英语读物

英语读物第六篇Chapter6 结婚第一天，我们紧张的要死the first day of our marriage, we scared to deathThe first day of my marriage is scary. I think that we should all have two lines. One to live to make mistakes and then one to come back and do it again. You know, so you do n’t make mistakes. I mean because parents will not tell you things nobody ever tells you. Parents don’t want to sit down and really garb and say: Well now. This is what this is about and this is why we are doing this and this.---No! It is a big secret.Wh en I got married, I said to my father: “I am going to get married. Can you help me?”he said: “no.”I went to my mother and said: “I am going to get married, ma. Tell me something about it.”my mother said: “oh! That’s wonderful. Your father and I have never argued. And he’s just been wonderful all through life.” Which is a lie! Lie! I heard him in there. And I will tell you another thing. I will take your arm and rip it off and rarara…And now, in my marriage, my wife and I love each other. But I will tell you in a minute we’ve had some arguments. I mean, I have never punched her. And she has never punched me. But we have had some arguments. I called her some names that I was proud I even thought of. And my wife has run some of on me that I’ve written down, y eah, but nobody will tell you that. The only person who ever made an attempt was a priest.A priest! Said：“I will tell you about it,” I beg your pardon.Marriage, you can’t beat it. The first day we got married. Both of us were scared everything. When we got married, and went to a hotel room for our honey room. We just stared at each other, just sat on the edge of our bed with our clothes on, looking at each other. Then finally we got in the car and went to the drive-in and knew what to do.第五篇The Emotional Bank Account-- Secrets of Happy Familiesby Stephen R. CoveyThe Emotional Bank Account is like a financial bank account in one way: you can make "deposits" -- actions that build trust -- or you can make "withdrawals" that decrease it. It represents the quality of the relationship you have with other people. If you have a high balance, then communication is open and free.Let me share ideas for "deposits" you can make in your family:1. Cultivate Kindness / 培养爱心Many years ago I spent an evening out with two of my sons. In the middle of the movie, Sean, then four, fell asleep. His older brother Stephen, six, stayed awake, and we watched the rest of the movie together. When it was over, I carried Sean to the car. It was cold, so I took off my coat and gently put it over him. When we arrived home, I carried Sean in, then lay down next to Stephen to talk. Suddenly he asked, "Daddy, if I were cold, would you put your coat around me, too?"Of all the events of our night out together, the most important was a little act of kindness -- a showing of love to his brother.In relationships, the little things are the big things. They go a long way toward building trust and unconditional love. Just think about the impact in your family of using words of courtesy such as thank you and please. Or unexpected acts of service, such as taking children shopping for something that's important to them. Or finding little ways to express love, such as leaving a note in a lunch box or briefcase.2. Earn an "A" : apologize / 学会一个"A" : 即道歉Perhaps nothing tests our capacity to initiate change as much as saying "I'm sorry I embarrassed you in front of your friends. That was wrong of me.""Sweetheart, I apologize for cutting you off. I was so rude. Please forgive me."Sometimes apologizing is incredibly hard, but the effort says, "Our relationship is very important to me." And that kind of communication builds the Emotional Bank Account.3. Learn loyalty / 学会忠诚Next to apologizing, one of the most important deposits a person can make is to be loyal to family members when they are not present.In other words, talk about others as if they were there. That doesn't mean you're unaware of their weaknesses. It means, rather, that you focus on the positive --and that if you do talk about weaknesses, you do it in such a way that you wouldn't be ashamed to have the person overhear it.A friend had an 18-year-old son whose habits annoyed his brothers and sisters. When the boy wasn't there, the family often talked about him. At one point, this friend decided to follow the principle of being loyal to those not present. When such conversations developed, he gently interrupted and said something good that he had observed his son doing. Soon the conversation would shift to more interesting subjects.Our friend said he soon felt that the others began to connect with this principle of family loyalty. They realized that he'd also defend them if they were not present. And in some unexplainable manner -- perhaps because he started seeing his son differently -- this change improved his Emotional Bank Account.4. Make -- and keep -- promises / 做出承诺并兑现Over the years people have asked if I had one simple idea that would help others cope with problem, seize opportunities and make their lives successful. I gave a four-word answer: "make and keep promises."My daughter, Cynthia, recalls something that happened when she was 12 years old: Dad promised to take me with him on a business trip to San Francisco. We talked about the trip for months. After his meeting, we planned to take a cab to Chinatown and have our favorite food and see a movie, I was dying with expectation.""The day finally arrived. The hours dragged by as I waited for Dad to finish work. At about 6:30, he arrived with an influential business acquaintance who wanted to take us to dinner. My disappointment was bigger than life.""I will never forget Dad saying to him,'I'd love to see you, but this is a special time with my girl. We've got it planned to the minute.' We did everything. That was just about the happiest time of my life. I don't think any young girl ever loved her father as much as I loved mine that night."I'm convinced that you would be hard pressed to come up with a deposit that has more impact in the family than making and keeping promises.5. Don't forget to forgive / 记住要宽恕别人For many, the ultimate deposit to the Emotional Bank Account comes in forgiving.When you forgive, you open the channels for trust and unconditional love. You cleanse your heart. You also remove a major obstacle that keeps others from changing --because when you don't forgive, you put yourself between people and their conscience. Instead of spending their energy on work with their own conscience, they spend it defending and justifying their behavior to you.In everything you do for your family, keep in mind the miracle of the Chinese bamboo. After the seed is planted, new, taller shoots appear until the bamboo reaches full height. But the most dramatic growth is underground, where the roots grow very strong. With this support, the bamboo can reach a height of 120 feet!The Emotional Bank Account can be like that. As you begin to make deposits, you may see positive results immediately. More often it will take weeks, months, even years. But results will come, and you will be astonished at the change.