英语经典美文(通用)
在现实生活或工作学习中，大家一定看过美文吧？什么是美文？就像一千个人心中就有一千个哈姆雷特一样，每个人心目中都有自己衡量美文的标准。你知道怎么才能写好美文吗？以下是小编为大家收集的英语经典美文，欢迎大家分享。
英语经典美文1
Friday and the Thirteenth
Friday-the Thirteenth has long been considered extremely unlucky because it has some bad associations which came from mythology,tale of the Bible,and the customs and habits. According to the Bible,the Lord God created the first man,Adam.Then he took a rib from Adam's body and out of it created the first woman, Eve. It was said that Adam was created on a Friday and it was on Friday that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit,and on a Friday they died.
Friday was also the common day in England for executing criminals , for which it was sometimes known as Hanging Day.
From the old Norse myth people got the idea that 13 people sitting at a table to have a dinner was unlucky. And this superstition was confirmed by the last supper of Christ and his disciples. Bible tells us that Christ sat down with his 12 disciples, which made up the number 13, at the last supper when Judas, one of the 12 disciples , sold his master for thirty pieces of silver. Christ was killed by nailing on the cross the following day on a Friday.
英语经典美文2
When Pable Picasso was a little boy, he lived in a small town in Spain. His mother liked to call him “Piz”. It is the Spanish word for pencil. As a baby, he liked pencils and chalks better than any of his toys.
巴勃罗.毕加索小时候住在西班牙的一个小镇上。他母亲喜欢叫他“皮兹”。这是“铅笔”的西班牙语单词。他从小就喜欢铅笔和粉笔胜过任何的玩具。
Picasso’s father was an artist, He spent a lot of time teaching the little boy how to draw.
毕加索的父亲是个画家。他花了大量时间教他儿子怎样绘画。
Drawing was Picasso’s great pleasure. He usually sat by the windows and drew pictures of pigeons.
绘画成了毕加索很大的'乐趣。他通常坐在窗户旁边画鸽子。
One day his father came back, He stood for a long time looking at Picasso’s picture. The pigeons in the picture looked quite real.
有一天，他父亲回来了。他站了很长时间观察毕加索画的画。画中的鸽子看上去十分逼真。
His father gave all his brushes and paint to Picasso. He told his son that from then on there would be only one artist in the family.
毕加索的父亲把所有的画笔和颜料全给了他。他对他儿子说，从那个时候起家中只有一个画家。
英语经典美文3
"I'm going to marry you one day." Beth said to her long time crush Jake. She wore her favorite blue teddy bear shirt. Her four-year-old blue eyes shined in the sun.
"No you're not, you're a girl." Jake said.
The California afternoon wind blew his light brown hair. Jumping off the monkey bars he laughed back to class.
Sitting alone and confused she didn't know what to do. Beth sat high on the monkey bars crying. How can her future husband just leave like that?
She was going to get him, but how? "I will not let him get away! I won't! I won't!"
15 years later:
"I love you, too, Jake." Hanging up the phone she caught her mom smiling. "What?"
"When is he coming in from France? He's been there for awhile." She sat down on her black leather couch. The house was made up of different Indian stuff. On the walls were different dream catchers. Her mother was a full blood Cherokee Indian. She passed away when Beth was eight.
"He has a lot of schooling to do right now. Maybe this Saturday."
Fixing her short overalls she thought of Jake. Who would have thought they were going to date when she turned five?
"Is he still living in Colorado?" Her mother Kay wore a white tank top with tan pants. And long blonde hair with pretty blue eyes. She was the most beautiful woman on Earth. And Beth is looking like her by the minute.
"Yeah, I hate having a long distance relationship." She plopped on a leather chair.
"It's ok baby, you know he loves you more than anything in this world. Love will keep you together."
Beth could not help but smile. Her mother is and will always be her best friend.
Jake sat in his hotel the school rented for him. School of law. He loved going overseas for everything. But he missed being with Beth. That hurt him the most.
