有时经常会有人问到，到底在学英语的时候应该背哪些文章好呢，那么接下来我就为大家整理一些适合的文章出来，大家看了之后要努力背哦!
背诵文章一
If I Rest, I Rust
The significant inscription found on an old key---“If I rest, I rust”---would be an excellent motto for those who are afflicted with the slightest bit of idleness. Even the most industrious person might adopt it with advantage to serve as a reminder that, if one allows his faculties to rest, like the iron in the unused key, they will soon show signs of rust and, ultimately, cannot do the work required of them.
Those who would attain the heights reached and kept by great men must keep their faculties polished by constant use, so that they may unlock the doors of knowledge, the gate that guard the entrances to the professions, to science, art, literature, agriculture---every department of human endeavor.
Industry keeps bright the key that opens the treasury of achievement. If Hugh Miller, after toiling all day in a quarry, had devoted his evenings to rest and recreation, he would never have become a famous geologist. The celebrated mathematician, Edmund Stone, would never have published a mathematical dictionary, never have found the key to science of mathematics, if he had given his spare moments to idleness, had the little Scotch lad, Ferguson, allowed the busy brain to go to sleep while he tended sheep on the hillside instead of calculating the position of the stars by a string of beads, he would never have become a famous astronomer.
Labor vanquishes all---not inconstant, spasmodic, or ill-directed labor; but faithful, unremitting, daily effort toward a well-directed purpose. Just as truly as eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, so is eternal industry the price of noble and enduring success.
如果我休息，我就会生锈
在一把旧钥匙上发现了一则意义深远的铭文——如果我休息，我就会生锈。对于那些懒散而烦恼的人来说，这将是至理名言。甚至最为勤勉的人也以此作为警示：如果一个人有才能而不用，就像废弃钥匙上的铁一样，这些才能就会很快生锈，并最终无法完成安排给自己的工作。
有些人想取得伟人所获得并保持的成就，他们就必须不断运用自身才能，以便开启知识的大门，即那些通往人类努力探求的各个领域的大门，这些领域包括各种职业：科学，艺术，文学，农业等。
勤奋使开启成功宝库的钥匙保持光亮。如果休·米勒在采石场劳作一天后，晚上的时光用来休息消遣的话，他就不会成为名垂青史的地质学家。著名数学家爱德蒙·斯通如果闲暇时无所事事，就不会出版数学词典，也不会发现开启数学之门的钥匙。如果苏格兰青年弗格森在山坡上放羊时，让他那思维活跃的大脑处于休息状态，而不是借助一串珠子计算星星的位置，他就不会成为著名的天文学家。
劳动征服一切。这里所指的劳动不是断断续续的，间歇性的或方向偏差的劳动，而是坚定的，不懈的，方向正确的每日劳动。正如要想拥有自由就要时刻保持警惕一样，要想取得伟大的，持久的成功，就必须坚持不懈地努力。
背诵文章二
Ambition
It is not difficult to imagine a world short of ambition. It would probably be a kinder world: with out demands, without abrasions, without disappointments. People would have time for reflection. Such work as they did would not be for themselves but for the collectivity. Competition would never enter in. conflict would be eliminated, tension become a thing of the past. The stress of creation would be at an end. Art would no longer be troubling, but purely celebratory in its functions. Longevity would be increased, for fewer people would die of heart attack or stroke caused by tumultuous endeavor. Anxiety would be extinct. Time would stretch on and on, with ambition long departed from the human heart.
Ah, how unrelieved boring life would be!
There is a strong view that holds that success is a myth, and ambition therefore a sham. Does this mean that success does not really exist? That achievement is at bottom empty? That the efforts of men and women are of no significance alongside the force of movements and events now not all success, obviously, is worth esteeming, nor all ambition worth cultivating. Which are and which are not is something one soon enough learns on one’s own. But even the most cynical secretly admit that success exists; that achievement counts for a great deal; and that the true myth is that the actions of men and women are useless. To believe otherwise is to take on a point of view that is likely to be deranging. It is, in its implications, to remove all motives for competence, interest in attainment, and regard for posterity.
