英语美文16篇

Part One A World With Love
第一部分人间有爱
1 The True Meaning of Love
By Mother Teresa
Spread love everywhere you go, first of all in your own house. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband; to a next-door neighbor... let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting.
参考译文爱的真谛
泰瑞莎修女
随处散播你的爱心，就从对你的家人开始，多一分关爱给你的孩子，你的另一半，然后你的邻居……让每个接近你的人都有如沐春风的感觉。

给别人一张慈祥的面容、一个关怀的眼神、一个灿烂的微笑、一句温暖的问候，为上帝的仁慈做见证。

2 A Brother Like That
A friend of mine named Paul received an automobile from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin was walking around the shiny new car, admiring it.
“Is this your car, Mister?” he said.
Paul nodded. “My brother gave it to me for Christmas.” The boy was [1]astounded. “Y ou mean your brother gave it to you and it didn’t cost you anything? Boy, I wish . . .” He hesitated.
Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the lad said jarred Paul all the way down to his heels.
“I wish,” the boy went on, “That I could be a brother like that.”
Paul looked at the boy [2]in astonishment, then impulsively he added,“Would you like to take a ride in my car?”
“Oh yes, I’d love that.”
After a short ride, the boy turned with his eyes aglow, said, “Mister, would you mind driving in front of my house?”
Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the lad wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big automobile. But Paul was wrong again. “Will you stop where those two steps are?” the boy asked.
He ran up the steps. Then in a little wh ile Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little [3] crippled brother. He sat him down on the bottom step, then sort of [4] squeezed up against him and pointed to the car.
“There she is, [5]buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and
it didn’t cost him a cent. And some day I’m gonna give you one just like it . . . then you can see for yourself all the pretty things in the Christmas windows that I’ve been trying to tell you abou t.”
Paul got out and lifted the lad to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began a memorable holiday ride.
That Christmas Eve, Paul learned what Jesus meant when he said: [6]“It is more blessed to give . . .”
automobile / ♦☜❍☜♌♓●/ n. (美) 汽车
urchin / ☜♦☞♓⏹/ n. 顽童小孩
jar /♎✞/ (n.) 震动v. 震动，刺激
impulsively /♓❍☐✈●♦♓●♓/ adv. 冲动地
aglow /☜♑●☜◆/ adj. (脸) 通红的adv. 发红地
memorable / ❍♏❍☜❒☜♌●/ (adj.) 值得纪念的
参考译文哥哥的心愿
我的朋友保罗的哥哥送他一辆新车作为圣诞礼物。

圣诞节之夜，保罗离开办公室时，一个男孩绕着那辆闪闪发亮的新车，赞叹着。

“先生，这是你的车？”
保罗点点头：“这是我哥哥送给我的圣诞节礼物。

”男孩满脸惊讶，支支吾吾地说：“你是说这是你哥送的礼物，没花你一分钱？天哪，我真希望……”
保罗当然知道男孩希望什么。

他希望能有一个那样的哥哥。

但是小男孩接下来说的话却完全出乎保罗的意料。

“我希望自己就是那样的哥哥，”男孩继续说。

保罗惊愕地看着那男孩，冲口而出：“你要不要坐我的车去兜风？”
“哦，当然好了，我太想坐了！”
车开了一小段路后，那孩子转过头来，眼睛闪闪发亮，对我说：“先生，你能不能把车子开到我家门前？”
保罗微笑，他知道孩子想干什么。