Spending the lonely nights in the hotel made him think of how much it would hurt to spend the rest of his life without her in it.
Getting up off his bed he went into the bathroom. Watching his reflection in the mirror, all he could think about was Beth. He would leave Thursday, and get there Friday night.
Turning off the light he jumped into the cold bed. On a coffee table near his bed rested a frame with them in it. It was taken at a beach about two years ago. It was the best time of their lives.
It was Thursday morning and Beth waited for Jake's morning phone call. He would call at eight — it was ten.
Beth got out of bed and got her favorite blue tank top. She took off her shirt and screamed at the top of her lungs.
"What? What?" Her mother came rushing into her room. Staring at her naked daughter she saw the lump of her breast. "Does it hurt?"
Beth could only say "No." Looking at the lump, she cried in pain.
"Let's get you to the doctor."
"Ok, let me get dressed."
Shutting the door behind her, the room became silent. Shaking she put on her shirt, and ran out into the living room.
"Mom, where are my blue shorts?"
"In the dresser, second drawer."
Finishing getting dressed she hopped into her car. Her red mustang drove like a baby.
They waited for the doctor to come in. Beth could not begin to think she had cancer. As her mind drifted off her cell phone rang.
"Hello?" Her heart skipped a beat, hoping it was Jake.
"Hey, how are you?" He asked out of breath.
"Could be better. Why didn't you call me this morning?"
"Sorry, school got ahold of me today."
"Why are you out of breath?" Looking stunned she stared at her mother.
"I'm so sorry, he'll call back." Her mother gave Beth a hug.
The doctor came in, and greeted his self. "Hello. I'm Kevin Baker." He smiled while examining her breast.
英语经典美文4
One of my patients, a successful businessman, tells me that before his cancer he would become depressed unless things went a certain way. Happiness was “having the cookie.” If you had the cookie, things were good. If you didn't have the cookie, life wasn't worth a damn. Unfortunately, the cookie kept changing. Some of the time it was money, sometimes power, sometimes desire. At other times, it was the new car, the biggest contract, the most prestigious address.
A year and a half after his diagnosis of prostate cancer he sits shaking his head ruefully. “It's like I stopped learning how to live after I was a kid. When I give my son a cookie, he is happy. If I take the cookie away or it breaks, he is unhappy. But he is two and a half and I am forty-three. It's taken me this long to understand that the cookie will never make me happy for long.
The minute you have the cookie it starts to crumble or you start to worry about it crumbling or about someone trying to take it away from you. You know, you have to give up a lot of things to take care of the cookie, to keep it from crumbling and be sure that no one takes it away from you. You may not even get a chance to eat it because you are so busy, just trying not to lose it. Having the cookie is not what life is about.”
My patient laughs and says cancer has changed him. For the first time he is happy. No matter if his business is doing well or not, no matter if he wins or loses at golf. “Two years ago, cancer asked me, ‘Okay, what's important? What is really important?’ Well, life is important. Life.
Life any way you can have it, life with the cookie, life without the cookie. Happiness does not have anything to do with the cookie; it has to do with being alive. Before, who made the time?” He pauses thoughtfully. “Damn, I guess life is the cookie.”