We do not choose to be born. We do not choose our parents. We do not choose our historical epoch, the country of our birth, or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing. We do not, most of us, choose to die; nor do we choose the time or conditions of our death. But within all this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we shall live: courageously or in cowardice, honorably or dishonorably, with purpose or in drift. We decide what is important and what is trivial in life. We decide that what makes us significant is either what we do or what we refuse to do. But no matter how indifferent the universe may be to our choices and decisions, these choices and decisions are ours to make. We decide. We choose. And as we decide and choose, so are our lives formed. In the end, forming our own destiny is what ambition is about.
译文：
抱负
一个缺乏抱负的世界将会怎样，这不难想象。或许，这将是一个更为友善的世界：没有渴求，没有磨擦，没有失望。人们将有时间进行反思。他们所从事的工作将不是为了他们自身，而是为了整个集体。竞争永远不会介入;冲突将被消除。人们的紧张关系将成为过往云烟。创造的重压将得以终结。艺术将不再惹人费神，其功能将纯粹为了庆典。人的寿命将会更长，因为由激烈拼争引起的心脏病和中风所导致的死亡将越来越少。焦虑将会消失。时光流逝，抱负却早已远离人心。
啊，长此以往人生将变得多么乏味无聊!
有一种盛行的观点认为，成功是一种神话，因此抱负亦属虚幻。这是不是说实际上并不丰在成功?成就本身就是一场空?与诸多运动和事件的力量相比，男男女女的努力显得微不足?显然，并非所有的成功都值得景仰，也并非所有的抱负都值得追求。对值得和不值得的选择，一个人自然而然很快就能学会。但即使是最为愤世嫉俗的人暗地里也承认，成功确实存在，成就的意义举足轻重，而把世上男男女女的所作所为说成是徒劳无功才是真正的无稽之谈。认为成功不存在的观点很可能造成混乱。这种观点的本意是一笔勾销所有提高能力的动机，求取业绩的兴趣和对子孙后代的关注。
我们无法选择出生，无法选择父母，无法选择出生的历史时期与国家，或是成长的周遭环境。我们大多数人都无法选择死亡，无法选择死亡的时间或条件。但是在这些无法选择之中，我们的确可以选择自己的生活方式：是勇敢无畏还是胆小怯懦，是光明磊落还是厚颜无耻，是目标坚定还是随波逐流。我们决定生活中哪些至关重要，哪些微不足道。我们决定，用以显示我们自身重要性的，不是我们做了什么，就是我们拒绝做些什么。但是不论世界对我们所做的选择和决定有多么漠不关心，这些选择和决定终究是我们自己做出的。我们决定，我们选择。而当我们决定和选择时，我们的生活便得以形成。最终构筑我们命运的就是抱负之所在。
英语教学在中国大学 教育 领域已经占据着主导地位20多年。在这期间，随着社会发展对 英语学习 者的要求不同，英语教学大纲也随之发展并完善，英语教学的侧重点也随之发生变化。我分享大学生必背英语短文，希望可以帮助大家!
大学生必背英语短文： 西方情人节 传统 Valentine's Day
St Valentine's Day is celebrated on February 14 of each year, the reason why it is celebrated on this day is because this was the day that the Patron Saint of Lovers "St Valentine" was supposedly executed on.
情人节是每年的2月14日，它在这一天庆祝的原因是因为这一天是恋人的保护神“圣瓦伦丁”定下来的。
On this day lovers all around the world mark this occasion as a day for sending poems, cards, flowers or candy, etc. They might also be a social gathering or ball to mark the occasion.
这一天世界各地的情侣都以赠送诗歌、卡片、鲜花和糖果等等来庆祝。他们也可能以社交聚会或举行舞会来纪念这个日子。
Many Valentine's Day customs involved ways that single women could learn who their future husbands would be. Englishwomen of the 1700's wrote men's names on scraps of paper, rolled each in a little piece of clay, and dropped them all into water. The first paper that rose to the surface supposedly had the name of a woman's true love.
