精选四分钟左右的英语美文朗诵
通过评价机制,促进学生对经典美文的阅读和积累,潜移默化学生的文化素养尤其是文学素养。下面小编整理了四分钟左右的英语美文，希望大家喜欢!
四分钟左右的英语美文摘抄
A Mother’s Letter to a Son Starting Kindergarten
母亲致开始幼儿园生活的儿子的一封信
Dear George,
When your big brother and your little dog and I walked you up to school today, you had no idea how I was feeling.
You were so excited, you had packed and unpacked the washable markers and safety scissors in your backpack a dozen times.
I am really going to miss those lazy mornings when we waved your brother and sister off to school. I'd settle in with my coffee and newspaper, handing you the comics to color while you watched Sesame Street.
亲爱的乔治：
今天我和你哥哥还有你的小狗送你上学的时候，我当时的心情你一无所知。
你是那么的兴奋，反反复复地把可擦洗记号笔和安全剪刀放进背包又拿出来。
我真的会怀念那些慵懒的早晨，我们跟你去上学的哥哥和姐姐挥手道别，然后我会拿着咖啡和报纸坐好，把用来涂色的连环画递给看《芝麻街》的你。
Because you are my youngest, I had learned a few things by the time you came along. I found out that the seemingly endless days of babyhood are gone like lightning. I blinked, and your older siblings were setting off for school as eagerly as you did this morning.
你是我最小的孩子，所以有你的时候我已经学会了不少事情。我发现那看似无尽的婴儿时期一纵而逝。一眨眼的功夫，你的哥哥姐姐就开始上学了，急切的程度跟今天早晨的你别无二致。
You didn't go to preschool and I'm not exactly Maria Montessori. I hope that doesn't hold you back. You learned numbers by helping me count the soda cans we returned to the store. And you do a fine job of writing your name on the sidewalk in chalk, in capitals to make it look more important. Just the other day, you asked me why I always call you “Honey” when we're reading stories and “Bud” when you're helping with chores. My explanation of the difference between a cuddly mood and a matey one seemed to satisfy you.
你没有上过托儿所，我也不是玛丽亚·蒙特梭利，希望这没有耽误你。因为帮我数还回商店的汽水瓶，你学会了数数。你用粉笔在人行道上写下的自己的名字也很不错，还会大写，让自己的名字看起来更重要。就在前两天你还问我，为什么我们读故事的时候我总叫你“亲爱的”，而帮我干活儿时却叫你“朋友”。我解释了表达爱抚的情感和伙伴式情感的不同，你似乎感到很满意。
I have to admit that in my mind's eye, an image of myself while you're in school has developed. I see myself updating all the photo albums and starting the novel I always wanted to write. As the summer wound down and more frequent quarrels erupted between you and your siblings, I looked forward to that day.
And then this morning, I walked you to your classroom with a picture of the president on one wall and of Bambi on the opposite. You found the coat hook with your name above it right away, and you gave me one of your characteristically fierce, too?tight hugs. This time you were ready to let go before I was.
Maybe someday you will deliver a kindergartner with your own wide?set eyes and sudden grin to the first day of school. When you turn at the door to wave good?bye, he or she will be too deep in conversation with a new friend to notice.
And then, you'll know.
Love, Mom
我必须承认，我的脑海里开始展现出一幅你上幼儿园后我的形象。我仿佛看到我在更新所有的影集，开始写那本我计划已久的小说。随着夏季的流转，你和哥哥姐姐之间的口角将会更加频繁地爆发。我盼望着这一天的到来。
今天早晨，我送你到了教室，你们教室里的一面墙上挂着总统像，对面却贴着小鹿斑比。你马上就找到了写着自己名字的衣帽钩，给了我一个超热烈的拥抱，这就是你的风格啊!但这次你比我更早地放开了手。
也许有一天你也会送孩子去幼儿园，他也像你在开学第一天一样，张大眼睛，却又突然咧嘴而笑。当你在门口转身挥手再见时，他或者她已经沉浸于和新朋友的交谈中了，根本没注意到你。
那一刻，你就会明白妈妈的心情了。
四分钟左右的英语美文鉴赏
Working Christmas Day
圣诞节急诊
It was unusually quiet in the emergency room on December 25.
