高中课外阅读--英语美文欣赏79(中英双语)

英语美文欣赏79

Making the tacks做鞋钉

The hardworking blacksmith Jones used to work all day in his shop and so hard working was he that at times he would make the sparks fly from his hammer.

The son of Mr. Smith, a rich neighbor, used to come to see the blacksmith everyday and for hours and hours he would enjoy himself watching how the tradesman worked.

"Young man, why don't you try your hand to learn to make shoe tacks, even if it is only to pass the time?" said the blacksmith. "Who knows, one day, it may be of use to you."

The lazy boy began to see what he could do. But after a little practice he found that he was becoming very skilled and soon he was making some of the finest tacks.

Old Mr. Smith died and the son on account of the war lost all his goods. He had to leave home and was forced to take up residence in another country. It so happened that in this village there were numerous shoemakers who were spending a lot of money to buy tacks for their shoes and even at times when they paid high prices they were not always able to get what they wanted, because in that part of the country there was a high demand for soldiers' shoes.

Our young Mr. Smith, who was finding it difficult to earn his daily bread, remembered that once upon a time he had learned the art of making tacks and had the sudden idea of making a bargain with the shoemakers. He told them that he would make the tacks if they would help to get him settled in his workshop. The shoemakers were only too glad of the offer. And after a while, Mr. Smith found that he was soon making the finest tacks in the village.

"How funny it seems," he used to say, "even making tacks can bring a fortune. My trade is more useful to me than were all my former riches."

琼斯是个非常勤劳的铁匠，常常一整天都在店里工作。他工作非常努力，他的铁锤下常常是火花飞舞。

邻居史密斯先生很有钱，他的儿子常常来看琼斯打铁。他喜欢看这位工匠工作，常常一看就是几个小时。

“年轻人，为什么不亲自尝试一下如何制作鞋钉呢，哪怕只是为了消磨时间？”铁匠说，“没准，有一天它会对你有帮助。”

懒懒的孩子开始想看看自己到底能做什么。然而，仅仅经过很短的练习，他便发现自己非常熟练起来，很快他就做出了最好的鞋钉。

老史密斯先生去世了，而他的儿子则因为战争的缘故失去了所有的财产。

他不得不离开家园，在另外一个国家住了下来。巧的是，这个国家的这个地区，急需大量军鞋，所以这个村子里有很多鞋匠，他们总是花费很多钱购买鞋钉。有时，即使付了很高的价钱，也买不到他们想要的鞋钉。

在这食不果腹的困难时刻，年轻的史密斯记起自己曾学过制鞋钉这门手艺，便突发奇想，想和这些鞋匠们做一个交易。他对他们说，如果他们可以帮助他成立一个店铺，他就可以做鞋钉。鞋匠们对他的这一提议欣喜若狂。很快，史密斯发现他做的鞋钉是村里面最好的。

“这真是有趣，”他常常会说，“即便是做鞋钉也会带来财富。与我以前所有的财富相比，我现在做的事情对于我来说更有用。”

母亲的手

童年的我们被呵护着，一双温柔白皙的手，带来无私的母爱。恍然间，那双手已经不再温柔了，甚至有些粗糙，但那双手依然给我们带来温暖。世界上有种最无私的爱，那就是母爱，无论沧海桑田，还是天涯海角，母爱永远难以割断。记忆深处的那一双手，总是母亲的手。

Night after night, she came to tuck me in, even long after my childhood years. Following her longstanding custom, she'd lean down and push my long hair out of the way, then kiss my forehead.

I don't remember when it first started annoying me — her hands pushing my hair that way. But it did annoy me, for they felt work-worn and rough against my young skin. Finally, one night, I shouted out at her, "Don't do that anymore —your hands are too rough!" She didn't say anything in reply. But never again did my mother close out my day with that familiar expression of her love.

Time after time, with the passing years, my thoughts returned to that night. By then I missed my mother's hands, missed her goodnight kiss on my forehead. Sometimes the incident seemed very close, sometimes far away. But always it lurked, in the back of my mind.

