英語美文欣賞15篇（推薦）
在平日的學習、工作和生活里，大家都看過一些經(jīng)典的美文吧？美文是指不帶實用目的專供直覺欣賞的作品，帶有實用目的去寫作，那么，你會寫美文嗎？以下是小編收集整理的英語美文欣賞，歡迎閱讀與收藏。
英語美文欣賞1
家中只有一個畫家了Only one artist in the family 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. 巴勃羅.畢加索小時候住在西班牙的一個小鎮(zhèn)上。他母親喜歡叫他“皮茲”。這是“鉛筆”的西班牙語單詞。他從小就喜歡鉛筆和粉筆勝過任何的玩具。
Picasso’s father was an artist, He spent a lot of time teaching the little boy how to draw. 畢加索的父親是個畫家。他花了大量時間教他兒子怎樣繪畫。
Drawing was Picasso’s great pleasure. He usually sat by the windows and drew pictures of pigeons. 繪畫成了畢加索很大的樂趣。他通常坐在窗戶旁邊畫鴿子。
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，他父親回來了。他站了很長時間觀察畢加索畫的畫。畫中的`鴿子看上去十分逼真。
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. 畢加索的父親把所有的畫筆和顏料全給了他。他對他兒子說，從那個時候起家中只有一個畫家。
英語美文欣賞2
Written by: Babydoll
"I will take you out for dinner!" Said him.
Is it a date? To be honest, I don't really know. But, yes, I considered it as our first date, since we had a more than friend situation, having a dinner together would be in term of a Date.
Gals are always keen on what to wear. Me, too. I always spend long time on picking clothes and shoes, and doing my makeup and hair. That's what a mature woman do, my gay friend used to say that to me. None exception for this day, I spent more than a hour to prepare myself for going out.
Dress? Too formal for the bar where we might go after the dinner...
Skirt? I never really like to wear skirt, beside it is kind chill at night...
Jeans?? Isn't it too informal for that kind elegant restaurant??
... Hmm... never mind, I finally picked jeans and kind classical black top. I like to wear simple stuffs. Hey, simple doesnt mean cheap! Elegant is an expression, an elegant lady would look tiptop all the time even in some simple stuffs.
I pulled my hair back to send the hair bun and a wooden hairpin, simple and classical Asian style, one of my favorite hair styles. Asian women with the hairbun and hairpin are so sexy, my friends always say that. But hairpins are dangerous, it can be very sharp!
Makeup wouldn't be too hard for me, maybe I am very artistic, or maybe I am just plastic... I don't like to follow the fashion, but my own style. I like to wear different colors of eyeshadows and lipsticks in order to fit my clothes and my mood. Hmmm... this evening, I felt classical and sexy! Silver, gold, and rouge would be perfect. Makeups are women's magic! No wonder nowadays no matter how bleak the economy is, those stuffs have still been hot in the market! We women are the best consumers in this modern world!
英語美文欣賞3
Look into your own life. If you scrub away the make-up of illusion and impurities of jealousy — can you see the clarity of grace? Can you understand how treasuring what's right in front of you is worth your time?
仔細看看自己的生活吧。如果把幻想和嫉妒掃出腦海，你清楚地看到生活的'恩賜了嗎?你明白你眼前的一切是多么珍貴、多么值得你花時間品味了嗎?
英語美文欣賞4
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. 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. 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. 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. 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 City Royals team, bound for their first World Series, buoyed my spirits. 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.
英語美文欣賞5
Recently, one of my best friends, whom I‘ve shared just about[幾乎] everything with since the first day of kindergarten[幼兒園], spent the weekend with me. Since I moved to a new town several years ago, we‘ve both always looked forward to the few times a year when we can see each other.
Over the weekend, we spent hours and hours, staying up late[遲遲不睡] into the night, talking about the people she was hanging around with[交往]. She started telling me stories about her new boyfriend, about how he experimented[嘗試] with drugs and was into other self-destructive[自毀] behavior[行為]. I was blown away[震驚]! She told me how she had been lying to her parents about where she was going and even sneaking out[偷跑] to see this guy because they didn‘t want her around him. No matter how hard I tried to tell her that she deserved better, she didn‘t believe me. Her self-respect seemed to have disappeared.
I tried to convince her that she was ruining her future and heading for big trouble. I felt like I was getting nowhere[毫無進展]. I just couldn‘t believe that she really thought it was acceptable to hang with a bunch of losers, especially her boyfriend.
By the time she left, I was really worried about her and exhausted[疲憊] by the experience. It had been so frustrating[灰心的], I had come close to telling her several times during the weekend that maybe we had just grown too far apart to continue our friendship - but I didn‘t. I put the power of friendship to the ultimate[最后的] test. We‘d been friends for far too long. I had to hope that she valued me enough to know that I was trying to save her from hurting herself. I wanted to believe that our friendship could conquer[克服] anything.
