Careful and Careless
Careful and careless are as different as fire and water. But strangely, many scientists have both these qualities, that is, they are both careful and careless. Newton, the well known English scientist, is such a person.
Once Newton invited a friend to dinner at home. When they were ready to eat, Newton left to get a bottle of wine. But after his friend had waited for a long time, Newton still didn't come back. Finally his friend found Newton in his lab. The reason was that when Newton was going to get the bottle of wine, he suddenly had a new idea for the experiment he was doing, so he completely forgot his friend and the dinner. There was another time when Newton was leading a horse up a mountain holding the rein in his hand. While he was walking, he kept thinking of problems he had met in his studies. When he got to the top of the mountain, he found that the rein was not in his hand and the horse was gone.
Many scientists are careless about how they live. This is because they are too careful in their studies.
[点评]
细心和粗心是我们经常要谈到的话题。一般人一想到这个话题，就会从细心的好处，粗心的坏处开始议论，而本文作者却别具匠心，用大科学家牛顿的例子来说明这两种水火不容的品格是如何集于一人之身。其实现实生活中也不乏这样的例子。读者从此文中应学的东西是作者不同寻常的构思。
[参考译文]
细心与粗心
细心与粗心，就像火与水一样的不同。然而奇怪的是，许多科学家都有这方面的特点。换句话说，他们既粗心，也细心。英国著名的科学家牛顿，就是这样一个人。
曾经有一次，牛顿邀请一位朋友到家吃饭。当他们准备好吃饭时，牛顿离开饭桌去拿一瓶酒。可是他朋友等了好久，也没有见牛顿出来。最后他朋友发现牛顿在实验室里。原来牛顿去拿酒时，突然对他正在做的实验产生了新的想法，因此，他把他朋友和饭全忘了。还有一次，牛顿赶着一匹马上山，手里抓着缰绳。他边走，边想着他在研究中所遇到的问题。当到山顶时，他发现缰绳已不在手里，马也不见了。
许多科学家在生活中都很粗心。那是因为他们在工作中太细心了。
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