優秀英語文章欣賞
英語作爲學習生涯中必不可少的課程，想學好真的不容易。小編在此獻上英語美文，希望大家喜歡。
英語經典美文欣賞
10堂人生課 Ten Life Classes
There are so many lessons I wish I had learned while I was young enough to appreciate and apply them. The thing with wisdom, and often with life lessons in general, is that they’re learned in retrospect, long after we needed them. The good news is that other people can benefit from our experiences and the lessons we’ve learned.
我無比希望年輕的時候學到足夠多的東西，好好理解，好好利用。然而，關乎智慧以及人生課堂，往往都是在事過境遷之後的反思中才能得以領悟。我們這些過來人也十分願意與你們分享經歷，以及我們領悟到的人生課。
1. Money will NEVER solve your real problems
錢不能解決你的實際問題
Money is a tool; a commodity that buys you necessities and some nice “wants,” but it is not the panacea to your problems. There are a great many people who are living on very little, yet have wonderfully full and happy lives… and there are sadly a great many people are living on quite a lot, yet have terribly miserable lives.
金錢只是個工具，能買到生活所需和一些不錯的“必需品”，但不是解決你問題的萬能藥。有很多人雖然沒有很多錢，但仍然過着充實愉快的生活，相反，有些人十分富有，卻活得並不幸福。
Money can buy a nice home, a great car, fabulous shoes, even a bit of security and some creature comforts, but it cannot fix a broken relationship, or cure loneliness, and the “happiness” it brings is only fleeting and not the kind that really and truly matters. Happiness is not for sale. If you’re expecting the “stuff” you can buy to “make it better,” you will never be happy.
錢能買來好房子、好車子、漂亮的鞋子，以及一些安全感和舒適度，但卻無法修復一段破碎的關係，無法治癒孤獨，它所帶來的幸福感轉瞬即逝也並不實在。幸福不能靠錢來買。如果你總是希望考買什麼來獲得幸福，你永遠都不會幸福。
2. Pace yourself
放慢腳步
Often when we’re young, just beginning our adult journey we feel as though we have to do everything at once. We need to decide everything, plan out our lives, experience everything, get to the top, find true love, figure out our life’s purpose, and do it all at the same time.
年輕的時候，我們總覺得成人之路剛剛開始，總想一次把所有事都完成。我們需要爲所有事作出決定，進行人生規劃，體驗所有的事情，達到頂峯，找到真愛，發現我們人生的目標，所有的都同時完成。
Slow down—don’t rush into things. Let your life unfold. Wait a bit to see where it takes you, and take time to weigh your options. Enjoy every bite of food, take time to look around you, let the other person finish their side of the conversation. Allow yourself time to think, to mull a bit. Taking action is critical. Working towards your goals and making plans for the future is commendable and often very useful, but rushing full-speed ahead towards anything is a one-way ticket to burnout and a good way to miss your life as it passes you by.
慢點吧，別太着急。慢慢開始自己的生活，等等看看自己到了什麼地方，花點時間去衡量一下自己的選擇。享受每一口食物，花點時間看看周圍，讓別人完成他們的傾訴。給自己點時間去思考和沉思。行動是十分關鍵的。朝着你的目標前進，爲未來做出規劃的確很值得有用，但全速前進似乎是張單程票，讓你無法回頭，還會讓你錯失路邊的風景。
3. You can’t please everyone
你無法取悅每個人
“I don’t know the secret to success, but the secret to failure is trying to please everyone” – Bill Cosby
我不知道成功的祕訣是什麼，我只知道失敗的祕訣是去討好每個人——比爾•科斯比
You don’t need everyone to agree with you or even like you. It’s human nature to want to belong, to be liked, respected and valued, but not at the expense of your integrity and happiness. Other people cannot give you the validation you seek. That has to come from inside. Speak up, stick to your guns, assert yourself when you need to, demand respect, stay true to your values.