我有一位病人，他是一个成功的商人，告诉我，在他患癌症之前，凡事如果没有确定下来他就忧心忡忡。对他而言，幸福是“拥有小甜饼”。如果你拥有了小甜饼，一切都一帆风顺。如果你没有小甜饼，生活就一文不值。不幸的是，小甜饼总是不断变换着，有时是金钱，有时是权力，有时是欲望。在其他时候，它是一辆新车、一份数额最大的合同、或者一个享有声望的通讯地址。
在他被诊断出患有前列腺癌的一年半之后，他坐在那里，悲天悯人地摇着头，说：“长大以后，我好像就不知道怎样生活了。当我给我儿子一个小甜饼时，他心花怒放。如果我拿走甜饼或者是小甜饼碎了，他就闷闷不乐。不同的是，他只有两岁半，而我已经43了。我花了这么长的时间才明白小甜饼并不能使我长久感到幸福。
从你拥有小甜饼的那一刻，它就开始破碎，或者你就开始担心它会破碎，抑或你开始担心别人拿走它。为了守护你的小甜饼，为了防止它破碎或者确定别人不会从你手中夺走它，你不得不放弃许多东西。你忙于不让自己失去它，甚至没有时间享受它。拥有小甜饼并不是生活的全部内容。”
我的病人笑着说癌症已经改变了他。不论他的`生意是否一帆风顺，不论他在打高尔夫球时是输是赢，他有生以来第一次感到幸福。“两年前，癌症问我‘什么重要？什么才真正的重要？’对，生命重要。生命。
生命，无论如何你拥有生命。有小甜饼也罢，没有小甜饼也罢，幸福与小甜饼并非息息相关，而是与生命的存在有关。可是，时光一去不复返，谁又能让时光倒流呢？”他停顿了一下，若有所思，说：“该死，我觉得生命就是那块小甜饼”。
英语经典美文5
30. The Enchantment of Creeks (2)
Above all, a creek offers the mind a chance to penetrate the alien universe of water, of tadpoles and trout. What drifts in creek water is the possibility of other worlds inside and above our own. Poet Robert Frost wrote: "It flows between us, over us, and with us. And it is time, strength, tone, light, life, and love.
Creeks lead one on, like perfume on the wind. A creek is something that disappears around a bend, into the ground, into the next dimension. To follow a creek is to seek new acquaintance with life.
I still find myself following creeks. In high mountain meadows I'll trace their course into the limegreen grass and deep glacial duff, marveling at the sparkle of quartz and mica. The pursuit liquefies my citified haste and lifts weight from my shoulders. Once, in the California desert, as hummingbirds darted from cactus blossoms, I heard the babble of rushing water. My ears led me over dusty hillsides and sown scabrous ravines to an unexpected ribbon of clear, cold water, leaping from rock to rock, filling little pools. The discovery seemed Biblical. It filled me with joy.
(191 words)
(405 words)
by Peter Steinhart
英语经典美文6
The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.
在一场船难中，唯一的幸存者随着潮水，漂流到一座荒无人烟的小岛上。他焦躁不安地祈祷上帝能够救他。每天他都注视着海上是否有可搭救他的人，但似乎没有人前来。
Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions.
感觉筋疲力尽，他最终决定用浮木造一个简陋的小木屋，以保护他在这险恶的环境中生存，并且保存他所剩无几的东西。
But then one day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky.
但有一天，在他搜寻完食物回到小屋时，却发现他的小屋陷入熊熊烈火之中，滚滚浓烟不断向天上窜。
The worst had happened: everything was lost.
最糟糕的是:他所有的一切通通化为乌有。
He was stunned with grief and anger. "God, how could you do this to me!" he cried.
他既悲痛又愤怒，茫然不知所措，怒喊道:“神啊！你怎么可以这样对我！”
Early the next day, however, he was awakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island. It had come to rescue him.
第二天一早，他被一艘正向小岛驶近的船只的鸣笛声吵醒。那是来救他的。
How did you know I was here? he asked the weary man of his rescuers.
“你们怎么知道我在这里？”他问那些船员中一个充满倦意的人。
We saw your smoke signal, they replied.
“我们看到了你发出的烟雾信号。”他们回答说。
It is easy to get discouraged when things are going bad. But we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of pain and suffering.
人处于困境时，很容易变得沮丧。但我们不应失去信心，因为上帝一直在我们的生活中做着工作，甚至在我们遭遇疼痛和苦难时也是这样。
Remember, next time your little hut is burning to the ground, it just may be a smoke signal that summons the grace of God. For all the negative things we have to say to ourselves, God has a positive answer for it.
记住：当下一次你的`小木屋烧毁时，那可能只是召唤上帝美妙恩典的烟雾信号而已。在所有我们认为负面的事情，上帝都有正面的答案。
英语经典美文7
A Little Bit More
Today is an excellent day for small improvements. Whatever is working for you, find a way to improve it just a little. There’s no need to make a huge change, just a small one, something you can do right now.
