It’s almost impossible to go through life without experiencing some kind of failure. People who do so probably live so cautiously that they go nowhere. Put simply, they’re not living at all. But the wonderful thing about failure is that it’s entirely up to us to decide how to look at it.

    We can choose to see failure as “the end of the world” or as proof of just how inadequate we are. Or, we can look at failure as the incredible learning experience that it often is. Every time we fail at something, we can choose to look for the lesson we’re meant to learn. These lessons are very important; they’re how we grow, and how we keep from making that same mistake again. Failures stop us only if we let them.

    Failure can also teach us things about ourselves that we would never have learned otherwise. For instance, failure can help you discover how strong a person you are. Failing at something can help you discover your truest friends, or help you find unexpected motivation to succeed.

参考译文

人生几乎不可能不经历某种失败。没有失败过的人可能活得过于谨慎，以至于一事无成。简而言之，他们根本就没有真正地活过。但失败的绝妙之处就在于，如何看待失败完全取决于我们自己。

我们可以选择把失败看作“世界末日”，亦或当成自己能力不足的证明。或者，我们也可以把失败看作是极好的学习经验，而事实往往也的确如此。每当我们做某事失败时，我们可以去寻找我们应当吸取的教训。这些教训非常重要；它们是我们成长的方式，也能帮助我们避免重蹈覆辙。只有在我们允许时，失败才能阻挡我们前进的步伐。

失败同样也可以教会我们认识自己。如果没有失败，我们可能永远也无法这样认识自己。例如，失败可以帮助你认识到自己有多强大。在某些事情上的失败可以帮助你发现你最真诚的朋友，或者帮助你找到意想不到的成功动力。

生词本

go through            经受，通过                       

cautiously             adv. 慎重地，谨慎地

put simply             简而言之                           

be up to                胜任；取决于

inadequate           adj. 不充分的，不适当的   

incredible            adj. 难以置信的；极好的

be meant to do     打算，有意要                    

keep from doing   隐瞒；阻止

unexpected          adj. 意外的，想不到的       

motivation           n. 动机；积极性

试题解析

第一句：It’s almost impossible to go through life without experiencing some kind of failure.

表达难点：本句为“It is + adj.+ to do sth.”的结构，It作形式主语，真正的主语是后面的不定式短语，翻译时适当调整语序。

第二句：People who do so probably live so cautiously that they go nowhere.

表达难点：本句的主干为People live cautiously，属于主谓结构。其中who do so为定语从句，修饰主语People，其中so指代前面所说的go through life without…这一情况，在翻译时可前置。so...that...结构意为“如此……以至于……”，引导结果状语从句。go nowhere字面意思为“哪儿也没去”，此处引申为“一事无成”。

第三句：Put simply, they’re not living at all.

表达难点：词组not…at all意为“根本不”，本句中not living at all若译为“这些人没有在生活”不合逻辑，应结合上下文所要表达的意思，译为“这些人没有真正活过”。

第四句：But the wonderful thing about failure is that it’s entirely up to us to decide how to look at it.

表达难点：本句为复合句，句子主干为the wonderful thing is that…，是主系表结构。about failure是介词短语作后置定语，修饰主语the wonderful thing。that引导表语从句，从句中第一个it为形式主语，真正的主语是to后面的成分；从句中的how引导宾语从句，句末的it指代前面的failure。

第五句：We can choose to see failure as “the end of the world” or as proof of just how inadequate we are.

表达难点：本句为复合句，主语为We，谓语为choose to see，宾语为failure，as后面的内容为宾语补足语，其中or连接了两个并列补语成分。how引导的宾语从句是对前面的proof作说明，注意翻译时应作适当调整以符合中文表达习惯。

第六句：Or, we can look at failure as the incredible learning experience that it often is.

表达难点：本句与第五句的句子主干相似，也是“主谓宾＋宾补”的结构，其中look at...as...相当于上句中的see...as...，意为“把……看做……”。the incredible learning experience作宾语failure的补足语，此处experience译为有借鉴意义的“经验”较符合文章主题。that引导定语从句，修饰experience，翻译时可根据实际情况放在后面单独译出。

第七句：Every time we fail at something, we can choose to look for the lesson we’re meant to learn.

表达难点：本句为复合句，句子主干为We can choose to…。句子开头是由Every time引导的时间状语从句，意为“每当……”，lesson后面是省略了引导词的定语从句，修饰lesson，此处lesson意为“教训”，look for the lesson可译为“吸取教训”。

第八句：These lessons are very important; they’re how we grow, and how we keep from making that same mistake again.

表达难点：本句为分号隔开的两个并列部分，分号前后的句子均为主系表结构，分号前为简单句，分号后为复合句。在复合句中包含由and连接的两个表语从句，翻译时可根据汉语表达习惯进行适当调整或增删。keep from doing表示“阻止；避免”，此处可译为“避免重蹈覆辙”。

第九句：Failures stop us only if we let them.

表达难点：本句主干为Failures stop us，是主谓宾结构。only if 引导条件状语从句，表示“只有当……时”，them后面省略了stop us。

第十句：Failure can also teach us things about ourselves that we would never have learned otherwise.

表达难点：本句中，teach后面接双宾语，其中us是间接宾语，things是直接宾语，about ourselves作后置定语修饰things。that引导定语从句，同样修饰things。things about ourselves此处可意译为“认识自己”。would never have为虚拟语气，表示对过去情况的一种假设，意为“本不能……”。

第十一句：For instance, failure can help you discover how strong a person you are.

表达难点：For instance相当于for example，意为“例如”。how引导宾语从句，作discover的宾语，翻译时应注意语序。

第十二句：Failing at something can help you discover your truest friends, or help you find unexpected motivation to succeed.

表达难点：动名词短语Failing at something做主语，or连接两个并列的谓语动词help，句末的to succeed作后置定语修饰motivation，翻译时可提前，译为“成功的动力”。