If you do not use your arms or your legs for some time, they will become weak; when you start using them again, they will slowly become strong again. Everybody knows that. Yet many people do not seem to know that memory works in the same way.
如果你的手臂或腿有一段时间不用，它们就会衰弱；当你再次使用它们，它们就会慢慢地变得结实起来。人人都知道这一点，可是许多人似乎不知道记忆也是这么回事。
When someone says that he has a good memory, he really means that he keeps his memory in practice by using it. When someone else says that his memory is poor, he really means that he does not give it enough chances to become strong.
当有人说自己有好记性，他实际上是说他通过使用记忆而不断地训练记忆力。当另外一个人说他的记性差，他实际上是说他不给记忆充分的机会变得强大起来。
If a friend says that his arms and legs are weak, we know that it is his own fault. But if he tells us that he has a poor memory, many of us think that his parents are to blame, and few of us know that it is just his own fault. Have you ever found that some people can't read or write but usually they have better memories? This is because they cannot read or write and they have to remember things; they cannot write down in a little notebook. They have to remember days, names, songs and stories; so their memories are the whole time being exercised.
如果一位朋友说他的手臂和腿虚弱，我们知道这是他自己的过错。但是如果他告诉我们他的记性不好，我们许多人会认为那怪他的父母，很少有人知道这也是他自己的过错。你可曾发现，有些人没有文化，但是他们通常有更好的记忆力？这是因为他们不能读写，只好记住事情;他们不能写在小笔记本上，而必须记住日子、姓名、歌曲和故事；所以他们的记忆力就一直处于训练之中。
So if you want to have a good memory, learn from those people: Practice remembering things in a way as they do.
因此，如果你想有好的记忆力，向那些人学习：按照他们的方法练习记住东西。