Well, the years have passed, and I'm not a little girl anymore. Mom is in her mid-seventies, and those hands I once thought to be so rough are still doing things for me and my family. She's been our doctor, reaching into a medicine cabinet for the remedy to calm a young girl's stomach or soothe the boy's scraped knee. She cooks the best fried chicken in the world... gets stains out of blue jeans like I never could...

Now, my own children are grown and gone. Mom no longer has Dad, and on special occasions, I find myself drawn next door to spend the night with her. So it was late on Thanksgiving Eve, as I slept in the bedroom of my youth, a familiar hand hesitantly run across my face to brush the hair from my forehead. Then a kiss,

ever so gently, touched my brow.

In my memory, for the thousandth time, I recalled the night my young voice complained, "Don't do that anymore —your hands are too rough!" Catching Mom's hand in hand, I blurted out how sorry I was for that night. I thought she'd remember, as I did. But Mom didn't know what I was talking about. She had forgotten — and forgiven — long ago.

That night, I fell asleep with a new appreciation for my gentle mother and her caring hands. And the guilt that I had carried around for so long was nowhere to be found.

Love is a two-way street爱是一条双行道

A father sat at his desk poring over his monthly bills when his young son rushed in and announced,

“Dad, because this is your birthday and you’re 55 years old, I’m going to give you 55 kisses, one for each year!” When the boy started making good on his word, the father exclaimed, “Oh, Andrew, don’t do it now; I’m too busy!”

The youngster immediately fell silent as tears welled up in his big blue eyes. Apologically the father said, “You can finish later.”

The boy said nothing but quietly walked away, disappointment written over his face. That evening the father said, “Come and finish the kisses now, Andrew!” But the boy didn’t respond.

Unfortunately, a few days later after this incident, the boy had an accident and was drowned. His heartbroken father wrote...

“If only I could tell him how much I regret my thoughtless words, and could be a ssured that he knows how much my heart is aching.”

…Love is a two-way street. Any loving act must be warmly accepted or it will be taken as rejection and can leave a scar. If we are too busy to give and receive love, we are too busy! Nothing is more important than responding with love to the cry for love from those who are near and precious to us. Because... there may be no chance at all as in the case of the little boy...

父亲坐在办公桌旁，正盯着那些堆积了一个月来的账单，这时，他的小儿子冲了过来，大声宣布：

“爸爸，因为今天是你五十五岁的生日，我想给你五十五个吻，一年一个！”当男孩正要兑现诺言时，他爸爸大声说道：“哦，安德鲁，现在不行，我太忙了！”

小男孩马上不吭声了，蓝色的大眼睛里涌满了泪水。父亲深表歉意地说：“过会有空再亲吧。”

男孩什么也没说，只是静静地走开了，失望的表情溢于言表。那天晚上，父亲说：“来吧安德鲁，现在可以亲了！”但是，孩子却没有做出回应。

不幸的是，这件事刚过去几天之后，小男孩就不幸溺水身亡。伤心欲绝的爸爸写道：

“如果我早告诉他，对于那些无心的话我是多么后悔，他一定会明白我的心有多么痛。”

爱，是一条双行道。对于爱的表示一定要热心地接受，否则对方会以为你拒绝了，从而留下一道伤痕。如果我们忙得连给予和接受爱的时间都没有，那未免也忙得太过分了！对于那些在我们身边，对我们弥足珍贵的人，用爱去回应他们爱的渴望，这最重要不过了！因为……如果发生像小男孩这样的情况，即使后悔也没有机会了。

果园里的金子

There was once a farmer who had a fine olive orchard. He was very hardworking, and the farm always prospered under his care. But he knew that his three sons despised the farm work, and were eager to make wealth, trough adventure.

When the farmer was old, and felt that his time had come to die, he called the three sons to him and said, "My sons, there is a pot of gold hidden in the olive orchard. Dig for it, if you wish it."

