wisteria爱发呆
英语作为学习生涯中必不可少的课程，想学好真的不容易。我在此献上英语美文，希望大家喜欢。
英语经典美文欣赏
一切刚开始 We're Just Beginning
"We are reading the first verse of the first chapter of a book whose pages are infinite…”
“我们正在读一本书的第一章第一行，这本书的页数是无限的……”
I do not know who wrote those words, but I have always liked them as a reminder that the future can be anything we want to make it. We can take the mysterious, hazy future and carve out of it anything that we can imagine, just as a sculptor carves a statue from a shapeless stone.
我不知道是谁写的，可我很喜欢这句话，它提醒我们未来是由自己创造的。我们可以把神秘、不可知的未来塑造成我们想象中的任何模样，犹如雕刻家将未成形的石头刻成雕像。
We are all in the position of the farmer. If we plant a good seed, we reap a good harvest. If our seed is poor and full of weeds, we reap a useless crop. If we plant nothing at all, we harvest nothing at all.
我们每个人都像是农夫。洒下良种将有丰收，播下劣种或生满野草便将毁去收成。没有耕耘则会一无所获。
I want the future to be better than the past. I don't want it contaminated by the mistakes and errors with which history is filled. We should all be concerned about the future because that is where we will spend the remainder of our lives.
我希望未来比过去更加美好，希望未来不会沾染历史的错误与过失。我们都应举目向前，因我们的余生要用未来书写。
The past is gone and static. Nothing we can do will change it. The future is before us and dynamic. Everything we do will affect it. Each day brings with it new frontiers, in our homes and in our business, if we only recognize them. We are just at the beginning of the progress in every field of human endeavor.
往昔已逝，静如止水;我们无法再作改变。而前方的未来正生机勃勃;我们所做的每一件事都将会影响着它。只要我们认识到这些，无论是在家中还是在工作上，每天我们的面前都会展现出新的天地。在人类致力开拓的每一片领域上，我们正站在进步的起跑点。
英语美文欣赏
别让这个时代越来越冷漠 Don’t Make the era More and More Indifferent
The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints; we spend more, but have less; we buy more but enjoy less.
我们这个时代在历史上的说法就是我们拥有更高的建筑，但是有更暴的脾气;我们拥有更宽阔的高速公路，却有更狭隘的观点;我们花费得更多，拥有得却更少;我们购买得更多却享受得更少。
We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, but more problems; more medicine, but less wellness.
我们的房子越来越大，家庭却越来越小;便利越来越多，时间却越来越少;学位越来越多，感觉却越来越少;知识越来越多，观点却越来越少;专家越来越多，问题也越来越多;药物越来越多，健康却越来越少。
We drink too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry too quickly, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.
我们喝得太多，花钱大手大脚，笑得太少，开车太快，易怒，熬夜，赖床，书读得越来越少，电视看得越来越多，却很少向上帝祈祷。
We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life; we’ve added years to life, not life to years.
我们常常夸夸其谈，却很少付出爱心，且常常心中充满了仇恨。我们学会了如何谋生，而不知如何生活。我们延长了生命的期限，而不是生活的期限。
We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor. We’ve conquered outer space, but not inner space; we’ve done larger things, but not better things.
我们登上了月球，并成功返回，却不能穿过街道去拜访新邻居。我们已经征服了太空，却征服不了自己的内心;我们的事业越做越大，但质量却没有提高。
We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul; we’ve split the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less; we plan more, but accomplish less.
我们清洁了空气，却污染了灵魂;我们分离了原子，却无法驱除我们的偏见;我们写得更多，学到的却更少;我们的计划更多，完成的却更少。
We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait; we have higher incomes, but, lower morals.
我们学会了奔跑，却忘记了如何等待;我们的收入越来越高，道德水平却越来越低。
We build more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever, but have less communication; we’ve become long on quantity, but short on quality.
我们制造了更多的计算机来存储更多的信息，制造了最多的副本，却减少了交流;我们开始渴望数量，但忽视了质量。
These are the days of two incomes, but more divorce; of fancier houses, but more broken homes.
这个时代有双收入，但也有了更高的离婚率;有更华丽的房屋，却有更多破碎的家庭。
These are the days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throw away morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. Where are we heading...?