许多情人节风俗涉及到单身女性可以获悉他们未来的丈夫是谁呢。1700年的英格兰女性把男人的名字写在纸片上，把每一小块放在泥里滚，然后把他们全都丢进水里。第一个浮出水面的就被认为是真爱。
Also in the 1700's, unmarried women pinned five bay leaves to their pillows on the eve of Valentine's Day. They pinned one leaf to the center of the pillow and one to each corner. If the charm worked, they saw their future husbands in their dreams.
同样在1700年代，未婚女性会在情人节前夕把五片桂叶别在她们的枕头上。她们别 一片叶子在中间之后把另外四片别到四个角落。如果有效的话，她们会在梦里看到她们未来的丈夫。
One of the oldest customs was the practice of writing women's names on slips of paper and drawing them from a jar. The woman whose name was drawn by a man became his valentine, and he paid special attention to her. Many men gave gifts to their valentines. In some areas, a young man gave his valentine a pair of gloves. Wealthy men gave fancy balls to honor their valentines.
最古老的风俗是把女人的名字写在纸片上，然后就把它们从一个罐子里面拖出来。那个被拖出来的女人的名字就会成为他的情人，他也会对她特别的关注。许多男人把礼物送给他们的情人。在一些地方，年轻的小伙子会给他的情人节一副手套。富有的男人会举行舞会来纪念他们的情人。
Valentine cards became popular in Great Britain in the nineteenth century. Noted artist Kate Greenaway created cards which featured joyful children and beautiful gardens. Esther Howland was one of the first Valentine card manufacturers in the United States.
情人节卡片在十九世纪的英国变得越来越受欢迎。艺术家凯特格林纳指出创建卡片是以快乐的 儿童 和美丽的花园为特点的。
Inspired by a British card, she began production in 1847. Her cards featured lace and paper flowers and leaves. Other card manufacturers emphasized Cupid, the pudgy, winged son of Venus, the goddess of love. In Roman lore, Cupid is known as Eros, the son of Aphrodite.
受英国卡片的鼓舞，她在1847年开始制作她自己的。她的卡片以蕾丝边、纸花和叶子为特色。其他卡制造着强调丘比特是胖的、维纳斯有翼的儿子、爱神。在罗马帝国，丘比特是以爱神阿佛洛狄忒的儿子闻名的。
In the United States and Canada, children exchange valentines with their friends. In some schools, the children hold a classroom party and put all the valentines into a box they have decorated.
在美国和加拿大，孩子们和他们的朋友交换情人。一些学校中，孩子们举行一个班级派对把所有的情人塞进他们已经装饰过的盒子里。
At the end of the day, the teacher or one child distributes the cards. Many children make their own valentines from paper doilies, red paper, wallpaper samples, and pictures cut from magazines. Sometimes they buy kits that include everything needed to make valentines. Many children send their largest, fanciest cards to their parents and teachers.
在一天将要结束的时候,老师或着一个孩子会分发卡片。许多孩子们从红色的纸桌布、墙纸样本、和从杂志上剪下的图片中找到了自己情人。有时他们会买一些装备，里面包括了所有找情人需要的东西。还有很多孩子们把他们最大、最花俏的卡片给了他们的父母和老师。
In Europe, people celebrate Valentine's Day in many ways. British children sing special Valentine's Day songs and receive gifts of candy, fruit, or money. In some areas of England, people bake valentine buns with caraway seeds, plums, or raisins. People in Italy hold a Valentine's Day feast.
在欧洲，人们有多种庆祝情人节的方式。英国的孩子们会唱特别的情人节歌曲和接受糖果、水果、金钱礼物。在英格兰的某些地方，人们烤情人节小面包准备李子、或葡萄干。意大利人会举行的情人节大餐。
大学生必背英语短文：行胜于言 Do is better than words
I teach economics at UNLV three times per week. Last Monday, at the beginning of class, I cheerfully asked my students how their weekend had been. One young man said that his weekend had not been so good. He had his wisdom teeth removed. The young man then proceeded to ask me why I always seemed to be so cheerful.
