组建团队挑人时 你会被选中吗

My secondary school, located in the same town, had a student body of roughly 1500. We had a small handful of blacks, Hispanics and Asian Americans, but the vast majority were white. A fairly significant number of students lived in “the city” and commuted up to an hour by school bus. As a result, the student body was slightly more diverse socio-economically than that of my primary school. Compared to primary school, academics were much more demanding and competitive, as were extracurricular activities, including sports.
我念的中学也在镇上，大约有1,500名学生，包括少数黑人、西班牙葡萄牙裔和华裔美国人，剩下绝大多数仍是白人。很多学生都住在“市里”，上下学需要坐1小时的校车，所以学生的社会经济构成比我小学时更复杂些。和小学相比，中学的学业要求更高，竞争更激烈，课外活动包括体育运动也是一样。

Today the demographics of the town and both schools is far more diverse racially and ethnically, and averages more in the upper middle class bracket. There are no nuns teaching in the primary school. Academic qualifications are much higher for teachers today. My high school, which was an all boys school, has been co-educational for quite a few years.
如今，无论是城镇还是中小学的人口构成在人种和民族上都更加多元化，而且平均都在中产偏上阶层。小学老师中已见不到修女，对教师的资质要求也大幅提升。我就读的男子高中多年前也开始男女同校。

I’m told by friends who stayed on in my home town and raised families there, that the type of spontaneous self-organized after-school sports which we enjoyed is basically a thing of the past.
留在老家成家立业的朋友告诉我，我们最爱的自发性课余体育活动早已时过境迁。

Kids today have less time available for free activities after school due to increased homework and more formally organized after-school activities. Parents also tend to worry more about their kids’ safety than in the “good old days,” so the kind of pick-up games we used to play are often considered off-limits.
如今，小孩们放学后作业太多，有组织的课余活动也多，所以很少有时间自由活动。和当年的“好日子”相比，家长们也更担心孩子的安全，所以我们以前常玩的游戏现在都被禁止了。

So that first reflection is more or less a local one.
这点感悟或多或少与美国相关。

The second reflection I would share has to do with teamwork, and how we learn about it; and this is more of a global one.
第二点感悟主要与团队合作及如何学会团队合作有关，更具有全球性。

Unlike many American schools today, teachers in my day rarely gave school assignments to teams of students. So after school sports was a relatively important place to learn about teamwork, because that really didn’t happen in the classroom.
和现在美国学校的情况不同，我当年的老师很少给学生布置集体任务，所以课余体育活动就成为学习团队合作比较重要的地方，因为课堂里确实学不到。

In hindsight, I learned a few things about teamwork from this experience, which I am grateful for.
后来我才发现，从这段经历中我学会很多团队合作的东西，对此我十分感恩。

You don’t have to be the best at something to be picked for a team. You need determination and the desire to win; to try your best against whatever odds you’re up against. You need to be accountable for your mistakes; and at the same time, willing to risk making mistakes. You need to be able to pick yourself up after getting knocked down. Obviously, you also need to balance your own interests with that of the team, no matter how talented you think you are.
能被队长选中不见得非要技术过人，但必须具备求胜的欲望和获胜的决心，能力排一切险阻，勇于承担错误并敢于犯错，被打倒了再爬起来，百折不挠。当然还要平衡个人与团队的利益，不管自认为个人的能力有多么突出。

Demographic and social change is continuous.
人口和社会的变革永不停歇。

Even against the backdrop of dramatic social change, we somehow need to learn how to be picked for, and to function effectively, within a team.
即使是在社会剧烈动荡的背景下，我们也要学会如何被队长选中，并且在队伍中发挥有效作用。

Parents and teachers should bear in mind that although test results and grades are important, some lessons — like learning how to work in teams — are not measured in school exams. Yet they are crucial to success in life and careers.
父母和老师应该牢记，成绩和级别固然重要，但某些课程——比如在团队中如何工作——是不能通过学校考试衡量的，但这些恰恰是人生和职业成功的关键。

As the world continues to shrink, becoming ever more globalized and closely interconnected on a real time basis, teamwork-related skills and qualities become even more crucial.
随着世界不断变小、全球化加剧、实时互动更加紧密，团队合作的技巧和水平也变得更为重要。

Last time I looked, there was no SAT, AP or GMAT exam for teamwork. Maybe there oughta be.
上次我看了一下，团队合作还没有SAT、AP、GMAT考试，也许应该考虑增设一下。