在日常学习、工作抑或是生活中，大家一定都接触过美文吧？在各种竞争日益激烈的今天，在网络中，很多人都会喜欢一些比较伤感的美文，人们通过阅览这种文章来对自己的心情进行调解，以此为一种精神上的寄托。那么，你

本文目录导航：

• 1、英语美文欣赏1
• 2、英语美文欣赏2
• 3、英语美文欣赏3
• 4、英语美文欣赏4
• 5、英语美文欣赏5

【优秀】英语美文欣赏15篇

在日常学习、工作抑或是生活中，大家一定都接触过美文吧？在各种竞争日益激烈的今天，在网络中，很多人都会喜欢一些比较伤感的美文，人们通过阅览这种文章来对自己的心情进行调解，以此为一种精神上的寄托。那么，你会写美文吗？以下是小编精心整理的英语美文欣赏，欢迎阅读，希望大家能够喜欢。

英语美文欣赏1

Trust

信任

Are you quick to trust others?

你很快就会相信别人吗?

If you are, chances are you haven't been burned.

如果你是这样，那是你还没有被引火烧身的机会。

By “burned”, I'm talking about having a bad experience with trusting others.

借用“引火烧身”这个词,我正在谈论的是一个信任他人不好的经历。

If you take someone into your confidence and you trust him with a secret, and he tells someone else that secret, and you find out.

如果你信任某人,你用一个秘密信任他,而他把秘密告诉别人,你会发现。

Well, you've been burned.

你已经被引火烧身了。

Say you have a kind of emotional scar.

这说明你的情感上出现了疤痕。

Since the relationship has been hurt, in extreme cases you might even say the bridge has been burned between you and your friend.

因为这种关系已经被伤害,在极端的情况下你可能甚至会说你和你的朋友之间的友谊之桥已经轰然倒塌。

This happens to people lots of times.

人们身上经常发生这种事情。

It even happened to me before.

它甚至以前也发生在我身上。

I trusted a close friend with a secret, but he violated my trust and told someone else.

我有一个亲密的朋友保守着我的秘密,但他侵犯了我的信任,并告诉别人。

After I found out about what he did, our friendship was never the same again.

在我发现他做了什么后,我们的友谊就永远不会一样了。

Well, I hope you haven't had a lot of bad experiences when it comes to trusting others.

嗯, 当谈到相信别人的时候，我希望你没有很多不好的经历。

I also hope you have a lot of friends you can trust, and a lot of friends that trust you.

我也希望你有很多可以信赖的朋友,也有很多相信你的朋友。

But I was thinking about gaining someone's trust, it's not that easy like building a bridge or relationship.

但我在想获得别人的信任,这并不是像建造一座桥或是关系那么容易。

You make small promises and keep them, and the trust grows.

你做一些小的承诺并去恪守,而后信任就会生长。

As the trust grows, you can make bigger and bigger promises.

随着信任不断成长,你可以做出越来越大的承诺。

And if you keep on keeping your word, well, the trust keeps on growing.

如果你继续恪守你的'诺言,好吧,那信任会不断增长。

Talk about it:

谈论下面的话题:

Have you ever been burned?

你曾经有过引火上身的经历吗?

Are you the type of person who rushes into a trusting relationship?

你是那种很快信任别人的类型吗?

What kind of things do you do to show you are trust worthy?

你会做什么事情表示你值得信任?

Have you ever burned a bridge unintentionally, and found that it takes a long, long time to repair the relationship?

你有没有无意中让友谊之桥轰然倒塌,并发现需要一段很长的时间来重修旧好?

Are you good at keeping secrets?

你善于守护秘密吗?

Do people know that they can trust you?

人们知道他们可以信任你吗?

Do you believe that a man is as good as his word?

你是否相信一个人说话算话吗?

What can you do to earn a person's trust?

你会做什么来获得一个人的信任?