If you called just one additional customer each day, over the course of the next month you would talk to about 20 new people. If you learned just one more new word each day, in the next year you would increase your vocabulary by more than 300 words.
Small improvements can add up over time into big accomplishments. Look around you. Consider the work you do each day. Think about how you could do it just a little bit better.
In a marathon race, each step the winner takes is just a little bit longer and a little bit faster than each stride taken by the 100th place finisher. Yet over the course of the race, that small difference adds up in a big way.
Do just a little bit more today, and tomorrow too, and each day after that. Anyone can make just a small improvement, and that can make a big, big difference.
再多一点点
今天就是你可以做改进的极好的一天。无论你在做什么,找一个方法去做一点点的改进。不用做太大的改变,只要一点点——你现在可以做到的一点点。
如果你每天多给一个顾客打电话的话,一个月下来你会发现你又多认识了差不多二十个人。如果每天多学会一个新词,过一年,你的词汇量将会增加300多个。
小小的改进能够逐步积累成大的成就。观察你的周围。思考你每天所做的工作。英语短文想一下你怎么能做得更好一点。
在马拉松比赛中,冠军的每一步都只比第一百名的选手的步伐大一点点、快一点点。英语短文但是在比赛过程中,那些小小的不同积累成了巨大的区别。
今天、明天、今后的每一天尽力做更多一点点。任何人都能做一点小小的改进,但那小小的改进将会起到非常大、非常大的作用。
You are Absolutely Unique
Enjoy that uniquenesss1. You do not have to pretend in order to seem more like someone else. You do not have to lie to hide the parts of you that are not like what you see in anyone else.
You were meant to be different. Nowhere, in all of history, will the same things be going on in anyone’s mind, soul and spirit as are going on in yours right now.
If you did not exist, there would be a hole in creation, a gap2 in history, and something missing from the plan for humankind. Treasure your uniqueness. It is a gift given only to you. Enjoy it and share it!
No one can reach out to others in the same way that you can. No one can speak your words. No one can convey your meanings. No one can comfort others with your kind of comfort. No one can bring your kind of understanding to another person. No one can be cheerful and light-hearted3 and joyous4 in your way. No one can smile your smile. No one else can bring the whole unique impact of you to another human being.
Share your uniqueness. Let it flow out freely among your family and friends, and the people you meet in the rush and clutter of living, wherever you are. That gift of yourself was given to you to enjoy and share. Give yourself away!
See it! Receive it!
Let it inform you, move you and inspire you!
You are unique!
你是独一无二的
请欣赏你自己的独特吧!你不用伪装自己以使你看起来和别人一样,也无需掩藏你在别人看来所具有的独特性。
你生来与众不同。现在你所拥有的思想,灵魂,精神是任何时刻、任何地点的其他人都不曾拥有的。
如果你不存在了,那么上帝的作品中就有了一个缺憾,历史也不再完整,人类发展也有了缺失。
珍惜你所拥有的独特性。这是上天给你的礼物,请欣赏并学会分享它。
没有人能像你一样乐于帮助别人。没有人能像你一样表达自己。也没人能够表达你想传达的意思。没有人能用你所特有的方式来安慰别人。也没有人能够像你一样善解人意。没有人能像你一样感受快乐、无忧无虑,也没有人能像你一样微笑。总而言之,没有人能够把你的`特性展示给其他人。
分享你的独特性吧!尽情地将你的独一无二展示给其他人,英语短文不管是你的亲人和朋友还是你在纷繁复杂的生活中所遇到的路人。请欣赏并分享上帝给你的这份独特的礼物吧。释放你自己!
感知它并且接受它!
听从你的独特性,让它影响你、感动你并且激励你前进!
你是独一无二的!
Thoughts and Actions
Some people go through life standing at the excuse counter.
They say they’d like to do this or that, but then they offer all the excuses in the world for why they can’t do whatever it is. No matter what the excuses are, the only thing that is usually limiting them is their own self-perception.
