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适合初学者的英语阅读短文(通用10篇)
无论是身处学校还是步入社会,大家一定都接触过作文吧,作文是一种言语活动,具有高度的综合性和创造性。那么一般作文是怎么写的呢?以下是小编收集整理的适合初学者的英语阅读短文,欢迎阅读与收藏。
适合初学者的英语阅读短文 1
Beautiful Smile and Love美丽的微笑与爱心
The poor are very wonderful people.One evening we went out and we picked up four people from the street. And one of them was in a most terrible condition-and I told the Sisters: You take care of the other three. I take care of this one who looked worse. So I did for her all that my love can do. I put her in bed, and there was such a beautiful smile on her face. She took hold of my hand as she said just the words "Thank you." and she died.
I could not help but examine my conscience before her and I asked what would I say if I was in her place. And my answer was very simple. I would have tried to draw a little attention to myself. I would have said I am hungry, that I am dying, I am cold, I am in pain, or something, but she gave me much more--she gave me her grateful love. And she died with a smile on her face. So did that man whom we picked up from the drain, half eaten with worms, and we brought him to the home. "I have lived like an animal in the street, but I am going to die like an angel, loved and cared for." And it was so wonderful to see the greatness of that man who could speak like that, who could die like that without blaming anybody, without cursing anybody, without comparing anything. Like an angel-this is the greatness of our people. And that is why we believe what Jesus had said: I was hungry-I was naked-I was homeless-I was unwanted, unloved, uncared for-and you did it to me.
I believe that we are not real social workers. We may be doing social work in the eyes of the people, but we are really contemplatives, in the heart of the world. For we are touching the body of Christ twenty-four hours.And I think that in our family we dont need bombs and guns. to destroy, to bring peace-just get together, love one another, bring that peace, that joy, that strength of presence of each other in the home. And we will be able to overcome all the evil that is in the world.
And with this prize that I received as a Prize of Peace, I am going to try to make the home for many people who have no home. Because I believe that love begins at home, and if we can create a home for the poor. 1 think that more and more love will spread. And we will be able through this understanding love to bring peace, be the good new to the poor.The poor in our own family first, in our country and in the world. To be able to do this,our Sisters, our lives have to be woven with prayer."They have to he woven with Christ to be able to understand, to be able to share. Because to be woven with Christ is to be able to understand, to be able to share. Because today there is so much suffering…When I pick up a person from the street, hungry, I give him a plate of rice, a piece of bread, I have satisfied. I have removed that hungry. But a person who is shut out, who feels unwanted,unloved, terrified, the person who has been thrown out from society-that poverty is so full of hurt and so unbearable...And so let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love, and once we begin to love each other naturally we want to do something.
穷人是非常了不起的人。一天晚上,我们外出,从街上带回了四个人,其中一个生命岌岌可危。于是我告诉修女们说:“你们照料其他三个,这个濒危的人就由我来照顾了。”就这样,我为她做了我的爱心所能做的一切。我将她放在床上,看到她的脸上绽露出如此美丽的微笑。她握着我的手,只说了句“谢谢您”就死了。
我情不自禁地在她面前审视起自己的良知来。我问自己,如果我是她的话,会说些什么呢?答案很简单,我会尽量引起旁人对我的关注,我会说我饥饿难忍,冷得发抖,奄龟一息,痛苦不堪,诸如此类的话。但是她给我的却更多更多—她给了我她的感激之情。她死时脸上却带着微笑。我们从排水道带回的那个男子也是如此。当时,他几乎全身都快被虫子吃掉了,我们把他带回了家。“在街上,我一直像个动物一样地活着,但我将像个天使一样地死去,有人爱,有人关心_”真是太好了,我看到了他的伟大之处,他竟能说出那样的活。他那样死去,不责怪任何
人,不诅咒任何人,无欲无求。像天使一样—这便是我们的人民的伟大之所在。因此我们相信耶稣所说的——我饥肠辘辘—我衣不蔽体—我无家可归—我不为人所要,不为人所爱,也不为人所关心—然而,你却为我做了这一切。
我想,我们算一不上真正的社会工作者。在人们的限中,或许我们是在做社会工作,但实际上,我们真的只是世界中心的修行者。因为,一天24小时,我们都在触摸基督的圣体。我想,在我们的大家庭里,我们不需要枪和炮弹来破坏和平,或带来和平—我们只需要团结起来,彼此相爱,将和平、欢乐以及每一个家庭成员灵魂的活力都带回世界。这样,我们就能战胜世界上现存的切邪恶。
我准备以我所获得的诺贝尔和平奖奖金为那些无家可归的人们建立自己的家园。因为我相信,爱源自家庭,如果我们能为穷人建立家园,我相信爱便会传播得更广。而且,我们将通过这种宽容博大的爱而带来和平,成为穷人的福音。首先为我们自己家里的穷人,其次为我们国家,为全世界的穷人。为了做到这一点,姐妹们,我们的生活就必须与祷告紧紧相连,必须同基督结为一体才能互相体谅,共同分享,因为同基督结为一体就意味着互相体谅,共同分享。因为,今天世界上仍有如此多的苦难存在……当我从街上带回一个饥肠辘辘的人时 ,给他一盘饭,一片面包,我就能使他心满意足了,我就能驱除他的饥饿。但是,如果一个人露宿街头,感到不为人所要,不为人所爱,惶恐不安,被社会抛弃—这样的贫困让人心痛,如此令人无法忍受。因此,让我们总是微笑相见,因为微笑就是爱的开端,一旦我们开始彼此自然地相爱,我们就会想着为对方做点什么了。
课堂笔记:
1.特蕾莎修女没有引用演讲的常规模式,如“Ladies and gentlemen",而是平和地用“穷人是非常了不起的人”做开场白。一方面展示了她对这个奖项的淡定;另一方面是向在场的观众表明她及她的`团体所施爱的对象群体,恰恰是常人所瞧不起甚至藐视的人群。
2.修女本有一固定单词为“nun”,特蕾莎修女选择了“sister”这个单词,表明她们慈爱团体的亲密关系如同姐妹,令现场的观众也有一种亲近感。“Sister”首字母大写,通常既可以指天主教修女,也可以指基督教会员。
3.英语中表示“禁不住做某事”的常用结构为“cannot help doing sth.; cannot help but do sth."。
4. "a Prize of Peace”指诺贝尔和平奖.诺贝尔奖是以瑞典著名化学家、峭化甘油炸药发明人阿尔弗雷德·贝恩哈德·诺贝尔的部分遗产作为基金创立的。诺贝尔奖包括金质奖章、证书和奖金支票。在遗嘱中他提出,将部分遗产(920万美元)作为基金,以其利息分设物理、化学、生理或医学、文学及和平(后添加了经济奖)5个奖项,授予世界各国在这些领域对人类作出重大贡献的学者。
5.此处的“understanding”不应简单地理解为“有理解力的,有洞察力的”。而是“富有同情心的”。这是特蕾莎修女的演讲,理解时要与她的身份吻。因此,原文中 understanding love可理解为“博爱”。
适合初学者的英语阅读短文 2
Companionship of Books以书为伴
A man may usually be known by the books he reads as well as by the company he keeps; for there is a companionship of books as well as of men; and one should always live in the best company, whether it be of books or of men.