A few days later, she called to say that she had thought long and hard about our conversation, and then she told me that she had broken up with her boyfriend. I just listened on the other end of the phone with tears of joy running down my face. It was one of the truly rewarding[值得的`] moments in my life. Never had I been so proud of a friend.(by Danielle Fishel)
英語美文欣賞6
Living standards have soared during the twentieth century, and economists expect them to continue rising in the decades ahead. Does that mean that we humans can look forward to increasing happiness?
Not necessarily, warns Richard A. Easterlin, an economist at the University of Southern California, in his new book, Growth Triumphant: The Twenty-first Century in Historical Perspective. Easterlin concedes that richer people are more likely to report themselves as being happy than poorer people are. But steady improvements in the American economy
have not been accompanied by steady increases in people‘s self-assessments of their own happiness. "There has been not improvement in average happiness in the United States over almost a half century----a period in which real GDP per capita more than doubled," Easterlin reports.
The explanation for this paradox may be that people become less satisfied over time with a given level of income. In Easterlin‘s word: "As incomes rise, the aspiration level does too, and the effect of this increase in aspirations is to vitiate the expected growth in happiness due to higher income."
Money can buy happiness, Easterlin seems to be saying, but only if one‘s amounts get bigger and other people aren‘t getting more. His analysis helps to explain sociologist Lee Rainwater‘s finding that Americans‘ perception of the income "necessary to get along" rose between 1950 and 1986 in the same proportion as actual per capita income. We feel rich if we have more than our neighbors, poor if we have less, and feeling relatively well off is equated with being happy.
Easterlin‘s findings, challenge psychologist Abraham Maslow‘s "hierarchy of wants" as a reliable guide to future human motivation.
Maslow suggested that as people‘s basic material wants are satisfied they seek to achieve nonmaterial or spiritual goals. But Easterlin‘s evidence points to the persistence of materialism.
"Despite a general level of affluence never before realized in the history of the world." Easterlin observes, "Material concerns in the wealthiest nations today are as pressing as ever and the pursuit of material need as intense." The evidence suggests there is no evolution toward higher order goals. Rather, each step upward on the ladder of economic development merely stimulates new economic desires that lead the chase ever onward. Economists are accustomed to deflating the money value of national income by the average level of prices to obtain "real" income. The process here is similar----real income is being deflated by rising material aspiration, in this case to yield
essentially constant subjective economic well-being. While it would be pleasant to envisage a world free from the pressure of material want, a more realistic projection, based on the evidence, is of a world in which generation after generation thinks it needs only another 10% to 20% more income to be perfectly happy.
Needs are limited, but not greeds. Science has developed no cure for envy, so our wealth boosts our happiness only briefly while shrinking that of our neighbors. Thus the outlook for the future is gloomy in Easterlin‘s view.
"The future, then, to which the epoch of modern economic growth is leading is one of never ending economic growth, a world in which ever growing abundance is matched by ever rising aspirations, a world in which cultural difference is leveled in the constant race to achieve the goods life of material plenty, it is a world founded on belief in science and the power of rational inquiry and in the ultimate capacity
of humanity to shape its own destiny. The irony is that in this last respect the lesson of history appears to be otherwise: that there is no choice. In the end, the triumph of economic growth is not a triumph of humanity over material wants; rather, it is the triumph of material wants over humanity."
人們的生活水平在20世紀飛速提高，經(jīng)濟學家預計在未來的幾十年里，人們的生活水平還會進一步提高。這是否意味著我們?nèi)祟惖娜兆佑型竭^越幸福呢?