英语美文欣赏2

Outside the Bible, these six words are the most famous in all the literature of the world. They were spoken by Hamlet when he was thinking aloud, and they are the most famous words in Shakespeare because Hamlet was speaking not only for himself but also for every thinking man and woman. To be or not to be, to live or not to live, to live richly and abundantly and eagerly, or to live dully and meanly and scarcely. A philosopher once wanted to know whether he was alive or not, which is a good question for everyone to put to himself occasionally. He answered it by saying: "I think, therefore am."

But the best definition of existence ever saw did another philosopher who said: "To be is to be in relations." If this true, then the more relations a living thing has, the more it is alive. To live abundantly means simply to increase the range and intensity of our relations. Unfortunately we are so constituted that we get to love our routine. But apart from our regular occupation how much are we alive? If you are interest-ed only in your regular occupation, you are alive only to that extent. So far as other things are concerned--poetry and prose, music, pictures, sports, unselfish friendships, politics, international affairs--you are dead.

Contrariwise, it is true that every time you acquire a new interest--even more, a new accomplishment--you increase your power of life. No one who is deeply interested in a large variety of subjects can remain unhappy; the real pessimist is the person who has lost interest.

Bacon said that a man dies as often as he loses a friend. But we gain new life by contacts, new friends. What is supremely true of living objects is only less true of ideas, which are also alive. Where your thoughts are, there will your live be also. If your thoughts are confined only to your business, only to your physical welfare, only to the narrow circle of the town in which you live, then you live in a narrow cir-conscribed life. But if you are interested in what is going on in China, then you are living in China~ if you’re interested in the characters of a good novel, then you are living with those highly interesting people, if you listen intently to fine music, you are away from your immediate surroundings and living in a world of passion and imagination.

To be or not to be--to live intensely and richly, merely to exist, that depends on ourselves. Let widen and intensify our relations. While we live, let live!

英语美文欣赏3

Dear Anyone Having a Bad Week,

亲爱的度过糟糕一周的你：

I'm sorry. I have no idea why your week is bad, or how bad it actually is. I don't know if you've told anyone, if there's anything that could fix it or if it's made you rather unpleasant to be around. But I do know that I'm sorry that you're hurting, or stressed, or exhausted, or grieving, or frustrated, or depressed, or lonely, or scared or lost.

我很抱歉，我无从知晓你的这一周为何很糟糕，也不知道实际情况到底有多糟。不知道你是否有找人倾诉，是否有什么方式可以让你好受一些或者说现实是否让你更加难过。但是我清楚地知道我为你一切不好的情绪感到深深的同情，无论是你受到伤害或者感到压力，亦或是感到疲惫、悲伤、筋疲力尽、沮丧、孤独、害怕还是迷失。

I thought about writing this letter in a couple of different ways. I thought about writing it about the things you could do to feel better: show yourself compassion, go outside and look at the trees, look at a baby photo of yourself. Or I thought about focusing the letter on how the "bad weeks" can actually be pretty beautiful, if you look at them the right way. I almost wrote those letters, and maybe at some point I will, but I think I ended up deciding that I wasn't writing to make anyone feel better -- I just want you to feel heard.

我想象过用各种不同的方式来写这封信。我想象写一些可以让你感到好些的事情：比如对自己表示同情、出去看看树木或者看看自己儿时的照片;或者我也想象过将信的着重点放在，如果你用正确的'方式来看待“糟糕的一周”，你或许会发现这一周实际很美好。我差一点就那样写了，也许将来会这样写。但是现在我最终决定不写这些。——我只是想让你们感到，有人听到了你们的心声。

There's something about humans that makes us crave for our pain to be recognized. There is something inherently good and comforting in having someone say, "Yeah, that sounds really hard," or, "It really sucks that you have to deal with all that."