A good book may be among the best of friends. It is the same today that it always was, and it will never chance. It is the most patient and cheerful of companions. It does not turn its back upon us in times of adversity or distress. It always receives us with the same kindness, amusing and instructing us in youth, and comforting and consoling us in age.
Men often discover their affinity to each other by the mutual love they have for a book just as two persons sometimes discover a friend by the admiration which both entertain for a third.There is an old proverb, "Love me, love my dog." But there is more wisdom in this: "Love me, love my book." The book is a truer and higher bond of union. Men can think, feel, and sympathize with each other through their favorite author. They live in him together, and he in them.
"Books," said Hazlitt, "wind into the heart; the poets verse slides in the current of our blood. We read them when young, we remember them when old. We feel that it has happened to ourselves. They are to be very cheap and good. We breathe but the air of books."
A good book is often the best urn of a life enshrining the best that life could think out; for the world of a mans life is, for the most part, but the world of his thoughts. Thus the best books are treasuries of good words, the golden thoughts, which, remembered and cherished, become our constant companions and comforters. "They are never alone," said Sir Philip Sidney, "that are accompanied by noble thoughts." The good and true thought may in times of temptation be as an angel of mercy purifying and guarding the soul. It also enshrines the germs of action, for good words almost always inspire to good works.
Books possess an essence of immortality. They are by far the most lasting products of human effort. Temples and statues decay, but books survive. Time is of no account with great thoughts, which are as fresh today as when they first passed through their authors minds, ages ago. What was then said and thought still speaks to us as vividly as ever from the printed page. The only effect of time has been to sift out the bad products; for nothing in literature can long survive but what is really good.
Books introduce us into the best society; they bring us into the presence of the greatest minds that have ever lived. We hear what they said and did; we see them as if they were really alive; we sympathize with them, enjoy with them, grieve with them; their experience becomes ours, and we feel as if we were in a measure actors with them in the scenes which they describe.
The great and good do not die, even in this world. Embalmed in books, their spirits walk abroad. The book is a living voice. It is an intellect to which one still listens. Hence we ever remain under the influence of the great men of old. The imperial intellects of the world are as much alive now as they were ages ago.
了解一个人,通常可以看他读什么书,结交什么人.因为有人以人为伴,有人以书为伴。无论是书友还是朋友,生活中我们都应该和最佳最善者常相伴。
好书可以是你最好的朋友。它始终不渝,过去如此,现在如此,将来也永不改变。它是最有耐心、最令人愉悦的伴侣。在我们遭受不幸,忧伤悲痛的时候,它不会抛弃我们。它总是一如既往地亲切相待。我们年少时,好书给我们带来欢笑和知识;我们年老时,好书又给我们以亲抚和慰藉。
喜欢同一本书的人,常常发现彼此间习性也相近,就像有一时两个人因为敬慕同一个人而成为朋友一样。古时有句谚语:“爱屋及鸟。”其实,“爱我及书”这句活蕴涵更多的哲理。书是更为真诚而高尚的情谊纽带。人们可以通过共同喜爱的作家沟通思想,交流感情,产生共鸣。他们和作家情感相通,作家和他们思想相融。
哈兹利特曾经说过:“书潜移转化人们的内心,诗歌熏陶人们的气质品性。少小所习,老大不忘,恍如身历其事。书籍价廉物美,不啻我们呼吸的空气。”
好书常如最精美的宝器,珍藏着人生思想的精华,因为人生命的境界主要在于其思想的境界。因此,最好的书是金玉良言,是崇高思想的宝库,这些良言和思想若铭记于心并多加珍视,就会成为我们忠实的伴侣和永恒的慰藉。菲利普·锡德尼爵士说得好:“有高尚思想做伴的人永不孤独。”当我们面临诱惑的时候,优美纯真的思想会像仁慈的天使一样,纯洁并保卫我们的灵魂。优美纯真的思想也孕育着行动的胚芽,因为金玉良言几乎总会启发善行。
书籍具有不朽的本质,是人类努力创造的.最为持久的成果。寺庙会倒塌,神像会朽烂,而书却经久长存。对于伟大思想来说,时间是无关紧要的。多年前初次闪现于作者脑海的伟大思想今天依然清新如故。他们昨日的言论和思想刊载于纸张之上,如今依然生动如初,向我们娓娓道来。时间唯一的作用是淘汰不好的作品,因为只有真正的佳作才能经世长存。
书籍介绍我们与最优秀的人为伍,使我们置身于历代伟人巨匠之间,如闻其声,如观其行,如见其人,同他们情感交融,悲喜与共.感同身受。一定程度上,我们觉得自己仿佛在作者所描绘的舞台上和他们一起粉墨登场。
即使在人世间,伟大杰出的人物也永生不朽。他们的精神被载人书册,传于四海。书是有生命力的声音,是人类至今仍在聆听的智慧之声。所以,我们永远都受历代伟人的影响。多少世纪以前的盖世英才,如今仍同当年一样,显示着强大的生命力。
课堂笔记:
1.此处的“as well as”相当于连词"and"、连接两个介词短语。
2.虚拟语气在由“whether”引导的让步状语从句中,从句谓语用动词原形,表示“不论是……还是……”同时,"whether"一词可以省去,而将“be”动词放在主语前.此从句可以变为“be it of books or of men”.
