向上七季
美文是不可或缺的存在,阅读的时候感动心灵,能够看到最真实的自己,感受最贴切的温暖。下面我整理了英语经典美文，希望大家喜欢!
The Thing I Value Most
我最珍视的东西
It has been somtimes since Jack has seen the old man.College,girls ,career,and life itself got in the way.In fact,Jack moved clear crossed the country and persuit his dreams .There, in the rush of his busy life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future and nothing could stop him.
杰克已经有段时间没有见过老人了。大学,女孩,事业和生活占据了所以时间。事实上,杰克搬离了乡村去追逐 他的梦想。在匆忙的生活中，杰克几乎没时间回忆过去，也经常没时间陪妻子和儿子。他正在为他的将来努力奋斗，没有什么可以阻挡他的脚步。
Over the phone his mother told him, "Mr. Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday."
电话里妈妈对他说，“贝尔瑟先生昨晚去世了，葬礼在周三举行。”
Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel.
往事像新闻影片一样闪过他的头脑。
"Jack, did you hear me?"
“杰克，听见我说话了吗?”
"Oh sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It's been so long since I thought of him." Jack said.
“啊，对不起，妈妈。听见了。我已经好长时间没有想到过他了。”杰克说。
"Well, he didn't forget you. Every time I saw him he'd ask how you were doing. He'd reminisce about the many days you spent with him," Mom told him. “
但是，他可从没忘记你。每次我见到他，他都问起你最近的情况。他会回忆起和你一起度过的许多日子。”妈妈说道。
"He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important… Mom, I'll be there for the funeral," Jack said. “
他花了很多时间来教我学习那些他认为重要的东西…妈妈，我会回去参加他的葬礼的。”杰克说。
Jack kept his word and attended Mr. Belser's funeral.
杰克履行了他的诺言，参加了贝尔瑟先生的葬礼。
The night before he returned home Jack and his Mom went to see Mr. Belser's old house one more time.
在回去的前一天晚上，杰克和他的妈妈又一次来到了贝尔瑟先生的老房子。
Standing in the doorway Jack paused for a moment. It was like crossing over into another dimension, a leap through space and time. Every step held memories. Every picture, every piece of furniture...Jack stopped suddenly.
杰克在门口站了一会儿。那种感觉就像是穿越时空、回到了从前。每一个台阶都盛满了回忆。每张照片，每件家具…突然，杰克停了下来。
"What's wrong, Jack?" his Mom asked.
“怎么了，杰克?”妈妈问。
"The box is gone," he said.
“那个盒子不见了。”他说。
"What box?" Mom asked.
“什么盒子?”妈妈问。
"There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he'd ever tell me was, 'The thing I value most.' Now I'll never know what was so valuable to him," Jack said.
“在他的桌子上面，放着一个小小的，总是上着锁的金盒子。我问过他无数次那盒子里面有什么东西。他总是告诉我说‘那是我最珍视的东西’。我现在永远也没法知道他最珍视的是什么东西了。”杰克说。
It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died. One day Jack discovered a parcel list in his mailbox.
贝尔瑟先生去世两周后的一天，杰克在邮箱里发现了一张包裹单。
Early the next day Jack retrieved the package. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention. Mr. Harold Belser," it read.
第二天一大早，杰克取回了包裹。包裹上的字迹很难辨认，但是寄信人地址却吸引了他的注意："哈罗德o贝尔瑟先生。
Jack tore it open. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack's hands shook as he read the note inside.
杰克拆开了包裹，里边是那个金盒子，还有一封信。看着信的内容，杰克的手颤抖了。
"Upon my death please forward this box to Jack Bennett. It's the thing I value most in my life." His heart raced as tears filled his eyes. Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch.
“在我死后，请把这个盒子转交给杰克?贝内特。这是我一生中最珍视的东西。"杰克的心跳加快，眼里噙满了泪水。他小心翼翼地打开盒子，里面是一块漂亮的金怀表。
He opened the cover. Inside he found these words engraved: "Jack, Thanks for your time! — Harold Belser."
他打开了表盖，里面刻着下面的文字：“杰克，感谢和你在一起的时间!哈罗德?贝尔瑟”。
"The thing he valued most...was...my time."
他最珍视的东西…是…我的时间。”
Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days…he needed some time to spend with his wife and son.
杰克拿着表想了一会儿，然后给办公室打了电话，把接下来两天的工作预约全部取消了。他需要一点儿时间陪妻子和儿子。
You 超凡卓越的你
Consider… YOU. In all time before now and in all time to come, there has never been and will never be anyone just like you. You are unique in the entire history and future of the universe. Wow! Stop and think about that. You're better than one in a million, or a billion, or a gazillion…
试想一下……你!一个空前绝后的你，不论是以往还是将来都不会有一个跟你一模一样的人。你在历史上和宇宙中都是独一无二的。哇!想想吧，你是万里挑一、亿里挑一、兆里挑一的。
You are the only one like you in a sea of infinity!!!
