经典英语美文故事
英语美文用简单温暖的文字、真实动人的情感传达语言之美,让读者在阅读之后,感同身受,触动心灵。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。下面是学习啦小编为大家带来经典英语美文故事，希望大家喜欢!
经典英语美文故事：人生的转角
Please excuse me if I’m a little 1)pensive today.
如果我今天有点郁郁寡欢,请原谅我。
Mark is leaving, and I’m feeling kind of sad.
马克要走了,我感到有点难过。
You probably don’t know Mark, but you might be lucky enough to know someone just like him. He’s been the heart and soul of the office for a couple of year combining 2)exemplary professional skills with a sweet nature and gentle 3)disposition. He’s never been all that interested in 4)getting credit for the terrific work he does. He just wants to do his job, and to do it superbly well.
你或许不认识马克,但如果你认识像他那样的人,那你可能走运了。好几年来,他都是办公室里的核心和灵魂人物,专业技能堪称典范,态度和蔼,性情温柔。工作表现出色的他从不热衷于争风邀功。他只想做他的工作,并出色地完成。
And now he’s moving on to an exciting new professional opportunity. It sounds like it could be the chance of a lifetime, and we’re genuinely, sincerely pleased for him. But that doesn’t make it any easier to say goodbye to a dear friend and trusted colleague.
而现在,他要向一份令人兴奋的新职迈进。听起来是个一生难得的机会,我们也真心诚挚地替他高兴。但那并没使我们跟这么一位亲爱的朋友、信任的同事告别来得容易一些。
Life has a way of throwing these curve balls at us. Just when we start to get comfortable with a person, a place or a situation, something comes along to alter the recipe. A terrific neighbor moves away. Someone in the family graduates. A child finds new love and loyalties through marriage. The family’s principle bread-winner is laid off.
生活用它自己的方式不断向我们抛出曲线球。当我们刚开始和某人融洽相处,或是适应一个地方或一种境况时,某事就发生了,改变了一切。很好的邻居要搬家了;家里的某个成员毕业了;孩子找到新欢,在婚姻殿堂里寻获忠诚;家里养家糊口的主力军被解雇了。
Our ability to cope with change and disruption determine to a great degree, our peace, happiness and contentment in life.
我们应付变化以及混乱情况的能力很大程度上决定了我们生活的安宁、幸福和满意度。
But how do we do that? Philosophers have considered the question for centurie and their responses have been varied. According to the author of the Biblical book of 5)Ecclesiaste comfort can be found in remembering that “to every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.” 6)Kahlil Gibran urged his listeners to “let today embrace the past with remembrance, and the future with longing.”
但我们该怎么做?哲人们已经思考这个问题好几个世纪了,他们的回答各不相同。根据《圣经·旧约全书·传道书》的作者,人们可以通过记住“大千世界,万事万物皆有时”来获得安慰。而卡里·纪伯伦也曾敦促他的听众去“让今日用记忆拥抱昨日,用渴望拥抱未来”。
A friend of mine who works for the government is fond of reminding his fellow 7)bureaucrats that “survivabi-lity depends upon adaptability.” And then there’s Chri the California 8)surf-rat, who once told me that the answer to life’s problems can be summed up in four words: “Go with the flow.”
我一个在政府工作的朋友喜欢提醒他的那帮官僚同事们“生存取决于适应性。”还有克里斯,加利福尼亚州的一位冲浪爱好者,他曾告诉我,生活中所有问题的答案都能归为四个字——“随遇而安”。
“It’s like surfing,” Chris explained. “You can’t organize the ocean. Waves just happen. You ride ’em where they take you, then you paddle back out there and catch the next one. Sure, you’re always hoping for the perfect wave where you can get, like, you know, totally 9)tubular. But mostly you just take ’em the way they come. It’s not like you’re trying to 10)nail Jell-O to a tree, you know?”
“就像冲浪,”克里斯解释道,“你无法掌控大海。波浪随意荡起。你乘着浪任其领着你向前冲,然后,你伏身于冲浪板往回划水至某处,接而踏乘下一个浪。当然,你总会希望等到那个完美的浪头,就像你知道的那种滚筒浪。但大多数情况,也就是随波逐流,这不是什么登天难事,你知道的。”
I’m not exactly sure, but I think Chris was saying that life is a series of events—both good and bad. No matter how 11)deft your organizational skill there will always be life-influencing factors over which you have no control. The truly successful person expects the unexpected, and is prepared to make adjustments should the need arise—as it almost always does.
