舞动的骷髅
经典美文与英语写作是两项相对独立但又相互依赖、相辅相成的关系,这一结论对写作教学有很大启发。我整理了初中英语美文，欢迎阅读!
友谊
No young man starting life could have better capital than plenty of friends.
年轻人人生起步最好的资本莫过于拥有众多的朋友。
They will strengthen his credit support him in every great effort, and make him what，unaided, he could never be.
朋友可以增加他的声望，尽最大的努力支持他，并使他达到无朋友帮助时绝不可能达到的成就。
Friends of the right sort will help him more to be happy and successful than much money or great learning.
交对朋友将会比大笔的金钱或高深的学问更能让他快乐和成功。
Friendship is no one-sided affair.
友谊不是单方面的事。
There can be no friendship without reciprocity.
没有互惠就不能算是友谊。
One cannot receive all and give nothing，or give all and receive nothing，and expect to experience the joy and fullness of true companionship.
一个人不可能只是接受而不付出，只是付出而不回收，却期望能够享有真挚友谊的欢欣和满足。
Those who would make friends must cultivate the qualities which are admired and which attract.
想交朋友必须培养受人赞赏和吸引人的特质。
If you are mean stingy and selfish，nobody will admire you.
如果你小气、吝啬又自私，没有人会欣赏你。
You must cultivate generosity and large-heartedness; you must be magnanimous and tolerant;
你必须培养慷慨和宽宏大量的气度;你必须有雅量并对人容忍;
you must have positive qualities, for a negative, shrinking, apologizing，roundabout man is despised.
你必须要有积极的特质，因为消极、畏缩、爱赔不是和迁回不前的人总是让人瞧不起。
You must believe in yourself. If you do not, others will not believe in you.
你必须信任你自己，否则就不会获得别人的信任。
You must look upward and be hopeful，cheery, and optimistic.
你必须要向前看，充满希望，愉快且乐观。
No one will be attracted to a gloomy pessimist.
没有人会理会一个忧郁的悲观者。
快乐之钥
To help others，you don't have to be an efficient expert in the art; the main thing is theintention.
你若想助人，并不一定要在助人的艺术方面猛下工夫，重要的是你有没有一颗助人的心。
You may be crude and clumsy, wasteful and ineffective, but if you sincerely try to help, yourattempt produces nothing but good.
你或许粗里粗气，笨手笨脚，徒劳又无成效，但你若真心想帮忙，你的努力只会带来善果。
The one you are trying to help knows your intention and is strengthened and encouraged bythe magic of your sharing.
你想要帮助的人得知你有心相助时，会因为你共担困苦的魔力而变得坚强振作。
In nearly every case，your simple desire to help，converted into action，produces the goodsought.
你单纯的助人之心每次付诸行动时，几乎都会产生预期的善果。
But perhaps the greatest good is the good that you yourself get out of the attempt.
但或许最大的善果却是你从自己努力助人的企图中所得到的善果。
Service to others delivers more joy to you than the joy you deliver to them.
帮助别人所带给你的快乐要多过你带给别人的快乐。
In doing good，you free yourself from the terrible burden of self; you escape from yourself intoa clean world of joy and light.
行善时，你便摆脱了以自我为本位的可怕重担，而进入一个充满喜悦及光明的清新世界。
The good you simply try to do, regardless of the outcome, is always a success inside yourself.
你一心想行的善，不论结果如何，在你心中始终就是一种成功。
Unselfish giving is your most efficient formula for happiness, for you have embraced Eternityinstead of Self;
无私的施舍乃是获得快乐最有效的法则，因为你拥抱的是“永恒”而非“自我”;
you have felt Life, and you are now the world bigger than you were before you began theproject.
你感受到“生命”的存在，而你现在的世界也比你开始行善前还要开阔。
爱美
The love of beauty is an essential part of all healthy human nature.
爱美乃是所有正常的人性中不可或缺的一部分。
It is a moral quality.
它是心灵的特质。
The absences of it is not an assured ground of condemnation, but the presence of it is aninvariable sign of goodness of heart.
不爱美并不一定是坏事，但爱美则象征了不变的善心。
In proportion to the degree in which it is felt will probably be the degree in which noblenessand beauty of character will be attained.
品德的高尚与美好所达到的程度可能与爱美的感受度成正比。
Natural beauty is an all一pervading presence.
大自然的美是随处可见的。
The universe is its temple.
宇宙即是其殿堂。
It unfolds into the numberless flowers of spring.It waves in the branches of trees and the greenblades of grass.
美存在于春天无数的花蕊开放时，存在于随风摇曳的树枝与片片绿草中。
It haunts the depths of the earth and the sea.
在陆地及海底深处皆可见到美的芳踪。
It gleams from the hues of the shell and the precious stone.
它绽放于贝壳以及宝石的色泽上。
And not only these minute objects but the oceans, the mountains, the clouds, the stars, therising and the setting sun一all overflow with beauty.