The sons tried to get him to tell them in what part of the orchard the gold was hidden; but he would tell them nothing more.

After the farmer was dead, the sons went to work to find the pot of gold; since they did not know where the hiding-place was, they agreed to begin in a line, at one end of the orchard, and to dig until one of them should find the money.

They dug until they had turned up the soil from one end of the orchard to the other, round the tree-roots and between them. But no pot of gold was to be found. It seemed as if someone must have stolen it, or as if the farmer had been wandering in his wits. The three sons were bitterly disappointed to have all their work for nothing.

The next olive season, the olive trees in the orchard bore more fruit than they had ever given; when it was sold, it gave the sons a whole pot of gold.

And when they saw how much money had come from the orchard, they suddenly understood what the wise father had meant when he said, "There is gold hidden in the orchard. Dig for it, if you wish it."

从前有一个农民，他有一座漂亮的橄榄园。他非常勤劳，而且农场在他的照管下蒸蒸日上。可他知道自己的三个儿子瞧不起农活，都迫不及待的想通过

冒险发家致富。

这个农民上了年岁，感到死期快要来临时，将三个儿子叫到身边说：“儿子们，橄榄园里藏有一罐金子。你们想要，就去挖吧。”

儿子们想让父亲告诉他们金子藏在果园的那一块地方，可他什么也没再给他们说。

那个农民死后，三个儿子就开始挖地，想找到那罐金子；因为他们不知道金子藏在什么地方，所以他们一致同意排成一行从果园的一头开始挖起，知道其中一人挖到金子为止.

他们挖啊挖，从果园的一头一直挖到了另一头，果树周围和果树之间也都挖到了，可还是没有找到那罐金子。看来一定是有人已经把那罐金子头走了，要么就是他们的父亲一直在异想天开。三个儿子对他们白干了一场，感到大失所望。

到了第二年的橄榄季节，果园里的橄榄树接出的果子比以往的都多；卖完果子后，三个儿子赚了整整一罐金子。

他们从果园里得到这么多钱后，突然明白了聪明的父亲所说的“果园里藏有金子，想要就去挖吧”这句话的含义。

Words from the Heart心底的话

很多人都期待能听到那“三个字”——我爱你。我在康妮住进病房的那天见到了她，我在那儿当义工。……

Most people need to hear those "three little words"- I love you. Once in a while, they hear them just in time.

I met Connie the day she was admitted to the hospice ward, where I worked as

a volunteer. Her husband, Bill, stood nervously nearby as she was transferred from the gurney to the hospital bed. Although Connie was in the final stages of her fight against cancer, she was alert and cheerful. We got her settled in. I finished marking her name on all the hospital supplies she would be using, then asked if she needed anything.

"Oh, yes," she said, "Would you please show me how to use the TV? I enjoy the soaps so much and I don't want to get behind on what's happening." Connie was a romantic. She loved soap operas, romance novels and movies with a good love story. As we became acquainted, she confided how frustrating it was to be married 32 years to a man who often called her "a silly woman".

"Oh, I know Bill loves me," she said, "but he has never been one to say he loves me, or send cards to me." She sighed and looked out the window at the trees in the courtyard. "I’d give anything if he'd say 'I love you,' but it's just not in his nature."

Bill visited Connie every day. In the beginning, he sat next to the bed while she watched the soaps. Later, when she began sleeping more, he paced up and down the hallway outside her room. Soon, when she no longer watched television and had fewer waking moments, I began spending more of my volunteer time with Bill.

He talked about having worked as a carpenter and how he liked to go fishing. He and Connie had no children, but they'd been enjoying retirement by traveling, until Connie got sick. Bill could not express his feelings about the fact that his wife was dying.

One day, over coffee in the cafeteria, I got him on the subject of women and how we need romance in our lives; how we love to get sentimental1 cards and love letters.

"Do you tell Connie you love her?" I asked (knowing his answer), and he looked at me as if I was crazy.

"I don't have to," he said. "She knows I do!"