十二月二十五日，急诊室里异乎寻常地安静。
I was triage nurse that day. I didn't think there would be any patients, sighing about having to work on Christmas. Just then five bodies showed up at my desk, a pale woman and four small children.
我是当天的分诊护士。我想不会有什么病人来的。当我正叹息着圣诞节还要工作的时候，五个人出现在我的办公桌前——一个面色苍白的妇女，带着四个小孩儿。
“Are you all sick?” I asked suspiciously.
我有些怀疑地问：“你们都病了吗?”
“Yes,” she said weakly and lowered her head.
“嗯。”她虚弱地回答道，低下了头。
But when it came to descriptions of their presenting problems, things got a little vague. Two of the children had headaches, but the headaches weren't accompanied by the normal body language of holding the head or trying to keep it still. Two children had earaches, but only one could tell me which ear was affected. The mother complained of a cough but seemed to work to produce it.
但是当他们开始描述现在的病情时，事情就有点让人摸不着头脑了。其中两个孩子头痛，但是他们的头痛并没有伴随着通常出现的肢体症状，像抱头或者试着让头保持不动等。还有，两个孩子说耳朵痛，但只有一个能告诉我是哪只耳朵痛。孩子的母亲诉说她有咳嗽症状，但咳嗽好像是用力装出来的。
Something was wrong, but I didn't say anything but explained that it might be a little while before a doctor saw her. She responded, “Take your time; it's warm in here.”
有点不对头，但是我也没说什么，只是解释说，过一阵儿医生才会来给她检查。她回答说：“不着急，医院里挺暖和的。”
On a hunch, I checked the chart after the admitting clerk had finished registering the family. No address—they were homeless. The waiting room was warm.
接诊员填好这个家庭的登记表后，出于直觉，我查看了一下。上面没写地址——他们无家可归。候诊室里很暖和。
I looked out at the family huddled by the Christmas tree. The littlest one was pointing at the television and exclaiming something to her mother. The oldest one was looking at an ornament on the Christmas tree.
我向外看去，只见这一家人挤在圣诞树旁，最小的孩子指着电视，正向母亲惊呼着什么，最大的那个正在看圣诞树上的一件装饰品。
I went back to the nurses' station and mentioned we had a homeless family in the waiting room. The nurses, grumbling about working Christmas, turned to compassion for a family just trying to get warm on Christmas. The team went into action, much as we do when there's a medical emergency. But this one was a Christmas emergency.
我回到护士室，讲述了候诊室里这无家可归的一家子的事。原本抱怨圣诞节还要上班的护士们都转而对在圣诞节只祈求温暖的这家人感到非常同情。这个团队马上展开行动，就好像我们对待医疗紧急情况一样，只不过这次是“圣诞节急诊”。
We were all offered a free meal in the hospital cafeteria on Christmas Day, so we claimed that meal and prepared a banquet for our Christmas guests. We needed presents. We put together oranges and apples in a basket. We collected from different departments candies, crayons and other things available that could be presents. As seriously as we met the physical needs of the patients that came to us that day, our team worked to meet the needs, and exceed the expectations, of a family who just wanted to be warm on Christmas Day.
圣诞节这天，医院食堂免费给我们提供一顿饭，于是我们都把饭领回来，为我们的圣诞客人准备了一次宴会。还需要一些礼物，我们就把苹果和橘子放到一起，装进篮子，还从各个科室收集了糖果、蜡笔和其他能当作礼物的现成的东西。我们的团队工作严肃，就像满足当天其他患者的需要一样，我们尽力满足这家人只想过一个温暖圣诞节的愿望，并远远超乎了他们的期望。
Later, as the family walked to the door to leave, the four-year-old came running back, gave me a hug and whispered, “Thanks for being our angels today.”
后来，当这家人走到门前要离开的时候，那个四岁的孩子跑回来，给了我一个拥抱，并在我的耳边悄悄地说：“谢谢你，今天你是我们家的天使。”
四分钟左右的英语美文赏析
The Priorities of Life
生活中的轻重缓急
Friday afternoon, when I was worrying about my pregnancy and the future conflicts between work and family, Dan’s assistant dropped a memo at my desk.