3."the same as"和"the same that"都指“和…相同”的含义,但前者强调的是类型的相同,而后者强调的是事物本身的相同。此处指的是好书本身,故而用的是"the same that".
4.句中的两个介词“by"均表示方式,表“通过”之意。省略"that”的定语从句从句"they have for a book”用于修饰“love"。连词“as”表示“正如……一样”,后接从句,用于比较。关系代词“which”引导的定语从句“which both entertain for a third”用于修饰“admiration"。
5."Love me, love my dog.”常被译为“爱屋及乌”英语中有关“dog”的谚语很多,比如:a lucky dog(幸运儿);Every dog has his day.(人人皆有得意日。);It rains cats and dogs.(下倾盆大雨。);a cat-and-dog life(争争吵吵的日子)等等。
6.威廉·哈兹利特(William Hazlitt,1778-1830),英国散文家、评论家、画家.
7.这是由关系代词which引导的非限制性定语从句,修饰先行词treasuries,从句中的过去分词结构“remembered and cherished(铭记于心并多加珍视)”用作状语,表示条件.
8.菲利普·锡德尼爵士(Sir Philip Sidney, 1554- 1586 ),英国文艺复兴时期的著名的散文家、政治家,有很高的艺术修养.科学知识丰富.
9.此处的but为介词,表示“除……以外”的含义,what引导的从句作but的宾语。
适合初学者的英语阅读短文 3
美丽人生 Beautiful Life
Marisa who is a beautiful girl from England, she works as a fitness instructor. She is also a fashionable icon. Having so many identities makes her life wonderful. But before Marisa was 20, who can imagine that she is a very fat girl. When Marisa was a small girl, she liked to eat all kinds of food, which made her a big fat girl. As she grew up, she noticed her difference and the boy she liked fell in love with her best friend. Marisa realized that she needed to lose weight, she refused to the junk food and ate the organic food. She kept practise every day. Finally, a year passed and she lose more than 80 pounds. She began her beautiful life.
玛丽莎来自英格兰,是一个美丽的女孩,她是一名健身教练。她也是一个时尚偶像。多重身份使得她的生活精彩。但在玛丽莎20岁之前, 谁能想象到她是一个非常胖的女孩。当玛丽莎还是一个小女孩的时候,她喜欢吃各种各样的食物,这使她成为一个大胖女孩。当她长大了,她注意到自己与众不同,她喜欢的男孩爱上了她最好的朋友。玛丽莎意识到她需要减肥,她拒绝垃圾食品,吃有机食品。她每天都锻炼。最后,一年过去了,她减掉了80多磅。她开始她的美丽生活。
学习汉语热 The Heat of Learning Chinese
In China, English is the indispensable suject for students to learn. Some students complain that there is no need to learn English because we live in China, while when we look around the world, we can find that there are more and more foreigners learn Chinese. As the world gets globalized, the world is watching us and foreigners are very interested in our culture. some of them learn Chinese for they sense the great commercial potential and want to do business with us. There is even a competition for foreigners to show their level of Chinese. I am so surprised by their insistance. The foreigners can learn Chinese so well, so there no reason for us to give up English.
在中国,英语是学生来说是必不可少的学习科目。一些学生抱怨说,没有必要学习英语,因为我们生活在中国,而当我们放眼世界,我们可以发现,越来越多的外国人在学习汉语。随着世界变得越来越全球化,全世界都在关注着我们,外国人对我们的文化很感兴趣。他们中的一些人学习中文因为他们感觉到巨大的商业潜力,想与我们做生意。甚至有节目来让外国人展示他们的中文水平。他们的坚持让我很吃惊。外国人学习中文学得那么好,所以我们没有理由放弃英语。
学校的体育馆 The Gym In My School
Recently, it has been said that the new building in my school will be finished soon and all the students can use it. It is such exciting news, because we have been looking forward to taking exercise in the gym for such a long time. The new building is used as the gym and there are all kinds of equipments in it. There are badminton court, ping-pong court and basketball court. I love the gym so much. I have always dream to take exercise in such a good gym. Playing sports indoor makes me feel not bad hot and as a girl, I don’t have to turn black. From now on, I will keep taking exercise everyday.
最近,据说我们学校的新大楼将很快完成,所有的'学生都可以使用。这是如此令人兴奋的消息,因为我们一直期待能够在健身房锻炼。新建筑用作健身房,里面有各种各样的设备。有羽毛球场,乒乓球场和篮球场。我喜欢健身房。我一直梦想在这么好的健身房里面锻炼。室内运动让我感觉到不那么热,作为一个女孩,我也不会被晒黑。从现在起,我会每天做运动。
适合初学者的英语阅读短文 4
The Three Ways of Man to Preserve Meat
Finding enough meat was a problem for primitive man.Keeping it for times when it was scarce was just as hard.Three ways were found to keep meat from spoiling:salting,drying,and freezing.
