It had been troubling a little boy for long—his deskmate could rank (排列) the 1st in the class every time while he only ranked the 21st.
At home, he asked his mom, "Mom, am I more stupid than others? I feel I'm as hard-working as my deskmate, but 1 do I always fall behind?" His mom went wordless, not knowing how to explain to her son properly and 2 hurting him at the same time.
In another test, the boy ranked the 15th and his deskmate remained the 1st. Back home, he raised the same 3 . Mom really wanted to tell her son that intelligence is different, which means that students ranking the 1st are supposed to be 4 than others. However, was this answer in her son's best interest? Thank goodness she did not open her mouth.
There were many times she wanted to tell her son, "Your father and I used to be outstanding. Why aren't you just as clever as we are?" She stopped because she didn't want to put too much stress on 5 . She needed a better answer.
Time went by quickly. 6 he made great efforts, he was still unable to keep up with his deskmate. To reduce the stress on her son, Mom decided to take him to the sea. During the trip, she finally 7 to give him an answer.
Now, the boy no longer 8 his rankings, because he has entered a top university with the 1st ranking. Later he mentioned that valuable experience, "When my mother and I were sitting on the beach, she pointed to the front and said, 'Do you see the little seabirds and clumsy seagulls (笨拙的海鸥) over there? When the waves (海浪) come near, little seabirds can rise 9 while it would take longer for clumsy seagulls to complete the process. However, have you noticed that it is clumsy seagulls that finally fly 10 the endless sea and get to the other side?' You might be a little slower, but if you keep trying, you will be the one who will make it!"