作为人类本身，我们都渴望自己的悲伤被了解。如果有人能在这个时候对你说“是的，那听起来的确很糟”或者“你需要面对这些真的是太不幸了”，我们的内心都会感到些许好转或安慰。

But unfortunately, that's not always the direction that society pushes us in. We have been taught that bad days are to be silently borne beneath a bright smile; that expressions of pain are uncomfortable.

但不幸的是，现实并不总能按照我们期望的方向发展。我们总是被告知需要隐藏自己的悲伤，展露自己的微笑。而这种表达方式让人并不舒服。

I want you to know you can feel free to spill your bad day all over the place and wear it on the front of your shirt.

我想要让你知道，你可以在任何地方自由表露你的坏情绪，你甚至可以将它画在T恤上穿在你的身上。

I want you to know that the expressions of your pain are beautiful and that I will try my very hardest to feel the hurt with you. I want you to know that your grumpy, stressed out, short-tempered self is just as awesome as your cheerful self. Please do not shun your suffering.

我想要让你知道你表现出来的悲伤也很美丽，我会尽我最大的努力来尽量感受你的不幸。我想要让你知道，有坏情绪、压力感和小脾气的你与快乐时的你一样可爱。请不要再压抑自己的情感。

In writing this, know that I hear you, and let yourself be healed. I hope your day turns around, and that even if it doesn't, you can still find a few moments of beauty and/or happiness amidst the crappiness. For all of you not having bad days -- carry on, and enjoy.

在写这篇文章时，我听到了你们的心声，请让自己尽快好起来。我希望你们日子恢复正常，即使不能，你仍然可以发现一些美好的瞬间或者苦中作乐一下。为了不让你们自己持续这种糟糕的日子，向前看，去享受生活吧!

Sincerely,

此致

克拉拉·瓦格纳

英语美文欣赏4

First, we need to believe in ourselves knowing we have the capabilities in achieving our desires.Like the Sunflower, it knew it had the capability to overcome its obstacle because it trusted in the Universal Truth and had faith it would succeed.

Stand tall like the Sunflower and be proud of who and what you are and the environment will begin to support you. You will find a way to go under or around your big obstacle in order to reach your desires.

首先， 我们需要相信自己， 认识到我们有能力达到我们的愿望。就像向日葵那样， 它知道它有能力去克服障碍， 因为它相信普遍真理， 并且相信它会成功。只要你像向日葵一样高高站着，为自己感到自豪，环境就会开始支持你。为了达成愿望，你会在障碍下边或其周围找到一条出路。

英语美文欣赏5

The move comes within two months of the producers, Andy Vajna and Mario Kassar, settling a three-year-old lawsuit with actress Sharon Stone, who claimed they had promised to pay her at least $14 million even if the film was not made.

Stone is now set to reprise her role as Catherine Tramell, the manipulative, seductive novelist at the heart of a murder investigation in the original. That film, her last big hit, also starred Michael Douglas and was directed by Paul Verhoeven.

The sequel was originally due to go into production in 20xx, albeit without Douglas and Verhoeven, who reportedly had problems with each other the first time around. Several directors were attached, including John McTiernan, who pulled out after Stone reportedly vetoed Benjamin Bratt as her co-star.

Caton-Jones has most recently been working on "Shooting Dogs," which is based on the true story of a Catholic priest and an English teacher caught in the Rwandan genocide. Before that, he helmed "City by the Sea," toplining Robert De Niro and Frances McDormand. His other credits include "The Jackal," "Rob Roy" and "Memphis Belle."

英语美文欣赏6

New English Tests Are Better, but Harder

Scores on English tests are very important to students around the world. In order to make sure that they do their best, both students and teachers should stay informed of how these tests are changing.

Clive Roberts is a director at ELS Educational Services, one of the companies that trains students in English. Mr. Roberts says the tests are changing greatly in response to the global growth in the use of English as a lingua franca – the common language used among people with different native languages.

Mr. Roberts says English "is one of the keys now to international student mobility. So, for that reason, a lot of new tests are being developed; old tests are being revamped to meet the needs of universities and employers worldwide."

