20090901 -- Do Hard Things (1)

Do Hard Things

Alex and Brett Harris are challenging teens to choose leadership over laziness

Twin brothers Alex and Brett Harris are calling teenagers around the globe to rebel. And the brothers' message is getting out – they're among the most widely read young writers on the web.

Sounds dangerous, right?
Wrong. Instead of asking teens to rebel against authority, the 20-year-old Harris twins are challenging teens to rebel against low expectations. They believe today's society is teaching teens to be irresponsible. So the twins are encouraging young people to take a different path – the difficult one. It's a path that requires more work but also promises more rewards. The message is simple but powerful: Be ambitious, become a leader, change the world.

Redefining the teenage years
To get their message out, the twins from Oregon started a blog that has become worldwide movement - The Rebelution. The world "rebelution" is a combination of the words rebellion and revolution. Teens are encouraged to rebel against the saying, "Be young, have fun!" and instead to follow the motto, "Do hard things." The movements signals the beginning of a real revolution.



rebel v. 反判/反抗(發音的重音在後面)
rebel against someone/something
=> disobey
eg: Bobby rebels against his parents by doing everything they tell him not to do.
eg: Tom rebelled against his parents' plans for him to go to a private school.

rebel n. 反抗者(發音的重音在前面)

authority n. 權威/權柄
eg: In the classroom, the teacher is the authority.
eg: The students need to have respect for teachers' authority.

authority n. 職權
eg: She doesn't have the authority to hire or fire any employees.

authority n. 當權者/官方
eg: The local education authority decided to close the school.

ambitious adj. 有雄心的/野心勃勃的
=> have ambition, have big goal, have strong desire to achieve the goal
eg: Todd has ambitious plan. He wants to climb the ten highest mountains in Asia in one month.

revolution n. 革命/劇烈的變革
=> a huge change in society
eg: The Industrial Revolution changed the way people work. Many people moved from farm work to factory jobs.
eg: The oppression from the government eventually lead to revolution.
eg: The invention of the Internet caused a revolution in communication.

rebellion n. 反抗,反對
=> the act of rebel againt the authorith

motto n. 座右銘


//== Chat room ==//

列舉一項目時，通常最後一個會有連接詞and或or
本課文中的下列句子省略and的原因:
1.可以將所有的項目變成同等而不會特別強調最後一個項目
2.將and移除會讓聽眾覺得這個系列還有不斷延續下去的可能
Be ambitious, become a leader, change the world (and possibly much more).
Be ambitious, become a leader and change the world.

milk, juice and bread

of the people, by the people, for the people
lettuce, tomato, onion, ketchup, mustard

每個項目都加上連接詞and或是or
這樣會把速度放慢，而每個項目都有同等的地位
amazed and thrilled and exhausted and scared
a flat tire or a traffic jam or a bad storm




//== Did you know ==//

When 16-year-old Zach Hunter was in several grade, he started an organization called "Loose Change to Loose Chains." The group helps young people start school clubs to fight slavery and to educate consumers about products made with slave labor. Pennsylvania high schooler Jaime Coleman started a shoe-collecting project called "Walk Humbly" in 2007. Through it, she collected 4,200 pairs of shoes for people in Karogoto, Kenya.