未必如此，南加州大學一位經(jīng)濟學家理查德?A?伊斯特林在其新書《增長的勝利：從歷史的視角展望21世紀》中如是告誡世人。他承認，一般來說，富人比窮人更有可能稱自己是幸福的。然而，美國人對幸福感的自我評價并未伴隨著美國經(jīng)濟穩(wěn)步發(fā)展而有所提高。伊斯特林指出：“過去近半個世紀中，美國的實際人均國內(nèi)生產(chǎn)總值增加了2倍多，而人們并未感到比以往更幸福�！�
對于這種自相矛盾的現(xiàn)象也許可作如下解釋，隨著時間的推移，人們對一定的收入會越來越不滿。用伊斯特林的話來說：“收入增加了，人們的期望值也相應提高了，期望值的提高會抵消收入提高所帶來的預期有所增加的幸福感�！�
伊斯特林似乎在說，金錢可以買來幸福，但這只有在自己金錢不斷增多，而別人收入不變的情況才會如此。他的分析有助于人們理解社會學家李?雷恩沃特的調(diào)查結果----從1950年到1986年，在美國持收入“必須維持基本生活”觀念的人隨著實際人均收入的增加而同比增長。如果收入比鄰居多，我們就會感到自己富有;反之，則覺得自己貧窮。由此可見，人們把幸福感與相對富裕程度等同起來。
伊斯特林的調(diào)查結果向心理理學家亞伯拉罕?馬斯洛的“需要等級體系”理論提出了挑戰(zhàn)，該理論為人類未來的動機提供了可靠指南。馬斯洛認為：一旦人們的基本物質(zhì)需求得到滿足后，就會轉而追求更高層次的精神需求。但伊斯特林的'論證卻指出人類的物欲永無止境。
伊斯特林還評述到：“盡管人類歷史上從未實現(xiàn)過普遍水平的富裕，但今日最富有的那些國家對物質(zhì)的關注還是那么迫切，對物質(zhì)需要的追求還是那樣的強烈�！边@表明人類并未朝更高層次的精神目標進展。更確切地說，經(jīng)濟發(fā)展每上一個臺階只會刺激新的經(jīng)濟需求，進而促進經(jīng)濟持續(xù)向前發(fā)展。經(jīng)濟學家通常用國民收入的貨幣價值減去平均物價上漲額度來計算“實際”收入。同樣，人們?nèi)找嬖鲩L的物質(zhì)欲望，在此主要是持續(xù)不斷對經(jīng)濟富裕的主觀要求，削減了實際收入。雖然設想一個沒有物欲壓力的世界是件愜意的事，但一個基于事實的更為現(xiàn)實的想法是設想在這樣一個世界里，世世代代的人們都認為只要將收入再提高10%----20%，就可達到無比幸福的境界。
需求是有極限的，而貪欲卻無止境�？茖W再進步也尚未研制出治療嫉妒的良藥，因此只有當我們的財富讓鄰居相形見絀的時候，我們才會感到片刻的幸福。
所以在伊斯特林看來，未來的前景不容樂觀：“當今經(jīng)濟發(fā)展的趨勢告訴我們，未來經(jīng)濟會不斷發(fā)展、永不停歇，未來世界會是一個財富不斷增長而欲望節(jié)節(jié)上升的世界;一個為達到富裕不斷角逐而導致文化差異盡失的世界;一個建立在信仰科學和智力并相信人類有最大的能力塑造自己命運的世界。具有諷刺意味的是，在最后一點上，歷史的經(jīng)驗教訓似乎告訴我們事物的發(fā)展并非如此：人類別無選擇，并不能掌握自己的命運。最后，經(jīng)濟發(fā)展的結果不是人性戰(zhàn)勝物欲，而是物欲戰(zhàn)勝人性�！�
英語美文欣賞7
Isn't it amazing how one person, sharing one idea, at the right time and place can change the course of your life's history? This is certainly what happened in my life. When I was 14, I was hitchhiking from Houston, Texas, through El Paso on my way to California. I was following my dream, journeying with the sun. I was a high school dropout with learning disabilities and was set on surfing the biggest waves in the world, first in California and then in Hawaii, where I would later live.
Upon reaching downtown El Paso, I met an old man, a bum, on the street corner. He saw me walking, stopped me and questioned me as I passed by. He asked me if I was running away from home, I suppose because I looked so young. I told him, "Not exactly, sir," since my father had given me a ride to the freeway in Houston and given me his blessings while saying, "It is important to follow your dream and what is in your heart. Son. "
The bum then asked me if he could buy me a cup of coffee. I told him, "No, sir, but a soda would be great." We walked to a corner malt shop and sat down on a couple of swiveling stools while we enjoyed our drinks.
After conversing for a few minutes, the friendly bum told me to follow him. He told me that he had something grand to show me and share with me. We walked a couple of blocks until we came upon the downtown El Paso Public Library.
We walked up its front steps and stopped at a small information stand. Here the bum spoke to a smiling old lady, and asked her if she would be kind enough to watch my things for a moment while he and I entered the library. I left my belongings with this grandmotherly figure and entered into this magnificent hall of learning.
The bum first led me to a table and asked me to sit down and wait for a moment while he looked for something special amongst the shelves. A few moments later, he returned with a couple of old books under his arms and set them on the table. He then sat down beside me and spoke. He started with a few statements that were very special and that changed my life. He said, "There are two things that I want to teach you, young man, and they are these:
"Number one is to never judge a book by its cover, for a cover can fool you. "He followed with, "I ll bet you think I m a bum, don t you, young man?"
I said, "Well, uh, yes, I guess so, sir. "
"Well, young man, I've got a little surprise for you. I am one of the wealthiest men in the world. I have probably everything any man could ever want. I originally come from the Northeast and have all the things that money can buy. But a year ago, my wife passed away, bless her soul, and since then I have been deeply reflecting upon life. I realized there were certain things I had not yet experienced in life, one of which was what it would be like to live like a bum on the streets. I made a commitment to myself to do exactly that for one year. For the past year I have been going from city to city doing just that. So, you see, don't ever judge a book by its cover, for a cover can fool you.
