英语短篇美文

1、Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.

Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.

2、Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.

Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being's heart the lure of wonders, the unfailing appetite for what's next and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart, there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, courage and power from man and from the infinite, so long as you are young.

When your aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you've grown old, even at 20; but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there's hope you may die young at 80.

1、青春不是年华，而是心境；青春不是桃面、丹唇、柔膝，而是深沉的意志、宏伟的想象、炽热的感情；青春是生命的深泉在涌流。

青春气贯长虹，勇锐盖过怯弱，进去压倒苟安，如此锐气，二十后生有之，六旬男子则更多见。年年有加，并非垂老；理想丢弃，方堕暮年。

2、岁月悠悠，衰微只及肌肤；热忱抛却，颓唐必至灵魂。烦忧、惶恐、丧失自信，定使心灵扭曲，意气如灰。

无论年届花甲，抑或二八芳龄，心中皆有生命之欢乐，奇迹之诱惑，孩童般天真久盛不衰。人人心中皆有一台天线，只要你从天上人间接受美好、希望、欢乐、勇气和力量的信号，你就青春永驻，风华常存。

一旦天线倒塌，锐气被冰雪覆盖，玩世不恭、自暴自弃油然而生，几十年方二十，实已垂老矣；然则只要竖起天线，捕捉乐观的信号，你就有望在八十高龄告别尘寰时仍觉得年轻。

3、Five Hundred Times 五百遍

In the traffic court of a large mid-western city, a young lady was brought before the judge to answer a ticket given her for driving through a red light. She explained to his honor that she was a school teacher and requested an immediate disposal of her case in order that she might hasten on to her classes. A wild gleam came into the judge's eye. "You are a school teacher, eh?" said he. "Madam, I shall realize my lifelong ambition. Sit down at that table and write 'I went through a red light' five hundred times."

在中西部一个大城市的交通法庭里，一位年轻女士被带到法官面前，她由于开车闯红灯被开了罚单。女士向法官解释，她是一名学校老师，请求法官马上处理她的案子，以便可以赶回去上课。法官眼中闪过一丝狡黠，说道：“你是学校的老师，对吗？女士，我马上要实现我毕生的愿望了。在那张桌子旁坐下，写‘我开车闯了红灯’500遍。”

4、Second language

A mother mouse was out for a stroll with her babies when she spotted a cat crouched behind a bush. She watched the cat, and the cat watched the mice.

Mother mouse barked fiercely, "Woof, woof, woof!" The cat was so terrified that it ran for it's life.

Mother mouse turned to her babies and said, "Now, do you understand the value of a second language?" 一只母老鼠带着孩子出来散步，突然她看见一只猫正在灌木丛中虎视耽耽。母老鼠向着猫叫道：“汪，汪，汪”，猫听了非常害怕，拼命跑走了。母老鼠回过头洋洋自得的对孩子说：“现在你知道外语的重要性了吧。”

5、verybody’s business is nobody’s business

There are four people named everybody, somebody, anybody and nobody. There was an important job to be done and everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure that somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but nobody did it. Some body got angry about that because it was everybody’s job. Everybody thought anybody could do it, but nobody realized that everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that everybody blamed somebody when nobody did what anybody could have done.

有四个人分别叫做：“每个人”、“某个人”、“任何人”和“没有人”。有一次，他们每个人都要被要求去完成一件重要的工作。大家都相信某个人会去做这件事。其实，任何人都可以完成这项工作的，但就是没有人去做。某个人对此感到非常气愤，因为这是大家的任务。每个人都认为任何人可以完成这件事，但没有人认识到大家都不会去做这件事。结果呢，当没有人去做其实任何人都可以做到的事情的时候，每个人都在抱怨某个人。

6、A Woodman came into a forest to ask the Trees to give him a handle for Ax. It seemed so modest a request that the principal tree at once agreed to it, and it was settled among them that the plain, homely Ash should furnish what was wanted.

No sooner had the Woodman fitted the staff to his purpose ,than he began laying about him on all side. felling the whole matter too late, whispered to the Cedar: "the first concession has lost all ;if we has not a sacrificed our humble neighbor, we might have yet stood for ages ourselves."

有一个樵夫来到森林里，要求树给他一跟斧柄，看来他的请求非常谦虚，立刻得到了树的首领的同意。他们决定由平凡而朴素的白杨树来提供所需要的东西。樵夫刚按好斧柄，就开始到处乱砍，森林里最高的树都砍倒了，树林现在察觉大势已去，就小声对衫树说："第一次的让步已失去了一切。如果我们不牺牲我们的小小的邻居，我们自己还可以活无数年呢。"

7、Friends(朋友)

A true friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart.

真正的朋友是一个可以援手帮助并感动你心扉的人。

There's always going to be people that hurt you,so what you have to do is keep on trusting and just be more careful about who you trust next time around.

别人常常伤害你，所以你该继续付出信任，并小心挑选你下次信任的人。

Make youself a better person and know who you are before you try and know someone else and expect them to know you.

在你想了解别人也想让别人了解你之前，先完善并了解自己。

Remember:Whatever happens,happens for a reason.

要记住：任何事情的发生都有因有起。