上周，孙钋犹犹豫豫地走进办公室，请求我写一篇考研英语作文，见我面露难色，便神情忐忑。我不太擅长这类文章，限制太死，八股气过浓，无从发挥。为了配合工作，只得硬着头皮答应了。

拿来07年考题，又是看图说话。罚点球的场景。射手的想象里，守门员如庞然大物，对球门严防死守，自己信心全无。相反，守门员认为自己渺小如蚁，而球门宽大无边。要求：一描述，二谈意义，三举例。应该是谈信心或对困难的态度吧。

可以想象当时考研学子的绝望。“点球”的英文说法，想必大多考生望而生叹。尤其那些学习刻苦，不闻身外事的同学。虽可用其他方式表达，但当时的心理打击，足以令人锐气顿失,方寸大乱。

这已是连续几年涉及运动的题材了。国内的作文考试向来强调politically correct。08奥运指日可待，举国上下，众望所归。考研作文躬逢其盛，少不得要趋身逢迎，涉猎体育项目，委身屈就,成了体育专业入学考试。可惜，莘莘学子们熊猫盼盼般熬黑的眼圈，付之阙如。

我叹了口气，提笔应答：

Any success calls for confidence, especially in that intense moment of a football penalty-kick. As is shown in the cartoon, a nervous player is standing by the penalty spot, facing up with his opponent, the goalkeeper. Interestingly enough, they have different perceptions on their minds, the player imagining the goalkeeper as an immense obstacle looming ahead of him, while the goalkeeper, in turn, pictures himself as a hopeless defender guarding a huge gate.

The message conveyed in this cartoon is twofold. For one thing, one has to build up one’s self confidence to deal with difficulties in life. Only with appropriate confidence is he able to calm down and get a tough situation under control. For another, one tends to exaggerate difficulties in the first place and thus intimidate oneself unnecessarily. Reducing himself to a coward, a dispirited person will surely be doomed to failure. 

An ancient Chinese legend offers a ready example. An old man named the Fool set up his mind to remove a mountain blocking the village’s way, disregarding mocking comments from his fellow villagers as they saw him and his sons setting out to work, shovel by shovel. The Fool believed that after his death the work would be handed down from one generation to another until the mountain was finally leveled. Moved by his determination, God had the mountain moved away. The old Fool’s confidence in himself and contempt for difficulties eventually paid off.