"Number two is to learn how to read, my boy. For there is only one thing that people can't take away from you, and that is your wisdom. " At that moment, he reached forward, grabbed my right hand in his and put them upon the books he'd pulled from the shelves. They were the writings of Plato and Aristotle-immortal classics from ancient times.
The bum then led me back past the smiling old woman near the entrance, down the steps and back on the streets near where we first met. His parting request was for me to never forget what he taught me.
I haven't.
如果一個人，在適當?shù)臅r候和地方因為一句話而改變了他的人生歷程，你會感到驚異和不可思議嗎？然而這的確是千真萬確的，它就發(fā)生在我14歲那年。那時，我正在從得克薩斯州的休斯敦，經(jīng)由愛坡索市前往加利福尼亞州去的旅途中。日出即行，日落即息，癡癡地追尋著我的夢想。我本來在讀高中，也許我天生就不是讀書的材料，因此我不得不中途輟學。隨即我決心要到世界上最大的海浪上去沖浪，先準備到加利福尼亞州，再到夏威夷，然后我準備就在那里住下來。
在剛進入愛坡索市區(qū)的時候，我看到有一個老頭，一個流浪者，坐在街道的拐角處。他看見了走路的我，當我就要從他的旁邊走過去時，他攔住了我，并開口向我發(fā)問。他問我是不是偷著從家里跑出來的，我想他這么問我一定是看我太年輕，覺得我太嫩的緣故�！安煌耆�，先生，"因為是我爸爸開車把我送到休斯敦的高速公路上的，他還一邊為我祝福，一邊說：‘兒子，追尋你的夢想和心中的憧憬非常重要�！�
然后那個流浪者問我他能請我喝咖啡嗎？我回答說：“不，先生，一杯汽水就可以了。”
于是，我們走進街道拐角處的一家酒吧，坐在一雙轉椅上，喝著飲料。
在閑聊了幾分鐘后，這個和藹可親的老流浪漢要我跟他走。他告訴我說他有一樣大東西給我看，要與我分享。我們走過了幾個街區(qū)，來到了愛坡索市的公立圖書館。
我們沿著它前面的臺階向上走，在一處小小的咨詢臺前停了下來。老流浪漢向一位笑容可掬的老太太說了幾句話，并問她是否愿意在他和我進圖書館時幫忙照看一下我的行李。我把行李放在那位老奶奶般的人那里，走進了那座宏偉的學習殿堂。
老流浪漢先把我?guī)У揭粡堊雷忧�，讓我坐下來稍等片刻，而他則到那些林立的書架中去尋找那個特別重要的東西去了。不一會兒，他腋下夾著幾本舊書回來了。他把書放到桌子上，然后他在我的身邊坐了下來，打開了話匣子，出口便不凡，其話語非常特別，改變了我一生的命運。他說：“年輕人，我想教你兩件事，就是：第一是切記不要從封面來判斷一本書的好壞，因為封面有時也會蒙騙你。"他接著說道："我敢打賭，你一定認為我是個老流浪漢，是不是？年輕人�！�
我說：“嗯，是的'，先生，我想是的�！�
“嗯，年輕人，我要給你一個小驚喜：其實我是這個世界上最富有的人之一，人們夢寐以求的任何東西我?guī)缀醵加�。我最初從美國東北部來，凡是金錢能買到的東西，我全都有。但是一年前，我妻子死了，愿上帝保祐她的在天之靈，從那以后，我開始深深地反思人生的意義。我意識到，生活中有些東西我還沒有體驗過，其中之一就是做一個沿街乞討的流浪漢滋味如何。于是我對自己發(fā)誓要像流浪漢一樣活一年。在過去的一年里，我從一個城市流浪到另一個城市，就像流浪漢一樣生活。所以，你看，切記不要從封面來判斷一本書的好壞，因為封面有時也會蒙騙你�！�
“第二，我的孩子，是要學會如何讀書。因為這個世界上只有一種東西是別人無法從你的身上拿走的，那，就是你的智慧！”說到這，他俯身向著我，抓住我的右手放在他從書架中找到的書上。那是柏拉圖和亞里士多德的著作--尚古以降已經(jīng)流傳了幾千年的不朽的經(jīng)典。
英語美文欣賞8
The White Envelope
It's just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so.
It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas — oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it — overspending... the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma — the gifts given in desperation because you couldn't think of anything else.
Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special just for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way.
Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended; and shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes.
As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler's ears. It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford. Well, we ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. And as each of their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn't acknowledge defeat.
Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, “I wish just one of them could have won,” he said. “They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them.”