In other words, students increasingly need English in order to study and work in other countries. So, schools and businesses are asking for more accurate tests.

Changes in language testing

Mr. Roberts says several parts of standardized tests have changed recently. Now, many tests are given on computers. And, he says, tests measure all four skills of language learning: reading, listening, speaking and writing.

"A lot of are now delivered online, all four skills are being tested, in some cases, by computer, in particular speaking and writing skills, which are the most difficult to assess on a computer environment."

Computer testing will reduce the length of time required for testing, because the tests adjust to the test-taker's ability. These computer-adaptive tests also increase accuracy in scoring. Computer-adaptive tests change depending on the test-taker's responses. They can become more or less difficult during the testing session. For this reason, the set of correct answers will be different for each test-taker.

Cultural sensitivity

Another change to language testing relates to cultural sensitivity. The term refers to material on a test that is based on a certain culture or is hard for test-takers from different cultures to understand.

Mr. Roberts says test development companies are now hiring people with intercultural communication backgrounds to review test items. The companies want to make sure the test does not upset test-takers. Having negative feelings may affect a student's performance on the test.

Accuracy in language testing

Changes to English proficiency tests make them better at measuring the learners' ability. However, Mr. Roberts says the changes may mean the tests are more difficult for some students.

"The tests have become more proficiency-oriented. The items are being designed in such a way that they test real-world proficiency and not simply sort of an artificial environment or a specific set of skills that are taught in a classroom. So a lot of authentic texts, a lot of authentic listening passages are being used."

The changes mean students have to be able to understand English the way it is used in everyday life, not just in textbooks.

What the tests measure

Another big change is the way in which a student's performance on the tests is measured. Mr. Roberts says that many tests are measured according to the Common European Frame of Reference (CERF) scale of language proficiency.

This measurement, Mr. Roberts says, "is similar to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) guidelines, which are used by American universities and government agencies, respectively."

The rating scales and guidelines are designed to show what the learner is able to do in the areas of speaking, reading, listening and writing.

Mr. Roberts says, "It gives a description of what they can do with the language and then assigns a numerical value to that particular level."

Mr. Roberts says he believes linking the scores and the scales means the tests provide more useful information about a learner's ability than they did before.

In addition, changes to the tests will encourage schools to teach their students to use English for everyday life and study.

I'm Jonathan Evans.

Dr. Jill Robbins reported and wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

lingua franca – n. a language that is used among people who speak various different languages

four skills - n. the language abilities involved in reading, listening, speaking, and writing

assess – v. to make a judgment about (something); used to describe testing activity

computer-adaptive - adj. tests that are designed to adjust their level of difficulty—based on the responses provided—to match the knowledge and ability of a test taker.

proficiency: n. advancement in knowledge or skill

authentic - adj. real or genuine : not copied or false; in language education: material that is developed for native speakers, not specially created for learners

Now it's your turn. Write to us in the comments section on your views about the recent changes in language testing.

英语美文欣赏7

The beginning

起点

In the beginning, all things are hopeful. We prepare ourselves to start anew. Though we may be intent on the magnificent journey ahead, all things are contained in the first moment: our optimism, our faith, our resolution, our innocence.

在起点，所有的一切都充满希望。我们准备从头开始。尽管我们把注意力放在前方奇妙的旅途上，但开始那一刻的信心、观念、决心及率真已经决定了我们前方旅途的一切。

In order to start, we must make a decision. The decision is a commitment to daily self-cultivation. We must make a strong connection to our inner selves. Outside matters are superfluous. Alone and naked, we negotiate all of life’s travails. Therefore, we alone must make something of ourselves, transforming ourselves into the instruments for experiencing the deepest spiritual essence of life.