那男孩必定是要向邻居炫耀，让大家知道他坐了一辆大轿车回家。

但是这次保罗又猜错了。

“你能不能把车子停在那两个台阶前？”男孩要求道。

男孩跑上台阶，过了一会儿保罗听到他回来了，但动作似乎有些缓慢。

原来他把他跛脚的弟弟背出来了，将他安置在第一个台阶上，紧紧地抱着他，指着那辆新车。

“你看，这就是我刚才在楼上对你说的那辆新车。

这是他哥哥送给他的圣诞礼物哦！他一分钱也没花。

将来我也会送你一辆像这样的车，到那时候你就能自己去看那些在圣诞节时挂在窗口上的漂亮饰品，就象我告诉过你的那样。

”
保罗走下车子，把跛脚男孩抱到车子的前座。

兴奋得满眼放光的哥哥也爬上车子，坐在弟弟的身旁。

就这样他们三人开始了一次难忘的假日兜风。

那个圣诞夜，保罗才真正体会耶稣所说的“施比受更有福”的道理。

增值英语
1.astounded：astound，使（人）大吃一惊，但它一般多用于被动语态。

“He was astounded at the news”那消息让他大吃一惊。

2.in astonishment：和in surprise意思差不多，表示很惊讶。

但吃惊的程度要深一些。

3.crippled：cripple即可作名词，也可作动词，意为跛子，或使跛足。

在这里用crippled，是用分词做形容词，跛足的。

4.squeezed up against him：squeeze是挤压的意思，在这里，很形象地说明小男孩紧紧抱着跛脚的弟弟，怕他摔倒了。

5.buddy：老兄，老弟。

这是美国俚语中常见的说法，一般只用于打招呼。

6.It is more blessed to give：施比受更有福。

给予是一种幸福，因为你是富有的，这种富有通常跟财富无关，更主要的是精神上的富有。

3 Waiting for the Breeze
Lie in bed, by an open window, and listen...
“No air conditioning? How can you sleep?”a friend asks, horrified. I’ve just revealed that my family has decided to shut the air conditioner off and [1] trim our electric bill.
On this first night of our cost-cutting adventure, it’s only 85 degrees. We’re not going to suffer, but the three kids grumble anyway.
“It’s too hot to sleep,” my 13-year-old daughter moans. “I’m about to die from this heat,” her brother hollers down the hall. “Just try it tonight,”I tell them. In truth I’m too tired to argue for long. My face is sweaty, but I lie quietly listening to the cricket choirs outside that remind me of childhood.
I think about Grandma, who lived to 92 and still supervised my mom’s gardening until just a few weeks before she died. And then, I’m back there at her house in the summer heat of my childhood. I move my pillow to the foot of Grandma’s bed and angle my face toward the open window. I [2] flip the pillow, hunting for the cooler side.
Grandma sees me [3] thrashing. “If you’ll just watch for the breeze,” she says, “you’ll cool off and fall asleep.” She cranks up the Venetian blinds. I stare at the filmy white curtain, willing it to flutter. L ying still, waiting, I suddenly notice the life outside the window. The bug choruses . Neighbors, porch-sitting late, speak in hazy words with sanded edges that soothe me.
“Mom, did you hear that?” my seven-year-old blurts. “I think it was an owl family.”
“Probably,” I tell him. “Just keep listening...”
Without the [4] droning air conditioner, the house is oddly peaceful, and the unfiltered night noises seem close enough to touch. I hope I’m awake tonight when the first breeze sneaks in.
crank / ❒✌☠/ v. 转动（曲柄）
Venetian blind软百叶窗
filmy / ♐♓●❍♓/ adj. 朦胧的
flutter / ♐●✈♦☜/ v. 飘动
chorus / ❒☜♦/ n. 合唱
hazy / ♒♏♓♓/ adj. 模糊的
soothe /♦◆❆/ v. （使）平静
owl /♋◆●/ n. 猫头鹰
unfiltered / ✈⏹♐♓●♦☜♎/ adj. 未过滤的
sneak /♦⏹♓/ v. 偷偷摸摸地做（事）
参考译文祈盼清风
窗边静躺，细心聆听……
“不开空调？能睡得着吗？”听说家人要为了节电而把家里的空调关掉时，我的朋友一脸惊愕。