Mike loved kids — all kids — and he knew them, having coached little league football, baseball and lacrosse. That's when the idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent the anonymously to the inner-city church.
On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and in succeeding years.
For each Christmas, I followed the tradition — one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas, and on and on.
The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents.
As the children grew, the toys gave way to more practical presents, but the envelope never lost its allure. The story doesn't end there. You see, we lost Mike last year due to dreaded cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree, and in the morning, it was joined by three more.
Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyed anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelope. Mike's spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us.
May we all remember the reason for the season, and the true Christmas spirit this year and always. God bless — pass this along to your friends and loved ones.
Happy Holidays！
December is one of my favorite months as it's the month of lights, and the month of giving, and thanking. I received this mail from my friend Debra this evening, and wanted to share it. I really think it touches all of us in many ways. As it is said you can never give or receive too many mizvot (in Jewish it's the act of giving) Maybe it could be your “WHITE ENVELOPE”.
英語美文欣賞9
If I were a boy again, I would cultivate courage. “Nothing is so mild and gentle as courage, nothing so cruel and pitiless as cowardice,” syas a wise author. We too often borrow trouble, and anticipate that may never appear.” The fear of ill exceeds the ill we fear.” Dangers will arise in any career, but presence of mind will often conquer the worst of them. Be prepared for any fate, and there is no harm to be freared. If I were a boy again, I would look on the cheerful side. Life is very much like a mirror: if you smile upon it, I smiles back upon you; but if you frown and look doubtful on it, you will get a similar look in return. Inner sunshine warms not only the heart of the owner, but of all that come in contact with it. “ who shuts love out ,in turn shall be shut out from love.” If I were a boy again, I would school myself to say no more often. I might write pages on the importance of learning very early in life to gain that point where a young boy can stand erect, and decline doing an unworthy act because it is unworthy. If I were a boy again, I would demand of myself more courtesy towards my companions and friends, and indeed towards strangers as well. The smallest courtesies along the rough roads of life are like the little birds that sing to us all winter long, and make that season of ice and snow more endurable. Finally, instead of trying hard to be happy, as if that were the sole purpose of life, I would , if I were a boy again, I would still try harder to make others happy.
假如我又回到了童年，我就要培養(yǎng)勇氣。一位明智的作家曾說過：“世上沒有東西比勇氣更溫文爾雅，也沒有東西比懦怯更殘酷無情�！蔽覀兂３＿^多地自尋煩惱，杞人憂天�！芭碌満Ρ鹊満Ρ旧砀膳��！狈彩露加形ｋU，但鎮(zhèn)定沉著往往能克服最嚴重的危險。對一切禍福做好準備，那么就沒有什么災難可以害怕的了。假如我又回到了童年，我就要事事樂觀。生活猶如一面鏡子：你朝它笑，它也朝你笑；如果你雙眉緊鎖，向它投以懷疑的目光，它也將還以你同樣的.目光。內(nèi)心的歡樂不僅溫暖了歡樂者自己的心，也溫暖了所有與之接觸者的心�！罢l拒愛于門外，也必將被愛拒諸門外�！奔偃缥矣只氐搅送�，我就要養(yǎng)成經(jīng)常說“不”字的習慣。一個少年要能挺得起腰，拒絕做不應該做的事，就因為這事不值得做。我可以寫上好幾頁談談早年培養(yǎng)這一點的重要性。假如我又回到了童年，我就要要求自己對伙伴和朋友更加禮貌，而且對陌生人也應如此。在坎坷的生活道路上，最細小的禮貌猶如在漫長的冬天為我們歌唱的小鳥，那歌聲使冰天雪地的寒冬變得較易忍受。最后，假如我又回到了童年，我不會力圖為自己謀幸福，好像這就是人生唯一的目的；與之相反，我要更努力為他人謀幸福。
英語美文欣賞10
The Thanksgiving Story
The Pilgrims who sailed to this country aboard the Mayflower were originally members of the English Separatist Church (a Puritan sect). They had earlier fled their home in England and sailed to Holland (The Netherlands) to escape religious persecution. There, they enjoyed more religious tolerance, but they eventually became disenchanted with the Dutch way of life, thinking it ungodly. Seeking a better life, the Separatists negotiated with a London stock company to finance a pilgrimage to America. Most of those making the trip aboard the Mayflower were non-Separatists, but were hired to protect the company's interests. Only about one-third of the original colonists were Separatists.
The Pilgrims set ground at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620. Their first winter was devastating. At the beginning of the following fall, they had lost 46 of the original 102 who sailed on the Mayflower. But the harvest of 1621 was a bountiful one. And the remaining colonists decided to celebrate with a feast -- including 91 Indians who had helped the Pilgrims survive their first year. It is believed that the Pilgrims would not have made it through the year without the help of the natives. The feast was more of a traditional English harvest festival than a true "thanksgiving" observance. It lasted three days.