这个时代有了快速旅游，免洗尿布，却抛弃了道德、一夜情、超重的身体，以及可以从快乐中走向静止和自杀的药物。我们将走向何方……?
If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family we left behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.
如果我们明天就死掉，我们为之工作的公司可能会在一天内很轻易地找人代替我们的位置。但是当我们离开家人后，他们的余生将会在失落中度过。
And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than to our family an unwise investment indeed.
考虑一下吧，我们将自己的时间更多地投入到工作中，而放弃与家人在一起的时光，实在并非明智之举。
So what is the morale of the story?
那么这则故事的主旨是什么呢?
Don’t work too hard... and you know what’s the full word of family?
不要工作得太辛苦，你知道家的全称吗?
FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER, (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU.
家=爸爸妈妈，我爱你们。
英语经典美文欣赏
50%的希望 Fifty-percent Expectation
I believe in the "50-percent theory". Half the time things are better than normal; the other half, they are worse. I believe life is a pendulum swing. It takes time and experience to understand what normal is, and that gives me the perspective to deal with the surprises of the future.
我信奉“对半理论”。生活时而无比顺畅，时而倒霉透顶，好坏参半。我觉得生活就像来回晃动的钟摆。读懂生活的常态需要时间和阅历，也正是这样才练就了我面对未来荣辱不惊的生活态度。
Let's benchmark the parameters: Yes, I will die. I've dealt with the deaths of both parents, a best friend, a beloved boss and cherished pets. Some of these deaths have been violent, before my eyes, or slow and agonizing. Bad stuff, and it belongs at the bottom of the scale.
让我们掂量这些点点滴滴：是的，我注定会死去。我已经经历了双亲的仙逝，一位友人的亡故，一位敬爱的老板的离逝，还有心爱宠物的死亡。当中一些变故突如其来，直击眼前;有些却长期折磨，痛苦不堪。糟糕的事儿，它们驻留谷底。
Then there are those high points: romance and marriage to the right person; having a child and doing those Dad things like coaching my son's baseball team, paddling around the creek in the boat while he's swimming with the dogs, discovering his compassion so deep it manifests even in his kindness to snails, his imagination so vivid he builds a spaceship from a scattered pile of Legos.
当然生活也不乏熠熠光彩：坠入爱河缔结良缘;养育幼子身为人父，训练儿子的棒球队，当他和狗在水中嬉戏时，摇桨划船前瞻后顾，感受他如此强烈的同情心——即使对蜗牛也善待有加，发现他如此活跃的想像力——即使零散的积木也能堆出太空飞船。
But there is a vast meadow of life in the middle, where the bad and the good flip-flop acrobatically. This is what convinces me to believe in the 50-percent theory.
但在它们发生期间有一片宽广的草坪，在那儿上演的各种好事坏事像耍杂技一样地翻新。这就是让我信服对半理论的原因。
One spring I planted corn too early in a bottomland so flood-prone that neighbors laughed. I felt chagrined at the wasted effort. Summer turned brutal-- the worst heat wave and drought in my lifetime. The air-conditioner died,the well went dry, the marriage ended, the job lost, the money gone. I was living lyrics from a country tune -- music I loathed. Only a surging Kansas CityRoyals team, bound for their first World Series, buoyed my spirits.
有一年春天，我在一片容易被淹的低洼地过早种下了玉米，邻居们都为此嘲笑我。一番心血付之东流让我懊恼不已。接着我生命中最难熬的酷暑来临了--热浪袭人，酿至旱灾。空调失灵，水井枯竭，婚姻破裂，惨遭失业，积蓄挥空。我正经历某个乡村调频描绘的情节，我讨厌这种音乐。只有一支人气攀升的堪萨斯皇家棒球队的小组因他们的第一次出征世界大赛团结起来使我精神振奋。
Looking back on that horrible summer, I soon understood that all succeeding good things merely offset the bad. Worse than normal wouldn't last long. I am owed and savor the halcyon times. They reinvigorate me for the next nasty surprise and offer assurance that I can thrive. The 50 percent theory even helps me see hope beyond my Royals' recent slump, a field of struggling rookies sown so that some year soon we can reap an October harvest.