People near salty waters salted their meat.At first they probably rubbed dry salt on it,but this preserved only the outside.Later they may have pickled their meat by soaking it in salt water.
In hot,dry lands,men found that they could eat meat that had dried while it was still on the bones.They later learned to cut meat into thin strips and hang it up to dry in the hot air.
Men in cold climates found that frozen meat did not spoil.They could leave their meat outside and eat it when they pleased.
人类储存肉的三种方法
对原始人类来说,获得充足的肉是件难事,而把肉类储存到缺肉的.时令也同样不容易。人们找到了防止肉类变腐的三种办法:盐腌、风干和冷冻。
靠近咸水地带的居民用盐腌肉。起先,他们可能是把干盐擦在肉上,但这只能使肉的外部不腐。后来,他们也许就改用咸水浸泡的办法来腌肉了。
在炎热、干燥的地方,人们发现他们可以食用已经变干、但仍连在骨骼上的肉。后来,他们学会把肉切成薄条,悬挂起来,让它在炎热的空气中变干。
生活在寒冷气候下的人们则发现冻肉不腐。他们可以把肉置于室外,高兴时随时可吃。
适合初学者的英语阅读短文 5
面朝南方Facing South
An old friend used to say to me, "When you are thinking of buying a new house, go and see it on a cloudy day. If you like it then, you need not doubt about liking it in better weather."
一个老朋友曾经告诉我:"当你考虑买一套新房时,就趁阴天的时候过去看房吧。因为如果那时你喜欢它的话,那么在天气晴朗的日子里你一定也会喜欢它。
We all enjoy the sun. The sun is the source of heat and life to the earth. Yet people are still to be found who deliberately shut out the sun from their rooms, and are unmindful of the Italian saying that where the sun does not go the doctor does. In this country, especially, we know the value of "facing south".
"我们都喜欢阳光。太阳是地球上热量与生命的来源。然而,我们仍然发现有些人总是故意关上门,将阳光挡在门外,他们忽略了一句意大利谚语"日光不上门,医生便上门"。在这个国家里,我们都知道"面朝南方"的重要性。
Are we not like houses? We have eyes instead of windows, but we face south, north, east, or west. Who does not know the men and the women facing north? Hard and cold, never letting a ray of sun-shine into their souls. They stand away from all the cheers and warmth of our poor humanity. They are the people who pour cold water on all our enthusiasms, have no faith in human nature, no sympathy with human sufferings.
我们不就像是房子吗?只不过我们没有窗户,但是我们拥有眼睛,我们可以选择面朝各个方向。我们都知道那些面朝北方的人们是怎样的。他们顽固而冷酷,从不让一丝阳光照进他们的心灵。他们总是躲在角落里,拒绝人性的欢乐与温暖。他们总是浇灭旁人热情的火焰,不相信人性,冷眼看待他人的痛苦。
You must know such people. They are not rich people, perfectly healthy, or people without sorrows. On the contrary, they have had a full measure of misfortune. But they have never changed their outlooks4 on life, in their faith in all things working together for good, in their belief that they are in this world to help where help is needed. What a consolation5 such people are! We go to them in entire confidence. We leave them the better and the brighter, with a firmer step, and the determination to win through the difficulties. They are "facing south".
你必定也认识这样一种人:他们不是有钱人,不是身体特别健全的人,也不是无忧无虑的人。相反,他们的生活中充满了不幸。但他们从不改变对生活的态度,在他们看来,所有的事情都在朝着好的方向发展,他们坚持帮助那些需要帮助的人。他们能给人带来极大的安慰!我们满怀信心地靠近他们,离开他们的.时候变得更加乐观和开朗,我们的脚步会变得更为坚定,战胜困难的决心也会更大。他们就是"面朝南方"的人。
适合初学者的英语阅读短文 6
Don’t Work for Money 不做有才华的穷人
The world is filled with smart, talented, educated and gifted people. We meet them every day. A few days ago, my car was not running well. I pulled it into a garage, and the young mechanic had it fixed in just a few minutes. He knew what was wrong by simply listening to the engine. I was amazed. The sad truth is, great talent is not enough.
世界上满坑满谷都是精明能干、才华横溢、学富五车以及极具天赋之人,我们每天都会见到他们。几天前,我的汽车运转不灵了。我把它开进维修厂,一位年轻的机械工只消几分钟就把它修好了。他仅凭倾听发动机的声音就能确定哪儿有毛病,这让我惊奇不已。然而遗憾的是,光有非凡才华是不够的。
I am constantly shocked at how little talented people earn. I heard the other day that less than 5 percent of Americans earn more than $100,000 a year. A business consultant who specializes in1 the medical trade was telling me how many doctors, dentists and chiropractors struggle financially. All this time, I thought that when they graduated, the dollars would pour in. It was this business consultant who gave me the phrase, “They are one skill away from great wealth.” What this phrase means is that most people need only to learn and master one more skill and their income would jump exponentially. I have mentioned before that financial intelligence is a synergy of accounting, investing, marketing and law. Combine those four technical skills and making money with money is easier. When it comes to money, the only skill most people know is to work hard.
我常常吃惊,为什么有才华的人却只有微薄的收入。前几天我听人说,只有不到5%的美国人年收入在10万美元以上。一位精通药品贸易的商务顾问曾经告诉我,有有许多医生、牙医和按摩师生活拮据。以前我总以为他们一毕业,财源便会滚滚而来。这位商务顾问告诉了我一句话:“离发大财,他们还差一项技能。”这句话的意思是说,大部分人还需多学习并掌握一项技能,他们的收入才能呈指数倍增长。以前我提到过,财商是会计、投资、市场营销和法律方面的能力综合。将上述四种专业技能结合起来,以钱生钱就会更容易。说到钱,大部分人所知的唯一技能就是拼命工作。
When I graduated from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in 1969, my educated dad was happy. Standard Oil of California had hired me for its oil-tanker fleet. I had a great career ahead of me, yet I resigned after six months with the company and joined the Marine Corps to learn how to fly. My educated dad was devastated. Rich dad congratulated me.