第七篇Dance like no one is watching 起舞吧，就像根本无人观望We always convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are. After that we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage.We always tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car,and are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire. The truth is, there's no better time than right now. If not now, when? Our life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to admit this to ourselves and decide to be happy anyway.One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred Souza. He said, "For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin--real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life." This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. So, treasure every moment that you have. And remember that you have. And remember that time waits for no one. So stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school; until you get married, until you get divorced; until you have kids, until your kids leave home; until you start work, until you retire; until you get a new car or home; until spring; until you are born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy…Happiness is a journey, not a destination. So, work like you don't need money, love like you've never been hurt, and dance like no one's watching.后记：第8篇Track 08 I will leave with youThere was a rich merchant who had four wives. He loved the fourth wife the most, and adorned her with rich robes and treated her to delicacies. He toke great care of her and gave her nothing but the best.She also loved the third wife very much. He is very proud of her and always wanted to show her off to his friends. However, the merchant was always in great fear that she might run away with some other men.He, too, loved his second wife. She was a very considerate person, always patient. And in fact, was the merchant’s confidante. Whenever the merchant faced some problems, she always turned to his second wife. And she always helped them out tide him through the difficult times.Now the merchant’s first wife was a very loyal partner, and has made great contributions in maintaining his wealth and business, as well as taking care of his household. However, the merchant did not love the first wife and although she loved him deeply, he hardly took notice of her.One day, the merchant felt ill. Before long, he knew that he was going to die soon. He though of his luxurious life and told himself: “now I have four wi ves with me. But when I die, I will be alone. How lonely I’ll be!”Thus he asked the fourth wife: “I love you most, endowed you with the finest clothing, and show great care over you. Now that I am dying, would you follow me and keep me company?”“No way!” replied the fourth wife and she walked away without another word. The answer cut like a sharp knife and right into the merchant’s heart.The sad merchant then asked the third wife: “I have loved you so much for all my life. Now that I am dying, will yo u follow me and keep me company?”“No!” replied the third wife, “life is so good over here, I am going to remarry when you die.” The merchant’s heart sank and turned cold.Then, he asked the second wife: “I always turn to you for help. You have always he lped me out. Now I need your help again. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?”“I am sorry. I can not help you out this time.” Reply the second wife, “at the very most, I can only send you to your grave.”The answer came like a bolt of lighting and the merchant was devastated.Then a voice called out: “I will leave with you. I will follow you no matter where you go.” Themerchant looked up and there was his first wife. She was so skinning, almost as she suffered from malnutrition. Greatly grieved, the merchant said: “I should have taken much better care of you while I could have.”Actually, we all have four wives in our lives.A: the fourth 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.B: our third wife, our possession, status and wealth. When we die, they all go to others.C the second wife is our family and friends. No matter how close they have been there for us when we alive. The furthest they can stay by us is up to the grave.D the first wife is in fact our soul, often neglected in our pursuer of material, wealth and sensual pleasure. Guess what? It is actually the only thing that follows us wherever we go. Perhaps it is a good idea to cultivate and strength it no w rather than to wait until we’re on our deathbed to lament9It scores one point 一朵玫瑰=一个月的房租A man thinks he scores high with a woman when he does something very big for her, like buying her a new car or taking her on vacation. He assumes he scores less when he does something small, like opening the car door, buying her a flower or giving her a hug. Based on this kind of score keeping, he believes he will fulfill her best by focusing his time, energy and attention into doing something large for her. This formula, however, doesn't work because women keep a score differently. When a woman keeps a score, no matter how big or small a gift of love is, it scores one point; each gift has an equal value; its size doesn't matter; it gets the point. A man, however, thinks he scores one point for a small gift and thirty points for a big gift since he doesn't understand a woman keeps a score differently. He naturally focuses his energy into one or two big gifts. Man does realize that to a woman the little gift is just as important as the big things. In the other word, to a woman, a single rose gets as many points as paying the rents on time. Without understanding this basic difference in score keeping, man and woman are continually frustrated and disappointed in their relationships.。