If I’ve learned anything, I’ve learned that a person —any person —may do anything they set their mind on doing. The things you need are willingness to work for what you want, patience to learn what you need to know and, most important of all, belief in yourself. You only need a seed, and then your faith in yourself will grow with you as you move forward.
If your self-perception is that you can’t accomplish something because you’re not smart enough, then take the time to learn what you need to know, and then your self-perception will change.
If your self-perception is that you can’t accomplish something because you never finish anything you start, then go and finish something and change your self- perception.
If your self-perception is that you’re too lazy, too busy, too unworthy, too unfocused, too depressed, or too dependent on others to accomplish great things, then you’re right. You are that because you believe you are, but in fact, you can change that! Life is change, and the past doesn’t equal the future. Your reality today is the result of your past beliefs and actions. Change your beliefs and actions, and you will change your future. Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right. You are what you think.
Think about that the next time you need an excuse.
思想与行动
有些人的一生都在借口中度过。
他们总是说喜欢这喜欢那,只是随之给出各种理由来解释他为什么没能去做。但无论是什么借口,唯一能限制他们行为的通常只是他们的自我认知。
如果说我确实明白了一些事情,那就是了解了一个人,任何一个人,几乎可以做成任何事情,只要他们下决心去做。你需要的只是为梦想而奋斗的意愿、为学习必要知识的耐心,但是最重要的是你的自信。你只需播下一粒梦想的种子,你的信念将会随着你一起成长。
如果你自认为是因不够聪明而不能完成某件事情,那么就花些时间去学习所需要的知识,这样,你的自我认知就会改变。
如果你自认为你不能完成某件事情常常是因为半途而废,那么就去做完它,将这种自我认知彻底改变。
如果你自认为是因太懒惰、太忙、太卑微、太不专心、太消沉、太依赖别人而不能做成大事,那么你是对的。英语短文你确实是这样,因为你自己就是这样认为的。但事实上你能够改变。生活无时无刻不在变化,过去不等于未来。你的现在正是你过去所想所做的必然结果。改变你的信念和行动,成就你的将来。如果你认为你能或不能做什么,那么你是对的,因为正是你的思想造就了你。
下次你找什么借口的时候,仔细思量一番。
英语经典美文8
Night has fallen over the country. Through the trees rises the red moon, and the stars are scarcely seen. In the vast shadow of night the coolness and the dews descend. I sit at the open window to enjoy them; and hear only the voice of the summer wind. Like black hulks, the shadows of the great trees ride at anchor on the billowy sea of grass. I cannot see the red and blue flowers, but I know that they are there. Far away in the meadow gleams the silver Charles. The tramp of horses' hoofs sounds from the wooden bridge. Then all is still save the continuous wind or the sound of the neighboring sea. The village clock strikes; and I feel that I am not alone. (128 words) 14. Night (2)
How different it is in the city! It is late, and the crowd is gone. You step out upon the balcony, and lie in the very bosom of the cool, dewy night as if you folded her garments about you. Beneath lies the public walk with trees, like a fathomless, black gulf, into whose silent beloved spirit clasped in its embrace. The lamps are still burning up and down the long street. People go by with grotesque shadows, now foreshortened, and now lengthening away into the darkness and vanishing, while a new one springs up behind the walker, and seems to pass him revolving like the sail of a windmill. The iron gates of the park shut with a jangling clang. There are footsteps and loud voices; --a tumu< --a drunken brawl; --an alarm of fire; --then silence . .
again. And now at length the city is asleep, and we can see the night. The belated moon looks over the roofs, and finds no one to welcome her. The moonlight is broken. It lies here and there in the squares, and the opening of the streets-angular like blocks of white marble. (195 words) (323 words) By Nathanial Hawthorne
陈冠商《英语背诵文选》
英语经典美文9
On beauty
Where shall you seek beauty, and how shall you find her unless she herself be your way and your guide? And how shall you speak of her except she be the 1)weaver of your speech?