1969年,我从美国海运学院毕业了。我那有学识的爸爸十分高兴,因为加州标准石油公司录用我为它的油轮队工作。尽管我的未来前程远大,但我还是在6个月后辞职离开了这家公司,加入海军陆战队去学习飞行。对此我那有学识的爸爸非常伤心,而富爸爸则祝贺我做出的决定。
Job security meant everything to my educated dad. Learning meant everything to my rich dad. Educated dad thought I went to school to learn to be a ship’s officer. Rich dad knew that I went to school to study international trade. So as a student, I made cargo runs, navigating 6 large freighters, oil tankers and passenger ships to the Far East and the South Pacific. While most of my classmates, including Mike, were partying at their fraternity houses, I was studying trade, people and cultures in Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Korea and the Philippines. I also was partying, but it was not in any frat house. I grew up rapidly.
对于有学识的爸爸来说,稳定的工作就是一切。而对于富爸爸来说,学习才是一切。有学识的爸爸以为我上学是为了做一名船长,而富爸爸明白我上学是为了学习国际贸易。因此,在做学生时,我跑过货运、为前往远东及南太平洋的大型货轮、油轮和客轮导航。当我的大部分同班同学,包括迈克,在他们的联谊会会堂举办晚会的时候,我正在日本、泰国、新加坡、中国香港、越南、韩国和菲律宾学习贸易、人际关系和文化。我也参加晚会,但不去任何联谊会,我迅速地成熟起来了。
There is an old cliché that goes, “Job is an acronym9 for ‘Just Over Broke.’” And unfortunately, I would say that the saying applies to millions of people. Because school does not think financial intelligence is intelligence, most workers “live within their means.” They work and they pay the bills. Instead I recommend to young people to seek work for what they will learn, more than what they will earn. Look down the road at what skills they want to acquire before choosing a specific profession and before getting trapped in the “Rat Race”. Once people are trapped in the lifelong process of bill paying, they become like those little hamsters running around in those little metal wheels. Their little furry legs are spinning furiously, the wheel is turning furiously, but come tomorrow morning, they’ll still be in the same cage: great job.
常言道,“工作(job)就是‘比破产强一点(Just Over Broke)’的缩写”。然而不幸的是,这句话确实适用于千百万人,因为学校没有把财商看作是一种才智,大部分工人都“量入为出”:干活挣钱,支付账单。相反,我劝告年轻人在寻找工作时要看看能从中学到什么,而不是只看能挣到多少。在选择某种特定职业之前或是陷入 “老鼠赛跑(激烈的竞争)”之前,要好好掂量自己到底需要获得什么技能。一旦人们为支付账单而整天疲于奔命,就和那些在小铁轮里不停奔跑转圈的小老鼠一样了。老鼠的小毛腿跑得飞快,小铁轮也转得飞快,可到了第二天早上,他们发现自己依然困在同一个老鼠笼里,那就是:重要的工作。
When I ask the classes I teach, “How many of you can cook a better hamburger than McDonald’s?” almost all the students raise their hands. I then ask, “So if most of you can cook a better hamburger, how come McDonald’s makes more money than you?” The answer is obvious: McDonald’s is excellent at business systems. The reason so many talented people are poor is because they focus on building a better hamburger and know little or nothing about business systems. The world is filled with talented poor people. All too often, they’re poor or struggle financially or earn less than they are capable of, not because of what they know but because of what they do not know. They focus on perfecting their skills at building a better hamburger rather than the skills of selling and delivering the hamburger.
当我在自己教授的班级上问到“你们当中有多少人做的汉堡包能比麦当劳更好”时,几乎所有的学生都举起了手。我接着问,“如果你们当中大部分人都能做出比麦当劳更好的汉堡包,那为什么麦当劳比你们更能赚钱?”答案是显而易见的:麦当劳拥有一套出色的.运营体系。许多才华横溢的人之所以贫穷的原因,就是因为他们只是专心于做更好的汉堡包,而对运营体系几乎一无所知。世界上到处都是有才华的穷人。在很多情况下,他们之所以贫穷、生活拮据或者收入与其能力不相符,不是因为他们已知的东西而是因为他们未知的东西。他们只将注意力集中在提高和完善做汉堡包的技术上,却不注意提高有关汉堡包的销售和送货技能。
适合初学者的英语阅读短文 7
Living With My Teenage Genius
AS HER son Cameron sits at his laptop completing an assignment for his maths degree course Alison Thompson is busy helping her daughter Emma get dressed.
Nothing unusual there, except that at just 14 Cameron is a highly gifted maths prodigy, while Emma is 12 and severely autistic.
Having two children with such contrasting abilities has at times been a challenge, admits full-time mum Alison, 34, who also has 10-year-old daughter Bethany.
While help has always been readily available for Emma, Alison and her husband Rod, 37, a computer programmer, have had to fight to get Cameron the support he needs. “People could see that Emma has special needs but because Cameron was doing so well at school his teachers never thought there was a problem. They refused to acknowledge that he was gifted, ” says Alison.
Admittedly it took Alison and Rod a while to realise their son was different. “Cameron was our first child and we didn’t really have anything to compare him with. He always had a very impressive vocabulary and we knew he was bright but he didn’t reach his milestones exceptionally early and there were no other real signs.”
It was only when he began primary school that his abilities became clear. “He used to cry when it was time to come home, ” recalls Alison. “He just always wanted to learn more.”