在大胆尝试节电的第一天晚上，气温不过华氏85度而已。

我们不觉得难受，但三个孩子却抱怨连天。

“太热了！怎么睡啊！”我那十三岁的女儿不停地嘀咕。

“我快被熟死了，”她弟弟的牢骚也从客厅的另一头传了过来。

我只好说：“今晚就试着忍一忍好吗？”其实我根本没有力气再向他们多作解释。

脸上出汗了。

我静静地躺着，聆听着窗外蟋蟀的合奏曲，思绪被牵回到了童年的时光。

这时禁不住想起了外婆，她活到92岁，直到去世前的几个星期，她一直都帮助妈妈护理着花园。

回到了童年炎热的夏季，回到了外婆的小屋。

我把枕头移到奶奶的床尾，脸对着窗。

于是我把枕头翻过来，让比较凉的一面朝上。

看到我翻来覆去地睡不着，外婆说：“只要用心去感受和祈盼，风会来的，这样你就可以一身清凉地进入梦乡了。

”她把百叶窗拉了起来，于是我便一直注视着朦胧的白窗帘，等待它的飘动。

静静地躺着，期盼着，这时我忽然感到了窗外世界的生命。

小虫的轻唱，门廊外坐着闲聊的邻居，他们模糊不清的喋喋细语开始催我入眠。

“妈妈，你听到了吗？”我那七岁的孩子嚷嚷了起来，“我觉得那是猫头鹰一家子在叫！”
“很有可能，再仔细听……”
没有了空调机的嗡嗡响，房间里飘溢着一种奇异的祥和气氛，还有未经过滤的，亲近得伸手就可以触摸到的夜声。

真的希望，当第一缕清风悄然而至时，我还能够醒着迎接她的到来。

增值英语
1.trim的本意是“修剪、整理”，如果你种了一棵小树，就要经常地“trim dead branches off a tree”，“修剪树上的枯枝”；此处的trim当然是和“修剪”无关，而是表示“减少、压缩”，比如说“I’ve trimmed my composition from 1000 words to 500”, 这就是说“我把作文从1000字压缩到500字”。

2. 此处的flip向我们描述了“翻转”的动作，如果你看见弟弟在煎鱼，一面已经要“糊”了，而另一面还没熟，就要赶紧吩咐他：“Flip the fish on its back!”（把鱼翻个身）；另外我们经常会用投掷硬币的方式，来决定什么事情，flip就可以表达“投掷、轻抛”的概念，比如说“Let’s flip a coin to see who goes first” (用投硬币的方式决定谁先去)。

3.thrash：辗转反侧、睡不着觉的滋味很让人难受，thrash就是用来形容这种滋味的，如果你心里惦记着心爱的姑娘是否会在第二天答应你的求婚，就可能“spent most of the night just thrashing around” (大半夜躺在床上辗转反侧)，不过这种滋味是人人都有过啊！
4.此处的drone表示“（空调）嗡翁声”，当然“嗡嗡声”不仅来自“空调”，我们还经常可以听到“Bees
are droning among the flowers”(蜜蜂在花丛中嗡嗡叫)，“A plane droned overhead”(飞机在头顶上嗡嗡飞过)。

4 The Feeling of Snow
As soon as I walked outside, I was greeted with the [1] shimmering white blanket of cold. Despite the chill[2] overwhelming my skin, inside I was warm. I felt as though I could be [3] giving off heat; I had the desire to stay out in this freeze for hours. It was the type of day that speaks to you through its elements; I took a deep breath to hear more snow was coming.
As I walked, I looked up, trying to realize what made this day so beautiful, so serene. It was as if time had been put temporarily on hold and I along with it. Or maybe I was the only one unpaused...
Either way, the [4] solitude was comforting, and I sensed myself floating away. I sat down on the edge of a curb and listened. All there was to hear was the wind rushing over the top of my h ead and circling some old, cracking leaves some yards away. To me it was the reassuring sound of nature, trying not to be forgotten.
It did start to snow. None of those little flurries, but big, fat flakes which [5] clung immediately to their surface.
Then it was time to go and my [6] reverie had to end. As I began walking again, I drifted back into this time frame, calm and cleared.
Now if only I could remember where I was going.
chill ♦☞♓●n. 寒意
serene ♦♓❒♓⏹a dj. 平静的
temporarily ♦♏❍☐☜❒☜❒♓●♓adv. 临时
curb ☜♌n. 路边
crack ❒✌v. （使）破裂
reassuring ❒♓☜☞◆☜❒♓☠a dj. 可靠的
flurry ♐●✈❒♓n. 小雪
flake ♐●♏♓n. 薄片（雪花）
参考译文雪天随想
刚出门，扑面而来的是一大片晶莹雪白的冰凉。