为了这一时刻，我们必须先做一个决定。这个决定在我们日常的自我修养中早已形成。我们必须把它和自己内心深处建立一种紧密的联系。外部的.一切都是多余的。我们劳其一生，最终依然是孤身赤裸裸归于尘土。因此，我们必须做点什么，引导我们自己去经历生活最深层的精神实质。

Once we make our decision, all things will come too us. Auspicious signs are not a superstition, but a confirmation. They are a response. It is said that if one chooses to pray to a rock with enough devotion, even that rock will come alive. In the same way, once we choose to commit ourselves to spiritual practice, even the mountains and valleys will reverberate to the sound of our decision.

一旦我们下定决心，一切都接踵而来了。吉兆的出现不是迷信，而是肯定。他们是对决心的回应。据说如果有人选择矢志不移的对岩石祈祷，那么岩石也会变得有生命。同样，如果我们选择坚定自己的精神旅途，即使高山和峡谷也会对我们的决心做出回应。

英语美文欣赏8

“Oh, May I Have a Bottle of Coca cola?” ----Optimism: another kind of spirit in the

Sichuan earthquake

“May I have a bottle of coca cola, I’m thirsty?” such a remark appears to be commonplace in our daily life. However, it was of great significance when it was produced on a special occasion by a special person. A little girl made the above remark the minute she was rescued from the ruins of

Sichuan earthquake. Suddenly, I was greatly buoyed up, because several days’ grief had taken me away.

I, a sentimental girl, simply forgot there was a kind of spirit called optimism. Yes, optimism is needed in such a life-death battle, and it is also needed in our post-disaster reconstruction. Optimism: a belief in the darkness Optimism can help one to be happier, stronger and more confident. Pessimism leads, by contrast, to hopelessness, sickness and failure. In the context of the great earthquake, what else can be more helpful and effective than teaching those in trap a spirit named optimism? The belief that you can get through decide whether or not you will. An old man, for instance, living through more than one crisis: the Chinese War against

Japan’ Invasion, Chinese War of Liberation, showed his sense of humor and optimism by saying “hey, I thought the shake had brought me aboard!” when he was saved by a contingent of foreign rescue members. Noticeably, the earthquake just like the one of the wars he has experienced, in his eyes, which was destined to be defeated in the end. It was the old man’s belief that he would survive that brought him a second life. A miracle, isn’t it? Optimism: a guide on the way forward An optimistic attitude is not a luxury; but it’s a necessity. The way you look at life will determine how you feel, and how you perform. It has been two months since the

Sichuan earthquake took place, facing the fact that our beloved ones have lost and our homeland has been seriously destroyed, how will we view the road ahead? Will we look up in hope or down in despair? I believe in the upward look, and I’m confident that our mother nation will choose the former, too. Take education as an example. In order to secure the normal education for the students in disaster-affected areas, local and central governments pooled their efforts to provide necessary educational facilities and materials at the first minute, thus making studying a reality instead of a dream, thus turning a sea of ruins into a promising land on which students are playing, learning and growing.

As the leader of the nation, CPC set us an example of optimism, therefore, there’s a good reason to believe that under the leadership of CPC,

Sichuan province will usher a new round of development and prosperity. Optimism perts our attention away from negativism and channels it into positive, upward thinking. The earthquake is by no means a fate for us but a trial that entails concerted wisdom, efforts of one mind and one heart, and above all, a spirit of optimism.

英语美文欣赏9

I'm hoping that this post will convince someone who is in the same boat that I was in that moving out of unhealthy habits is easier than you think. The body and mind is extremely resilient and wants to be active, so get out there and live life!