回想那个可怕的夏天，我不久就明白了所有的好事坏事不过是正负抵消。不顺心的境遇不会延宕过久。太平时光是我应得的，我要尽情享受。它们给我新的活力以应对突如其来的险境，并确保我再度辉煌。对半理论甚至帮我在我喜爱的皇家棒球队最近的低潮中看到希望——这是一块艰难行进的新手们耕耘的土地，播种了，假以时日我们就可以收获十月的金秋。
Oh, yeah, the corn crop? For that one blistering summer, the ground moisture was just right, planting early allowed pollination before heat,withered the tops, and the lack of rain spared the standing corn from floods. That winter my crib overflowed with corn -- fat, healthy three-to-a-stalk ears filled with kernels from heel to tip -- while my neighbors' fields yielded only brown, empty husks.
哦，对了，玉米收成?就那年炎热的夏天，庄稼地的湿度恰到好处，过早的种植使授粉避开酷热在顶梢干枯前完成，雨水稀少使地里长着的玉米免遭水灾。那年冬天，我的粮仓里堆满了玉米--饱满结实的玉米每株秆上结三个，每个玉米从底到顶端长满了玉米粒--而我的邻居们地里长出来的只是暗沉干瘪的壳。
Although plantings past may have fallen below the 50-percent expectation, and they probably will again in the future, I am still sustained by the crop that flourishes during the drought.
尽管过去播种的收获没有达到50%的期望，而且将来也可能是这样，我仍然要为经历旱季依然丰收的玉米而坚守阵地。
最好的我～
优美的文字于细微处传达出美感，并浸润着人们的心灵。通过英语美文，不仅能够感受语言之美，领悟语言之用，还能产生学习语言的兴趣。度过一段美好的时光，即感悟生活，触动心灵。下面我为大家带来经典英语美文欣赏，希望大家喜欢!
经典英语美文欣赏：拿起笔还是放下
Writing is not easy. I do it everyday.
写作非常不容易。我每天都在写作。
And I can tell you, it’s quite a challenge.
我可以告诉你，这是一个相当大的挑战。
But, the more I do it, the easier I get to just write.
但是，我写作的越多，我就越会容易的感觉下笔如有神。
Sometimes, that’s the most difficult part starting.
有时候，最困难的部分是开始。
When people ask me about writing---how they can write---I often suggest they brainstorm first.
当人们问我关于写作——他们如何写作——我通常建议他们先作头脑风暴。
Writing the main ideas collected to a topic, usually produces some great things.
写出收集到一个话题的主要思想，这个话题通常会产生一些伟大的东西。
If the things get organized, perhaps through an outline,
如果条理化，也许会产生一份提纲，
then you can write something really great.
你就可以写出一些非常棒的东西。
Most of the writings I do with spontaneous, I just start writing.
大部分的作品我都是自然而然写出，我才刚开始写作。
I just stopped and done.
我只是停下来做而已。
But I always go over what I wrote at least two times.
但我总是至少两次重温自己所写的。
The first time I go over my writing is spell-check the word,
第一次我检查写作中的词语拼写，
It’s unacceptable to deliver a piece of writing with misspelling in it.
我不能接受一篇文章里有拼写差错的问题出现。
The second time, I actually read what I wrote aloud,
第二次，我大声读出我所写的，
and add things that may I missed,
并添加可能我错过的东西，
it could be a idea that seems incomplete or something else.
它可能是一个似乎不完整或别的什么东西。
If you have the time, it’s good to put your writing down for a little while,
如果你有时间，最好让你的写作停下来一会儿，
and read it again later, and to see how you like it.
再读一遍，看看你有多喜欢它。
You may have something you wish to add or subtract.
你可能有一些想增加或者删减的东西。
If you have a serious paper to write,
如果你想写些非常严肃的东西，
and you have completed all of the things I talked about,
那你一定要按照我刚才谈到的所有的东西去做，
the best thing to do--before you return your paper--is to have someone to read what you wrote and make comments on it.
在你回到这篇文章前最好的事情就是有人读你写的东西并发表看法。
There is no doubt that practice makes perfect.
毫无疑问，熟能生巧。
or at least better, so, if you want to be a better writer in Korean or English,
至少会更好，所以，如果你想成为一位更好的韩语或英语作家，
I recommend that you write as much as you can.