你不需要讓所有人都贊同抑或喜歡你。希望獲得認可、喜歡、尊重和重視，這是人之常情，但別以犧牲你的正直和幸福爲代價。你在追尋的肯定感，其他人給不了，這需要來自你的內心。大聲說出來，堅持自己的想法，必要時捍衛自己的立場，要求得到尊重，忠於自己的價值觀。
4. Your health is your most valuable asset
健康是最寶貴的財富
Health is an invaluable treasure—always appreciate, nurture, and protect it. Good health is often wasted on the young before they have a chance to appreciate it for what it’s worth. We tend to take our good health for granted, because it’s just there. We don’t have to worry about it, so we don’t really pay attention to it… until we have to. Heart disease, bone density, stroke, many cancers—the list of many largely preventable diseases is long, so take care of your health now, or you’ll regret it later on.
健康是無價之寶——要一直重視、呵護和保護它。年輕人往往在最值得呵護健康的年紀大肆揮霍，我們把健康當成理所當然的一件事，因爲它就在那裏。我們不想要擔心，所以也從未真正關注過它，直到健康出現問題。心臟病、骨質疏鬆、哮喘和癌症——這個清單很長，這些病實際上也都是可以預防的，所以好好呵護自己的健康吧，免得以後後悔。
5. You don’t always get what you want
你不可能一直得到自己想要的東西
“Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.” – John Lennon
當我們正在爲生活疲於奔命時，生活已離我們而去。——約翰•列儂
No matter how carefully you plan and how hard you work, sometimes things just don’t work out the way you want them to… and that’s ok. We have all of these expectations; predetermined visions of what our “ideal” life will look like, but all too often, that’s not the reality of the life we end up with. Sometimes our dreams fail and sometimes we just change our minds mid-course. Sometimes we have to flop to find the right course and sometimes we just have to try a few things before we find the right direction.
無論你多麼仔細的規劃和努力，有時候事情總是不按照你的計劃發展，沒關係，我們都有些許期待，對理想的生活有一定的設想，但這並不是我們真正的生活。也許有時我們的夢想無法實現，或是中途改變了想法。有時我們不得不放棄而去追求正確的事物，而有時我們需要在找到正確方向時經歷其他的東西。
6. It’s not all about you
世界不是圍着你轉的
You are not the epicenter of the universe. It’s very difficult to view the world from a perspective outside of your own, since we are always so focused on what’s happening in our own lives. What do I have to do today? What will this mean for me, for my career, for my life? What do I want? It’s normal to be intensely aware of everything that’s going on in your own life, but you need to pay as much attention to what’s happening around you, and how things affect other people in the world as you do to your own life. It helps to keep things in perspective.
你不是宇宙的核心。的確用你以外的視角來看世界有點難，我們都太過於專注自己生活裏的一切，我今天需要幹什麼?這對我、我的工作和生活又意味着什麼?我想要什麼?對自己生活中發生的一切瞭如指掌無可厚非，但你也需要關心周圍發生了什麼，你生活中類似的事情又是如何影響到你周圍的人的。這樣會讓你看待事物更加客觀。
7. There’s no shame in not knowing
不知爲不知
No one has it all figured out. Nobody has all the answers. There’s no shame in saying “I don’t know.” Pretending to be perfect doesn’t make you perfect. It just makes you neurotic to keep up the pretense of manufactured perfection. We have this idea that there is some kind of stigma or shame in admitting our limitations or uncertainly, but we can’t possibly know everything. We all make mistakes and mess up occasionally. We learn as we go, that’s life. Besides—nobody likes a know-it-all. A little vulnerability makes you human and oh so much more relatable.