我希望这篇文章能够让和我一样沉迷电子游戏的你改变不健康的生活习惯。其实这比你想象得要简单，你的.身体和思想具有极大的可塑性，从(电子游戏的虚拟世界中)走出来，好好地感受生活。

英语美文欣赏10

Now as to the matter of lying. You want to be verycareful about lying, otherwise you are nearly sure to getcaught, once caught, you can never again be, in theeyes of the pure and the good, what you werebefore.Many a young person has injured himselfpermenently throuth 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 atall. That, of course, is putting it rather stronger than necessary. Still, while I can't go quite so far asthat, I do maintain, and I believe I am right, that the young ought to be temperate in the use of thisgreat art until practice and experience shall give them that confidence, elegance, precision whichalone make the accomplishment graceful and profitable. Patience, diligence, painstaking attentionto 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 equipment of thepeerless old master who was able to impose upon the whole world with the lofty and soundingmaxim that "Truth is mighty and will prevail."- The most majestic compound feature of fact whichany of woman born has yet achieved.

For the history of our race and every inpidual's experience, are sown thick with evidence that atruth is not hard to kill and that a lie told well is immortal. There is in Bostain a monument of the manwho discover the anesthesia. Many people are aware, in these later days, that he didn't discover it atall, but stole the discovery from another man. Is the truth mighty, and will it prevail? No, My hearers,the monument is made of hard materials, but the lie it tells will outlast a millon years. An awkward,feeble, leaky lie is a thing which you ought to make it your unceasing study to avoid. Why, youmight as well tell the truth at once and be done with it.

美文翻译：

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。

英语美文欣赏11

If you are feeling that life just cannot be any worse for you, it can be challenging to think positive thoughts. When we are stressed, depressed, upset, or otherwise in a negative state of mind because we perceive that "bad things" keep happening to us, it is important to shift those negative thoughts to something positive. If we don't, we will only attract more "bad things."

如果你感觉生活对你来说实在是糟糕之极，你可以挑战着想些积极的东西。当我们不堪重负、沮丧、失落，抑或因为我们认为倒霉的'事总是光临我们而处于消极状态时，将这些消极的思想转变为积极的至关重要。如果我们不这么做，只会招致更多的霉运。

懂得感恩，才会懂得付出，才会懂得回报。有人说善良的本质就是有一颗感恩的心，对别人的帮助，哪怕是一点、一滴，我们都应当怀感恩之心。学会感恩，懂得感恩应当成为每个人的美德。

英语美文欣赏12

many say their most painful moments are saying good-bye to those they love. after watching cheryl, my daughter-in-law, through the six long months her mother suffered towards death, i think the most painful moments can be in the waiting to say good-bye.

cheryl made the two-hour trip over and over to be with her mother. they spent the long afternoons praying, soothing, comforting, and retelling their shared memories.

as her mother‘s pain intensified and more medication was needed to ease her into sedation, cheryl sat for hours of silent vigil by her mother‘s bed.

each time she kissed her mother before leaving, her mother would tear up and say, "i‘m sorry you drove so far and sat for so long and i didn‘t even wake up to talk with you."

cheryl would tell her not to worry, it didn‘t matter, still her mother felt she had let her down and apologized at each good-bye until the day cheryl found a way to give her mother the same reassurance her mother had given to her so many times.

"mom, do you remember when i made the high school basketball team?" cheryl‘s mother nodded. "you‘d drive so far and sit for so long and i never even left the bench to play. you waited for me after every game and each time i felt bad and apologized to you for wasting your time." cheryl gently took her mother‘s hand.

"do you remember what you would say to me?"

"i would say i didn‘t come to see you play, i came to see you."

"and you meant those words, didn‘t you."

"yes, i really did."

"well, now i say the same words to you. i didn‘t come to see you talk, i came to see you."

her mother understood and smiled as she floated back into sleep.

their afternoons together passed quietly into days, weeks, and months. their love filled the spaces between their words. to the last day they ministered to each other in the stillness, love given and received just by seeing each other.

a love so strong that, even in this deepened silence that followed their last good-bye, cheryl can still hear her mother‘s love.

英语美文欣赏13

There was a rich merchant who had 4 wives. He loved the 4th wife the most and adorned her with rich robes and treated her to delicacies. He took great care of her and gave her nothing but the best.