Governor William Bradford sent "four men fowling" after wild ducks and geese. It is not certain that wild turkey was part of their feast. However, it is certain that they had venison. The term "turkey" was used by the Pilgrims to mean any sort of wild fowl.
Another modern staple at almost every Thanksgiving table is pumpkin pie. But it is unlikely that the first feast included that treat. The supply of flour had been long diminished, so there was no bread or pastries of any kind. However, they did eat boiled pumpkin, and they produced a type of fried bread from their corn crop. There was also no milk, cider, potatoes, or butter. There was no domestic cattle for dairy products, and the newly-discovered potato was still considered by many Europeans to be poisonous. But the feast did include fish, berries, watercress, lobster, dried fruit, clams, venison, and plums.
This "thanksgiving" feast was not repeated the following year. But in 1623, during a severe drought, the pilgrims gathered in a prayer service, praying for rain. When a long, steady rain followed the vernksgiving. Hale wrote many editorials championing her cause in her Boston Ladies' Magazine, and later, in Godey's Lady's Book. Finally, after a 40-year campaign of writing editorials and letters to governors and presidents, Hale's obsession became a reality when, in 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a national day of Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving was proclaimed by every president after Lincoln. The date was changed a couple of times, most recently by Franklin Roosevelt, who set it up one week to the next-to-last Thursday in order to create a longer Christmas shopping season. Public uproar against this decision caused the president to move Thanksgiving back to its original date two years later. And in 1941, Thanksgiving was finally sanctioned by Congress as a legal holiday, as the fourth Thursday in November.
英語美文欣賞11
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. 編織者，織工
2) aggrieved a. 苦惱的，悲傷的 the aggrieved指苦惱的人，悲傷的人
3) injured a. 受傷的，受損害的 the injured指受傷的人，受損害的人
4) glory n. 榮譽，光榮
5) passionate a. 熱情的 the passionate指充滿熱情的人
6) might n. 力量，威力
7) dread n. 懼怕，擔心
8) tempest n. 暴風雨
9) weary a. 疲倦的 the weary指疲倦的人
10) whispering n. 耳語
11) yield to 屈服于，屈從于
12) faint a. 微弱的，模糊的
13) quiver v. 顫抖
14) in fear of 對……懼怕，擔憂
15) restless a. 不能安靜的 the restless指好動的人
16) roaring n. 咆哮，呼喊
17) noon-time n. 正午，白晝
18) toiler n. 辛勞者
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. 燃燒
25) enchant v. 施魔法，使迷惑
26) sap n. 樹液
27) furrowed a. 有犁溝的，有皺紋的
28) bark n. 樹皮
29) claw n. 爪
30) unveil v. 揭開，除去面紗
美
如果美不以自身為途徑，為向?qū)�，你們到哪里，又如何能找到她呢？如果她不是你們言語的編織者，你們又如何能談論她呢？
傷心痛苦者說：“美是善良而溫柔的。她像一位因自己的榮耀而半含羞澀的年輕母親，走在我們的身邊�！�
熱情奔放者說：“不，美是強烈而令人驚畏的。她如暴風雨般震動我們腳下的大地，搖撼我們頭上的天空�！�
疲憊怠倦者說：“美是溫柔的低語，她在我們的心中訴說。她的聲音波動在我們的沉默中，猶如一道微弱的光在對陰影的恐懼中顫抖�！�
但活潑好動者說：“我們曾聽到她在山谷中大聲呼叫，隨其吶喊而來的是足蹄踏地、翅膀拍擊和雄獅怒吼的聲音�！�
夜晚，城市的守夜人說：“美將與晨光一同從東方升起�！�
正午，辛勤勞作者和長途跋涉者說：“我們曾看到她透過黃昏之窗眺望大地�！�
嚴冬，困在風雪中的人說：“她將與春同至，雀躍于山巒之間�！�
酷暑，收割莊稼的人說：“我們曾看到她與秋葉共舞，雪花點綴于她的發(fā)梢�！�
你們談到關于美的所有這些，實際并非關于她本身，而是關于你們未被滿足的需求，但美并不是一種需求，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，而是一顆燃燒的心，一個充滿喜悅的靈魂。她不是你們想看到的形象，也不是你們想聽到的歌聲，而是你們閉上眼睛看到的形象，堵住耳朵聽到的歌聲。她不是傷殘樹皮下的樹液，也不是懸在利爪下的翅膀。而是一座鮮花永遠盛開的花園，一群永遠在天空飛翔的天使。
當生命摘去遮蓋她圣潔面容的面紗時，美就是生命。
英語美文欣賞12
有這樣一個故事，爸爸因為三歲的女兒浪費了一卷金色的包裝紙而懲罰了她。家里很缺錢，當孩子想要用包裝紙裝飾一個掛在圣誕樹上的盒子時，爸爸生氣了。然而，第二天早上小女孩把盒子作為禮物送給了爸爸，“這是給你的，爸爸�！�
The man was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction， but his anger flared again when he found out the box was empty。 He yelled at her， stating， "Don't you know， when you give someone a present， there is supposed to be something inside？ The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and cried， "Oh， Daddy， it's not empty at all。 I blew kisses into the box。 They're all for you， Daddy。"
女兒的這個行為讓爸爸感到尷尬。但是當他發(fā)現(xiàn)盒子是空的時候，他的怒火再一次燃燒了。他對女兒喊道，“難道你不知道給別人禮物的時候，里面應該放有東西嗎？”多女孩抬頭看著父親，眼里含著淚水，“爸爸，盒子不是空的。我把吻放在了盒子里，都是給你的，爸爸�！�
The father was crushed。 He put his arms around his little girl， and he begged for her forgiveness。 Only a short time later， an accident took the life of the child。 It is also told that her father kept that gold box by his bed for many years and， whenever he was discouraged， he would take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there。