我在内华达大学拉斯维加斯分校教经济学，每周上三次课。上周一，在刚开始上课的时候，我兴致勃勃地问学生们周末过得怎么样。一个男生说，他的周末不太愉快，因为他的智齿被拔掉了，结果让他痛了一整天。然后，他又问我为何我总能保持那么快乐的心情。
His question reminded me of something I'd read somewhere before: "Every morning when you get up, you have a choice about how you want to approach life that day," I said. "I choose to be cheerful."
他的问题使我想起了一句不知出处的话：“每天早上，当你起床的时候，你可以选择如何面对一天的生活”，我说：“我选择快乐。”
"Let me give you an example," I continued, addressing all sixty students in the class. "In addition to teaching here at UNLV, I also teach out at the community college in Henderson, 17 miles down the freeway from where I live. One day a few weeks ago I drove those 17 miles to Henderson. I exited the freeway and turned onto College Drive. I only had to drive another quarter mile down the road to the college. But just then my car died. I tried to start it again, but the engine wouldn't turn over. So I put my flashers on, grabbed my books, and marched down the road to the college.
“我给你们举个例子吧，”我对着全班六十个学生继续说道，“除了在这儿上课，我还在一所社区大学任教，那儿离我家17英里。几周前的一天，我驾车前往那所学校，驶离高速公路后，我转入了校园区。在只差400多米就到学校的时候，我的汽车抛锚了。我努力重新发动引擎，但就是不行。我只好把指示灯打亮，然后抓起课本直奔学校。”
"As soon as I got there I called AAA and arranged for a tow truck to meet me at my car after class. The secretary in the Provost's office asked me what has happened. 'This is my lucky day,' I replied, smiling.
我一到学校就马上打电话给汽车协会，让他们在我下课后开辆拖车过来。院长办公室的秘书问我发生了什么事。“今天我真走运。”我笑着答道。
"'Your car breaks down and today is your lucky day?' She was puzzled. 'What do you mean?'
“你的车坏了，你还说今天走运?”她一脸的困惑。“你什么意思啊?”
"'I live 17 miles from here.' I replied. 'My car could have broken down anywhere along the freeway. It didn't. Instead, it broke down in the perfect place: off the freeway, within walking distance of here. I'm still able to teach my class, and I've been able to arrange for the tow truck to meet me after class. If my car was meant to break down today, it couldn't have been arranged in a more convenient fashion.'
我回答到：“我住在离这儿17英里的地方。其实我的车有可能在高速公路上的什么地方就坏掉了的，但庆幸的是，没有。相反，汽车是在离开了高速公路后才抛锚，而且距离学校很近。我还赶得及上课，还能够安排拖车在课后来处理。如果我的汽车是注定了要在今天抛锚的，那在这个位置抛锚已经是非常幸运了。”
The secretary's eyes opened wide, and then she smiled. I smiled back and headed for class." So ended my story.
“那个秘书听得目瞪口呆地，然后她笑了。我也冲她笑了一下，便上课去了。”这就是我的 故事 。
I scanned the sixty faces in my economics class at UNLV. Despite the early hour, no one seemed to be asleep. Somehow, my story had touched them. Or maybe it wasn't the story at all. In fact, it had all started with a student's observation that I was cheerful.
我扫视了一下全班六十张脸。虽然是在大清早，但没有一个学生在打盹儿。不知道为什么，他们好像被我的故事触动了。也许触动他们的并不是故事本身。其实，从一开始有学生发现我兴致高昂的时候，他们便已经被我的快乐感染了。
Deepak Chopra has quoted an Indian wise man as saying, "Who you are speaks louder to me than anything you can say." I suppose it must be so.
著名的印度作家乔布拉，曾经引述过一位印度智者的 名言 ：“你为人行事的本身，比你的语言更具说服力。”我认为这的确是真理。
大学生必背英语短文：米老鼠的由来 The Coming of Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is very popular around the world since it came to the world. Now Mickey Mouse and its family members have become the main characters in Disneyland. They bring so much joy to the people. The father of Mickey Mouse Walt Disney created this lovely character with the funny story.