On one occasion he even corrected the teacher when she told the class that zero was the lowest number. Cameron told her she was wrong because there were negative numbers. He was four at the time.
By the time he was seven, Cameron, who lives with his family in Wrexham, North Wales, was leaps and bounds ahead of his classmates. It was also clear that he was suffering from Asperger’s syndrome, which is a form of autism. Children with Asperger’s typically find social interaction incredibly difficult and can become obsessive and inflexible.
“Not only was he getting bored at school but he didn’t know when to keep quiet and had no idea how to pick up on social cues, ” says Alison, who along with Rod started to put pressure on the school for extra support for their son.
Now 14 Cameron is at secondary school, studying for a distance learning maths degree with the Open University, having sailed through his GCSE at 11 and his A-level at 12, achieving top grades.
Today it is clear that this slightly built, engaging and awkward teenager is gifted but it has been a battle to get the authorities to acknowledge his needs.
“I don’t think the teachers had a clue what to do with a gifted child, ” says Alison. “We were worried about being labelled as pushy parents but there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting the best for your child. I think the teachers thought we were trying to drive Cameron with his maths but the drive came from him.”
Frustrated, the Thompsons considered home education – Cameron was also being targeted by bullies – but they thought it would hamper their son socially.
By his final year of primary school, Cameron had become bored and disruptive but fortunately when he moved to senior school teachers there took his talents seriously and he was encouraged to do more advanced maths work.
“He steamed through the GCSE syllabus in just three months, ” says Alison. “For the first time in ages he seemed really happy.”
Then his parents had to decide what to do next. Some gifted children are sent to university early but Alison and Rod felt this wasn’t right for Cameron. “What would he have in common with the other students?” she asks. “I just don’t understand these parents who are so ambitious that they lose all sight of their child.
“I was once contacted by a mother who told me her five-year-old was interested in taking a GCSE. I mean, really? What five-year-old has actually heard of a GCSE? When Cameron was five all he wanted was to be a train driver.”
Alison admits she is baffled by much of her son’s degree course. Even Rod, who has a maths degree himself, struggles to keep up. Yet they are careful never to compare Cameron with his sisters.
Bethany is bright too but not gifted. Sociable and artistic she is the one who will remind absent minded Cameron to put on his coat. She also helps him out in social situations. “Bethany could make friends in an empty room, ” says Alison proudly. “Having siblings with such different needs has made her very accepting.”
Emma attends a specialist school and the family is quick to celebrate her successes too. “The other day she did up the buttons on her coat which was real progress, ” Alison says.
The Thompsons try to live a normal life. Late last year they took part in a fly-on-the-wall television documentary to prove that not all gifted children are the result of overly ambitious parents. Cameron, who is also a brown belt in karate, was happy to take part as he had always wanted to be on TV.
“There is so much help out there for children like Emma but hardly anything at all for those at the other end of the spectrum, ” says Alison. “Gifted children need support too but their lives don’t have to be that different to anyone else’s. Cameron is proof of that.”
家有神童
艾莉森?汤普森家有三个孩子,三个孩子个个不同。一个是天赋异禀的小神童,一个是自闭症儿童,还有一个却在社交方面表现出众。艾莉森是怎样抚养他们的?她遇到了哪些困难?
当艾莉森?汤普森的儿子卡梅伦坐在电脑前完成他的数学学士学位课作业时,她忙着帮她的女儿埃玛穿好衣服。 很平常的场景,除了14岁的卡梅隆是一个非常有天赋的数学神童,而12岁的艾玛则是严重的自闭症患者。 艾莉森承认抚养两个反差很大的孩子有时是一个挑战。34岁的艾莉森是一个全职母亲,他同时还有一个10岁的女儿伯达尼。
艾玛总是及时获得帮助的那一个,而艾莉森和她的程序员丈夫罗德不得不为卡梅隆争取他所需要的支持。“大家都知道艾玛有特殊需要,但因为卡梅伦在学校表现优秀,他的老师从来没有想过他的问题。他们拒绝承认他是天才,”艾莉森说。
诚然,艾莉森和罗德也不是一开始就发现他们的.儿子有什么不同。 “卡梅隆是我们的第一个孩子,我们真的没有什么可以比较。他的词汇量一直佷令人惊讶,我们知道他聪明,但在他的阶段性发展中,他没有提前很多,也有没有其他明显的迹象。“
直到他上小学,他的能力才变得明显。“过去一到回家的时候,他就哭,”艾莉森。 “他只是想学更多的知识。” 有一次,他甚至还纠正了老师。当老师告诉同学零是最小的数字时,卡梅伦告诉她,她错了,因为有负数。那时候他四岁。
七岁的卡梅伦与他的家人住在北威尔士最大的城市雷克瑟姆(Wrexham),那时候他已经远远超过他的同学。但很明显,他很患有阿斯伯格综合症,这是自闭症的一种形式。患有阿斯伯格综合症的儿童通常在社会交往上存在困难,还可能变得执着而顽固。
“他在学校不仅感到厌烦,还不知道什么时候应当保持安静,无法理解人际交流中的隐藏含义,”艾莉森说。她和罗德开始向学校施压,以求他们的儿子获得额外的帮助。
14岁的卡梅隆目前还在中学阶段,已经开始攻读开放大学函授数学学位。11岁他通过了GCSE课程,12岁通过A-level课程,并且都取得了优异的成绩。
毋庸置疑,这个清瘦、有魅力却有点古怪的青少年是有天赋的,但让当局承认他的需求却是一场艰苦的战斗。 “我不认为教师们知道该怎么教育一个有天赋的孩子,”艾莉森说。 “我们害怕被当作为爱出风头的父母,但希望孩子获得最好的教育这一点绝对没有错。老师认为是我们要求卡梅隆学数学,但实际上那是他主动要学的。” 他们的尝试受到打击,卡梅伦也成为了众矢之的,随后他们想到了家庭教育,但又觉得这不利于孩子社会化的培养。
到卡梅伦小学最后一年时,他已经开始无聊到捣乱了,所幸升学后那里的老师很看重他的天赋,并鼓励他学习高年级的数学。
