英語優美的經典文章欣賞

英語的美文有很多，但哪些是適合我們學習的呢?今天小編就給大家分享一下英語美文欣賞，來學習一下吧

　　What is Your Recovery Rate?

What is your recovery rate? How long does it take you to recover from actions and behaviors that upset you? Minutes? Hours? Days? Weeks? The longer it takes you to recover, the more influence that incident has on your actions, and the less able you are to perform to your personal best. In a nutshell, the longer it takes you to recover, the weaker you are and the poorer your performance.

You are well aware that you need to exercise to keep the body fit and, no doubt, accept that a reasonable measure of health is the speed in which your heart and respiratory system recovers after exercise. Likewise the faster you let go of an issue that upsets you, the faster you return to an equilibrium, the healthier you will be. The best example of this behavior is found with professional sportspeople. They know that the faster they can forget an incident or missd opportunity and get on with the game, the better their performance. In fact, most measure the time it takes them to overcome and forget an incident in a game and most reckon a recovery rate of 30 seconds is too long!

Imagine yourself to be an actor in a play on the stage. Your aim is to play your part to the best of your ability. You have been given a script and at the end of each sentence is a ful stop. Each time you get to the end of the sentence you start a new one and although the next sentence is related to the last it is not affected by it. Your job is to deliver each sentence to the best of your ability.

Don't live your life in the past! Learn to live in the present, to overcome the past. Stop the past from influencing your daily life. Don't allow thoughts of the past to reduce your personal best. Stop the past from interfering with your life. Learn to recover quickly.

Remember: Rome wasn't built in a day. Reflect on your recovery rate each day. Every day before you go to bed, look at your progress. Don't lie in bed saying to you, "I did that wrong." "I should have done better there." No. look at your day and note when you made an effort to place a full stop after an incident. This is a success. You are taking control of your life. Remember this is a step by step process. This is not a make-over. You are undertaking real change here. Your aim: reduce the time spent in recovery.

The way forward?

Live in the present. Not in the precedent.

　　The 50-Percent Theory of Life

I believe in the 50-percent theory. Half the time things are better than normal; the other half, they re worse. I believe life is a pendulum swing. It takes time and experience to understand what normal is, and that gives me the perspective to deal with the surprises of the future.

Let’s benchmark the parameters: yes, I will die. I’ve dealt with the deaths of both parents, a best friend, a beloved boss and cherished pets. Some of these deaths have been violent, before my eyes, or slow and agonizing. Bad stuff, and it belongs at the bottom of the scale.

Then there are those high points: romance and marriage to the right person; having a child and doing those Dad things like coaching my son’s baseball team, paddling around the creek in the boat while he’s swimming with the dogs, discovering his compassion so deep it manifests even in his kindness to snails, his imagination so vivid he builds a spaceship from a scattered pile of Legos.

But there is a vast meadow of life in the middle, where the bad and the good flip-flop acrobatically. This is what convinces me to believe in the 50-percent theory.

One spring I planted corn too early in a bottomland so flood-prone that neighbors laughed. I felt chagrined at the wasted effort. Summer turned brutal---the worst heat wave and drought in my lifetime. The air-conditioned died; the well went dry; the marriage ended; the job lost; the money gone. I was living lyrics from a country tune---music I loathed. Only a surging Kansas City Royals team buoyed my spirits.

Looking back on that horrible summer, I soon understood that all succeeding good things merely offset the bad. Worse than normal wouldn’t last long. I am owed and savor the halcyon times. The reinvigorate me for the next nasty surprise and offer assurance that can thrive. The 50-percent theory even helps me see hope beyond my Royals’ recent slump, a field of struggling rookies sown so that some year soon we can reap an October harvest.

For that on blistering summer, the ground moisture was just right, planting early allowed pollination before heat withered the tops, and the lack of rain spared the standing corn from floods. That winter my crib overflowed with corn---fat, healthy three-to-a-stalk ears filled with kernels from heel to tip---while my neighbors’ fields yielded only brown, empty husks.

Although plantings past may have fallen below the 50-percent expectation, and they probably will again in the future, I am still sustained by the crop that flourishes during the drought.

　　今生你已不可取代

每個人在這個世界上都佔有一個獨一無二的位置。無論別人說什麼，你自己怎麼想，你都是特別的。所以，不要擔心自己會被取代，因爲你永遠是惟一的。

As a teenager，I felt I was always letting people down. I was rebellious1 out-side，but I wanted to be liked inside.

當我還是個10幾歲的少年的時候，覺得自己總是讓人失望。從外表上看，我似乎很叛逆，但是在內心深處，我是如此地渴望被人疼愛。

Once I left home to hitch-hike2 to California with my friend Penelope. The trip wasn’t easy，and there were many times I didn’t feel safe. One situation in particular kept me grateful to still be alive. When I returned home，I was different，not so outwardly sure of myself.

有一次我離開了家和我的朋友佩內洛普搭便車去了加利福尼亞。這次旅行並不輕鬆，而且有很多次我感覺不安。有一次的突發狀況讓我一直慶幸自己還活着。回到家，我發覺自己變了，看上去不那麼自信了。

I was happy to be home. But then I noticed that Penelope，who was staying with us，was wearing my clothes. And my family seemed to like her better than me. I wondered if I would be missed if I weren’t there. I told my mom，and she explained that though Penelope was a lovely girl，no one could replace me. I pointed out，“She is more patient and is neater than I have ever been.” My mom said these were wonderful qualities，but I was the only person who could fill my role. She made me realize that even with my faults—and there were many-I was a loved member of the family who couldn’t be replaced.

我很高興能回到家，但不久我注意到和我們一起的佩內洛普穿着我的衣服，而且我父母看上去更喜歡她，我想知道如果我不在家的話他們是否會想念我。後來，我把我的想法告訴了母親，她說盡管佩內洛普是個可愛的女孩，但她始終不能取代我，我說：“她比我有耐心而且無論何時看上去她都比我要整潔大方。”母親說這些都是非常好的優點，但我卻是惟一個能扮演好自己角色的人。母親讓我感到儘管我有缺點———似乎還很多———但是，我被家中每一個人愛着，誰也無法取代。

I became a searcher，wanting to find out who I was and what made me unique. My view of myself was changing. I wanted a solid base to start from. I started to resist3 pressure to act in ways that I didn’t like any more，and I was delighted by who I really was. I came to feel much more sure that no one can ever take my place.

我成了一個探尋者，想要知道自己到底是誰，又是什麼讓我變得獨一無二。我的人生觀開始改變。我需要一個堅固的基礎來發展，我忍受住壓力，不再做自己不喜歡做的事。而且我爲真實的我感到高興。漸漸地我越發肯定自己無可替代。

Each of us holds a unique place in the world. You are special，no matter what others say or what you may