"I'm sure she knows," I said, reaching over and touching his hands rough, carpenter's hands that were gripping the cup as if it were the only thing he had to hang onto "but she needs to hear it, Bill. She needs to hear what she has meant to you all these years. Please think about it."

We walked back to Connie’s room. Bill disappeared inside, and I left to visit another patient. Later, I saw Bill sitting by the bed. He was holding Connie's hand as she slept. The date was February 12.

Two days later I walked down the hospice ward at noon. There stood Bill, leaning up against the wall in the hallway, staring at the floor. I already knew from the head nurse that Connie had died at 11 A.M.

When Bill saw me, he allowed himself to come into my arms for a long time. His face was wet with tears and he was trembling. Finally, he leaned back against the wall and took a deep breath.

"I have to say something," he said. "I have to say how good I feel about telling her." He stopped to blow his nose. "I thought a lot about what you said, and this morning I told her how much I loved her... and loved being married to her. You should have seen her smile!"

I went into the room to say my own good bye to Connie. There, on the bedside table, was a large Valentine card from Bill. You know, the sentimental kind that says, "To my wonderful wife... I love you."

The Fox and the Horse狐狸和马一个农夫有一匹勤勤恳恳、任劳任怨为他干活的马，但这匹马现在已经老

了，干活也不行了，所以，农夫不想再给马吃东西。他对马说：“我再也用不着你了，你自己离开马厩走吧，到你比一头狮子更强壮时，我自然会把你牵回来的。”

说完，他打开门，让马自己去谋生去了。

A peasant had a faithful horse which had grown old and could do no more work, so his master no longer wanted to give him anything to eat and said, "I can certainly make no more use of you, but still I mean well by you, and if you prove yourself still strong enough to bring me a lion here, I will maintain you. But for now get out of my stable." And with that he chased him into the open field.

The horse was sad, and went to the forest to seek a little protection there from the weather. There the fox met him and said, "Why do you hang your head so, and go about all alone?"

"Alas," replied the horse, "greed and loyalty do not dwell together in one house. My master has forgotten what services I have performed for him for so many years, and because I can no longer plow well, he will give me no more food, and has driven me out."

"Without giving you a chance?" asked the fox.

"The chance was a bad one. He said, if I were still strong enough to bring him a lion, he would keep me, but he well knows that I cannot do that."

The fox said, "I will help you. Just lie down, stretch out as if you were dead, and do not stir."

The horse did what the fox asked, and then the fox went to the lion, who had his den not far off, and said, "A dead horse is lying out there. Just come with me, and you can have a rich meal."

The lion went with him, and when they were both standing by the horse the fox said, "After all, it is not very comfortable for you here - I tell you what -I will fasten it to you by the tail, and then you can drag it into your cave and eat it in peace."

This advice pleased the lion. He positioned himself, and in order that the fox might tie the horse fast to him, he kept completely quiet. But the fox tied the lion's legs together with the horse's tail, and twisted and fastened everything so well and so strongly that no amount of strength could pull it loose. When he had finished his work, he tapped the horse on the shoulder and said, "Pull, white horse, pull!"

Then up sprang the horse at once, and pulled the lion away with him. The lion began to roar so that all the birds in the forest flew up in terror, but the horse let him roar, and drew him and dragged him across the field to his master's door. When the master saw the lion, he was of a better mind, and said to the horse, "You shall stay with me and fare well." And he gave him plenty to eat until he died.

The Real Meaning of Peace和平的真义There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The king looked at all the pictures. But there were only two he really liked, and he had to choose between them. One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.

But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest — in perfect peace.

Which picture do you think won the prize? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why?

“Because,” explained the king, “peace does not mean to be in a plac e where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace.”