沒有人知曉所有事，沒有人知道所有問題的答案。所以說不知道根本不是什麼丟臉的事。裝着完美只會讓你不完美。還會讓你看上去像一個神經過敏的僞完美藝術品罷了。我們必須知道，有時需要承認我們的無知和不確定，我們不可能知道所有的事情。我們都會犯錯，還會弄砸一些事情。邊走邊學，這就是人生。再說了，沒有人喜歡萬事通。一些無知反而能讓你更加人性化，更易接近哦。
8. Love is more than a feeling; it’s a choice
愛不僅僅是感覺，而是選擇
That burst of initial exhilaration, pulse quickening love and passion does not last long. But that doesn’t mean long-lasting love is not possible. Love is not just a feeling; it’s a choice that you make every day. We have to choose to let annoyances pass, to forgive, to be kind, to respect, to support, to be faithful. Relationships take work. Sometimes it’s easy and sometimes it’s incredibly hard, but it is up to us to choose how we want to act, think and speak in a relationship.
迸發的愉悅，讓你心跳加快的愛情和激情都無法持久，但這並不是說長久的愛情並不存在。愛與感覺無關，是一個你每天都需要做的選擇。我們需要選擇忘記煩惱，去原諒，去友善、尊敬、支持以及忠貞。感情需要經營，有時很容易有時似乎無比艱難。這都取決於我們自己的選擇，到底想在這段感情中如何表現、思考和說話。
9. Perspective is a beautiful thing
遠見很美妙
Typically, when we’re worried or upset, it’s because we’ve lost perspective. Everything that is happening in our lives seems so big, so important, so do or die, but in the grand picture, this single hiccup often means next to nothing. The fight we’re having, the job we didn’t get, the real or imagined slight, the unexpected need to shift course, the thing we wanted, but didn’t get. Most of it won’t matter 20, 30, 40 years from now. It’s hard to see long term when all you know is short term, but unless it’s life-threatening, let it go, and move on.
往往失去遠見時，我們就會變得焦慮和低落。我們生活裏發生的每件事都那麼重大那麼重要，不做好就會死，但長遠來看，這一件小事似乎根本就微不足道。我們經歷的衝突，沒有得到的工作，或有或無的輕蔑，突如其來的改變航向，我們想要卻沒有得到的東西。20、30、40年之後，大部分都會變得微不足道。當你的眼光只放在近期，那麼很難去看得長遠。所以除非是威脅到生命的事情，否則其他的就放下吧，繼續前進。
10. Don’t take anything for granted
別把任何事當做理所當然
We often don’t appreciate what we have until it’s gone: that includes your health, your family and friends, your job, the money you have or think you will have tomorrow. When you’re young, it seems that your parents will always be there, but they won’t. You think you have plenty of time to get back in touch with your old friends or spend time with new ones, but you don’t. You have the money to spend, or you think you’ll have it next month, but you might not. Nothing in your life is not guaranteed to be there tomorrow, including those you love.
很多東西直到失去我們纔會懂得珍惜，這包括健康、家人和朋友、工作，現有或未來會有的金錢。年輕的時候，父母一直在身邊，但他們不能一直陪伴下去;你總覺得有充足的時間，和老朋友們保持聯繫或是花時間和新朋友玩樂，但實際並沒有;你有錢花，然後覺得下個月也會有錢花，其實也許沒有。你生活中所有的事情明天都不一定還存在着，包括那些你愛的。
This is a hard life lesson to learn, but it may be the most important of all: Life can change in an instant. Make sure you appreciate what you have, while you still have it.
這些人生課很難學習，但卻是至關重要的：生活可以瞬間萬變。只要好好珍惜現在所擁有的就足夠了。
英語經典美文欣賞
永遠別放棄夢想 Never Give Up Dreams
The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn't already know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled，little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being. She said，“Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I' m eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?”I laughed and enthusiastically responded，“Of course you may.”and she gave me a giant squeeze.
開學的第一天教授做了自我介紹，他還要求我們去結識某位我們還不認識的人。就在我站起來四處張望時，一隻手輕輕地搭在了我的肩上。我轉過身一看，一位滿臉皺紋個子矮小的老太太正衝着我微笑。這微笑使她渾身光彩照人。她說：“嘿，帥小夥兒，我叫羅斯，今年87歲。我可以擁抱你嗎?”我笑了起來，熱情地答道：“當然可以啦。”她緊緊地擁抱了我。
“Why are you in college at such a young，innocent age?”I asked. She jokingly replied，“I'm here to meet a rich husband，get married，have a couple of children，and then retire and travel.”“No，seriously?”I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.