米老鼠在全世界都非常受欢迎，自从它来到这个世界。现在米老鼠和它的家庭成员已经成为了迪斯尼乐园的主要人物。他们给人们带来了那么多快乐。米老鼠之父沃尔特迪斯尼创造这个可爱的人物，有着有趣的故事。
When Walt Disney was very young, he studied art in Chicago. He worked with another young artist in the old building. They often saw mice running in and out of the old building, so they had the idea to draw a cartoon mouse. The mouse was not look like the real mouse, it stood on two legs and had big eyes and ears. The most funny thing was that it wore white gloves its hands.
迪斯尼在年轻的时候,他在芝加哥学习艺术。他曾与另一个年轻艺术家的在老建筑里共事。他们经常看见老鼠在老房子里跑进跑出,所以他们想到画一个卡通老鼠。这个老鼠不像真正的老鼠,它两条腿站立,有大眼睛和耳朵。最有趣的事情是,它戴着白色的手套。
They called it Mickey, this is how the great cartoon character comes. Soon this lovely and funny image got famous around the world. It appeared in the screen. The movie was favored by the children. Then it also appeared in the world’s biggest entertainment park Disneyland and amused so many people.
他们称之为米奇,这就是这个伟大的卡通人物的由来。很快这个可爱和有趣的形象在世界各地都出名了。它出现在屏幕上。电影受到了孩子们喜爱。然后它也出现在世界上最大的娱乐公园迪士尼乐园，逗乐了这么多人。
Walt Disney is such great that he created a popular idol Mickey Mouse.
沃尔特?迪斯尼是如此之大,他创造了一个受欢迎的偶像米老鼠。
周作人的关于“美文”的思想有一个产生发展过程。下面我整理了初中英语必背美文，希望大家喜欢!
初中英语必背美文摘抄
我的心在那高原
My heart's in the highlands, my heart is not here;
My heart's in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;
Chasing the wild deer, and following the roe
My heart's in the highlands wherever i go.
Farewell to the highlands, farewell to the north!
The birthplace of valour, the country of worth;
Wherever i wander, wherever I rove,
The hills of the highlands for ever I love.
Farewell to the mountains high covered with snow!
Farewell to the straths and green valleys below!
Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods!
Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods!
My heart's in the highlands, my heart is not here;
My heart's in the highlands, a-chasing the deer;
Chasing the wild deer, and following the roe
My heart's in the highlands wherever I go.
我的心在那高原，在追赶鹿群;
追赶着野鹿，跟踪着獐鹿，
我的心在那高原，无论我走到哪里。
再见了，高原，再见了，北方!
敬爱的家园，英雄的故乡;
无论我在哪里漂泊流浪，
高原的群山，永远在我心上!
再见了，白雪皑皑高耸的群山，
再见了，山下的河谷，青翠的山涧;
再见了，参天的大树，丛生的森林，
再见了，汹涌的激流，雷鸣的浪涛!
我的心在那高原，我的心不在这里，
我的心在那高原，在追赶鹿群;
追赶着野鹿，跟踪着獐鹿，
我的心在那高原，无论我走到哪里!
初中英语必背美文鉴赏
论说谎
Now as to the matter of lying. You want to be very careful about lying, otherwise you are nearlysure to get caught, once caught, you can never again be, in the eyes of the pure and the good,what you were before.Many a young person has injured himself permenently throuth a singleclumsy and ill-finished lie, the result of carelessness born of incomplete training. Someauthorities hold that the young ought not to lie at all. That, of course, is putting it ratherstronger than necessary. Still, while I can't go quite so far as that, I do maintain, and I believe Iam right, that the young ought to be temperate in the use of this great art until practice andexperience shall give them that confidence, elegance, precision which alone make theaccomplishment graceful and profitable. Patience, diligence, painstaking attention to detail- these are the requirments. These, in time ,will make the student perfect. Upon these, andupon these only, mayhe rely as the sure foundation for future eminence.
Think what tedious years of study, thought, practice, and experience ,went to the equipmentof the peerless old master who was able to impose upon the whole world with the lofty andsounding maxim that "Truth is mighty and will prevail."- The most majestic compoundfeature of fact which any of woman born has yet achieved.