The 2)aggrieved and the 3)injured say, "Beauty is kind and gentle. Like a young mother half-shy of her own 4)glory she walks among us."
And the 5)passionate say, "Nay, beauty is a thing of 6)might and 7)dread. Like the 8)tempest she shakes the earth beneath us and the sky above us."
The tired and the 9)weary say, "Beauty is of soft 10)whisperings. She speaks in our spirit. Her voice 11)yields to our silences like a 12)faint light that 13)quivers 14)in fear of the shadow."
But the 15)restless say, "We have heard her shouting among the mountains, and with her cries came the sound of hoofs, and the beating of wings and the 16)roaring of lions."
At night the watchmen of the city say, "Beauty shall rise with the dawn from the east."
And at 17)noon-time the 18)toilers and the 19)wayfarers say, "We have seen her leaning over the earth from the windows of the sunset."
In winter say the 20)snow-bound, "She shall come with the spring leaping upon the hills."
And in the summer heat the 21)reapers say, "We have seen her dancing with the autumn leaves, and we saw a drift of snow in her hair."
All these things have you said of beauty, yet in truth you spoke not of her but of needs unsatisfied, and beauty is not a need but an 22)ecstasy. It is not a mouth 23)thirsting nor an empty hand stretched forth, but rather a heart 24)enflamed and a soul 25)enchanted. It is not the image you would see nor the song you would hear, but rather an image you see though you close your eyes and a song you hear though you shut your ears. It is not the 26)sap within the 27)furrowed 28)bark, nor a wing attached to a 29)claw, but rather a garden for ever in bloom and a flock of angels for ever in flight.
Beauty is life when life 30)unveils her holy face.
1) weaver n. 编织者，织工
2) aggrieved a. 苦恼的，悲伤的 the aggrieved指苦恼的人，悲伤的人
3) injured a. 受伤的，受损害的 the injured指受伤的人，受损害的人
4) glory n. 荣誉，光荣
5) passionate a. 热情的 the passionate指充满热情的人
6) might n. 力量，威力
7) dread n. 惧怕，担心
8) tempest n. 暴风雨
9) weary a. 疲倦的 the weary指疲倦的人
10) whispering n. 耳语
11) yield to 屈服于，屈从于
12) faint a. 微弱的，模糊的
13) quiver v. 颤抖
14) in fear of 对……惧怕，担忧
15) restless a. 不能安静的 the restless指好动的人
16) roaring n. 咆哮，呼喊
17) noon-time n. 正午，白昼
18) toiler n. 辛劳者
19) wayfarer n. 旅人，徒步旅行者
20) snow-bound a. 被大雪困阻的 the snowbound指被大雪困阻的人
21) reaper n. 收割者
22) ecstasy n. 入迷
23) thirsting a. 口渴的
24) enflame v. 燃烧
25) enchant v. 施魔法，使迷惑
26) sap n. 树液
27) furrowed a. 有犁沟的，有皱纹的
28) bark n. 树皮
29) claw n. 爪
30) unveil v. 揭开，除去面纱
美
如果美不以自身为途径，为向导，你们到哪里，又如何能找到她呢？如果她不是你们言语的编织者，你们又如何能谈论她呢？
伤心痛苦者说：“美是善良而温柔的'。她像一位因自己的荣耀而半含羞涩的年轻母亲，走在我们的身边。”
热情奔放者说：“不，美是强烈而令人惊畏的。她如暴风雨般震动我们脚下的大地，摇撼我们头上的天空。”
疲惫怠倦者说：“美是温柔的低语，她在我们的心中诉说。她的声音波动在我们的沉默中，犹如一道微弱的光在对阴影的恐惧中颤抖。”
但活泼好动者说：“我们曾听到她在山谷中大声呼叫，随其呐喊而来的是足蹄踏地、翅膀拍击和雄狮怒吼的声音。”
夜晚，城市的守夜人说：“美将与晨光一同从东方升起。”
正午，辛勤劳作者和长途跋涉者说：“我们曾看到她透过黄昏之窗眺望大地。”
严冬，困在风雪中的人说：“她将与春同至，雀跃于山峦之间。”
酷暑，收割庄稼的人说：“我们曾看到她与秋叶共舞，雪花点缀于她的发梢。”
你们谈到关于美的所有这些，实际并非关于她本身，而是关于你们未被满足的需求，但美并不是一种需求，而是心醉神迷的欣喜。她不是焦渴的唇，也不是伸出的空空的手，而是一颗燃烧的心，一个充满喜悦的灵魂。她不是你们想看到的形象，也不是你们想听到的歌声，而是你们闭上眼睛看到的形象，堵住耳朵听到的歌声。她不是伤残树皮下的树液，也不是悬在利爪下的翅膀。而是一座鲜花永远盛开的花园，一群永远在天空飞翔的天使。
当生命摘去遮盖她圣洁面容的面纱时，美就是生命。
英语经典美文10
Years ago a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast。 He constantly advertised for hired hands。 Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic。 They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic， wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops。 As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job， he received a steady stream of refusals。
Finally， a short， thin man， well past middle age， approached the farmer。 "Are you a good farmhand？" the farmer asked him。
"Well， I can sleep when the wind blows，" answered the little man。
