适合初学者的英语阅读短文
什么样的文章适合初学者阅读呢?下面我收集整理了适合初学者的英语阅读短文,还包含翻译哦,有兴趣的朋友可以阅读欣赏一下哦!
Beautiful Smile and Love美丽的微笑与爱心
The poor are very wonderful 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 I think that in our family we don't 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 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”。
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 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 poet's 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 man's 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 author's 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。
The expensive shops in a famous arcade near Piccadilly were just opening. At this time of the morning, the arcade was almost empty. Mr Taylor, the owner of a jewellery shop was admiring a new window display. Two of his assistants had been working busily since 8 o'clock and had only just finished. Diamond necklaces and rings had been beautifully arranged on a background of black velvet. After gazing at the display for several minutes, Mr Taylor went back into his shop.
The silence was suddenly broken when a large car, with its headlights on and its horn blaring, roared down the arcade. It came to a stop outside the jeweler's. One man stayed at the wheel while two others with black stockings over their faces jumped out and smashed the window of the shop with iron bars. While this was going on, Mr Taylor was upstairs. He and his staff began throwing furniture out of the window. Chairs and tables went flying into the arcade. One of the thieves was struck by a heavy statue, but he was too busy helping himself to diamonds to notice any pain. The raid was all over in three minutes, for the men scrambled back into the car and it moved off at a fantastic speed. Just as it was leaving, Mr Taylor rushed out and ran after it throwing ashtrays and vases, but it was impossible to stop the thieves. They had got away with thousands of pounds worth of diamonds.
皮卡迪利大街附近的一条著名拱廊街道上,几家高档商店刚刚开始营业。在早晨的这个时候,拱廊街上几乎空无一人。珠宝店主泰勒先生正在欣赏新布置的橱窗。他手下两名店员从早上8点就开始忙碌,这时刚刚布置完毕。钻石项链、戒指漂亮地陈列在黑色丝绒上面。泰勒先生站在橱窗外凝神欣赏了几分钟就回到了店里。
宁静突然被打破,一辆大轿车亮着前灯,响着喇叭,呼啸着冲进了拱廊街,在珠宝店门口停了下来。一人留在驾驶座上,另外两个用黑色长筒丝袜蒙面的人跳下车来。他们用铁棒把商店橱窗的玻璃砸碎。这开始发生时,泰勒先生正在楼上。他与店员动手向窗外投掷家具,椅子,桌子飞落花流水在拱廊街上。一个窃贼被一尊很重的雕像击中,但由于他忙着抢钻石首饰,竟连疼痛都顾不上了。这场抢劫只持续了3分钟,因为窃贼争先恐后地爬上轿车,以惊人的速度开跑了。就在轿车离开的时候,泰勒先生从店里冲了出来,跟在车后追赶,一边还往车上扔烟灰缸、花瓶。但他已无法抓住那些窃贼了。他们已带着价值数千镑的首饰逃之夭夭了。
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。
由于英汉语言的文化差异,英文小说的行文习惯、思维方式、表达特点等,都与中文小说有着很大的区别。哪些英文小说适合英语学习?以下是我推荐给大家的关于初学者的英文小说,一起来看看有没有你喜欢的小说吧!
1、Bleak House
《荒凉之屋》,2011年
作者:Charles Dickens 查尔斯·狄更斯
Bleak House is among Dickens novels, uniquely original in its alternation of first-person past-tense chapters with a concurrent third-person account in present tense.
《荒凉之屋》是狄更斯的小说之一,以第一人称过去时所写的章节与第三人称现在时的叙述并行,两者间的切换创新独到。
2、 Wuthering Heights
《呼啸山庄》,2012年
作者:Emily Brontë 艾米莉·勃朗特
Wuthering Heights is "powered by more psychological energy than any book ever written". Readers admire Wuthering Heights because of "its layered narrative structure, because it is a work of incredible imagination, and because it is far more than a love story. The story shows "the eternal rocks beneath" our fleeting desires.
《呼啸山庄》“蕴含巨大的心理能量,没有其它书籍能够与之匹敌。”读者推崇《呼啸山庄》是因为其“层层叠叠的叙述结构”和丰富惊人的想象力,更因为《呼啸山庄》超越了爱情故事本身,展现了我们转瞬即逝的欲望之下“永恒的震撼”。
3、David Copperfield
《大卫·科波菲尔》,2006年
作者:Charles Dickens 查尔斯·狄更斯
David Copperfield is populated by some of the most vivid characters ever created. They are as much a part of readers' world, and their way of thinking about the world, as people they have actually met.