我不太确定,但我想克里斯在说,生活是由一连串事件组成的——其中有好有坏。不论你的统筹技巧有多纯熟,总会有些你无法控制的因素影响着我们的生活。真正的成功者料想到意料之外的事总会发生,并做好准备在必要时做出调整——而这样的情况常常发生。
That doesn’t mean you don’t keep trying to make all your dreams come true. It just means that when things come up that aren’t exactly in your plan, you work around them—and then you move on. Of course, some 12)bumps along the road of life are easier to take than others. A 13)rained-out picnic, for example, is easier to cope with than the sudden death of a loved one. But the principle is the same.
那并不意味着你不需要不断努力去实现你的梦想。意思只是说,当计划以外的事发生时,你得去处理,然后继续前进。当然,人生沿途出现的一些“撞击”要比另一些容易处理。比如,因为下雨要取消野餐,总比自己所爱的人突然去世更容易处理。但原理是相同的。
“Change, indeed, is painful, yet ever needful,” said philosopher 14)Thomas Carlyle. “And if memory have its force and worth, so also has hope.”
“改变确实给人带来痛苦,但改变却是永远必须的。”哲人托马斯·卡莱尔说道,“并且,如果记忆拥有其力量和价值,那么希望也同样拥有。”
We’re going to miss Mark, just like you’ll miss that graduate, that neighbor or that newlywed. But rather than dwell on the sadness of our parting, we’ll focus on our hopes for a brighter future—for him, and for us. And then we’ll go out and do everything we can to make that future happen.
我们会想念马克,就像你会想念那毕业离家的孩子、那位搬走的邻居或那新婚的儿女一样。但我们与其沉湎于分离所带来的哀伤中,倒不如把期盼聚焦于一个更光明的未 来——为他,也为我们自己。然后,我们将走出去,尽我们的一切力量去实现梦想中的未来。
Until our plans change—again.
直到我们的计划——再次改变。
经典英语美文故事：天涯若比邻
I grew up in Jamaica Plain, an urban community located on the 1)outskirts of Boston, 2)Massachusetts. In the 1940’s it was a 3)wholesome, 4)quaint little community. It was my home and I loved it there; back then I thought I would never leave. My best friend Rose and I used to collectively dream about raising a family of our own someday. We had it all planned out to live next door to one another.
我在牙买加平原长大,那是美国马萨诸塞州波士顿市郊的一个城镇。在20世纪40年代,那是个生气勃勃而又老式别致的小社区。那是我的家乡,我热爱的地方。那时,我以为自己永远不会离开。我最好的朋友罗斯和我常常一起梦想着有一天各自拥有自己的家庭。我们什么都计划好了,还想着以后要挨着住,做邻居。
Our dream remained alive through 5)grade school, high school, and even beyond. Rose was my 6)maid of honor when I got married in 1953 to the love of my life, Dick. Even then she joked that she was just one perfect guy short of being married, thus bringing us closer to our dream. Meanwhile, Dick aspired to be an officer in the 7)Marines and I fully supported his ambitions. I realized that he might be 8)stationed far away from Jamaica Plain, but I told him I would 9)relocate and adjust. The idea of experiencing new places together seemed somewhat romantic to me.
我们的这一梦想历经小学、中学,甚至之后的岁月,从未变更。1953年当我嫁给我一生的挚爱——迪克时,罗斯是我的伴娘。那时,她甚至开玩笑说,她就差结婚了,要不就完美了——这样就可以离我们的梦想更近了。就在那时,迪克决心成为一名海军陆战队军官,而我则全力支持他的雄心壮志。我意识到,他可能会在牙买加平原以外很远的地方驻扎,不过我告诉他我可以重新安家并适应下来。和他一起体验新天地的生活,这想法对我来说有些浪漫。
So, in 1955 Dick was stationed in Alaska and we relocated. Rose was sad to see me leave, but wished me the best of luck. Rose and I remained in touch for a few years via periodic phone call but after awhile we lost track of one another. Back in the 1950’s it was a lot more difficult to stay in touch with someone over a long distance, especially if you were relocating every few years. There were no email addresses or transferable phone number and directory lookup services were mediocre at best.