爸爸感動極了，他摟住女兒，懇請她的`原諒。之后不久，一場事故奪走了小女孩的生命。據(jù)說，父親便將那個小金盒子放在床頭，一直陪伴著他的余生。無論何時他感到氣餒或者遇到難辦的事情，他就會打開禮盒，取出一個假想的吻，記起漂亮女兒給予了自己特殊的愛。
In a very real sense， each one of us， as humans beings， have been given a gold container filled with unconditional love and kisses… from our children， family members， friends， and God。 There is simply no other possession， anyone could hold， more precious than this。
從一個非常真實的意義上說，我們每個人都被贈與過一個無形的金色禮盒，那里面裝滿了來自子女，家人，朋友及上帝無條件的愛與吻。人們所能擁有的最珍貴的禮物莫過于此了。
英語美文欣賞13
What is Love? The eternal question we all carry around deep within our heart. Love is the eternal search. Love is eternal when we find it. But do we really ever find it ? When we define it do we negate it? When we set limits on what we believe to be love do we begin to destroy it by hoping to understand or own it for ourselves? We offer it through all of our relationship we vary our giving, often by what we hope to receive in return. But is this really love?
I recently overheard someone say in a conversation that there is no such thing as “ unconditional love .” I would have to agree, although for different reasons. Love within itself is unconditional. Anything else is only an attempt to love, a learning to get us nearer to the one true knowing of love. It may be honorable, well-intentioned, passionate and desiring, courageous and pure. It may be felt as temporary, but if lost easily it may not have been love at all. Love cannot be thwarted and often fall short of what we hope love will be. This is where we learn we are human.
Love has been experienced as a life of living poetry. Love has been experienced as being the very notes of song, uplifting and generous to the wanting ear. Love has been experienced as the final act of giving one’s life for another in battle. Love has been experienced as an endless passionate over flow of emotion in the arms of waiting lover.
What do you do with the love granted to you each day? How many times do we deny its expression for others because we fear what our own expressions will bring? Are we not denying our creator every time we deny the expression of love?
Lost, empty, alone and searching. As individuals who have experienced separation or divorce, or even the loss of a loved one to death, the separation can be the most traumatic experience we live through. The heart-wrenching pain that seems to never really go away, the enormous waves that hit us daily, the times we hit the wall right after a strong and uplifting experience reminds us that we are learning. We are learning about strength, passion for our own life, about our own sincerity in our beliefs, about our loyalty to who we are, and certainly about our own genuineness. We search for that day when love will come again. We search everywhere, everyday, almost every hour.
It has been said for centuries that “ love is where the eyes meet with passion, for the eyes cannot hide what the heart feels.” So we have learned to look outward for this eternal love that will fulfill us, forgetting that it must first fill our own hearts. Perhaps that is why we fall into such pain and agony and sorrow when a love affair fails. It is at that moment that we realize we did not fail the other person we expressed love to , but we have somehow not fulfilled ourselves once again. We combat failure with a misunderstood unfulfilled promise. We lade it, not knowing if we will ever find it again. The emotion tides life and fall ,crash and settle, then lift again.
No one else, no matter how much we talk or cry, can pull us through the anxious hours of soul repair and growth. It is our own fire within that needs rekindling, guarding against the winds that would blow it out and leave us dark, cold and helpless. It is at this time that we find the lobe that binds us together with every other being that surrounds us on the planet. Eventually we find the sun still rises to meet in the morning and the stars continue to show us the way each night. The rivers still flow downstream into oceans that will never turn them away. The trees still reach upward every day praising the God that made them. We stand up straight and take a lesson from it all.
