正文
geometry /dʒiˈɒm.ə.tri/ 表示“几何学”，英文解释为“the area of mathematics relating to the study of space and the relationships between points, lines, curves, and surfaces”如：the laws of geometry 几何定律。
Many
advocates
for gifted education are similarly delighted by kids like me, seeing us as a kind of natural resource, one we risk
squandering
as surely as we do
fossil fuels
. Some educators rebrand child
prodigies
as "exceptional human capital" and hold us to be the drivers of global economic competitiveness. "These are the people who are going to figure out all the
riddles
," the Vanderbilt University psychologist David Lubinski said in a recent interview. "Schizophrenia, cancer—they're going to fight terrorism, they're going to create
patents
and the scientific innovations that drive our economy. But they are not given a lot of opportunities in schools that are designed for typically developing kids."
许多倡导资优教育的人也会为我这样的孩子而感到高兴，他们将我们视为一种自然资源，一种像化石燃料一样有可能被浪费的资源。一些教育者将天才儿童说成是“超常人力资本”，将我们视为提升全球经济竞争力的动力。范德堡大学（Vanderbilt University）的心理学家戴维·卢宾斯基（David Lubinski）近期接受采访时称：“这些人将解开所有谜题，无论是精神分裂症还是癌症——他们将与恐怖主义作斗争，他们还将创造出推动经济发展的发明专利和科学创新。但在为普通儿童设计的学校里，他们并没有获得充足的发展机会。”
advocate /ˈæd.və.keɪt/ 作名词，1）表示“拥护者；支持者；提倡者；主张人”，英文解释为“An advocate of a particular action or plan is someone who recommends it publicly.”如：an advocate for hospital workers 医院工作人员的支持者。
2）表示“为 (某团体) 谋利益者”，英文解释为“An advocate for a particular group is a person who works for the interests of that group.”如：advocates for the homeless 为无家可归者谋利益的人。
3）表示“辩护律师”，英文解释为“An advocate is a lawyer who speaks in favour of someone or defends them in a court of law.”
作动词，表示“主张；拥护；支持；提倡”，英文解释为“to publicly support or suggest an idea, development, or way of doing something”举个🌰：She advocates taking a more long-term view. 她主张把目光放得更长远一些。
squander /ˈskwɒn.dər/ 表示“浪费，挥霍（金钱或补给品）；糟蹋（机会）”，英文解释为“to waste money or supplies, or to waste opportunities by not using them to your advantage”举个🌰：They'll quite happily squander a whole year's savings on two weeks in the sun. 他们会心甘情愿地把全年的积蓄花掉，度两个星期的阳光假期。
📍《经济学人》（The Economist）一篇讲述新冠疫苗的文章中提到：Squandering lives when a vaccine is at hand would be especially cruel. 有疫苗可用还让人白白丧命只会显得特别残酷。
fossil fuel /ˈfɒs.əl ˌfjʊəl/ 表示“矿物燃料”，英文解释为“fuels, such as gas, coal, and oil, that were formed underground from plant and animal remains millions of years ago”
prodigy /ˈprɒd.ɪ.dʒi/ 表示“奇才，天才”，英文解释为“someone with a very great ability that usually shows itself when that person is a young child”
riddle /ˈrɪd.əl/ 表示“谜；谜语”，英文解释为“a type of question that describes something in a difficult and confusing way and has a clever or funny answer, often asked as a game”或者表示“奥秘；费解之事”，英文解释为“something that is confusing, or a problem that is difficult to solve”举个🌰：Scientists may have solved the riddle of Saturn's rings. 科学家们或许已经揭开了土星环的奥秘。
patent /ˈpeɪ.tənt/ 可以作名词，也可以作动词表示“申请专利”，英文解释为“to get the official legal right to make or sell an invention”举个🌰：If you don't patent your invention, other people may make all the profit out of it. 如果你不为你的发明申请专利权，其他人就会从中渔利。
Hearing this sort of thing was pretty
flattering
when I was a child. But today, I don't think we're paying too little attention to our young geniuses. I think we're paying too much.
小时候，我会把这种话当做溢美之词。而如今我却认为，我们对小天才们关注得不是太少，而是太多了。
flattering /ˈflæt.ər.ɪŋ/ 表示“使人显得更漂亮的；奉承的”，英文解释为“making someone look or seem better or more attractive than usual”如：a flattering photograph 更显漂亮的照片。
Dr. Lubinski and coauthor Camilla Benbow direct
the Study of Mathematically
Precocious
Youth
, based at Vanderbilt, the most ambitious attempt yet to follow the life course of the
prodigious
child.
卢宾斯基博士与合作者卡米拉·本博（Camilla Benbow）在范德堡大学共同领导了一项名为“数学早慧少年研究”（Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth）的项目，这是迄今为止规模最大的一项追踪天才儿童人生轨迹的研究。