Although puzzled by this answer， the farmer， desperate for help， hired him。 The little man worked well around the farm， busy from dawn to dusk， and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work。
Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore。 Jumping out of bed， the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping quarters。 He shook the little man and yelled， "Get up！ A storm is coming！ Tie things down before they blow away！"
The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly， "No sir。 I told you， I can sleep when the wind blows。"
Enraged by the response， the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot。 Instead， he hurried outside to prepare for the storm。 To his amazement， he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins。 The cows were in the barn， the chickens were in the coops， and the doors were barred。 The shutters were tightly secured。 Everything was tied down。 Nothing could blow away。
The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant， so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew。
英语经典美文11
Chinese Undergraduates in the US
Each year, elite American universities and liberal arts colleges, such as Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Amherst and Wellesley, offer a number of scholarships to Chinese high school graduates to study in their undergraduate programs.
Four years ago, I received such a scholarship from Yale.
What are these Chinese undergrads like? Most come from middle-class families in the big urban centers of China.
The geographical distribution is highly skewed, with Shanghai and Beijing heavily over-represented.
Outside the main pool, a number of Yale students come from Changsha and Ningbo,swhereseach year American Yale graduates are sent to teach English.
The overwhelming majority of Chinese undergraduates in the US major in science, engineering or economics.
Many were academic superstars in their high schools - gold medallists in international academic Olympiads or prize winners in national academic contests.
Once on US campuses, many of them decide to make research a lifelong commitment.
Life outside the classroom constitutes an important part of college life.
At American universities the average student spends less than thirteen hours a week in class.
Many Chinese students use their spare time to pick up some extra pocket money.
At Yale, one of the most common campus jobs is washing dishes in the dining halls.
Virtually all Chinese undergraduates at Yale work part-time in the dining halls at some point in their college years.
As they grow in age and sophistication, they upgrade to better-paying and less stressful positions.
The more popular and interesting jobs include working as a computer assistant, math homework grader, investment office assistant and lab or research assistant.
The latter three often lead to stimulating summer jobs.
Student activities are another prominent feature of American college life.
Each week there are countless student-organized events of all sorts - athletic, artistic, cultural, political or social (i.e.just for fun).
New student organizations are constantly being created, and Chinese undergrads contribute to this ferment.
Sport looms much larger on US campuses than in China.
At Yale, intramural sports from soccer to water polo take place all year long; hence athletic talent is a real social asset.
One of the Chinese students at Yale several years ago was a versatile sportsman.
His athletic talents and enthusiastic participation in sporting events, combined with his other fine qualities, made him a popular figure in his residential college.