冷气袭来，肌肤阵阵战栗，而内心却温暖如初。

觉得自己似乎能发热，因而渴望在这寒冷中长时间伫足。

这是一个大自然与你交流的日子。

我深深地吸了一口气，静听雪花飘落，源源不绝……
漫步雪中，举目四顾，我努力思索是什么竟然能够把这一天变得如此美丽和宁静。

那一刻，时间仿佛停止了，而我也定在其中。

或者，只有我一个人在前行……
无论如何，这种孤寂令人欣慰。

我仿佛脱离了尘世。

坐在路边，仔细聆听。

只有风从头顶掠过，卷走几码远的干枯树叶。

在我心中，这是大自然给人安慰、令人难忘的声音。

真的下雪了！不是零星小雪，而是鹅毛大雪，一落地就凝结在一起了。

该结束沉思离开了！我举步前行时，思绪又转回到现实中来，而此时感觉如此平静，如此清新。

我实在记不得我要往何处去了！
增值英语
1.shimmering：shimmering是一个动名词，它的动词形式是shimmer，表示“闪光”、“闪亮”等意思。

“Moonlight is shimmering on the lake” (湖上月光闪烁)。

shimmer也可做名词，如：“the shimmer of pearls” (珍珠的闪光)。

在这里shimmering翻译成“晶莹的”，用来形容雪花。

2.overwhelm：“征服”、“使受不了”。

想想看，当寒冷袭来的时候，你皮肤的反应会是什么呢？那可以用“战栗”来形容。

3.give off：“发出”的意思，“give off a bad smell” (发出恶臭)。

“give thick smoke off” (冒出浓烟)。

4.solitude：有“孤单”、“寂寞”、“独居”、“隐居”等意思。

我们都知道lonely是“孤独的”的意思，它表示一种令人难受的孤独。

而solitude有时是一种美好的感觉，要不怎么会有那么多人隐居呢？
5.cling ：cling (to)的意思是“粘着”、“缠着”，“The mud clung to her shoes” (泥浆粘在她的鞋上)。

6.rever ie：“幻想”、“沉思”，如：“have a reverie about the delicious nuts”(幻想着美味果仁)。

“be los t in rever ie”，（陷入沉思）。

5 The Sounds of England
The sounds of England, the tinkle of the hammer on the anvil in the country smithy, the corncrake on a dewy morning, the sound of the scythe against the whetstone, and the sight of a plough team coming over the brow of a hill, for centuries the one eternal sight of England. The wild anemones in the woods in April, the last load at night of hay being drawn down a lane as the twilight comes on, when you can scarcely distinguish the figures of the horses as they take it home to the farm, and above all, most subtle, most penetrating and most moving, the smell of wood smoke coming up in an autumn evening, the wood smoke that our ancestors, tens of thousands of years ago, must have caught on the air when they were coming home with the results of the day’s forage, when they were still nomads, and they were still roaming the forests and the plains of the continent of Europe. These things strike down into the very depths of our nature, and touch chords that with every year of our life sound a deeper note in our innermost being.
tinkle ♦♓☠●n. 叮叮当当的响声v. 叮当作响
anvil ✌⏹♓●n. 铁砧
smithy ♦❍♓❆♓n. 铁铺
corncrake ⏹❒♏♓n. 秧鸡
dewy ♎◆♓adj. 带露水的
scythe ♦♋♓❆n. 镰刀
whetstone ♦♏♦♦♦☜◆⏹n. 磨刀石
eternal ♓ ♦☜⏹☎☜✆●adj. 永恒的
anemone ☜ ⏹♏❍☜⏹♓n. 野莲花
twilight ♦♦♋♓●♋♓♦n. 黎明
scarcely ♦☪☜♦●♓adv. 几乎不
distinguish ♎♓♦♦♓⏹♑♦♓☞v. 辨认
subtle ♦✈♦●adj. 微妙的
penetrating ☐♏⏹♓♦❒♏♓♦♓☠adj. （指声音、喊声等）尖锐的
ancestor ✌⏹♦♓♦♦☜n. 祖先
forage ♐❒♓♎✞n. 草料
nomad ⏹☜◆❍✌♎n. 游牧民
roam ❒☜◆❍v. 徜徉
chord ♎n. 弦
innermost ♓⏹☜❍☜◆♦♦adj. 内心最深处的
参考译文英格兰之声
英格兰之声，是乡村铁匠铺里铁砧上锤子的叮当声，是露珠欲滴的清晨秧鸡的鸣啼声，是磨刀石上镰刀的霍霍声，山梁上走过一队犁地的农夫，这是许多世纪里英格兰的永恒景象。

