一位年轻人在大学读书,有一天他向校长提出了改进大学教育制度弊端的若干建议。他的意见没被校长接受。于是,他决定自己办一所大学,来消除这些弊端。 办学校至少需要100万美元。上哪儿去找这么多钱呢?他每天都在寝室内苦思冥想如何能有100万美元同学们都认为他有神经病,梦想钱从天上掉下来。但是,年轻人不以为然,坚信自己可以筹到这笔钱。 终于有一天,他想到了一个办法。他打电话到报社说,他准备明天举行一个演讲会,题目是《如果我有100万美元》。第二天的演讲吸引了许多商界人士。面对台下诸多成功人士,他在台上全心全意、发自内心地说出了自己的构想。最后演讲完毕,一个叫菲利普•亚默的商人站了起来,说:“小伙子,你讲得非常好。我决定投资100万,就照你说的办。”就这样,年轻人用这笔钱办了亚默理工学院,也就是现在著名的伊利诺理工学院的前身 这个年轻人就是后来备受人们爱戴的哲学家和教育家冈索勒斯。 If I Have One Million Dollars A young man pursued studies at the university. One day he proposed to the president some suggestions about how to improve the university education system’s malpractice. His opinion was not accepted by the president. So he decided to run a university independently and eliminate these drawbacks. To run the school would require at least one million dollars. Where would he find so much money? Every day he was in the bedroom thinking hard how to get one million dollars. His classmates thought he was crazy, dreaming the money would fall from the sky. But the young man didn't think so, firmly believing that he could raise the money. Finally, one day he thought out a way. He called the newspaper that tomorrow he would hold a lecture titled If I Have One Million Dollars." The next day the speech attracted many business people. In presence of the audience and many successful people, he spoke out his idea. At last, after the speech, a businessman called Philip Armer stood up and said, “Young man, you spoke so well. I decide to invest one million dollars as you said." Thus, with the money the young man ran Armer Polytechnic Institute, which is now the predecessor of famous Illinois Polytechnic Institute. This young man was the philosopher and educator Gunsaulus widely loved and esteemed later. malpractice 营私舞弊;胡作非为 eliminate 消除;排除 in presence of 在······面前 predecessor 前身,前任;原有事物 esteem 尊敬,敬重 |