“他在短短三个月内学完了GCSE课程教学大纲,”艾莉森说, “他似乎很久没那么高兴了。”
然后,他的父母不得不决定下一步做什么。一些天才儿童提前进入大学,但艾莉森和罗德觉得这样对卡梅伦不好。 “他与其他学生有什么共同点?”她问, “我只是不明白有些家长是如此雄心勃勃,却全然忘记了他们的孩子。" “曾经又一位母亲告诉我,她5岁的女儿想要参加GCSE考试。我在想,这会是真的吗? 一个5岁的孩子真的了解GCSE是什么吗?当卡梅伦5岁时,他就想当一名火车司机。“
艾莉森承认,她对儿子的学位课程感到困惑。即使拥有数学学位的罗德也不见得能跟上。然而,他们很小心,从来不拿卡梅隆与他的妹妹们做比较。
伯达尼也很聪明,但算不上天赋异禀。善于交际、喜欢艺术的她会提醒心不在焉的卡梅隆把他的外套穿上,她还回在社交场合为哥哥解围。 “即使在一个空房间里,伯达尼也能交朋友,” 艾莉森骄傲地说, “有不同需求的兄弟姐妹,让她变得很包容。”英语开头好句子摘抄加翻译。
艾玛就读的是一所特殊学校,家里人也会即时为她的每一次成功庆祝。 “有一天,她自己系上了衣服上所有的扣子,这绝对是进步,”艾莉森说。
汤普森一家尝试着像正常家庭那样去生活。去年年底,他们参加了一个观察式电视纪录片的拍摄,向大家证明并不是所有的天才儿童都是过于雄心勃勃的父母造就的。同时是空手道棕带的卡梅伦很高兴参加这次纪录片拍摄,因为他一直想上电视。
“社会给了像艾玛这样的孩子许多帮助,但对于天才儿童几乎没有任何帮助,”艾莉森说。 “天才儿童也需要支持,但他们的生活并没有和其他人太不同。卡梅伦就是个例子。”
适合初学者的英语阅读短文 8
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.
The worlds environment is surprisingly healthy. Discuss. If that were an examination topic, most students would tear it apart, offering a long list of plaints: from local smog(烟雾)to global climate change, from the felling(砍伐)of forests to the extinction of species. The list would largely be accurate, the concern legitimate. Yet the students who should be given the highest marks would actually be those who agreed with the statement. The surprise is how good things are, not how bad.
After all, the worlds population has more than tripled during this century, and world output has risen hugely, so you would expect the earth itself to have been affected. Indeed, if people lived, consumed and produced things in the same way as they did in 1900 , the world by now would be a pretty disgusting place: smelly, dirty, toxic and dangerous.
But they dont. The reasons why they dont, and why the environment has not been ruined, have to do with prices, technological innovation, social change and government regulation in response to popular pressure. That is why todays environmental problems in the poor countries ought, in principle, to be solvable.
Raw materials have not run out, and show no sign of doing so. Logically, one day they must: the planet is a finite place. Yet it is also very big, and man is very ingenious. What has happened is that every time a material seems to be running short, the price has risen and, in response, people have looked for new sources of supply, tried to find ways to use less of the materials, or looked for a new substitute. For this reason prices for energy and for minerals have fallen in real terms during the century. The same is true for food. Prices fluctuate, in response to harvests, natural disasters and political instability; and when they rise, it takes some time before new sources of supply bee available. But they always do, assisted by new farming and crop technology. The long-term trend has been downwards.
适合初学者的英语阅读短文 9
Human Life a Poem 人生如诗
I think that, from a biological standpoint, human life almost reads like a poem. It has its own rhythm and beat, its internal cycles of growth and decay. It begins with innocent childhood, followed by awkward adolescence trying awkwardly to adapt itself to mature society, with its young passions and follies, its ideals and ambitions; then it reaches a manhood of intense activities, profiting from experience and learning more about society and human nature; at middle age, there is a slight easing of tension, a mellowing of character like the ripening of fruit or the mellowing of good wine, and the gradual acquiring of a more tolerant, more cynical and at the same time a kindlier view of life; then In the sunset of our life, the endocrine glands decrease their activity, and if we have a true philosophy of old age and have ordered our life pattern according to it, it is for us the age of peace and security and leisure and contentment; finally, life flickers out and one goes into eternal sleep, never to wake up again.
One should be able to sense the beauty of this rhythm of life, to appreciate, as we do in grand symphonies, its main theme, its strains of conflict and the final resolution. The movements of these cycles are very much the same in a normal life, but the music must be provided by the individual himself. In some souls, the discordant note becomes harsher and harsher and finally overwhelms or submerges the main melody. Sometimes the discordant note gains so much power that the music can no longer go on, and the individual shoots himself with a pistol or jump into a river. But that is because his original leitmotif has been hopelessly over-showed through the lack of a good self-education. Otherwise the normal human life runs to its normal end in kind of dignified movement and procession. There are sometimes in many of us too many staccatos or impetuosos, and because the tempo is wrong, the music is not pleasing to the ear; we might have more of the grand rhythm and majestic tempo o the Ganges, flowing slowly and eternally into the sea.