What if you woke up one morning and realized that you were the only person left on the face of the earth? Who would you love? Why do we wait so long to start the journey that begins in the same place that it ends？Love, in all its endlessness, unboundedness and failed definitions is this experience.
Love doesn’t ask why. It doesn’t come. It doesn’t go. It just is. It is not only in our hands, it is our hands. It isn’t only in our heart, it is what makes our heart beat every beat. It wraps itself around us so securely that all we need to do to survive against all odds is to recognize it as the very breath we just drew, and the last breath we just let go.
英語美文欣賞14
Believing in yourself comes from knowing what you are really capable of doing. When it's your turn to step up to the plate, realize that you won' t hit a home run every time. Baseball superstar Mickey Mantle struck out more than 1,700 times, but it didn’t stop him from excelling at baseball. He believed in himself, and he knew his fans believed in him.
自信源于你能正確地認知自己的能力。要知道，當輪到你走向本壘板時，并不是每次你都能打出本壘打的。棒球超級明星米奇·曼特在成名前曾失敗過1700多次，但這絲毫沒有妨礙他對成功的追求。他相信自己，同時他也知道他的球迷也相信他。
做事就要做到最好，相信自己，一切皆有可能。自信的力量是非常強大的，它能給人以無限的'信心和勇氣，在人們垂頭喪氣，萎靡不振時，強有力地驅(qū)走陰霾。當一個人有了相信自己的勇氣和信心后，他將勇往直前，無所畏懼。
英語美文欣賞15
愛是什么？
一個精靈坐在碧綠的枝葉間沉思。
風兒若有若無。
一只鳥兒飛過來，停在枝上，望著遠處將要成熟的稻田。
精靈取出一束黃澄澄的稻谷問道：“你愛這稻谷嗎？”
“愛�！�
“為什么？”
“它驅(qū)趕我的饑餓�！�
鳥兒啄完稻谷，輕輕梳理著光潤的'羽毛。
“現(xiàn)在你愛這稻谷嗎？”精靈又取出一束黃澄澄的稻谷。
鳥兒抬頭望著遠處的一灣泉水回答：“現(xiàn)在我愛那一灣泉水，我有點渴了�！�
精靈摘下一片樹葉，里面盛了一汪泉水。
鳥兒喝完泉水，準備振翅飛去。
“請再回答我一個問題，”精靈伸出指尖，鳥兒停在上面。
“你要去做什么更重要的事嗎？我這里又稻谷也有泉水�！�
“我要去那片開著風信子的山谷，去看那朵風信子�！�
“為什么？它能驅(qū)趕你的饑餓？”
“不能�！�
“它能滋潤你的干渴？”
“不能�！�
“那你為什么要去看它呢？”
“我需要它啊�！�
“為什么需要？”
“我愛它啊�！�
“為什么愛它？”
“我日日夜夜都在思念它�！�
“為什么思念它？”
“我愛它�！�
精靈沉默了片刻，又提出一個問題：
“你為什么只愛那一朵風信子呢？山谷里有無數(shù)朵風信子�！�
“因為它是唯一的一朵啊�！�
“為什么？它和其他所有的風信子有什么不同的地方嗎？”
“有的�！�
“哪里不同呢？”
“只有它才是我愛的那一朵啊�！�
精靈忽然輕輕笑了起來，鳥兒振翅而去。
What is love?
An elf sits between the green branches and leaves.
The wind not much, if any.
A bird flew over and stopped on the branch, looking at the rice field that was going to mature in the distance.
Asked the spirit took out a bunch of glistening rice: "do you love this rice?"
"Love."
"Why?"
"It drives me out of hunger."
The bird pecked the rice, gently comb its feathers.
"Do you love this rice now?" The elves took out a bunch of glistening rice.
The bird looked up at a fountain in the distance and answered, "now I love the Bay spring, and I'm a little thirsty."
The elves took off a leaf, and there was a fountain of water in it.
The bird finished the spring and was ready to fly away.
"Please answer me one more question," the elves put out their fingertips, and the birds stopped on it.
"What more important things are you going to do?" I also have spring in the rice. "
"I'm going to the valleys with the hyacinth to see the hyacinth."
"Why?" Can it drive away your hunger? "
"No,"
"Can it moisturize your thirst?"
"No,"
"Then why are you going to see it?"
"I need it."
"Why do you need it?"
"I love it."
"Why do you love it?"
"I miss it all day and night."
"Why do you miss it?"
"I love it."
The elves have been silent for a moment and put forward a question.
"Why do you only love that one of the hyacinth? There are numerous hyacinth in the valley. "
"Because it's the only one."
"Why?" Is it different from all the other hyacinth? "
"Yes."
"Where is the difference?"
"Only it is the one I love."
The elves suddenly laughed and the birds fluttered away.
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