On Study(論學習)

As food is to the body, so is learning to the mind. Our bodies grow and muscles develop with the intake of adequate nutritious food. Likewise, we should keep learning day by day to maintain our keen mental power and expand our intellectual capacity. Constant learning supplies us with inexhaustible fuel for driving us to sharpen our power of reasoning, analysis, and judgment. Learning incessantly is the surest way to keep pace with the times in the information age.

【註解】

As food is to the body, so is learning to the mind.

學習對心靈(的重要性)，如同食物對身體(的重要性)。 So引導的從句用部分倒裝結構

intake of adequate nutritious food.攝取足夠的營養物質

likewise 同樣的

day by day 日復一日的

maintain 維持，保持

keen mental power 敏銳的精神力

expand our intellectual capacity擴大我們的智力儲備

inexhaustible fuel取之不竭的燃料

sharpen強化

reasoning推導，推理

incessantly不停地

is the surest way 最確切的方式

keep pace with the times 跟上時代的步伐

information age 信息時代

Once learning stops, vegetation sets in. It is a common fallacy to regard school as the only workshop for the acquisition of knowledge. On the contrary, learning should be a never-ending process, from the cradle to the grave. With the world ever changing so fast, the cease from learning for just a few days will make a person lag behind. What's worse, the animalistic instinct dormant deep in our subconsciousness will come to life, weakening our will to pursue our noble ideal, sapping our determination to sweep away obstacles to our success and strangling our desire for the refinement of our character. Lack of learning will inevitably lead to the stagnation of the mind, or even worse, its fossilization. Therefore, to stay mentally young, we have to take learning as a lifelong career.

【註解】

vegetation 植被；單調的生活

set in 開始

fallacy 謬論

acquisition 學得，獲得

cradle 搖籃

grave 墳墓

lag 掉隊

animalistic 動物的

instinct 本能

dormant 靜止的，休眠的，冬眠的

subconsciousness 潛意識

weakening our will 削弱我們的意志

pursue 追求

noble ideal 崇高的理想

sap 削弱

sweep away obstacle 掃除障礙

strangle our desire 扼殺我們的慾望

refinement 精鍊，改善

inevitably 不可避免的

stagnation 停滯

fossilization 石化，僵化

a lifelong career 一生的事業