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40 篇超高质量英语短文,快收藏学起来吧!附音频(五)

 大隆龙 2021-12-31
英语·40篇短文

本文整理自:称子英语(ID:chenzienglish

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29. On Lying论撒谎

Now as to the matter of lying. You want to be very careful about lying, otherwise you are nearly sure to get caught, once caught, you can never again be, in the eyes of the pure and the good, what you were before. 

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。

Many a young person has injured himself permanently through a single clumsy and ill-finished lie, the result of carelessness born of incomplete training. Some authorities hold that the young ought not to lie at all. That, of course, is putting it rather stronger than necessary.

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。

Still, while I can't go quite so far as that, I do maintain, and I believe I am right, that the young ought to be temperate in the use of this great art until practice and experience shall give them that confidence, elegance, precision which alone make the accomplishment graceful and profitable. Patience, diligence, pains taking attention to detail - these are the requirements. These, in time, will make the student perfect. Upon these, and upon these only, may he rely as the sure foundation for future eminence.

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。

Think what tedious years of study, thought, practice, and experience, went to the equipment of the peerless old master who was able to impose upon the whole world with the lofty and sounding maxim that'Truth is mighty and will prevail.'- The most majestic compound feature of fact which any of woman born has yet achieved.

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。

For the history of our race and every individual's experience, are sown thick with evidence that a truth is not hard to kill and that a lie told well is immortal. There is in Bostin a monument of the man who discover the anesthesia. Many people are aware, in these later days,that he didn't discover it at all, but stole the discovery from another man. Is the truth mighty, and will it prevail?

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?

No, my hearers, the monument is made of hard materials, but the lie it tells will outlast a million years. An awkward, feeble, leaky lie is a thing which you ought to make it your unceasing study to avoid such a lie as that has no more real permanence than an average truth. Why, you might as well tell the truth at once and be done with it.

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。

30. My Heart’s in the Highlands

My heart's in the highlands, my heart is not here;

我的心在那高原,不在这里

My heart's in the highlands, a-chasing the deer;

我的心在那高原,在追赶鹿群

Chasing the wild deer, and following the roe

追赶着野鹿,跟踪着獐鹿,

My heart's in the highlands wherever I go.

我的心在那高原,无论我走到哪里

Farewell to the highlands, farewell to the north!

再见了,高原,再见了,北方!

The birthplace of velour, the country of worth;

敬爱的家园,英雄的故乡;

Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,

无论我在哪里漂泊流浪,

The hills of the highlands forever I love.

高原的群山,永远在我心上!

Farewell to the mountains high covered with snow!

再见了,白雪皑皑高耸的群山,

Farewell to the straths and green valleys below!

再见了,山下的河谷,青翠的山涧;

Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods!

再见了,参天的大树,丛生的森林,

Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods!

再见了,汹涌的激流,雷鸣的浪涛!

My heart's in the highlands, my heart is not here;

我的心在那高原,我的心不在这里,

My heart's in the highlands, a-chasing the deer;

我的心在那高原,在追赶鹿群;

Chasing the wild deer, and following the roe

追赶着野鹿,跟踪着獐鹿,

My heart's in the highlands wherever I go.

我的心在那高原,无论我走到哪里!

31. The Road to Success

成功之路

It is well that young men should begin at the beginning and occupy the most subordinate positions. Many of the leading businessmen of Pittsburgh had a serious responsibility thrust upon them at the very threshold of their career. They were introduced to the broom,  and spent the first hours of their business lives sweeping out the office.

年轻人创业之初,应该从最底层干起,这是件好事。匹兹保有很多商业巨头,在他们创业之初,都肩负过“重任”:他们以扫帚相伴,以打扫办公室的方式度过了他们商业生涯中最初的时光。

I notice we have janitors and janitresses now in offices, and our young men unfortunately miss that salutary branch of business education. But if by chance the professional sweeper is absent any morning, the boy who has the genius of the future partner in him will not hesitate to try his hand at the broom.

我注意到我们现在办公室里都有工友,于是年轻人就不幸错过了商业教育中这个有益的环节。如果碰巧哪天上午专职扫地的工友没有来,某个具有未来合伙人气质的年轻人会毫不犹豫地试着拿起扫帚。

The other day a fond fashionable mother in Michigan asked a young man whether he had ever seen a young lady sweep in a room so grandly as her Priscilla. He said no, he never had, and the mother was gratified beyond measure, but then he said, after a pause, “What I should like to see her do is sweep out a room.” It does not hurt the newest comer to sweep out the office if necessary. I was one of those sweepers myself.