我能来一瓶可口可乐吗？

讲述四川地震中另一种感动——对生命的乐观，本人以小见大，反映乐观之美

“Oh, May I Have a Bottle of Coca cola?” ----Optimism: another kind of spirit in the Sichuan earthquake

“May I have a bottle of coca cola, I’m thirsty?” such a remark appears to be commonplace in our daily life. However, it was of great significance when it was produced on a special occasion by a special person. A little girl made the above remark the minute she was rescued from the ruins of Sichuan earthquake. Suddenly, I was greatly buoyed up, because several days’ grief had taken me away.

I, a sentimental girl, simply forgot there was a kind of spirit called optimism. Yes, optimism is needed in such a life-death battle, and it is also needed in our post-disaster reconstruction. Optimism: a belief in the darkness Optimism can help one to be happier, stronger and more confident. Pessimism leads, by contrast, to hopelessness, sickness and failure. In the context of the great earthquake, what else

can be more helpful and effective than teaching those in trap a spirit named optimism? The belief that you can get through decide whether or not you will. An old man, for instance, living through more than one crisis: the Chinese War against Japan’ Invasion, Chinese War of Liberation, showed his sense of humor and optimism by saying “hey, I thought the shake had brought me aboard!” when he was saved by a contingent of foreign rescue members. Noticeably, the earthquake just like the one of the wars he has experienced, in his eyes, which was destined to be defeated in the end. It was the old man’s belief that he would survive that brought him a second life. A miracle, isn’t it? Optimism: a guide on the way forward An optimistic attitude is not a luxury; but it’s a necessity. The way you look at life will determine how you feel, and how you perform. It has been two months since the Sichuan earthquake took place, facing the fact that our beloved ones have lost and our homeland has been seriously destroyed, how will we view the road ahead? Will we look up in hope or down in despair? I believe in the upward look, and I’m confident that our mother nation will choos e the former, too. Take education as an example. In order to secure the normal education for the students in disaster-affected areas, local and central governments pooled their efforts to provide necessary educational facilities and materials at the first minute, thus making studying a reality instead of a dream, thus turning a sea of ruins into a promising land on which students are playing, learning and growing.

As the leader of the nation, CPC set us an example of optimism, therefore, there’s a good rea son to believe that under the leadership of CPC, Sichuan province will usher a new round of development and prosperity. Optimism diverts our attention away from negativism and channels it into positive, upward thinking. The earthquake is by no means a fate for us but a trial that entails concerted wisdom, efforts of one mind and one heart, and above all, a spirit of optimism.

Life is a process人生是一个过程The results are important, most look forward to, but well worth doing things the process more experience and treasure because of the good results we will be more happy, but the process to enrich our lives. Human life is the last leg of the death, we can not therefore say that our life is of no significance. In fact, life itself has no meaning, only your own life gives you a sense you want to achieve, to enjoy the process is a life of significance. The third sentence is: not necessarily the shortest line between two points.

In interpersonal relationships and in the process of doing things, we are not simply take it for granted that we will be able to do a good job. We sometimes need

to wait for the opportunity, and sometimes need partners, sometimes necessary communication skills. The difficulties encountered. Obstacles, Stiffness, hard-is not necessarily the only way to solve the problem, choose to bypass the difficulties, to bypass obstacles, a chance to solve it again so perhaps more smoothly. Fourth sentence: only know how to stop people know how to speed up the pace.

Most people in the ski time, the greatest experience is not been stopped. Watching other people find it very easy to ski, if not trained their slide, often encountered badly beaten. The crux of the matter is that simply do not know how to maintain a balance. As long as we can in fact stop, it would not hit the tree and hit a rock and hit people. Therefore, only know how to stop people before they know how high-speed ahead. Fifth sentence: give up is a kind of wisdom.

When you have six apples, do not eat them all, because you eat all of the six apples, you only get a taste, that is, Apple's taste. If you put Apple in six out of the five others to eat, but you actually have been five other personal friendship and affection, or even more. When other people have other things, and you will also share. Finally you may have been six different fruits, six different tastes, six different nutrition, six of friendship. People must learn how to use your own things for you in exchange for more important things and the rich. Therefore, it is wisdom to give up.