不只是这些细微的东西，还有海洋、山庄、云朵、繁星、日升与日落，无一不美。
This beauty is so precious，and so congenial to our tenderest and noblest feelings，
这样的美是如此珍贵，也如此适合我们最温柔与高尚的情感，
that it is painful to think of the multitude of people living in the midst of it and yet remainingalmost blind to it.
以至想到一大群人身处在美之中却几乎对之视若无睹就令人痛心。
All persons should seek to become acquainted with the beauty in nature.
所有的人都应该设法去认识大自然之美。
There is not a worm we tread upon, nor a leaf that dances merrily as it falls before the autumnwinds, but calls for our study and admiration.
我们所踩过的小虫以及秋风拂掠前飞舞的树叶，皆值得我们研究与赞赏。
The power to appreciate beauty not merely increases our sources of happiness一it enlargesour moral nature, too.
欣赏美的能力不仅可以增加我们快乐的来源，它也开阔了我们的灵性。
Beauty calms our restlessness and dispels our cares.
美使我们不安的心平静下来，也驱散了我们的忧虑。
Go into the fields or the woods, spend a summer day by the sea or the mountains, and all yourlittle perplexities and anxieties will vanish.
走进田野或森林，在夏日的海边或山上待上一天，那么你所有微不足道的困惑与焦虑都会消失。
Listen to sweet music, and your foolish fears and petty jealousies will pass away.
倾听悦耳的音乐，那么你愚昧的恐惧感与微不足道的嫉妒心都会过去。
The beauty of the world helps us to seek and find the beauty of goodness.
世界之美将有助于我们找到善良之美。
肥嘟嘟的哲妈
美文对我国文学创作的繁荣和现代文化建设做出了巨大的贡献。现代传媒的兴盛,促进了美文的传播;而美文也在文化普及方面起着无可替代的作用。我整理了适合初中生的英语美文，欢迎阅读!
Collectibles
收藏品
Collectibles have been a part of almost every culture since ancient times.
从古代开始，收藏品就是文化的一部分。
Whereas some objects have been collected for their usefulness, others have been selected for their aesthetic beauty alone.
一些物品因它们的有用性被收藏，而另一些则纯粹因为它们的美被收藏。
In theUnited States, the kinds of collectibles currently popular range from traditional objects
在美国，当今流行的收藏品种类从传统物件，
such as stamps, coins, rare books, and art to more recent items of interest like dolls, bottles, baseball cards, and comic books.
如邮票、硬币、珍本书籍、艺术品，到更近期一些的有趣的东西，如布娃娃、瓶子、垒球卡、连环漫画册。
Interest in collectibles has increased enormously during the past decade, in part because some collectibles have demonstrated their value as investments.
对收藏品的兴趣在过去十年中大大地增长，部分原因是一些收藏品显示出了它们的投资价值。
Especially during cycles of high inflation, investors try to purchase tangibles that will at least retain their current market values.
尤其在高通货膨胀时期，投资者尽量购买那些至少会保持他们现有市场价值的有形资产。
In general, the most traditional collectibles will be sought because they have preserved their value over the years, there is an organized auction market for them,
一般来说，最传统的收藏品受青睐，因为它们多年后仍保持其价值。它们拥有完善的拍卖市场，
and they are most easily sold in the event that cash is needed. Some examples of the most stable collectibles are old masters,
在需要现金的时候最容易被卖掉。一些最稳当的收藏品是古老的画作、
Chinese ceramics, stamps, coins, rare books, antique jewelry, silver, porcelain, art by well-known artists, autographs, and period furniture.
中国陶器、邮票、硬币、珍本书籍、古代珠宝、银器、瓷器、著名艺术家的作品、亲笔签名和有时代特征的家具。
Other items of more recent interest include old photograph records, old magazines, post cards, baseball cards, art glass, dolls, classic cars, old bottles, and comic books.
其它更近期的物品有旧唱片、旧杂志、明信片、垒球卡片、彩色玻璃、布娃娃、早期汽车、古瓶和连环画册。
These relatively new kinds of collectibles may actually appreciate faster as short-term investments, but may not hold their value as long-term investments.
作为短期投资这些相对说来较新颖的收藏品的确可能更快地增值，但作为长期投资则可能不能保值。
Once a collectible has had its initial play, it appreciates at a fairly steady rate, supported by an increasing number of enthusiastic collectors competing
一旦一件收藏品有了它第一次交易，它便以一个相当稳定的比率增值，这个增值率受到越来越多的热情的收藏者的支持，
for the limited supply of collectibles that become increasingly more difficult to locate.
他们为有限的而且越来越难找到的收藏品而竞争。
Sleep
Sleet is part of a person’s daily activity cycle. There are several different stages of sleep, and they too occur in cycles. If you are an average sleeper, your sleep cycle is as follows. When you fist drift off into slumber, your eyes will roll about a bit, you temperature will drop slightly, your muscles will relax, and your breathing well slow and become quite regular. Your brain waves slow and become quite regular. Your brain waves slow down a bit too, with the alpha rhythm of rather fast waves 1 sleep. For the next half hour or so, as you relax more and more, you will drift down through stage 2 and stage 3 sleep. The lower your stage of sleep. slower your brain waves will be. Then about 40to 69 minutes after you lose consciousness you will have reached the deepest sleep of all. Your brain will show the large slow waves that are known as the delta rhythm. This is stage 4 sleep.