从前，一位富有的商人娶了四个老婆。他最爱他的小老婆，给她华丽的衣裳和美味佳肴。他对她体贴入微，把最好的东西都给了她。

He also loved the 3rd wife very much. He's very proud of her and always wanted to show off her to his friends. However, the merchant is always in great fear that she might run away with some other men.

商人也很爱第三位老婆。他为她感到骄傲，并常把她作为在朋友面前炫耀的资本。但他同时也忧心忡忡，怕她与其他男人跑了。

He too, loved his 2nd wife. She is a very considerate person, always patient and in fact is the merchant's connfidante. Whenever the merchant faced some problems, he always turned to his 2nd wife and she would always help him out and tide him through difficult times.

当然，商人也爱二老婆，她既善解人意又耐心。事实上，她是商人的红颜知己。每每遇到困难，他就会找她，而她也总能帮助他走出困境，度过难关。

Now, the merchant's 1st wife is a very loyal partner and has made great contributions in maintaining his wealth and business as well as taking care of the household. However, the merchant did not love the first wife and although she loved him deeply, he hardly took notice of her.

至于大老婆，她是一位忠诚的伴侣，替他照料生意、打理家务，忙里忙外，可谓劳苦功高。然而，尽管她爱得这么深，商人却偏不钟情于她，甚至没把她放在心上。

One day, the merchant fell ill. Before long, he knew that he was going to die soon. He thought of his luxurious life and told himself, “Now I have 4 wives with me. But when I die, I’ll be alone. How lonely I’ll be!”

一日，商人得了重病，他自知将不久于人世。当他回顾自己奢华的一生，不禁心中怅然：“现在我虽然有四个老婆相伴，但死后却要孤零零一人。多寂寞啊！”

Thus, he asked the 4th wife, “I loved you most, and owed you with the finest clothing and showered great care over you. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?” “No way!” replied the 4th wife and she walked away without another word.

于是，他问小老婆：“我最疼你，给你买最漂亮的衣服，还对你呵护备至。现在我就要离开这个世界了，你愿意随我而去，与我相伴吗？”“绝不可能！”她丢下一句话，径自走开了。

The answer cut like a sharp knife right into the merchant's heart. The sad merchant then asked the 3rd wife, “I have loved you so much for all my life. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?” “No!” replied the 3rd wife. “Life is so good over here! I’m going to remarry when you die!” The merchant’s heart sank and turned cold.

小老婆的回答如一把尖刀插在商人心上。伤心的商人继而问第三个老婆：“我一直对你宠爱有加。如今，我将不久于人世，你愿意随我而去，与我相伴吗？”“不！”她拒绝道，“人间的生活多么美好啊！你死后我会改嫁他人！”商人的'心倏地下沉，渐渐变冷。

He then asked the 2nd wife, “I always turned to you for help and you've always helped me out. Now I need your help again. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?” “I'm sorry, I can't help you out this time!” replied the 2nd wife. “At the very most, I can only send you to your grave.” The answer came like a bolt of thunder and the merchant was devastated.

他再转向二老婆，问道：“我过去常常求助于你，你也总能为我排忧解难。现在我想再请你帮一次忙。我死后，你愿意随我而去，与我相伴吗？”“很抱歉，这一次我帮不了你，”她说，“我最多只能让你入土为安。”这句话犹如晴天霹雳，商人彻底绝望了。

Then a voice called out: “I'll leave with you. I'll follow you no matter where you go.” The merchant looked up and there was his first wife. She was so skinny, almost like she suffered from malnutrition. Greatly grieved, the merchant said, “I should have taken much better care of you while I could have!”

这时，旁边传来一个声音：“我愿意随你一同离去。无论你到哪里，我都会跟着你。”商人抬起头，看到了自己的大老婆。她是那么消瘦，一副营养不良的样子。商人悲痛万分，他说：“我过去就应该好好地珍惜你啊！”

Actually, we all have 4 wives in our lives

其实，我们每个人的一生都有四位爱人相伴。

The 4th wife is our body. No matter how much time and effort we lavish in making it look good, it'll leave us when we die.

