經(jīng)典英語(yǔ)美文三篇
經(jīng)典英語(yǔ)美文三篇
英語(yǔ)作為學(xué)習(xí)生涯中必不可少的課程,想學(xué)好真的不容易。小編在此獻(xiàn)上英語(yǔ)美文,希望大家喜歡。
英語(yǔ)經(jīng)典美文欣賞
一切剛開(kāi)始 We're Just Beginning
"We are reading the first verse of the first chapter of a book whose pages are infinite…”
“我們正在讀一本書(shū)的第一章第一行,這本書(shū)的頁(yè)數(shù)是無(wú)限的……”
I do not know who wrote those words, but I have always liked them as a reminder that the future can be anything we want to make it. We can take the mysterious, hazy future and carve out of it anything that we can imagine, just as a sculptor carves a statue from a shapeless stone.
我不知道是誰(shuí)寫(xiě)的,可我很喜歡這句話,它提醒我們未來(lái)是由自己創(chuàng)造的。我們可以把神秘、不可知的未來(lái)塑造成我們想象中的任何模樣,猶如雕刻家將未成形的石頭刻成雕像。
We are all in the position of the farmer. If we plant a good seed, we reap a good harvest. If our seed is poor and full of weeds, we reap a useless crop. If we plant nothing at all, we harvest nothing at all.
我們每個(gè)人都像是農(nóng)夫。灑下良種將有豐收,播下劣種或生滿野草便將毀去收成。沒(méi)有耕耘則會(huì)一無(wú)所獲。
I want the future to be better than the past. I don't want it contaminated by the mistakes and errors with which history is filled. We should all be concerned about the future because that is where we will spend the remainder of our lives.
我希望未來(lái)比過(guò)去更加美好,希望未來(lái)不會(huì)沾染歷史的錯(cuò)誤與過(guò)失。我們都應(yīng)舉目向前,因我們的余生要用未來(lái)書(shū)寫(xiě)。
The past is gone and static. Nothing we can do will change it. The future is before us and dynamic. Everything we do will affect it. Each day brings with it new frontiers, in our homes and in our business, if we only recognize them. We are just at the beginning of the progress in every field of human endeavor.
往昔已逝,靜如止水;我們無(wú)法再作改變。而前方的未來(lái)正生機(jī)勃勃;我們所做的每一件事都將會(huì)影響著它。只要我們認(rèn)識(shí)到這些,無(wú)論是在家中還是在工作上,每天我們的面前都會(huì)展現(xiàn)出新的天地。在人類致力開(kāi)拓的每一片領(lǐng)域上,我們正站在進(jìn)步的起跑點(diǎn)。
英語(yǔ)美文欣賞
別讓這個(gè)時(shí)代越來(lái)越冷漠 Don’t Make the era More and More Indifferent
The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints; we spend more, but have less; we buy more but enjoy less.
我們這個(gè)時(shí)代在歷史上的說(shuō)法就是我們擁有更高的建筑,但是有更暴的脾氣;我們擁有更寬闊的高速公路,卻有更狹隘的觀點(diǎn);我們花費(fèi)得更多,擁有得卻更少;我們購(gòu)買(mǎi)得更多卻享受得更少。
We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, but more problems; more medicine, but less wellness.
我們的房子越來(lái)越大,家庭卻越來(lái)越小;便利越來(lái)越多,時(shí)間卻越來(lái)越少;學(xué)位越來(lái)越多,感覺(jué)卻越來(lái)越少;知識(shí)越來(lái)越多,觀點(diǎn)卻越來(lái)越少;專家越來(lái)越多,問(wèn)題也越來(lái)越多;藥物越來(lái)越多,健康卻越來(lái)越少。
We drink too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry too quickly, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.
我們喝得太多,花錢(qián)大手大腳,笑得太少,開(kāi)車太快,易怒,熬夜,賴床,書(shū)讀得越來(lái)越少,電視看得越來(lái)越多,卻很少向上帝祈禱。
We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life; we’ve added years to life, not life to years.
我們常??淇淦湔劊瑓s很少付出愛(ài)心,且常常心中充滿了仇恨。我們學(xué)會(huì)了如何謀生,而不知如何生活。我們延長(zhǎng)了生命的期限,而不是生活的期限。
We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor. We’ve conquered outer space, but not inner space; we’ve done larger things, but not better things.