一天,一位来自密西根州的时尚女性问一位年轻男子,他是否看见过有一位像普里西拉的年轻女子曾经在这里扫地。他说他从来没看见过,这位母亲非常高兴,但是他想了一会说:“我想看她把整个房间都打扫一遍。”如果必要的话,打扫房间对于新人来说没什么不好。我自己就曾经扫过地。

Assuming that you have all obtained employment and are fairly started, my advice to you is “aim high”. I would not give a fig for the young man who does not already see himself the partner or the head of an important firm. Do not rest content for a moment in your thoughts as head clerk, or foreman, or general manager in any concern, no matter how extensive. Say to yourself, “My place is at the top.” Be king in your dreams.

假如你已经被录用,并且有了一个良好的开端,我对你的建议是:要志存高远。一个年轻人,如果不把自己想象成一家大公司未来的老板或者是合伙人,那我会对他不屑一顾。不论职位有多高,你的内心都不要满足于做一个总管,领班或者总经理。要对自己说:我要迈向顶尖!要做就做你梦想中的国王!

And here is the prime condition of success, the great secret: concentrate your energy, thought, and capital exclusively upon the business in which you are engaged. Having begun in one line, resolve to fight it out on that line, to lead in it, adopt every improvement, have the best machinery, and know the most about it.

成功的首要条件和最大秘诀就是:把你的精力,思想和资本全都集中在你正从事的事业上。一旦开始从事某种职业,就要下定决心在那一领域闯出一片天地来;做这一行的领导人物,采纳每一点改进之心,采用最优良的设备,对专业知识熟稔于心。

The concerns which fail are those which have scattered their capital, which means that they have scattered their brains also. They have investments in this, or that, or the other, here there, and everywhere.

一些公司的失败就在于他们分散了资金,因为这就意味着分散了他们的精力。他们向这方面投资,又向那方面投资;在这里投资,在那里投资,到处都投资。

“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” is all wrong. I tell you to “put all your eggs in one basket, and then watch that basket.” Look round you and take notice, men who do that not often fail. It is easy to watch and carry the one basket.

“不要把所有的鸡蛋放在一个篮子里”的说法大错特错。我要对你说:“把所有的鸡蛋都放在一个篮子里,然后小心地看好那个篮子。”看看你周围,你会注意到:这么做的人其实很少失败。看管和携带一个篮子并不太难。

It is trying to carry too many baskets that breaks most eggs in this country. He who carries three baskets must put one on his head, which is apt to tumble and trip him up. One fault of the American businessman is lack of concentration.

人们总是试图提很多篮子,所以才打破这个国家的大部分鸡蛋。提三个篮子的人,必须把一个顶在头上,而这个篮子很可能倒下来,把他自己绊倒。美国商人的一个缺点就是不够专注。

To summarize what I have said: aim for the highest; never enter a bar room; do not touch liquor, or if at all only at meals; never speculate; never indorse beyond your surplus cash fund; make the firm’s interest yours; break orders always to save owners; concentrate; put all your eggs in one basket, and watch that basket; expenditure always within revenue; lastly, be not impatient, for as Emerson says, “no one can cheat you out of ultimate success but yourselves.”

把我的话归纳一下:要志存高远;不要出入酒吧;要滴酒不沾,或要喝也只在用餐时喝少许;不要做投机买卖;不要寅吃卯粮;要把公司的利益当作自己的利益;取消订货的目的永远是为了挽救货主;要专注;要把所有的鸡蛋放在一个篮子里,然后小心地看好它;要量入为出;最后,要有耐心,正如爱默生所言,“谁都无法阻止你最终成功,除非你自己承认自己失败。”

32. Eyes Can Speak

眼睛会说话

Much meaning can be conveyed, clearly, with our eyes, so it is often said that eyes can speak.

我们的眼睛能准确地传达一些信息,所以人们常说,眼睛会说话。

Do you have such kind of experience? In a bus you may look at stranger, but not too long. And if he is sensing that he is being stared at, he may feel uncomfortable.