周五下午，一叠6寸厚的文件在我办公桌上放着。我在最上边放了一根尺子，以表明工作进度。
We were supposed to run a new set of numbers on our report. “Have them sent to me by Monday,” Dan, my work-obsessed boss, wrote.
我们被要求在报告中将一组新的数字包括进去。“下周一交给我。”他写道。
It was near leaving time. The mainframe computer was already shut down for the weekend, which meant doing them by hand on Saturday.
我看了一分钟。主机计算机已经关闭，因为是周末。
Working extra hours always made me doubt if I would have time with my family.
加班总是让我怀疑我会有时间和我的家人相处。
I had to talk to Mike, my team leader. “We don’t need to,” Mike said, “I’ll run a program first thing Monday when the computer comes back up. And I’ll explain things to Dan on Tuesday. The extra day means there won’t be any mistakes.”
“我们不需要这样做，”迈克背靠椅子笑着说，“下周一，电脑一启动，我首先运行一个程序。周二我会对丹解释。多加一天可以保证不出任何差错。”
I had a terrible weekend.
我过了一个糟糕的周末。
After this, how would Dan view my maternity leave?
在此违抗上司命令事件之后，丹会如何看待我的产假呢?
Monday, Mike finished running the program before I came in. I checked the information for my division.
周一，迈克在我上班之前就运行了那个程序。我核校我的部门的有关数据。
Tuesday, Dan asked me into his office.
周二，丹叫我到他的办公室去”
“I wanted those reports yesterday so I could get my notes ready. If that meant working on a Saturday, that is normal at your level of responsibility. Instead, you deliberately disobeyed me.”
“我昨天需要那些报告，以使用来写我的发言提纲。如果那意味着你周六要干活的话，这是你责任分内的事，是正常的。相反，你却故意违抗。”
I struggled to hold back my tears. That was when Mike breezed in, plopping the new report on his desk. “Here we go, Dan,” he said, “Guaranteed accuracy down to the decimal. To me that was worth taking an extra day.”“Why didn’t you work on Saturday to finish this?”“It seemed like a huge waste when we could just use the computer and get it right,” Mike said, “so we waited until Monday.” Dan stared at the top page for a long while, then nodded. At that moment the tension went out of the room like air going out of a balloon. He even cracked a smile.
我极力克制着自己的泪水。正在这时，迈克飘然而进，手里拿着新的报告。“丹，给，”他啪的一声把报告放在桌子上。“保证准确无误，分毫不差。在我看来，一天的耽误是值得的。”“为什么你们不在周六完成?”“那会是对人力的巨大浪费，因为这活儿我们可以用电脑来做，而且准确性高，”迈克说，“这样，我们就推到了周一做。我得遵循我自己的判断。”丹花了很长时间看第一面，然后点了点头。在那一刻，紧张的气氛顿时烟消云散，就像气球泄气那样。他甚至咧嘴笑了。
Later, finally on my way to talk to Dan about my pregnancy, I stopped by Mike’s cubicle. There he was, working as hard as ever, surrounded by the photos of his boys, the football team he coached, his family on Easter Sunday. That’s why he didn’t make time wasting decisions or worry about office politics. He had his priorities right: faith, family, then work. And because of that he was good at all three.
过后，当我最终要去找丹谈我身孕之事时，我顺便去了下迈克的隔间。他在那儿，和以往一样努力地工作着，周围贴着孩子们。阻截手训练队和复活节全家福的照片，这些不是分心的东西，而是他力量的源泉。正因为如此，他从不做浪费时间的决策，从来不把自己的地位或办公室政治放在心上。他对轻重缓急心中自有原则：信仰口家庭，然后才是工作。正因为如此，他在三方面都很成功。
“Thanks, Mike.” I said. “I learned to get my priorities straight. Now I’m ready to tell my boss the good news.”
“迈克，谢谢你为我做的一切。”我也有了自己的轻重缓急的原则。我这就去告诉老板我的那个好消息。