在无穷无尽的宇宙中，你是举世无双的!!!
You're amazing! You're awesome! And by the way, TAG, you're it. As amazing and awesome as you already are, you can be even more so. Beautiful young people are the whimsey of nature, but beautiful old people are true works of art. But you don't become "beautiful" just by virtue of the aging process.
你是了不起的!你是卓越的!没错，就是你。你已经是了不起的，是卓越的，你还可以更卓越更了不起。美丽的年轻人是大自然的奇想，而美丽的老人却是艺术的杰作。但你不会因为年龄的渐长就自然而然地变得“美丽”。
Real beauty comes from learning, growing, and loving in the ways of life. That is the Art of Life. You can learn slowly, and sometimes painfully, by just waiting for life to happen to you. Or you can choose to accelerate your growth and intentionally devour life and all it offers. You are the artist that paints your future with the brush of today.Paint a Masterpiece.
真正的美丽源于生命里的学习、成长和热爱。这就是生命的艺术。你可以只听天由命,慢慢地学，有时候或许会很痛苦。又或许你可以选择加速自己的成长，故意地挥霍生活及其提供的一切。你就是手握今日之刷描绘自己未来的艺术家。画出一幅杰作吧!
God gives every bird its food, but he doesn't throw it into its nest. Wherever you want to go, whatever you want to do, it's truly up to you.
上帝给了鸟儿食物，但他没有将食物扔到它们的巢里。不管你想要去哪里，不管你想要做什么，真正做决定的还是你自己。
Reflections on Life
人生凝眸
You are the only one in a sea of infinity!
在无穷无尽有宇宙中，你是独一无二的。
Your dearest possession is life, and it is given to you but once.
你所拥有的一切中最宝贵的便是生命，而属于你的生命只有这一次。
Life gives every one his opportunities, but it doesn't send them into his hands.
生命给每个人提供了机遇送到他手里。
Wherever you want to go, whatever you want to do, it's truly up to you.
不管你想要去哪里，想要做什么，真正做决定的还是你自己。
You are the artist that paints your future with the brush of today!
你就是手握今日之画笔描绘自己未来的艺术家。
松涛学大教育
AngelOnce upon a time, a child was ready to be born. So he asked God, "How am I going to live there? I am so small and helpless."God answered, "Among many angels, I chose one for you. She will be waiting for you and will take care of you."The child asked, "Here I am in Heaven, I don't do anything else but sing and smile. That's enough for me to be happy."God answered, "Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you every day. You will feel your angel's love and be happy."The child asked, "How will I learn? I don't know the language that human beings speak."God said, "Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweetest words you will ever hear. With much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to live."The child asked, "What am I going to do when I want to talk to you?"God smiled, "Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray."The child asked, "Who will protect me?"God said, "Your angel will protect you even if it means risking her own life."At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from the earth could already be heard, and the child in a hurry asked softly, "Oh God, if I am about to leave now, please tell me my angel's name.""Your angel's name is of no importance. You will simply call your angel 'Mom'. "
！天道酬勤！
英文美文朗诵两篇
朗读是学生学习英语的一种有效的方法;是提高听、说、读、写综合能力的一种行为，下面是英文美文朗诵两篇。
•第一篇：Youth 青春
Youth
Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.
Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.
Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.
Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonders, the unfailing appetite for what’s next and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart, there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, courage and power from man and from the infinite, so long as you are young.
When your aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you’ve grown old, even at 20; but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there’s hope you may die young at 80.
译文：
青春
青春不是年华，而是心境;青春不是桃面、丹唇、柔膝，而是深沉的意志，恢宏的想象，炙热的恋情;青春是生命的深泉在涌流。
青春气贯长虹，勇锐盖过怯弱，进取压倒苟安。如此锐气，二十后生而有之，六旬男子则更多见。年岁有加，并非垂老，理想丢弃，方堕暮年。
岁月悠悠，衰微只及肌肤;热忱抛却，颓废必致灵魂。忧烦，惶恐，丧失自信，定使心灵扭曲，意气如灰。
无论年届花甲，拟或二八芳龄，心中皆有生命之欢乐，奇迹之诱惑，孩童般天真久盛不衰。人人心中皆有一台天线，只要你从天上人间接受美好、希望、欢乐、勇气和力量的信号，你就青春永驻，风华常存。 、
一旦天线下降，锐气便被冰雪覆盖，玩世不恭、自暴自弃油然而生，即使年方二十，实已垂垂老矣;然则只要树起天线，捕捉乐观信号，你就有望在八十高龄告别尘寰时仍觉年轻。
•第二篇： Three Days to See(Excerpts)假如给我三天光明(节选)
Three Days to See
All of us have read thrilling stories in which the hero had only a limited and specified time to live. Sometimes it was as long as a year, sometimes as short as 24 hours. But always we were interested in discovering just how the doomed hero chose to spend his last days or his last hours. I speak, of course, of free men who have a choice, not condemned criminals whose sphere of activities is strictly delimited.