No one can say that life with childhood, manhood and old age is not a beautiful arrangement; the day has its morning, noon and sunset, and the year has its seasons, and it is good that it is so. There is no good or bad in life, except what is good according to its own season. And if we take this biological view of life and try to live according to the seasons, no one but a conceited fool or an impossible idealist can deny that human life can be lived like a poem. Shakespeare has expressed this idea more graphically in his passage about the seven stages of life, and a good many Chinese writers have said about the same thing. It is curious that Shakespeare was never very religious, or very much concerned with religion. I think this was his greatness; he took human life largely as it was, and intruded himself as little upon the general scheme of things as he did upon the characters of his plays. Shakespeare was like Nature itself, and that is the greatest compliment we can pay to a writer or thinker. He merely lived, observed life and went away.
译文:
人生如诗
我以为,从生物学角度看,人的一生恰如诗歌。人生自有其韵律和节奏,自有内在的生成与衰亡。人生始于无邪的童年,经过少年的青涩,带着激情与无知,理想与雄心,笨拙而努力地走向成熟;后来人到壮年,经历渐广,阅人渐多,涉世渐深,收益也渐大;及至中年,人生的紧张得以舒缓,人的性格日渐成熟,如芳馥之果实,如醇美之佳酿,更具容忍之心,处世虽更悲观,但对人生的态度趋于和善;再后来就是人生迟暮,内分泌系统活动减少,若此时吾辈已经悟得老年真谛,并据此安排残年,那生活将和平,宁静,安详而知足;终于,生命之烛摇曳而终熄灭,人开始永恒的长眠,不再醒来。
人们当学会感受生命韵律之美,像听交响乐一样,欣赏其主旋律、激昂的高潮和舒缓的尾声。这些反复的乐章对于我们的生命都大同小异,但个人的乐曲却要自己去谱写。在某些人心中,不和谐音会越来越刺耳,最终竟然能掩盖主曲;有时不和谐音会积蓄巨大的能量,令乐曲不能继续,这时人们或举枪自杀或投河自尽。
这是他最初的主题被无望地遮蔽,只因他缺少自我教育。否则,常人将以体面的运动和进程走向既定的终点。在我们多数人胸中常常会有太多的断奏或强音,那是因为节奏错了,生命的`乐曲因此而不再悦耳。我们应该如恒河,学她气势恢弘而豪迈地缓缓流向大海。
人生有童年、少年和老年,谁也不能否认这是一种美好的安排,一天要有清晨、正午和日落,一年要有四季之分,如此才好。人生本无好坏之分,只是各个季节有各自的好处。如若我们持此种生物学的观点,并循着季节去生活,除了狂妄自大的傻瓜和无可救药的理想主义者,谁能说人生不能像诗一般度过呢。莎翁在他的一段话中形象地阐述了人生分七个阶段的观点,很多中国作家也说过类似的话。奇怪的是,莎士比亚并不是虔诚的宗教徒,也不怎么关心宗教。我想这正是他的伟大之处,他对人生秉着顺其自然的态度,他对生活之事的干涉和改动很少,正如他对戏剧人物那样。莎翁就像自然一样,这是我们能给作家或思想家的最高褒奖。对人生,他只是一路经历着,观察着,离我们远去了。
适合初学者的英语阅读短文 10
ABrother’sMiracle
Tess was a precocious eight-year-old when she heard her Mom and Dad talking about her little brother, Andrew. All she knew was that he was very sick and they were completely out of money. They were moving to an apartment complex next month because Daddy didn’t have the money for the doctor’s bills and our house. Only a very costly surgery could save him now and it was looking like there was no-one to loan them the money. She heard Daddy say to her tearful Mother with whispered desperation, “Only a miracle can save him now.”
Tess went to her bedroom and pulled a glass jelly jar from its hiding place in the closet. She poured all the change out on the floor and counted it carefully. Three times, even. The total had to be absolutely exact. No chance here for mistakes. Carefully placing the coins back in the jar and twisting on the cap, she slipped out the back door and made her way six blocks to the pharmacy with the big red Indian Chief sign above the door.
She waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her some attention but he was too busy at this moment. Tess twisted her feet to make a scuffing noise. Nothing. She cleared her throat with the most disgusting sound she could muster. No good.
Finally she took a quarter from her jar and banged it on the glass counter. That did it! “And what do you want?” the pharmacist asked in an annoyed tone of voice. “I’m talking to my brother from Chicago whom I haven’t seen in ages,” he said without waiting for a reply to his question.
“Well, I want to talk to you about my brother,” Tess answered back in the same annoyed tone. “He’s really, really sick… and I want to buy a miracle.”
“I beg your pardon?” said the pharmacist.
“His name is Andrew and he has something bad growing inside his head and my Daddy says only a miracle can save him now. So how much does a miracle cost?”
“We don’t sell miracles here, little girl. I’m sorry but I can’t help you,” the pharmacist said, softening a little.
“Listen, I have the money to pay for it. If it isn’t enough, I will get the rest. Just tell me how much it costs.”
The pharmacist’s brother was a well dressed man. He stooped down and asked the little girl, “What kind of a miracle does your brother need?”
“I don’t know,” Tess replied with her eyes welling up. “I just know he’s really sick and Mommy says he needs an operation. But my Daddy can’t pay for it, so I want to use my money.”
“How much do you have?” asked the man from Chicago. “One dollar and eleven cents,” Tess answered barely audibly. “And it’s all the money I have, but I can get some more if I need to.”
“Well, what a coincidence,” smiled the man. “A dollar and eleven cents – the exact price of a miracle for little brothers.”
He took her money in one hand and with the other hand he grasped her mitten and said “Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let’s see if I have the kind of miracle you need.”
That well dressed man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon, specializing in neurosurgery. The operation was completed without charge and it wasn’t long until Andrew was home again and doing well.
Mom and Dad were happily talking about the chain of events that had led them to this place. “That surgery,” her Mom whispered. “was a real miracle. I wonder how much it would have cost?”
Tess smiled. She knew exactly how much a miracle cost…one dollar and eleven cents…plus the faith of a little child.
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