英语经典美文12
Studies serve for delight, for ornamental, and for ability. Their chief use for delight, in privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgment and disposition of business. For expert men can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one; but the general counsels, and the plots and marshalling of affairs, come best from those that are learned. To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament, is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules, is the humour of a scholar. They perfect nature, natural plants, that need proyning by study; and studies themselves do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience. Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them; for they teach not their own use; but that is a wisdom without them, and above them, won by observation. (157 words)
英语经典美文13
if you want to understand adversity, take two identical acorns from the same oak tree and plant them in two different locations. plant the first in the middle of a dense forest, and the other on a hill by itself.
如果你想理解什么是逆境，就去摘两颗从同一棵树上年龄相同的橡树果，并且把它们种到不同的地方。
第一颗种在浓密的树林当中，另外一颗则单独种在一座山上。
here's what will happen. the oak standing on a hillside is exposed to every storm and gale. as a result its roots plunge deep into the earth and spread in every direction, even wrapping themselves around giant boulders. at times it may seem the tree isn't growing fast enough—but the growth is happening underground. it's as if the roots know they must ported the tree from the threatening elements.
事情的结果便是这样。那颗长在山上的橡树经历了大风大雨，结果它的.根深深地扎进了泥土中间，并不断向四周扩张，甚至把自己置身于巨大的石块当中。有时它可能看起来长的不是很快，但此时它却在地下悄悄生长着，好像它的根知道自己必须快速生长来保护树木免受自然危害的影响。
英语经典美文14
There are people in the world who love the bloom of the spring, some love summer in summer, some love the fruitful autumn, and I love the heavy snow in winter.
The window is still under a heavy snow drifting profusely and disorderly. I opened the door, the whole world is a vast expanse of whiteness, snow, as if into a fairy tale world, snow like flocks of elves, the earth covered with a drop from the clouds, coat. I stand in the snow, gently catch a snowflake, cool, and it has six petals, sparkling, gradually it is in my hand into water, my palms get wet.
Winter is the most happy snowman, class, my classmates and I play in the snow, I want an idea: "we have a snowball fight." My classmates disagreed. Later I made snowmen together. We worked in the division of labor. I was responsible for doing the snowball well. He was responsible for putting carrots, branches and straw hats in various parts of the snowman.
Ah! Beautiful winter, you like a picture can not be seen, not finished.
英语经典美文15
热爱生活Love Your Life
However difficult your life is, meet it and love it. 不论生活如何艰辛,你要正视它、热爱它。
Do not avoid it and call it names1. It is not as bad as you think. It looks poorest when you are richest. The fault-finder will find faults in paradise. 不要躲避它,更不要用恶言咒骂它。它并不像你想象的那样坏。也许在你最富有的时候却是它看起来最贫乏的时候。吹毛求疵的人就算在天堂也能找到缺点。
Love your life. Poor sun is reflected from the windows of the almshouse as brightly as from the rich man’s house.
The snow melts before its door as early in the spring. I can only see a quiet mind living as contentedly there, and have as cheerful thoughts, as in a palace. 热爱生活吧!济贫院的窗户反射的阳光同富人家窗户反射的一样明亮;春天济贫院门前的积雪也一样会早早融化。在那里,我只看到人们像住在宫殿一样,思想平静、满足,心情愉悦。
The town’s poor seem to me to live the most independent lives of any. Maybe they are simply great enough to receive without doubt. Most think that they are above being supported by the town, but it often happens that they are not above supporting themselves by dishonest means, which should be more disreputable4. Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends. Turn to the old, and return to them. 在我看来城镇中的.穷人往往过着最独立的生活。或许他们只是足够伟大而可以毫无疑问地接受生活。大多数人以为自己没有依赖政府救济来养活;可是事实上他们通常利用了不正当的手段来过活,这是更加不体面的。不要为了过分追求新东西而困扰你自己,无论是朋友或衣服。去找你的老朋友或者旧衣服,回归应有的生活。
Things do not change; we change. Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts. 东西并未改变,是我们自己变了。卖掉那些不必要的衣服吧,但是要保留你的思想
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