文登考研英語連載（七）：嘗試新事物的好處

The Advantages of Trying New Things

Everyone likes to succeed at what he does, and it is more likely that we will succeed at things we already know how to do well. However, to limit ourselves to doing only those things which we are good at will cause us to miss many opportunities to develop other interests and skills. For this reason, I believe that it is to our advantage to try new things and take risks.

When we try something new we may fail. That is the risk that we take. But we can still learn something from our failure, even if it is only how to cope with failing. We may also succeed at a new activity and this will bring us a feeling of accomplishment and greater self-confidence. We may also discover a new interest that will bring pleasure to our lives or lead to a new line of work. Furthermore, it is not always possible to play it safe and do only those things that we know. We cannot control every situation and no doubt we will someday meet with challenges. If we already have the experience of testing ourselves in an unfamiliar situation, we will be better able to handle any situation which arises.

To sum up, trying new things and taking risks allow us to develop both our skills and our personal interests. When we take a risk we cannot know beforehand what will happen, but if we try our best we are certain to gain something positive from the experience whether we win or lose.

參考譯文：

嘗試新事物的好處

每個人都希望所做的事情可以成功，而如果我們已經知道如何才能把事情做好時就比較可能成功。然而，限定自己只做那些我們擅長的事將會使我們錯過許多發展其他興趣和技能的機會。基于這個理由，我認為嘗試新事物和冒險對我們有好處。

我們嘗試新事物時可能會失敗，這就是我們所要冒的風險。但是我們仍然可以從失敗中學習，即使學到的只是如何面對失敗。我們可能也會在新的嘗試中成功，而這會帶給我們成就感，并更有自信。我們也可能發現新的興趣，為生活增添樂趣，或使自己從事新的行業。此外，一直只做我們所了解的事而不冒任何風險是不可能的。我們可能控制各種情況，而且無疑有一天我們一定要面對挑戰。如果我們已經有過在不熟悉的情況下考驗自己能力的經驗，我們就比較能夠應付所發生的任何情況。

總之，嘗試新事物和冒險能讓我們培養技能和個人的興趣。當我們冒險時，我們無法預知會發生什么事，但如果我們盡力而為，不論結果是輸是贏，我們必定可以從這次的經驗中獲得一些積極的啟示。