“你爲什麼在這麼年輕而天真的年齡上大學?”我問。她開玩笑地回答說：“我要在此遇到一個有錢的丈夫，結婚，生幾個孩子，然後退休，去旅遊。”“真的嗎?不對吧?”我問她。我很想知道，她這麼大年紀，是什麼促使她接受這樣的挑戰呢。
“I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one.”she told me. After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milk shake We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this“time machine”as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.
“我一直夢想接受大學教育。而現在我如願以償了。”她告訴我說。課後我們一同到學生活動樓，共飲了一杯巧克力泡沫牛奶。我們一下子就成了朋友。在此後的三個月中，我們每天都一起離開課堂，聊起來沒完沒了。在她向我傳授她的智慧和經驗時，我總是着了迷似地傾聽這個“時間機器”。
Over the course of the year，Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed up her from the other students. She was living it up. At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I'll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech，she dropped her three by five cards on the floor. Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said，“I'm sorry I'm so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent(一種威士忌的牌子) and this whisky is killing me. I'll never get my speech back in order so let me just t ell you what I know.”As we laughed she cleared her throat and began：“We do not stop playing because we are old;we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young，being happy，and achieving success.”
在這一年裏，羅斯成了校園裏的偶像。不管到哪裏，她很容易地就交上了朋友。她喜歡精心打扮，陶醉於其他學生對她的注意。她盡情地享受這一切。到學期末，我們請羅斯在我們的足球宴會上講話。我永遠也不會忘記她給我們的教誨。介紹完畢後她就登上講臺。正當她要開始已準備好的演講時，她的5寸長3寸寬的卡片掉在了地上。她有些不知所措，還有點尷尬，於是就靠近話筒乾脆說了起來：“很抱歉我這麼緊張。我爲大齋節戒了啤酒，而這威士忌可是毀了我。按原先準備好了的講是不可能了，還是把我所知道的說給你們聽吧。”我們都笑了，她則清了清嗓子開始說：“我們並不因爲自己老了而不娛樂;我們因爲停止了娛樂而變老。要想保持年輕，過得幸福並取得成功只有4條祕訣。”
“You have to laugh and find humor every day.”
“每天都要笑，每天都要找到幽默。”
“You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams，you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead an d don't even know it.”
“一定要有夢想。失去了夢想，人就死了。在我們周圍有那麼多行屍走肉般的人，他們卻不自知。”
“There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive thing，you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight. Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity in change.”
“變老和成熟是有巨大區別的。如果你19歲，在牀上躺一整年，而不做一件有成效的事情，你會到20歲。如果我87歲，在牀上待一年什麼也不做，我也會到88歲。誰都會老，那不需要天才或能力。我的意思是要通過在變化中不斷地尋找機會而達到成熟。”
“Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did，but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.”
“不要後悔。年長的人一般不會爲我們所做的事而後悔，而會爲我們所沒有做的事後悔。只有充滿遺憾的人才懼怕死亡。”
She concluded her speech by courageously singing“The Rose.”She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives.
她勇敢地唱了一首《玫瑰之歌》作爲結束，還要求我們每個人學習歌詞並在日常生活中將詞意付諸行動。
At the year's end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years a go. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep.
年末，羅斯結束了她多年前就開始的大學生涯，取得了學位。畢業一週之後，羅斯在睡夢中平靜地去世。
Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it's never too late to be all you can possibly be.
兩千多名大學生出席了她的葬禮，對這位了不起的女士表示敬意。她以自身範例教育我們：發揮自己的潛能永不爲晚。
Remember，growing older is mandatory，growing up is optional.
記住，衰老是無法抗拒的，而成熟卻是可以選擇的。
