精選四分鐘左右的英語美文朗誦
通過評價機制,促進學生對經典美文的閱讀和積累,潛移默化學生的文化素養尤其是文學素養。下面小編整理了四分鐘左右的英語美文，希望大家喜歡!
A Mother’s Letter to a Son Starting Kindergarten
母親致開始幼兒園生活的兒子的一封信
Dear George,
When your big brother and your little dog and I walked you up to school today, you had no idea how I was feeling.
You were so excited, you had packed and unpacked the washable markers and safety scissors in your backpack a dozen times.
I am really going to miss those lazy mornings when we waved your brother and sister off to school. I'd settle in with my coffee and newspaper, handing you the comics to color while you watched Sesame Street.
親愛的喬治：
今天我和你哥哥還有你的小狗送你上學的時候，我當時的心情你一無所知。
你是那麼的興奮，反反覆覆地把可擦洗記號筆和安全剪刀放進揹包又拿出來。
我真的會懷念那些慵懶的早晨，我們跟你去上學的哥哥和姐姐揮手道別，然後我會拿着咖啡和報紙坐好，把用來塗色的連環畫遞給看《芝麻街》的你。
Because you are my youngest, I had learned a few things by the time you came along. I found out that the seemingly endless days of babyhood are gone like lightning. I blinked, and your older siblings were setting off for school as eagerly as you did this morning.
你是我最小的孩子，所以有你的時候我已經學會了不少事情。我發現那看似無盡的嬰兒時期一縱而逝。一眨眼的功夫，你的哥哥姐姐就開始上學了，急切的程度跟今天早晨的你別無二致。
You didn't go to preschool and I'm not exactly Maria Montessori. I hope that doesn't hold you back. You learned numbers by helping me count the soda cans we returned to the store. And you do a fine job of writing your name on the sidewalk in chalk, in capitals to make it look more important. Just the other day, you asked me why I always call you “Honey” when we're reading stories and “Bud” when you're helping with chores. My explanation of the difference between a cuddly mood and a matey one seemed to satisfy you.
你沒有上過託兒所，我也不是瑪麗亞·蒙特梭利，希望這沒有耽誤你。因爲幫我數還回商店的汽水瓶，你學會了數數。你用粉筆在人行道上寫下的自己的名字也很不錯，還會大寫，讓自己的名字看起來更重要。就在前兩天你還問我，爲什麼我們讀故事的時候我總叫你“親愛的”，而幫我幹活兒時卻叫你“朋友”。我解釋了表達愛撫的情感和夥伴式情感的不同，你似乎感到很滿意。
I have to admit that in my mind's eye, an image of myself while you're in school has developed. I see myself updating all the photo albums and starting the novel I always wanted to write. As the summer wound down and more frequent quarrels erupted between you and your siblings, I looked forward to that day.
And then this morning, I walked you to your classroom with a picture of the president on one wall and of Bambi on the opposite. You found the coat hook with your name above it right away, and you gave me one of your characteristically fierce, too?tight hugs. This time you were ready to let go before I was.
Maybe someday you will deliver a kindergartner with your own wide?set eyes and sudden grin to the first day of school. When you turn at the door to wave good?bye, he or she will be too deep in conversation with a new friend to notice.
And then, you'll know.
Love, Mom
我必須承認，我的腦海裏開始展現出一幅你上幼兒園後我的形象。我彷彿看到我在更新所有的影集，開始寫那本我計劃已久的小說。隨着夏季的流轉，你和哥哥姐姐之間的口角將會更加頻繁地爆發。我盼望着這一天的到來。
今天早晨，我送你到了教室，你們教室裏的一面牆上掛着總統像，對面卻貼着小鹿斑比。你馬上就找到了寫着自己名字的衣帽鉤，給了我一個超熱烈的擁抱，這就是你的風格啊!但這次你比我更早地放開了手。
也許有一天你也會送孩子去幼兒園，他也像你在開學第一天一樣，張大眼睛，卻又突然咧嘴而笑。當你在門口轉身揮手再見時，他或者她已經沉浸於和新朋友的交談中了，根本沒注意到你。
那一刻，你就會明白媽媽的心情了。
四分鐘左右的英語美文鑑賞Working Christmas Day
聖誕節急診
It was unusually quiet in the emergency room on December 25.
十二月二十五日，急診室裏異乎尋常地安靜。
I was triage nurse that day. I didn't think there would be any patients, sighing about having to work on Christmas. Just then five bodies showed up at my desk, a pale woman and four small children.
我是當天的分診護士。我想不會有什麼病人來的。當我正嘆息着聖誕節還要工作的時候，五個人出現在我的辦公桌前——一個面色蒼白的婦女，帶着四個小孩兒。
“Are you all sick?” I asked suspiciously.
我有些懷疑地問：“你們都病了嗎?”
“Yes,” she said weakly and lowered her head.
“嗯。”她虛弱地回答道，低下了頭。
But when it came to descriptions of their presenting problems, things got a little vague. Two of the children had headaches, but the headaches weren't accompanied by the normal body language of holding the head or trying to keep it still. Two children had earaches, but only one could tell me which ear was affected. The mother complained of a cough but seemed to work to produce it.