Such stories set us thinking, wondering what we should do under similar circumstances. What events, what experiences, what associations should we crowd into those last hours as mortal beings, what regrets?
Sometimes I have thought it would be an excellent rule to live each day as if we should die tomorrow. Such an attitude would emphasize sharply the values of life. We should live each day with gentleness, vigor and a keenness of appreciation which are often lost when time stretches before us in the constant panorama of more days and months and years to come. There are those, of course, who would adopt the Epicurean motto of “Eat, drink, and be merry”. But most people would be chastened by the certainty of impending death.
In stories the doomed hero is usually saved at the last minute by some stroke of fortune, but almost always his sense of values is changed. He becomes more appreciative of the meaning of life and its permanent spiritual values. It has often been noted that those who live, or have lived, in the shadow of death bring a mellow sweetness to everything they do.
Most of us, however, take life for granted. We know that one day we must die, but usually we picture that day as far in the future. When we are in buoyant health, death is all but unimaginable. We seldom think of it. The days stretch out in an endless vista. So we go about our petty tasks, hardly aware of our listless attitude toward life.
The same lethargy, I am afraid, characterizes the use of all our faculties and senses. Only the deaf appreciate hearing, only the blind realize the manifold blessings that lie in sight. Particularly does this observation apply to those who have lost sight and hearing in adult life. But those who have never suffered impairment of sight or hearing seldom make the fullest use of these blessed faculties. Their eyes and ears take in all sights and sounds hazily, without concentration and with little appreciation. It is the same old story of not being grateful for what we have until we lose it, of not being conscious of health until we are ill.
I have often thought it would be a blessing if each human being were stricken blind and deaf for a few days at some time during his early adult life. Darkness would make him more appreciative of sight; silence would teach him the joys of sound.
译文：
假如给我三天光明(节选)
我们都读过震撼人心的故事，故事中的主人公只能再活一段很有限的时光，有时长达一年，有时却短至一日。但我们总是想要知道，注定要离世人的会选择如何度过自己最后的时光。当然，我说的是那些有选择权利的.自由人，而不是那些活动范围受到严格限定的死囚。
这样的故事让我们思考，在类似的处境下，我们该做些什么?作为终有一死的人，在临终前的几个小时内我们应该做什么事，经历些什么或做哪些联想?回忆往昔，什么使我们开心快乐?什么又使我们悔恨不已?
有时我想，把每天都当作生命中的最后一天来边，也不失为一个极好的生活法则。这种态度会使人格外重视生命的价值。我们每天都应该以优雅的姿态，充沛的精力，抱着感恩之心来生活。但当时间以无休止的日，月和年在我们面前流逝时，我们却常常没有了这种子感觉。当然，也有人奉行“吃，喝，享受”的享乐主义信条，但绝大多数人还是会受到即将到来的死亡的惩罚。
在故事中，将死的主人公通常都在最后一刻因突降的幸运而获救，但他的价值观通常都会改变，他变得更加理解生命的意义及其永恒的精神价值。我们常常注意到，那些生活在或曾经生活在死亡阴影下的人无论做什么都会感到幸福。
然而，我们中的大多数人都把生命看成是理所当然的。我们知道有一天我们必将面对死亡，但总认为那一天还在遥远的将来。当我们身强体健之时，死亡简直不可想象，我们很少考虑到它。日子多得好像没有尽头。因此我们一味忙于琐事，几乎意识不到我们对待生活的冷漠态度。
我担心同样的冷漠也存在于我们对自己官能和意识的运用上。只有聋子才理解听力的重要，只有盲人才明白视觉的可贵，这尤其适用于那些成年后才失去视力或听力之苦的人很少充分利用这些宝贵的能力。他们的眼睛和耳朵模糊地感受着周围的景物与声音，心不在焉，也无所感激。这正好我们只有在失去后才懂得珍惜一样，我们只有在生病后才意识到健康的可贵。
我经常想，如果每个人在年轻的时候都有几天失时失聪，也不失为一件幸事。黑暗将使他更加感激光明，寂静将告诉他声音的美妙。