我建议你写的越多越好。
经典英语美文欣赏：去经历去体验 做最好最真实的自己
Truly happy and successful people get that way by becoming the best, most genuine version of themselves they can be. Not on the outside--on the inside. It's not about a brand, a reputation, a persona. It's about reality. Who you really are.
真正快乐成功的人会长成最好最真实的自己——从内心而非外表上。重要的不是品牌、名誉或者外表形象，而是真实的自我。
Sounds simple, I know. It is a simple concept. The problem is, it's very hard to do, it takes a lot of work, and it can take a lifetime to figure it out.
道理很简单，讲出来也很容易。但问题是，做起来就不简单了：这需要付诸很多努力，甚或一辈子才能实现。
Nothing worth doing in life is ever easy. If you want to do great work, it's going to take a lot of hard work to do it. And you're going to have to break out of your comfort zone and take some chances that will scare the crap out of you.
需要穷尽毕生精力的事情必定不容易。成大事者必先苦其心志。因此，你必须走出舒适区，去经历、去体验那些会让你害怕的机会。
But you know, I can't think of a better way to spend your life. I mean, what's life for if not finding yourself and trying to become the best, most genuine version of you that you can be?
况且，人这一辈子，若到头来都认不清自己、未能长成最好最真实的自己，还有什么意义呢?
That's what Steve Jobs meant when he said this at a Stanford University commencement speech:
正如史蒂夫-乔布斯在斯坦福大学的毕业典礼上所言：
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice.
时间宝贵，不要虚掷光阴过着他人的生活。不要让周遭的聒噪言论蒙蔽你内心的声音。
You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something--your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
你要相信，生活中的偶然冥冥中也能指引未来。你要心怀信念——相信你的直觉、命运、生活抑或因缘。这个方法一直给我力量，促使我过得卓然不同。
The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle.
成大事的唯一途径就是做自己喜欢的事情。若你还没找到，那就继续追寻吧，不要停下来。
Now, let's for a moment be realistic about this. Insightful as that advice may be, it sounds a little too amorphous and challenging to resonate with today's quick-fix culture. These days, if you can't tell people exactly what to do and how to do it, it falls on deaf ears.
现在我们来实际一点：建议或许很深刻，但听完却让人无从着手，难以运用到当今的快节奏文化中。现如今，如果一个建议讲不清具体做什么、该怎么做的话，那么说了也等于白说。
Not only that, but what Jobs was talking about, what I'm talking about, requires focus and discipline, two things that are very hard to come by these days. Why? Because, focus and discipline are hard. It's so much easier to give in to distraction and instant gratification. Easy and addictive.
不仅如此，乔布斯的讲话和我要说的话都需要集中和自制——这两个品质在当今社会非常难能可贵。何以见得?因为集中和自制都不容易做到。人们很容易分散注意力、寻求即时快感——舒服且容易上瘾。
To give you a little incentive to take on the challenge, to embark on the road to self-discovery, here are three huge benefits from working to become the best, most genuine version of yourself.
为激励你迎接挑战、踏上寻求自我的旅途，我列出了成为最好最真实自己后的三大益处：
It will make you happy. Getting to know yourself will make you feel more comfortable in your own skin. It will reduce your stress and anxiety. It will make you a better spouse, a better parent, a better friend. It will make you a better person. Those are all pretty good reasons, if you ask me.
你会感到快乐。了解自己后会让你更愉悦地接受自己，减轻你的压力和焦虑，使你成为更好的伴侣、父母、朋友，让你成为一个更美好的人。这些益处难道不够说服你为之努力吗?
Besides, you really won't achieve anything significant in life until you know the real you. Not your brand, your LinkedIn profile, how you come across, or what anyone thinks of you. The genuine you. There's one simple reason why you shouldn't try to be something you're not, and it's that you can't. The real you will come out anyway. So forget your personal brand and start spending time on figuring out who you really are and trying to become the best version of that you can be.
而且，只有了解真实的自己方能成就大事。你需要了解那个真实的你，而不是你的品牌、名誉、LinkedlIn资料、你的过去抑或他人对你的看法。为什么你不应该过他人的生活?很简单，因为首先你不是“其他人”，你的本性总有一天会现形。所以，请放开你的品牌形象，努力发掘真实自我、努力把自己经营成最好的自己吧。
优质英语培训问答知识库