四月里森林中野生的银莲花，黎明时分最后一趟满载夜草的车行进在小路上，那时你简直辩认不出马的身影，农夫们正赶着它驶向农庄。

然而最微妙莫测、沁人肺腑，动人心弦的还是秋日黄昏时分袅袅升起的柴烟的气味。

远在几万年前，当我们的祖先作为游牧民还游历在欧洲大陆的森林和原野的时候，当他们带着一天收获来的草料回家的时候，他们肯定都看到过那木柴的清烟。

这些东西深深地烙进了我们的性格，拨动着我们的心弦，并伴随着我们的生命年复一年地从我们心灵的最深处发出一个益发深沉的和声。

Part Three Philosophy of Life
第三部分哲理人生
6 The House of 1000 Mirrors
Long ago in a s mall, faraway village, there was a place known as the House of 1000 Mirrors. A small, happy little dog learned of this place and decided to visit. When he arrived, he bounced happily up the stairs to the doorway of the house. He looked through the doorway with his ears lifted high and his tail wagging as fast as it could. To his great surprise, he found himself staring at 1000 other happy little dogs with their tails wagging just as fast as his. He smiled a great smile, and was answered with 1000 great smiles just as warm and friendly. As he left the House, he thought to himself,“This is a wonderful place. I will come back and visit it often.”
In this same village, another little dog, who was not quite as happy as the first one, decided t o visit the house. He slowly climbed the stairs and hung his head low as he looked into the door. When he
saw the 1000 unfriendly looking dogs staring back at him, he growled at them and was horrified to see 1000 little dogs growling back at him. As he left, he thought to himself,“That is a horrible place, and I will never go back there again.”
All the faces in the world are mirrors. What kinds of reflections do you see in the faces of the people you meet?
bounce /♌♋◆⏹♦/ v. 跳跃
doorway / ♎♦♏♓/ n. 门口
wag /♦✌♑/ v. 摇摆
growl /♑❒♋◆●/ v. 咆哮
horrify / ♒❒♓♐♋♓/ v. 恐吓
reflection /❒♓♐●♏☞⏹/ n. 反射
参考译文千镜之屋
很久以前的一个很远的小村庄里，有一个以“千镜屋”而著名的地方。

