常青藤名家散文背诵选

Unit 1 A Great Friend

As I am now a senior high school student, I have a great many friends, but there is one whom I prize over all the rest. I first made his acquaintance when I began to go to school. He has been my constant companion ever since.

Though he is serious in appearance, he never fails to be interesting. Often he is clever, sometimes even merry and gay. He is the most knowledgeable friend a person could have. He knows virtually every language of the world, all the events of history, and the words of all the great poets and philosophers. A kindly benefactor, he is admired and enjoyed by everyone who makes his acquaintance.

To me, he has been a great teacher as well as a friend. He first taught me the secrets of my own language and then those of others. With these keys he showed us how to unlock all the arts and sciences of man.

My friend is endlessly patient. Dull though I may be, I can return to him again and again, and he is always ready to teach me. When I am bored, he entertains me. When I am dispirited, he lifts me up. When I am lonely, he keeps me company. He is a friend not only to me but to millions around the world. Shall I tell you his name? His name is “reading”.

Unit 2 The Joy of Labour

Wise men of ancient times and successful men of today have told us that labor is sweet. Its reward is not material gain but what one becomes by it. Work does much more for us than just giving us a living; it gives us our life and the reason for living. The real joys of life come from doing something and doing it well.

All of us hope for success, but it is illusive and hard to keep. It nearly always slips away from one like sand through the fingers, like water through a leaky pail, unless it is held tight by hard work, day by day, night by night, year in year out. Everyone who fears failure should work harder and harder with a faithful heart as long as he lasts.

Unit 3 We’re Just Beginning

Charles F. Kettering

“We are reading the first verse of the first chapter of a book whose pages are infinite…”

I do not know who wrote these words, but I have always liked them as a reminder that the future can be anything we want to make it. We can take the mysterious, hazy future and carve out of it anything that we can imagine, just as a sculptor carves a statue from a shapeless stone.

We are all in the position of the farmer. If we plant a good seed, we reap a good harvest. If our seed is poor and full of weeds, we reap a useless crop. If we plant nothing at all, we harvest nothing at all.

I want the future to be better than the past. I don’t want it contaminated by the mistakes and