我們登上了月球,并成功返回,卻不能穿過(guò)街道去拜訪新鄰居。我們已經(jīng)征服了太空,卻征服不了自己的內(nèi)心;我們的事業(yè)越做越大,但質(zhì)量卻沒(méi)有提高。
We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul; we’ve split the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less; we plan more, but accomplish less.
我們清潔了空氣,卻污染了靈魂;我們分離了原子,卻無(wú)法驅(qū)除我們的偏見(jiàn);我們寫(xiě)得更多,學(xué)到的卻更少;我們的計(jì)劃更多,完成的卻更少。
We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait; we have higher incomes, but, lower morals.
我們學(xué)會(huì)了奔跑,卻忘記了如何等待;我們的收入越來(lái)越高,道德水平卻越來(lái)越低。
We build more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever, but have less communication; we’ve become long on quantity, but short on quality.
我們制造了更多的計(jì)算機(jī)來(lái)存儲(chǔ)更多的信息,制造了最多的副本,卻減少了交流;我們開(kāi)始渴望數(shù)量,但忽視了質(zhì)量。
These are the days of two incomes, but more divorce; of fancier houses, but more broken homes.
這個(gè)時(shí)代有雙收入,但也有了更高的離婚率;有更華麗的房屋,卻有更多破碎的家庭。
These are the days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throw away morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. Where are we heading...?
這個(gè)時(shí)代有了快速旅游,免洗尿布,卻拋棄了道德、一夜情、超重的身體,以及可以從快樂(lè)中走向靜止和自殺的藥物。我們將走向何方……?
If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family we left behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.
如果我們明天就死掉,我們?yōu)橹ぷ鞯墓究赡軙?huì)在一天內(nèi)很輕易地找人代替我們的位置。但是當(dāng)我們離開(kāi)家人后,他們的余生將會(huì)在失落中度過(guò)。
And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than to our family an unwise investment indeed.
考慮一下吧,我們將自己的時(shí)間更多地投入到工作中,而放棄與家人在一起的時(shí)光,實(shí)在并非明智之舉。
So what is the morale of the story?
那么這則故事的主旨是什么呢?
Don’t work too hard... and you know what’s the full word of family?
不要工作得太辛苦,你知道家的全稱嗎?
FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER, (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU.
家=爸爸媽媽,我愛(ài)你們。
英語(yǔ)經(jīng)典美文欣賞
50%的希望 Fifty-percent Expectation
I believe in the "50-percent theory". Half the time things are better than normal; the other half, they are worse. I believe life is a pendulum swing. It takes time and experience to understand what normal is, and that gives me the perspective to deal with the surprises of the future.
我信奉“對(duì)半理論”。生活時(shí)而無(wú)比順暢,時(shí)而倒霉透頂,好壞參半。我覺(jué)得生活就像來(lái)回晃動(dòng)的鐘擺。讀懂生活的常態(tài)需要時(shí)間和閱歷,也正是這樣才練就了我面對(duì)未來(lái)榮辱不驚的生活態(tài)度。
Let's benchmark the parameters: Yes, I will die. I've dealt with the deaths of both parents, a best friend, a beloved boss and cherished pets. Some of these deaths have been violent, before my eyes, or slow and agonizing. Bad stuff, and it belongs at the bottom of the scale.
讓我們掂量這些點(diǎn)點(diǎn)滴滴:是的,我注定會(huì)死去。我已經(jīng)經(jīng)歷了雙親的仙逝,一位友人的亡故,一位敬愛(ài)的老板的離逝,還有心愛(ài)寵物的死亡。當(dāng)中一些變故突如其來(lái),直擊眼前;有些卻長(zhǎng)期折磨,痛苦不堪。糟糕的事兒,它們駐留谷底。
Then there are those high points: romance and marriage to the right person; having a child and doing those Dad things like coaching my son's baseball team, paddling around the creek in the boat while he's swimming with the dogs, discovering his compassion so deep it manifests even in his kindness to snails, his imagination so vivid he builds a spaceship from a scattered pile of Legos.