《大卫·科波菲尔》中云集了许多创造得最为鲜活的一些人物形象。这些人物角色仿佛是读者所在真实世界的一部分,和读者亲身遇见的人一样,有着相似的世界观。
4、Frankenstein
《弗兰肯斯坦》,1981年
作者:Mary Shelley 玛莉·雪莱
This pioneering work of science fiction and Gothic horror developed an indelible "monster" of a theme that has endured for centuries: of the scientist as a "modern Prometheus".
这部先锋作品集科幻和哥特式恐怖于一身,营造了一个难以磨灭的“恶魔”主题,即科学家中的“现代普罗米修斯”,几世纪以来经久不衰。
5、Vanity Fair
《名利场》,1848年
作者:William Makepeace Thackeray
威廉·梅克皮斯·萨克雷
This novel features probably the greatest anti-heroine in English literature, Becky Sharp, and a plot that revolves around class, social climbing and a financial crisis that will seem eerily familiar to modern readers. Vanity Fair has it all. It both speaks of its time, and speaks of all times.
这部小说的主角或许是英国文学史上最知名的非正统派女主角——贝奇·夏普,小说的情节围绕阶级、跻身上流社会以及引发现代读者奇异的熟悉感的金融危机。《名利场》这些要素全都具备, 讲述那个年代,也讲述着所有年代。
1、 Middlemarch
《米德尔马契》,1874年
作者:George Eliot 乔治·艾略特
A novel of great characters, it's an even greater novel of ideas and ideals. Middlemarch is the greatest social and psychological novel ever written in English.
这部小说人物角色卓越,更精妙之处在于其想法与理念。《米德尔马契》是迄今最伟大的英文写就的社会和心理学小说。
2、To the Lighthouse
《到灯塔去》,1927年
作者:Virginia Woolf 弗吉尼亚·伍尔芙
Subtle, beautiful, staggeringly intelligent and flat-out original. A masterpiece of modernism, its stream-of-consciousness, richness of language and perceptions has continued to reveal itself.
细腻美妙、智慧惊人,极其新颖独到。现代派的大师之作,运用意识流写法,其语言丰富、观察敏锐,不言自明。
3、Mrs Dalloway
《达洛卫夫人》,1925年
作者:Virginia Woolf 弗吉尼亚·伍尔芙
If the most precious gift of the novel as a medium is the power it has to break into the prison of human consciousness, to expose the gossamer (蛛丝似的,纤细缥缈的) weave of thought and feeling and memory that makes up our innermost lives, then Woolf's fourth novel stands alone at the pinnacle(顶峰). Virginia Woolf made modernism live and breathe.
如果说这部小说作为媒介最天才之处在于其破除人类意识的囹圄、暴露人们那些构成内在世界的细若蛛丝的思绪、情感和记忆,那么伍尔芙的第四部小说就是孤立巅峰之作。弗吉尼亚让现代主义焕发生命、鲜活起来。
4、Great Expectations
《远大前程》,2012年
作者:Charles Dickens 查尔斯·狄更斯
Great Expectations might be the quintessential British novel. To re-read Dickens' classic as an adult is to discover its wit and brio(文笔生动), its influence, and its truth. It has all the elements of classic Dickens – endearing, flawed characters; a plot that skewers(串住、刺穿) the politics of the time; subplots that skewer morality and culture; a love story; and a wonderful storyline.
《远大前程》或许是最地道的英国小说。成年读者重温狄更斯经典,就会发现其智慧与精彩、影响与真理。《远大前程》有狄更斯经典的所有元素,讨人欢喜却不完美的角色、主要故事情节能牵住时局、副线情节串起道德与文化,是部情节精彩的爱情故事作品。
5、Jane Eyre
《简·爱》,2014年
作者:Charlotte Brontë 夏洛蒂·勃朗特
Brontë's revolutionary 1847 Gothic romance about a young woman seeking a richer and more passionate life on her own still resonates with modern readers. Brontë's novel features the orphan Jane Eyre's search for an identity, her powerful attraction to her master, Mr Rochester, and an intimate description of her complex moral choices and sometimes raw emotional states.
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 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 poet's 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 man's 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 author's 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。
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