你有过类似的体验吗?在公共汽车上,你可能会看着一个陌生人,但时间不会太长。而且,如果他能感觉到有人盯着他,会觉得浑身不自在。

The same in daily life. If you are looked at for more than necessary, you will look at yourself up and down, to see if there is anything wrong with you. If nothing goes wrong, you will feel angry toward other’s stare with you that way. Eyes do speak, right?

日常生活中亦如此。如果别人一直盯着你看,你就会不由自主地审视自己,看看是不是有什么地方弄错了。如果一切正常,你就会对别人的这种盯梢很气愤。眼睛确实能说话,不是吗?

Looking too long at someone may seem to be rude and aggressive. But things are different when it comes to stare at the opposite sex. If a man glances at a woman for more than 10 seconds and refuses to avert his gaze, his intentions are obvious, that is, he wishes to attract her attention, to make her understand that he is admiring her.

过久的盯着别人看会给人一种粗鲁和侵犯的感觉。但异性之间的凝视就不同了。如果一个男人盯着一个女人超过10秒钟,还不想挪开视线的话,他的意思就十分明显了,他想引起她的注意,想让她知道他爱慕她。

However, the normal eye contact for two people engaged in conversation is that the speaker will only look at the listener from time to time, in order to make sure that the listener does pay attention to what the former is speaking, As for the listener, he will, to a certain extent, look continuously at the speaker to tell him that he is attentive.

正常情况下,两人交谈时,目光接触能传达这样的意思:说者偶尔看看听者,以此确认听着是否在认真倾听。而对于听者来说,他会一直看着说话的人,以此告诉他,自己正专心致志的听着。

If a speaker looks at you continuously when speaking, as if he tries to dominate you, you will feel disconcerted. A poor liar usually exposes himself by looking too long at the victim, since he believes in the false idea that to look straight in the eye is a sign of honest communication. Quite the contrary.

假如与你说话的那个人直直的盯着你,好像要镇住你似的,你便会感到惶恐不安。一般地,说谎者往往就是看别人的时间过长,而令人起疑。因为他们以为直视别人的眼睛是诚实沟通的表现,结果恰恰相反。

In fact, continuous eye contact is confined to lovers only, who will enjoy looking at each other tenderly for a long time, to show affection that words cannot express.

实际上,长时间的相互凝视仅适合情人之间,他们喜欢温柔的对视,用目光来传达言语无法表达的爱意。

Evidently, eye contact should be done according to the relationship between two people and the specific situation.

显然,目光交流应该根据双方的关系和特定场合来进行。

33. Relish the Moment

拥抱当下

Tucked away in our subconsciousness is an idyllic vision. We see ourselves on a long trip that spans the continent. We are travelling by train. Out the windows, we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of children waving on a crossing, of cattle grazing on a distant hillside, of smoke pouring from a power plant, of row upon row of corn and wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hillsides, of city skylines and village halls.

我们的潜意识里藏着一派田园诗般的风光!我们仿佛身处一次横贯大陆的漫漫旅程之中!乘着火车,我们领略着窗外流动的景色:附近高速公路上奔驰的汽车、十字路口处招手的孩童、远山上吃草的牛群、源源不断地从电厂排放出的烟尘、一片片的玉米和小麦、平原与山谷、群山与绵延的丘陵、天空映衬下城市的轮廓,以及乡间的庄园宅第!

But the uppermost in our minds is the final destination. On a certain day at a certain hour, we will pull into the station. Bands will be playing and flags waving. Once we reach there, so many wonderful dreams will come true and the pieces of our lives will be fit together like a completed jigsaw puzzle. How restlessly we pace the aisles, damning the minutes loitering, waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.

然而我们心里想得最多的却是最终的目的地!在某一天的某一时刻,我们将会抵达进站!迎接我们的将是乐队和飘舞的彩旗!一旦到了那儿,多少美梦将成为现实,我们的生活也将变得完整,如同一块理好了的拼图!可是我们现在在过道里不耐烦地踱来踱去,咒骂火车的拖拖拉拉!我们期待着,期待着,期待着火车进站的那一刻!

'When we reach the station, that will be it', we cry. 'When I'm 18', 'When I buy a new 450SLMercedes Benz', 'When I put my last kid through collage', 'When I have paid off the mortgage', 'When I get a promotion', 'When I reach the age of the retirement, I shall live happily ever after.'

'当我们到站的时候,一切就都好了!'我们呼喊着!'当我18岁的时候!''当我有了一辆新450SL奔驰的时候!''当我供最小的孩子念完大学的时候!''当我偿清贷款的时候!''当我官升高任的时候!''当我到了退休的时候,就可以从此过上幸福的生活啦!'