當(dāng)然生活也不乏熠熠光彩:墜入愛(ài)河締結(jié)良緣;養(yǎng)育幼子身為人父,訓(xùn)練兒子的棒球隊(duì),當(dāng)他和狗在水中嬉戲時(shí),搖槳?jiǎng)澊罢昂箢?,感受他如此?qiáng)烈的同情心——即使對(duì)蝸牛也善待有加,發(fā)現(xiàn)他如此活躍的想像力——即使零散的積木也能堆出太空飛船。
But there is a vast meadow of life in the middle, where the bad and the good flip-flop acrobatically. This is what convinces me to believe in the 50-percent theory.
但在它們發(fā)生期間有一片寬廣的草坪,在那兒上演的各種好事壞事像耍雜技一樣地翻新。這就是讓我信服對(duì)半理論的原因。
One spring I planted corn too early in a bottomland so flood-prone that neighbors laughed. I felt chagrined at the wasted effort. Summer turned brutal-- the worst heat wave and drought in my lifetime. The air-conditioner died,the well went dry, the marriage ended, the job lost, the money gone. I was living lyrics from a country tune -- music I loathed. Only a surging Kansas CityRoyals team, bound for their first World Series, buoyed my spirits.
有一年春天,我在一片容易被淹的低洼地過(guò)早種下了玉米,鄰居們都為此嘲笑我。一番心血付之東流讓我懊惱不已。接著我生命中最難熬的酷暑來(lái)臨了--熱浪襲人,釀至旱災(zāi)??照{(diào)失靈,水井枯竭,婚姻破裂,慘遭失業(yè),積蓄揮空。我正經(jīng)歷某個(gè)鄉(xiāng)村調(diào)頻描繪的情節(jié),我討厭這種音樂(lè)。只有一支人氣攀升的堪薩斯皇家棒球隊(duì)的小組因他們的第一次出征世界大賽團(tuán)結(jié)起來(lái)使我精神振奮。
Looking back on that horrible summer, I soon understood that all succeeding good things merely offset the bad. Worse than normal wouldn't last long. I am owed and savor the halcyon times. They reinvigorate me for the next nasty surprise and offer assurance that I can thrive. The 50 percent theory even helps me see hope beyond my Royals' recent slump, a field of struggling rookies sown so that some year soon we can reap an October harvest.
回想那個(gè)可怕的夏天,我不久就明白了所有的好事壞事不過(guò)是正負(fù)抵消。不順心的境遇不會(huì)延宕過(guò)久。太平時(shí)光是我應(yīng)得的,我要盡情享受。它們給我新的活力以應(yīng)對(duì)突如其來(lái)的險(xiǎn)境,并確保我再度輝煌。對(duì)半理論甚至幫我在我喜愛(ài)的皇家棒球隊(duì)最近的低潮中看到希望——這是一塊艱難行進(jìn)的新手們耕耘的土地,播種了,假以時(shí)日我們就可以收獲十月的金秋。
Oh, yeah, the corn crop? For that one blistering summer, the ground moisture was just right, planting early allowed pollination before heat,withered the tops, and the lack of rain spared the standing corn from floods. That winter my crib overflowed with corn -- fat, healthy three-to-a-stalk ears filled with kernels from heel to tip -- while my neighbors' fields yielded only brown, empty husks.
哦,對(duì)了,玉米收成?就那年炎熱的夏天,莊稼地的濕度恰到好處,過(guò)早的種植使授粉避開(kāi)酷熱在頂梢干枯前完成,雨水稀少使地里長(zhǎng)著的玉米免遭水災(zāi)。那年冬天,我的糧倉(cāng)里堆滿了玉米--飽滿結(jié)實(shí)的玉米每株稈上結(jié)三個(gè),每個(gè)玉米從底到頂端長(zhǎng)滿了玉米粒--而我的鄰居們地里長(zhǎng)出來(lái)的只是暗沉干癟的殼。
Although plantings past may have fallen below the 50-percent expectation, and they probably will again in the future, I am still sustained by the crop that flourishes during the drought.
盡管過(guò)去播種的收獲沒(méi)有達(dá)到50%的期望,而且將來(lái)也可能是這樣,我仍然要為經(jīng)歷旱季依然豐收的玉米而堅(jiān)守陣地。