一只乐观的小狗听说了这个地方并决定去参观。

当来到这个地方，他蹦蹦跳跳地上了台阶，来到房门口，高高地竖起耳朵，欢快地摇着尾巴，从门口往里张望，他惊奇地看到有1000只欢乐的小狗像他一样快地摇尾巴。

他灿烂地微笑着，回报他的是1000张热情，友好的灿烂笑脸。

离开时他心想：“这是一个精彩的地方，我一定要经常来参观。

”
在这个村里还有另一只想参观“千镜屋”的小狗，他不及第一只小狗乐观，他慢吞吞地爬上台阶，然后耷拉着脑袋往屋子里看。

一看到有1000只小狗不友好地盯着他，他便开始冲他们狂吠，镜中的1000只小狗也冲着他狂吠，把他给吓坏了，他在离开时心想：“这是一个恐怖的地方，我再也不会来了。

”
世界上所有的脸都是镜子，在你所遇见的人的脸上你看到反射出来的是什么?
7 The Smile
I was sure that I was to be killed. I became terribly nervous. I [1] fumbled in my pockets to see if there were any cigarettes, which had [2] escaped their search. I found one and because of my shaking hands, I could barely get it to my lips. But I had no matches , they had taken those. I looked through the bars at my jailer. He did not make eye contact with me. I called out to him “Have you got a light?” He looked at me, [3]shrugged and came over to light my cigarette. As he came close and lit the match, his eyes inadvertently locked with mine. At that moment, I s miled. In that instant, it was as though a spark jumped across the gap between our two hearts, our two human souls. I know he didn’t want to, but my smile leaped through the bars and generated a smile on his lips, too. He lit my cigarette but stayed near, looking at me directly in the eyes and continuing to smile.
“Do you have kids?” he asked. “Y es, here, here.” I took out my wallet and nervously fumbled for the pictures of my family. He, too, took out the pictures of his family and began to talk about his plans and hopes for them. My eyes filled with tears. I said that I feared that I’d never see my family again, never have the chance to see them grow up. Tears came to his eyes, too. Suddenly, without another
word, he unlocked my cell and silently led me out. Out of the jail, quietly and by back routes, out of the town. There, at the edge of town, he released me. And without another word, he turned back toward the town.
My life was saved by a smile. Y es, the smile―the unaffected, unplanned, natural connection between people. I really believe that if that part of you and that part of me could recognize each other, we wouldn’t be enemies. We couldn’t have hate or envy or fear.
fumble ♐✈❍♌●v. 摸索
jailer ♎✞♏♓●☜n. 狱卒
inadvertently ♓⏹☜♎☜♦☜⏹♦●♓adv. 不注意地
generate ♎✞♏⏹☜❒♏♓♦v. 产生
unaffected ✈⏹☜♐♏♦♓♎adj. 不矫揉造作的
envy ♏⏹♓(v.) n. 嫉妒
参考译文微笑
一想到自己明天就没命了，我不禁陷入极端的惶恐。

我翻遍了口袋，终于找到一支没被他们搜走的香烟，但我的手紧张得不停发抖，连将烟送进嘴里都成问题，而我的火柴也在搜身时被拿走了。

我透过铁栏望着外面的警卫，他并没有注意到我在看他，我叫了他一声：“能跟你借个火吗？”他转头望着我，耸了耸肩，然后走了过来，点燃我的香烟。

当他帮我点火时，他的眼光无意中与我的相接触，这时我突然冲着他微笑。

就在这一刹那，这抹微笑如同火花般，打破了我们两个灵魂和心灵间的隔阂。

我的笑容穿越铁栅，牵动了他唇边的笑意，虽然我知道他原无此意。

他点完火后并没立刻离开，两眼盯着我瞧，脸上仍带着微笑。

“你有小孩吗？”他开口问道。

“有，你看。

”我拿出了皮夹，手忙脚乱地翻出了我的全家福照片。

他也掏出了照片，并且开始讲述他对家人的期望与计划。

这时我眼中充满了泪水，我说我害怕再也见不到家人了，我害怕没机会看着孩子长大。

他听了也眼泛泪光。

突然间，他二话不说地打开了牢门，悄悄地带我从后面的小路逃离了监狱，出了小镇，就在小镇的边上，他放了我，之后便转身往回走，不曾留下一句话。

微笑拯救了我的生命。

是的，微笑是人与人之间最自然真挚的沟通方式。

如果我们能用心灵去认识彼此，世间不会有结怨成仇的憾事；恨意、妒嫉、恐惧也会不复存在。

增值英语
1. fumble：我们总是能看到爱抽烟的男人在自己的身上到处摸烟的镜头，用动词fumble（乱摸、摸索）来形容他们的动作是再恰当不过了；下文中提到的“nervously fumbled for the pictures”也是借用fumble来形容主人公非常紧张地在钱包搜索照片的情景；现在如果你看到某人在“哗啦啦”地翻书寻找他想要的内容，你就可以用fumble来描述他的动作，可以说“he fumbled the pages looking for the place ”。

