徐鹏

2013年初春的一天，徐鹏的班主任老师把他叫到一边，说他有可能成为毛坦厂有史以来第一个考入清华大学的学生。这座位于北京的著名高校被誉为中国的麻省理工学院（MIT）。

Xu 's head teacher pulled him aside early in the spring of 2013 to tell him that he had a chance to become the first Maotanchang student ever to be admitted to Beijing 's prestigious Tsinghua University , known as the M.I.T. of China .

可供选择的高中很少，徐鹏选择了毛坦厂中学。

With few options left for high school , Xu turned to Maotanchang .

毛坦厂最有名的毕业生是19岁的徐鹏。他身材瘦削，头发耷拉下来遮住了眼睛。

Maotanchang 's most famous graduate is a skinny 19-year-old with hair flopping over his eyes .

到毛坦厂后不久，徐鹏就觉得，老师们还不够严酷。

Not long after arriving at Maotanchang , Xu decided that his teachers weren 't cruel enough .

清华大学在安徽省招收理科生的最低分数线是641分，徐鹏高出两分。

Tsinghua 's minimum score for students from Anhui province taking the science exam was 641 . He made it by just two points .

状元指的是古代科举考试中的第一名。上一学年，毛坦厂中学的管理层把徐鹏请回校园，向300名经过挑选的学生，也就是每个班成绩排名最高的学生，做励志演讲。

Maotanchang administrators brought Xu back to campus during the previous school year to give a motivational speech to 300 specially selected students - the top scorers from each class .

尽管努力要让母亲高兴，但是徐鹏在中考时还是失利了，没能进入该地区最好的高中。

Despite bearing down to please his mother , Xu still faltered on the high-school entrance exam , ruining his chance to get into the region 's best high schools .

和中国的6000万“留守儿童”一样，徐鹏是由祖父母带大的，父母则在遥远的城市无锡贩卖水果。

Xu grew up as one of China 's 60 million " left behind " children , raised by his grandparents while his parents worked as migrant fruit sellers in the distant city Wuxi .

然而，当徐鹏在初中表现失控时——逃课，与朋友偷偷外出，沉迷于电子游戏——祖父把父母叫回了宏景村（音）。

His grandfather summoned his parents home to Hongjing village , however , when Xu spun out of control in middle school - skipping classes , sneaking out with his friends , becoming obsessed with video games .

在毛坦厂的第三年，母亲也来到这里，带着徐鹏住进了在镇上租的房间。这时徐鹏的考试成绩开始提高到年级第一——几千人中的第一名。

By his third year at Maotanchang , when his mother came to live with him in a rented room in town , Xu 's test scores began rising to the top of his grade - first among thousands .

去年春天，我在清华大学校园里的一片草坪上和徐鹏碰面，当时他的第一学年就快结束，但仍然显得有些格格不入：一个来自农村的年轻人，穿着破旧的外套，袖子捋到了手臂上。

When I met Xu on Tsinghua 's grassy campus last spring , near the end of his first year , he still looked out of place : a young villager in a threadbare blazer , sleeves pushed up his arms .

徐鹏的成就在毛坦厂家喻户晓，以至于杨维把他称作“偶像”。徐鹏和他母亲之前租住的房间，如今被宣传为“状元房”。

Xu 's achievement is so well known in Maotanchang that Yang refers to him as " a cult figure . " The tiny space that Xu and his mother rented out last year is now advertised as the " zhuangyuan room , " a reference to the top scorer in the ancient imperial exam .