小老婆代表我们的躯体。无论我们花费多少的时间和精力想去装扮她，我们死后它终会弃我们而去。

Our 3rd wife is our possessions, status and wealth. When we die, they all go to others.

第三位老婆代表财产、地位与金钱。一旦我们撒手西去，它终究会转向他人。

The 2nd wife is our family and friends. No matter how close they had been there for us when we're alive, the furthest they can stay by us is up to the grave.

二老婆则代表了我们的家人与朋友。我们活着的时候，无论他们与我们多么亲近，他们最多也只能到墓前送我们最后一程。

The 1st wife is in fact our soul, often neglected in our pursuit of material, wealth and sensual pleasure.

至于大老婆，她则是我们的灵魂。当我们沉迷于追求物质、金钱或感官享受的时候，她常常会被遗忘在一旁。

Guess what? It is actually the only thing that follows us wherever we go. Perhaps it's a good idea to cultivate and strengthen it now rather than to wait until we're on our deathbed to lament.

结果呢？她才是唯一与我们永远相伴的。也许从现在开始，我们就应该悉心照顾好她，而不是等到临终之际才悔恨不已。

英语美文欣赏14

dear god:

now that i am no longer young, i have friends whose mothers have passed away. i have heard these sons and daughters say they never fully appreciated their mothers until it was too late to tell them.i am blessed with the dear mother who is still alive. i appreciate her more each day.my mother does not change,but l do. as i grow older and wiser, i realize what an extraordinary person she is. how sad that l am unable to speak these words in her presence, but they flow easily from my pen.how does a daughter begin to thank her mother for life itself? for the love, patience and just plain hard work that go into raising a child? for running after a toddler, for understanding a moody teenager, for tolerating a college student who knows everything? for waiting for the clay when a daughter realizes how wise her mother really is?how does a grown woman thank a mother for continuing to be a mother? for being ready with advice (when asked) or remaining silent when it is most appreciated? for not saying,"1 told you so,"when she could have uttered these words dozens of times? for being essentially herself--loving, thoughtful, patient, and forgiving?

i don＇t know how, dear god, except to ask you to bless her as richly as she deserves and to help me live up to the example she has set. i pray that i will look as good in the eyes of my children as my mother looks in mine.

--a daughter

英语美文欣赏15

Country Spring

One spring I went a walking tour in the country. It was a glorious spring. Not the sort of spring they give us in these miserable times, under this shameless government -a mixture of east wind，blizzard, snow, rain, fog, frost, hail, sleet and thunder-storms, but a sunny, blue-skyed, joyous spring, such as we used to have regularly every year when I was a young man, and things were different.

It was an exceptionally beautiful spring, even for those golden days; and as I wandered through the waking land, and saw the dawning of the coming green, and watched the blush upon the hawthorn hedge，deepening each day beneath the kisses of the sun, and looked up at the proud old mother trees, dandling their numerous baby buds upon their strong fond arms holding them high for the soft west wind to caress as he passed laughing by, and marked the primrose yellow creep across the carpet of the woods, and saw the new flush of the field and saw the new light on the hills, and heard the new-found gladness of the birds, and heard from wood and farm and meadow the timid callings of the little new-born things, wondering to find themselves alive, and smelt the freshness of the earth, and felt the promise in the air, and felt a strong hand in the wind, my spirit rose within me.

Spring had come to me also, and stirred me with a strange new life, with a strange new hope. I, too, was part of nature, and it was spring! Tender leaves and blossoms were unfolding from my heart. Bright flowers of love and gratitude were opening round its roots. I felt new strength in all my limbs. New blood was running through my veins. Nobler thoughts and nobler longings were throbbing through my brain. As I walked, nature came and talked beside me, and showed me the world and myself, and the ways of God seemed clearer.