English Original
Little Tommy was doing very badly in math. His parents had tried everything: tutors, flash cards, special learning centers—in short, everything they could think of. Finally, in a last-ditch effort, they enrolled him in the local Catholic school.
After the first day, Tommy came home with a very serious look on his face. He didn't greet his mother with a kiss. Instead, he went straight to his room and started studying. Books and papers were spread out everywhere, and Tommy was hard at work. His mother was amazed. She called him down for dinner, and to her shock, as soon as he finished, he marched back to his room without a word and immediately resumed studying just as intensely. This pattern continued day after day, leaving his mother puzzled about what had caused such a dramatic change.
Finally, Tommy brought home his report card. He quietly placed it on the table, went up to his room, and continued studying. With great trepidation, his mother looked at it and was surprised to see that Tommy had received an A in math. She could no longer contain her curiosity. She went to his room and asked, "Son, what was it? Was it the nuns?"
Tommy looked at her and shook his head. "No."
"Well then," she replied, "was it the books, the discipline, the structure, the uniforms? What was it?"
Tommy looked at her and said, "Well, on the first day of school, when I saw that guy nailed to the plus sign, I knew they weren't fooling around."
中文翻译
小汤米的数学成绩一直很差。他的父母尝试了所有办法：请家教、用抽认卡、上特殊学习中心——总之，他们能想到的都试过了。最后，作为孤注一掷的努力，他们把他送进了当地的天主教学校。
第一天放学后，汤米回到家，脸上表情非常严肃。他没有像往常一样亲吻母亲打招呼，而是径直走进自己的房间开始学习。书本和纸张铺满了房间，汤米正埋头苦读。他的母亲感到非常惊讶。她叫他下来吃晚饭，更让她震惊的是，汤米一吃完就一言不发地走回房间，立刻又像之前一样刻苦学习起来。日复一日，这种情况持续了一段时间，母亲百思不得其解，究竟是什么带来了如此巨大的变化。
终于，汤米把成绩单带回了家。他静静地把它放在桌上，上楼回到房间继续学习。母亲怀着极大的不安看了看成绩单，惊讶地发现汤米的数学得了个A。她再也按捺不住自己的好奇心，走到他的房间问道：“儿子，到底是什么原因？是因为那些修女吗？”
汤米看着她，摇了摇头。“不是。”
“那么，”她追问道，“是因为那些书、严格的纪律、教学体系，还是校服？到底是什么？”
汤米看着她说：“嗯，开学第一天，当我看到那个人被钉在加号上时，我就知道他们可不是闹着玩的。”