You do not remain at this deep fourth stage all night long, but instead about 80 minutes after you fall into slumber, your brain activity level will increase again slightly. The delta rhythm will disappear, to be replaced by the activity pattern of brain waves. Your eyes will begin to dart around under your closed eyelids as if you were looking at something occurring in front of you. This period of rapid eye movement lasts for some 8 to 15 minutes and is called REM sleep. It is during REM sleep period, your body will soon relax again, your breathing will slip gently back from stage 1 to stage 4 sleep----only to rise once again to the surface of near consciousness some 80 minutes later.
睡眠
睡眠是人每天日常活动循环的一部分。人的睡眠分几个阶段，而这些阶段也是循环发生的。如果你是一个正常的睡眠者，你的睡眠循环会这样进行。
在你开始昏昏入睡时，你的眼睛会滚动几下，体温略有下降，肌肉放松，呼吸变得缓慢而有节奏。除了开始几分钟比较快的α节奏外，脑电波也稍有减缓。
这被称为第一阶段睡眠。在随后约半小时内，你进一步放松，进入第二和第三阶段睡眠。睡眠越深入，脑电波就越缓慢。大约在开始睡眠后的40到
60分钟，你将进入沉睡状态。这时的脑电波表现为巨大的缓波，被称为δ节奏。这就是第四阶段睡眠。但你并不是整夜都保持这种沉睡状态。入睡后约
80分钟左右，你的大脑运动水平会再度略有提高。δ节奏消失，并被脑电波的运动图形取代。你的眼睛会
在闭着的眼睑下迅速转动，就好象你在看着眼前发生的什么事情。这种迅速的眼球运动持续约8～15分钟，这一阶段睡眠被称之为快速眼动(REM)睡眠。
在REM睡眠阶段，你的肢体会很快再度放松，呼吸也再次放慢并变得有节奏，你会轻松地从第一阶段滑入第四阶段睡眠-直到大约80分钟后重新接近清醒状态。
Bacteria
Bacteria are extremely small living things. While we measure our own sizes in inches or centimeters, bacterial size is measured in microns. One micron is a thousandth of a millimeter: a pinhead is about a millimeter across. Rod-shaped bacteria are usually from two to four microns long, while rounded ones are generally one micron in diameter. Thus if you enlarged a rounded bacterium a thousand times, it would be just about the size of a pinhead. An adult human magnified by the same amount would be over a mile(1.6 kilometer) tall.
Even with an ordinary microscope, you must look closely to see bacteria. Using a magnification of 100 times, one finds that bacteria are barely visible as tiny rods or dots. One cannot make out anything of their structure. Using special stains, one can see that some bacteria have attached to them wavy-looking “hairs” called flagella. Others have only one flagellum. The flagella rotate, pushing the bacteria through the water. Many bacteria lack flagella and cannot move about by their own power, while others can glide along over surfaces by some little-understood mechanism.
From the bacteria point of view, the world is a very different place from what it is to humans. To a bacterium water is as thick as molasses is to us. Bacteria are so small that they are influenced by the movements of the chemical molecules around them. Bacteria under the microscope, even those with no flagella, often bounce about in the water. This is because they collide with the watery molecules and are pushed this way and that. Molecules move so rapidly that within a tenth of a second the molecules around a bacteria have all been replaced by new ones; even bacteria without flagella are thus constantly exposed to a changing environment.
细菌细菌是极其微小的生物体。我们用英寸或厘米来测量自己的大小，而测量细菌却要用微米。一微米等于千分之一毫米。针头直径大约一毫米。
棒状细菌通常有2～4微米长，而圆形细菌的直径一般只有1微米。因此，即使你把一个圆形细菌放大1000倍，它也不过一个针头那么大。
可是如果把一个成年人放大1000倍，就会变成1英里(或1.6公里)多高。用一般的显微镜观察细菌时，你必须仔细观察才能看见它们。使用
100倍的显微镜时，你会发现细菌不过是隐约可见的小细棒或小点点，而它们的结构你却根本看不出来。使
用特殊的着色剂后，你会发现有的细菌上长着不少波状的"毛发"即鞭毛，而有的细菌只有一根鞭毛。鞭毛的旋转可以推动细菌在水中行进。
不少细菌没有鞭毛，因而不能自己行进。还有些细菌却能通过某些鲜为人知的机制沿物体表面滑动。我们所熟知的世界在细菌眼中完全是另一个样子。
对于细菌来说，水就同糖浆之于人类一样稠密。细菌是如此的微小，周围化学分子的一举一动都会对它们产生影响。在显微镜下，细菌，甚至包括那些没有鞭
毛的细菌，经常在水中跳来跳去。这是因为它们与水分子相撞后，被弹向各个方向。分子移动很迅速，仅0.1
秒之隔，一个细菌周围的分子就会完全更新。因此，即使是没有鞭毛的细菌也暴露在一个不断变化的环境中。