于是,1955年迪克被安排驻扎在阿拉斯加时,我们搬家了。罗斯对我的离开感到很难过,但仍祝我好运。接下来的几年里,我们通过定期打电话来保持联络,但不久我们便失去了彼此的音讯。20世纪50年代那会,要想和远方的人保持联络并不太容易,特别是当你每隔几年就要搬家时。那时还没有电子邮箱或者搬家不换号的服务,姓名地址查询服务也不甚完善。
I thought of her several times over the years. Once in the mid 1960’s when I was visiting the Greater Boston area I tried to determine her 12)whereabout but my search turned up empty-handed. Jamaica Plain had changed 13)drastically in the 10 years I was gone. A pretty obvious shift in income demographics was affecting my old neighborhood. My family had moved out of the area, as did many of the people I used to know. Rose was nowhere to be found.
这些年来,我有好几次想起了她。20世纪60年代中期,有一次在我去大波士顿区时,我尝试追寻她的下落,但却搜寻未果。在我离开后的10年里,牙买加平原发生了巨变。外来人口的大量迁入影响了我的旧社区。我家早已搬离了那个地区,从前认识的邻居中有很多也搬走了。罗斯则杳无音讯,无迹可寻。
52 years passed and we never spoke. I’ve since raised a family of five, all of whom now have families of their own, and Dick passed away a few years ago. Basically, a lifetime has passed. Now here I am at the doorstep to my 80th birthday and I receive a random phone call on an idle Wednesday afternoon. “Hello?” I said. “Hi Natalie, it’s Rose,” the voice on the other end replied. “It’s been so long. I don’t know if you remember me, but we used to be best friends in Jamaica Plain when we were kid” she said.
52年过去了,我们再未说过话。后来,我有了一个五口之家,现在孩子们也全都有了自己的家庭,而迪克也在几年前去世了。基本上,我的一生就这么过去了。如今,在我即将迈入八十大寿之际,一个空闲的周三下午我接到了一个陌生来电。“喂?”我打招呼道。“嗨,纳塔利,我是罗斯。”电话那头的声音回应道。“已经过了这么久了。我不知道你还记不记得我,过去还是小孩子的时候,在牙买加平原,我们是最好的朋友。”她说道。
We haven’t seen each other yet, but we have spent countless hours on the phone14)catching up on 52 years of our lives. The interesting thing is that even after 52 years of separation our personalities and interests are still extremely similar. We both share a passion for several hobbies that we each 15)picked up independently several years after we lost touch with one another. It almost feels like we are picking up right where we left off, which is really strange considering the circumstances.
我们到现在也还没再见过面,但我们花了很长的时间在电话里互诉了这52年里我们各自的生活。有意思的是,即使是分别了52年,我们的个性和兴趣仍然极其相似。我们都钟情于某些爱好,而那是在我们失去联络几年后各自养成的。这感觉简直就像我们才刚刚分别就又重聚了一样,考虑到现实情况,这确实让人感到有些奇怪。
Her husband passed away a few years ago as well, but she mailed me several photographs of her family that were taken over the years. It’s so crazy, just looking at the photos and listening to her describe her family reminds me of my own; a reasonably large, healthy family. Part of me feels like we led fairly similar lives.
她的丈夫也在几年前去世了,但她寄了几张那些年里拍的家庭合影给我。令人兴奋不已的是,仅仅是看着这些照片,听她描述着她的家庭就让我想起了我自己的家庭;一个相当健康的大家庭。内心深处,我感到我们有着极其相似的人生。
I don’t think the numerous similarities between our two lives are a coincidence either. I think it shows that we didn’t just call each other best friend we truly were best friend and even now we can be best friends again. Real friends have two things in common: a compatible personality and a strong-willed character. The compatible personality is what initiates the connection between two people and a strong-willed character at both ends is what maintains the connection. If those two ingredients are present in a friendship, the friendship is for real, and can thus sustain the tests of time and prolonged absence without 16)faltering.
我们两个人的生命中有如此多的相似之处,我并不认为这仅仅是巧合。我认为这表示,我们视彼此为最好的朋友,不只是嘴上说的,而是真真切切地曾经为彼此最好的朋友,即使到了现在,我们还是可以成为最好的朋友。真正的朋友有两个共同点:相容的个性和坚强的品格。相容的个性是最初连接两人的纽带,而这一纽带的维系则有赖于双方所拥有的坚强品格。如果一段友谊里有着这两者的存在,那么这段友谊就是真的,这样一来,它就能经受住时间和长久分离的考验而毫不“褪色”。
以上就是学习啦小编为大家带来的经典英语美文故事，希望大家喜欢!
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