2. escape是个很调皮的词汇，总是“逃离这儿，逃离那儿”，此处的“escaped their search”字面上就表示“（烟）逃离了他们的搜查”，也就是“没有被他们搜走（的烟）”；再看看看“I’m afraid your name escapes me”看起来是“你的名字逃离了我”，也就是“我恐怕想不起你的名字了”。

老师在课堂上可能会很严肃地警告捣蛋的学生一句：“Nothing escaped my attention”，（什么都逃不过我的注意）。

3. shrug表示的动作是“耸耸肩”，比如你把一个消息告诉给自己的好友时，“她听到消息后只是耸耸肩”，你就可以描绘成“She shrugged her shoulders at the news”。

8 Courage
by Mark Twain
In the matter of courage we all have our limits. There never was a hero who did not have his [1] bounds. I suppose it may be said of Nelson and all the others whose courage has been advertised that there came times in their lives when their bravery knew it had come to its limit.
I have found mine a good many times. Sometimes this was expected often it was unexpected. I know
a man who is not afraid to sleep with a [2] rattlesnake, but you could not get him to sleep with a [3] safety razor.
I never had the courage to talk across a long, narrow room. I should be at the end of the room facing all the audience. If I attempt to talk across a room I find myself turning this way and that, and thus at [4] alternate periods I have part of the audience behind me. Y ou ought never to have any part of the audience behind you; you can never tell what they are going to do.
advertise / ✌♎☜♦♋♓/ v. 做广告
rattlesnake / ❒✌♦●♦⏹♏♓/ n. 响尾蛇
razor / ❒♏♓☜/ n. 剃刀
audience / ♎♓☜⏹♦/ n. 观众
attempt /☜♦♏❍☐♦/ n. v. 尝试
alternate / ●♦☜⏹♓♦/ adj. 轮流的，交替的
参考译文勇气
马克·吐温
在勇气问题上，人人都有极限。

从来就没有无所不畏的英雄好汉。

我想，可以说，纳尔逊和所有那些被大量宣传的勇士，一生中也有勇气达到极限的时候。

我就多次发现自己的勇气到了极限。

有时是意料之中的--经常是出乎意料的。

我认识一个人。

此君不怕与响尾蛇共寝，可你无法让他与安全剃刀同眠。

我从来没有勇气站在狭长的房子中间讲话。

我得站在房间的一头，面对全体听众。

如果我试图站在房间中间讲话，我就会不断地转身，这样，就不断有部分听众在我背后。

你永远不能让自己背后有听众；你永远闹不清他们要干什么。

增值英语
1. bounds：“界限、范围、止境”等意思，“there is no bounds to his foolishness”，（他的愚蠢无止境）。

“out of bounds to”表示“禁止入内”。

看来，英雄们的勇气也是有止境的。

2. rattlesnake：在美语里也写作rattler，是“响尾蛇”的意思。

rattlesnake原产于美洲，因发怒时尾部会有响声而得名。

3. safety razor：“安全剃刀、保险剃刀”。

这个人敢睡在响尾蛇旁边，却不敢睡在剃须刀旁边，可见，“勇气”是个很奇怪的东西，它没有绝对的标准。

4. Alternate：“轮流的、交替的”等意思，由此，大家肯定可以猜出alternating current表示“交流电”。

9 The Life of A Successful Man
He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much; who has enjoyed the trust of pure women, the respect of intelligent men, and the love of s mall children; who has filled his niche, and accomplished his task; who has left the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who has never lacked appreciation of earth’s beauty, or failed to express it; who has always looked for the best in others, and given them the best he had; whose life was an inspiration; whose memory a benediction.
benediction /♌♏⏹♓♎♓☞☎☜✆⏹/n.祝福
respect /❒♓♦☐♏♦/ n. v. 尊敬
intelligent /♓⏹♦♏●♓♎✞☜⏹♦/ adj. 聪明的，有才智的
niche /⏹♓♦☞/ n. 小生境
accomplish /☜❍☐●♓☞/ v. 完成
poppy / ☐☐♓/ n. 罂粟
rescue / ❒♏♦◆/ v. 营救
inspiration /♓⏹♦☐☜❒♏♓☞☎☜✆⏹/ n. 鼓舞，灵感
参考译文成功人士的生活
取得成功的人生活愉快、经常欢笑、充满爱情。

