？

Well if you do, then you might agree with me that life is not fair.如果 回答是，那么你会同意我所说的：生活是不公平的.

It’s easy to see this when we look at ourselves. 看看我们自己，不难发现生活其实是不公平的。

But do you ever stop to consider how other peoples’ lives may be unfair? 但是，你曾停下来思考过别人的生活也许也不公平？

More than 10% of people in China live on 10 RMB a day. That’s less than what most of us spend for lunch, and you cannot buy any drink coffee at Starbucks for 10 RMB. Did you think about that? 在中国，超过人口总数10%的人他们一天的生活费用仅仅10块钱。10块钱对于我们大部分人来讲就相当于一顿午餐，我们甚至不能用它在星巴克买一杯咖啡。你曾想过这个问题吗？

At nighttime when you are studying in your classroomchildren across Huamei Rd are also studying in their parents’ restaurants or shops, or on the street beside their parents who are selling snacks. 在晚上，当你坐在教室里学习，华美路边的那些小孩也在他们爸妈的餐厅或商店里学习，或挨在街边卖零食的父母身边学习。

What about the gaokao? I am very happy I didn’t have to write the gaokao, and you should be happy too!有想过 高考吗？我很高兴我不用参加高考，而你也应该感觉到庆幸。

Many people cannot travel easily, but all of you will go overseas after you leave Huamei. 很多人都不能轻易花钱去旅游，但是你们离开华美后都能到国外学习。

Now, some people might think that, yes, it is true life is unfair, but there is nothing we can do about it. How can we change our country’s ideas, or make our governments make the world a better place?现在，一些人可能会同意，是的，生活是不公平的，但是我们有什么办法呢！我们怎么去改变国家的政策? 怎么让政府把世界改造好一些?

I don’t know the answer to these questions, but I do know that we can all make the world a little less unfair in small ways.  我不知道如何回答上面的问题，但是我们可以用我们自己的能力一步一步让这个世界变得公平一点。

For example: 举个例子吧：

It’s not fair when we teachers don’t work hard to help you understand your lessons or try our best to give you the fairest grade.  如果我们作为老师不好好上课帮助学生理解课程或者不竭尽所能给学生最公正的分数，那是不公平的！

It’s not fair that many of you get to go to another country to study, so you should work hard to use this good chance.如果所有学生都能够到国外读好的大学，那是不公平的，因此你应该好好努力珍惜这个机会。

It’s not fair when we are lazy and drop our garbage on the ground. Or when we think , oh, an Ayi or Shushu will pick it up. It’s not fair when we make their lives more difficult in this way. 如果我们因为懒惰而把垃圾扔在地上，认为那些清洁阿姨或叔叔会捡起，那是不公平的。如果我们以这种方式给别人生活带来麻烦，那是不公平的。

And it’s not fair to think that you are bad at everything and not a good person. That you are too tall, too short, too ugly, too fat, too skinny or too stupid to be special. Everyone is special.  另外，你认为自己什么都不好，或者不是一个好人，那是不公平的。有人很高，有人很矮，有人很丑，有人很瘦，有人很笨，有人很另类，每个人都是独特的！

So the first thing I want us to remember today is that life is unfair, but we can help make life less unfair for others and for ourselves.因此，今天首先我们要记住的是生活是不公平的，但是我们可以尽自己的的微薄之力让自己和别人的生活变得公平一些！

The second thing I want us to remember is this: 其次，我们要记住，

“It’s not how far we get in life that is important, but how far we’ve come.” 生活能走多远并不重要，重要的是我们已走多远。

Let me explain by giving you an example. 举例解释我上面的观点：

Tell me for which of these two people it will be easier to learn English. Listen carefully please: 告诉我下面两个人谁学习英语更容易一些？ 请仔细听：

Student #1’s 学生1

parents are English teachers at the best middle school in the city. He travels to England every summer and on the weekends he has a foreign teacher come to his house to teach him English. 父母都是本城里最有名中学的老师，他每个夏天都可以到英国旅游，并且在周末也有外语老师辅导他的英语学习。

Now what about Student #2: 学生2

Neither of her parents went to university. She is from the countryside and none of her family can speak English. Her parents are not poor, but she has never travelled outside of her province, not even to Hong Kong. 父母都没有上过大学，她是农村长大的孩子，家里没人会说英语，她的父母并不算穷困，但是她从来没有出过省旅游，更不用说去香港了。

Now which person do you think will learn English more easily? Student 1, or student 2? 现在，请告诉我哪个学生学习英语更容易一些？学生1还是学生2？

I think most would agree student 1 has a higher chance of success. 我想大部分人都会选择学生1学习英语有更高机会取得成功。

But if both of these people learn English well, which person do you think we should admire more? 但是如果他们都能够学好英语，那你又会更羡慕谁呢？

The second person, that’s right because the second girl had a bad start, but made excellent progress. The first boy had a good start, and so it is understandable he should also have a good result. 学生2，是的，因为学生2学习英语开头难，但是取得很大的进步。学生1学习英语本来就有个好的开始，因此他学好英语是理所当然的。

This year at HBIC I want all of us to think about other people whose lives are more difficult than ours. 今年，在华美中加高中的所有人都应该想想那些生活比我们更困难的人。

I also want us to remember that we are not successful because of where we are now, but where we have come from. 其次，请紧记，我们现在所处位置并不算成功，只能证明我们从哪里来。

Let’s hope that all of us can have a good semester. Thank-you.

恭祝大家有一个新的学期！

谢谢！

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