Sooner or later, we must realize that there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly outdistances us.

可是我们终究会认识到人生的旅途中并没有车站,也没有能够'一到永逸'的地方!生活的真正乐趣在于旅行的过程,而车站不过是个梦,它始终遥遥领先于我们!

'Relish the moment' is a good motto, especially when coupled with the Psalm 118:24:'This is the day which the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.' It isn't the burdens of today that drive men mad. It is the regrets over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who rob us of today.

'享受现在'是句很好的箴言, 尤其是当它与《圣经·诗篇》中第118页24行的一段话相映衬的时候, 更是如此:'今日乃主所创造;生活在今日我们将欢欣、高兴! '真正令人发疯的不是今日的负担,而是对昨日的悔恨及对明日的恐惧!悔恨与恐惧是一对孪生窃贼,将今天从你我身边偷走!

So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice creams, go barefoot more often, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more and cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. Then the station will come soon enough.

那么就不要在过道里徘徊吧,别老惦记着你离车站还有多远!何不换一种活法,将更多的高山攀爬,多吃点儿冰淇淋甜甜嘴巴,经常光着脚板儿溜达,在更多的河流里畅游,多看看夕阳西下,多点欢笑哈哈,少让泪水滴答!生活得一边过一边瞧!车站就会很快到达!

34. On Motes and Beams

微尘与栋梁

It is curious that our own offenses should seem so much less heinous than the offenses of others. I suppose the reason is that we know all the circumstances that have occasioned them and so manage to excuse in ourselves what we cannot excuse in others.

让人奇怪的是,和别人的过错比起来,我们自身的过错往往不是那样的可恶。我想,其原因应该是我们知晓一切导致自己犯错的情况,因此能够设法谅解自己的错误,而别人的错误却不能谅解。

We turn our attention away from our own defects, and when we are forced by untoward events to consider them, find it easy to condone them. For all I know we are right to do this; they are part of us and we must accept the good and bad in ourselves together.

我们对自己的缺点不甚关注,即便是深陷困境而不得不正视它们的时候,我们也会很容易就宽恕自己。据我所知,我们这样做是正确的。缺点是我们自身的一部分,我们必须接纳自己的好和坏。

But when we come to judge others, it is not by ourselves as we really are that we judge them, but by an image that we have formed of ourselves from which we have left out everything that offends our vanity or would discredit us in the eyes of the world. To take a trivial instance: how scornful we are when we catch someone out telling a lie; but who can say that he has never told not one, but a hundred?

但是当我们评判别人的时候,情况就不同了。我们不是通过真实的自我来评判别人,而是用一种自我形象来评判,这种自我形象完全摒弃了在任何世人眼中会伤害到自己的虚荣或者体面的东西。举一个小例子来说:当觉察到别人说谎时,我们是多么地蔑视他啊!但是,谁能够说自从未说过谎?可能还不止一百次呢。

There is not much to choose between men. They are all a hotchpotch of greatness and littleness, of virtue and vice, of nobility and baseness. Some have more strength of character, or more opportunity, and so in one direction or another give their instincts freer play, but potentially they are the same.

人和人之间没什么大的差别。他们皆是伟大与渺小,善良与邪恶,高尚与低俗的混合体。有的人性格比较坚毅,机会也比较多,因而这个或那个方面,能够更自由地发挥自己的禀赋,但是人类的潜能却都是相同的。

For my part, I do not think I am any better or any worse than most people, but I know that if I set down every action in my life and every thought that has crossed my mind, the world would consider me a monster of depravity.

至于我自己,我认为自己并不比大多数人更好或者更差,但是我知道,假如我记下我生命中每一次举动和每一个掠过我脑海的想法的话,世界就会将我视为一个邪恶的怪物。

The knowledge that these reveries are common to all men should inspire one with tolerance to oneself as well as to others. It is well also if they enable us to look upon our fellows, even the most eminent and respectable, with humor, and if they lead us to take ourselves not too seriously.

每个人都会有这样的怪念头,这样的认识应当能够启发我们宽容自己,也宽容他人。同时,假如因此我们得以用幽默的态度看待他人,即使是天下最优秀最令人尊敬的人,而且假如我们也因此不把自己看得过于重要,那是很有裨益的。

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