他享有纯洁女士的信任，聪明男士的尊敬，儿童的爱恋。

他随遇而安，尽职尽责；无论是通过改变罂粟对人类的意义、一首完美的诗歌，还是通过挽救一个灵魂，他均留给世界比他所发现时的更美好的东西。

他从不缺少对美好世界的赞赏，或吝于表达。

他总是寻求发现他人的优点，并将自己最好的东西奉献给他们。

他的生活是一种精神鼓励，他的记忆是一种祝福。

10 The Silence of Male’s Friendship
The silence of men in general is overtalked about and overcriticized. To be sure, men never open up as much as women want them to, but there is a wordless understanding in which we function fairly well especially in friendships.
I believe, in fact, that most women would prefer a man to be glumly uncommunicative than to [1] spill his guts at the drop of a hat.
The push for men to express their feelings presumes that we have feelings, and we do have a few, but they remain submerged, and the [2] airing of them often violates their authenticity.
I am no biologist, but my guess is that the male human animal was programmed for silence. I would go so far as to argue that men were programmed to be isolated from one another and that aloneness is our natural state. Silence in male friendships is our way of being alone with each other.
Once men have established a friendship, that itself is the word. The affection is obvious, at least to us.
A main component of our silence is an appreciation of the obvious.
overtalk / ☜◆☜♦/ v. 过多地谈论
overcriticize / ☜◆☜❒♓♦♓♦♋♓/ v. 过分地指责
wordless / ♦☜♎●♓♦/ adj. 无言的
glumly / ♑●✈❍●♓/ adv. 阴郁地
uncommunicative /✈⏹☜❍◆⏹♓☜♦♓/ adj. 沉默寡言的
submerge /♦☜♌❍☜♎✞/ v. 淹没
violate / ♋♓☜●♏♓♦/ v. 破坏
authenticity / ♏⏹♦♓♦♓♦♓/ n. 真实性
biologist/♌♋♓●☜♎✞♓♦♦/ n. 生物学家
isolate / ♋♓♦☜●♏♓♦/ v. （使）孤立
affection /☜♐♏☞☜⏹/n. 友爱
component / ☜❍☐☜◆⏹☜⏹♦/ n. 成分
参考译文男人间无声的友谊
男人的沉默往往被过多地谈论且过分指责了。

可以肯定的是，男人从未像女人所希望的那样开诚布公地说出自己的心里话，但我们却能很好地运用无言的理解，尤其是在维持彼此的友谊的过程中。

我相信事实上大多数女人都宁愿男人郁郁寡欢不言不语，而不喜欢男人就像竹筒倒豆子，什么都说。

男人被认定为应表达感情，这就是他们表达情感的推动力。

不错，我们确实有一些，但隐而不露，若要表达出来就会破坏其真实性。

我不是生物学家，但我猜想男人这种动物天生就是沉默寡言的。

我甚至认为男人天生就是彼此孤立的，孤独是我们的自然状态。

男人间的友谊表现为沉默寡言，正是我们彼此独自生活方式的表现。

一旦男人间建立起友谊，友谊本身就已说明了一切。

情感是明显的，至少对我们来说，我们沉默的一个主要组成部分就是对这明显情感的欣赏。

增值英语
1. spill one’s guts本意是“告密”，和”spill the beans”意思相近，但是后者包含“不慎泄露风声”的意思，而前者则是刻意泄露。

“ At the drop of a hat”是“突然”的意思。

在这里，“spill his guts at the drop of a hat”指一个人藏不住心里的话，经常不经觉地就把许多话告诉别人。

2. airing是由air派生出来的，作名词用时是“风干”的意思。

它同时也是air的动名词，有“张扬”的意思。

在这个句子中，airing指代的也就是feeling,即感情的张扬。