For the history of our race and every individual's experience, are sown thick with evidence thata truth is not hard to kill and that a lie told well is immortal. There is in Bostain a monument ofthe man who discover the anesthesia. Many people are aware, in these later days, that he didn'tdiscover it at all, but stole the discovery from another man. Is the truth mighty, and will itprevail? No, My hearers, the monument is made of hard materials, but the lie it tells will outlasta millon years. An awkward, feeble, leaky lie is a thing which you ought to make it yourunceasing study to avoid. Why, you might as well tell the truth at once and be done with it.
现在来谈一谈说谎。你们可要特别谨慎地看待说谎;否则十有八九会被揭穿。一旦被揭穿，在善良和淳朴的人们眼中，你就再也不可能是以前的你了。许多年轻人，仅仅由于一次拙劣难圆的谎言，由于不完备的 教育 而导致轻率的后果-而使自己长期蒙受损失。一些权威人士认为年轻人根本不该说谎。当然，这种说法言之过甚，其实未必如此。不过，虽然我不能把话讲的太过分，我却坚信-我认为确乎如此，在实践和阅历使人获得信心，文雅，严谨之前，年轻人运用这门伟大的艺术时应当把握好分寸，因为只有这三点才能使说谎的本领无伤大雅甚至带来益处。耐心，勤奋，细致入微则是必备素质，经年累月，这些素质便会使学生变得完善起来。凭借这些，也只有凭借这些，他才可能为将来的出类拔萃打下牢固的基础。
试想，要经过学习，思考，实践， 经验 等多么漫长的岁月，那举世无双的大师才具备如此的素养，他使得整个世界接受了“真理是强大的，并且终将战胜一切”这句崇高而响彻云霄的格言，这是关于事实的复杂性所道出的最豪迈的一句话，至今任何一个出自娘胎的人都未有此成就。
原因是我们人类的历史以及每个人的经历都深深地印证了这样的事实:一个真理不难抹杀，一个说的巧妙的谎言则经久不衰。在波士顿，人们为纪念发现麻醉法的人而立了一座纪念碑：很多人到近期才知道,那个人根本没有发现麻醉法，而是窃取了另一个人的发现。这个真理强大吗?它终会取胜吗?唉，非也，听众们，虽然纪念碑是用坚硬的材料建造的，而它所散布的谎言却将比它持久百万年。你们应该不断研究如果避免制造那些拙劣，无力而又破绽百出的谎言;诸如此类的谎言比起一个普通事实来，决不具有更加真实的永久性。嗨，你们倒不如既讲真话又同真理打交道。
初中英语必背美文赏析
爱的礼物
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong ora clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and allknowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I amnothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, butdo not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does notinsist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, butrejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they willcease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesyonly in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child,I thought like a child; when I became and adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see inmirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully,even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and thegreatest of these is love.
就算我能说万人的方言和天使的话语，但如果没有爱，我不过就如鸣锣一般;就算我有预知未来的能力，就算我精通各种知识和奥秘，就算我有坚定的信念，但如果没有爱，我就什么都算不上;就算我拿所有的财物周济穷人，就算我能做出舍己为人的壮举，但如果没有爱，我仍将一无所有。
爱是一种忍耐，爱是一种友善;爱不是嫉妒，不是自大，不是鲁莽，不是固执己见，不是轻易发怒。爱意味着憎恶不义，赞赏真理;爱意味着包容一切，相信一切，对生活充满希望，并能忍受生活中的一切。
爱是永无止境的，但又是有尽头的;就像知识一样，必将归于乌有。我们现在搜掌握的知识很有限，当我们掌握了完整的知识时，有限的知识必将归于乌有。当我还是一个孩子的时候，我像孩子一样说话，像孩子一样思考问题，像孩子一样推理;但我一旦成年，就不再像孩子一样了。现阶段，我们很多时候好像是从镜子里观看事物，对很多事物都看不清，但有朝一日我们会直面这些事物。现阶段，我知道的东西很有限，但有朝一日我会懂得一切。如今，常存在人们心中的东西有三样：信念、希望和爱，而其中爱是最重要的!