但是當他們開始描述現在的病情時，事情就有點讓人摸不着頭腦了。其中兩個孩子頭痛，但是他們的頭痛並沒有伴隨着通常出現的肢體症狀，像抱頭或者試着讓頭保持不動等。還有，兩個孩子說耳朵痛，但只有一個能告訴我是哪隻耳朵痛。孩子的母親訴說她有咳嗽症狀，但咳嗽好像是用力裝出來的。
Something was wrong, but I didn't say anything but explained that it might be a little while before a doctor saw her. She responded, “Take your time; it's warm in here.”
有點不對頭，但是我也沒說什麼，只是解釋說，過一陣兒醫生纔會來給她檢查。她回答說：“不着急，醫院裏挺暖和的。”
On a hunch, I checked the chart after the admitting clerk had finished registering the family. No address—they were homeless. The waiting room was warm.
接診員填好這個家庭的登記表後，出於直覺，我查看了一下。上面沒寫地址——他們無家可歸。候診室裏很暖和。
I looked out at the family huddled by the Christmas tree. The littlest one was pointing at the television and exclaiming something to her mother. The oldest one was looking at an ornament on the Christmas tree.
我向外看去，只見這一家人擠在聖誕樹旁，最小的孩子指着電視，正向母親驚呼着什麼，最大的那個正在看聖誕樹上的一件裝飾品。
I went back to the nurses' station and mentioned we had a homeless family in the waiting room. The nurses, grumbling about working Christmas, turned to compassion for a family just trying to get warm on Christmas. The team went into action, much as we do when there's a medical emergency. But this one was a Christmas emergency.
我回到護士室，講述了候診室裏這無家可歸的一家子的事。原本抱怨聖誕節還要上班的護士們都轉而對在聖誕節只祈求溫暖的這家人感到非常同情。這個團隊馬上展開行動，就好像我們對待醫療緊急情況一樣，只不過這次是“聖誕節急診”。
We were all offered a free meal in the hospital cafeteria on Christmas Day, so we claimed that meal and prepared a banquet for our Christmas guests. We needed presents. We put together oranges and apples in a basket. We collected from different departments candies, crayons and other things available that could be presents. As seriously as we met the physical needs of the patients that came to us that day, our team worked to meet the needs, and exceed the expectations, of a family who just wanted to be warm on Christmas Day.
聖誕節這天，醫院食堂免費給我們提供一頓飯，於是我們都把飯領回來，爲我們的聖誕客人準備了一次宴會。還需要一些禮物，我們就把蘋果和橘子放到一起，裝進籃子，還從各個科室收集了糖果、蠟筆和其他能當作禮物的現成的東西。我們的團隊工作嚴肅，就像滿足當天其他患者的需要一樣，我們盡力滿足這家人只想過一個溫暖聖誕節的願望，並遠遠超乎了他們的期望。
Later, as the family walked to the door to leave, the four-year-old came running back, gave me a hug and whispered, “Thanks for being our angels today.”
後來，當這家人走到門前要離開的時候，那個四歲的孩子跑回來，給了我一個擁抱，並在我的耳邊悄悄地說：“謝謝你，今天你是我們家的天使。”
四分鐘左右的英語美文賞析The Priorities of Life
生活中的輕重緩急
Friday afternoon, when I was worrying about my pregnancy and the future conflicts between work and family, Dan’s assistant dropped a memo at my desk.
週五下午，一疊6寸厚的文件在我辦公桌上放着。我在最上邊放了一根尺子，以表明工作進度。
We were supposed to run a new set of numbers on our report. “Have them sent to me by Monday,” Dan, my work-obsessed boss, wrote.
我們被要求在報告中將一組新的數字包括進去。“下週一交給我。”他寫道。
It was near leaving time. The mainframe computer was already shut down for the weekend, which meant doing them by hand on Saturday.
我看了一分鐘。主機計算機已經關閉，因爲是週末。
Working extra hours always made me doubt if I would have time with my family.
加班總是讓我懷疑我會有時間和我的家人相處。
I had to talk to Mike, my team leader. “We don’t need to,” Mike said, “I’ll run a program first thing Monday when the computer comes back up. And I’ll explain things to Dan on Tuesday. The extra day means there won’t be any mistakes.”
“我們不需要這樣做，”邁克背靠椅子笑着說，“下週一，電腦一啓動，我首先運行一個程序。週二我會對丹解釋。多加一天可以保證不出任何差錯。”
I had a terrible weekend.
我過了一個糟糕的週末。
After this, how would Dan view my maternity leave?
在此違抗上司命令事件之後，丹會如何看待我的產假呢?
Monday, Mike finished running the program before I came in. I checked the information for my division.
週一，邁克在我上班之前就運行了那個程序。我核校我的部門的有關數據。
Tuesday, Dan asked me into his office.
週二，丹叫我到他的辦公室去”
“I wanted those reports yesterday so I could get my notes ready. If that meant working on a Saturday, that is normal at your level of responsibility. Instead, you deliberately disobeyed me.”
“我昨天需要那些報告，以使用來寫我的發言提綱。如果那意味着你週六要幹活的話，這是你責任分內的事，是正常的。相反，你卻故意違抗。”
I struggled to hold back my tears. That was when Mike breezed in, plopping the new report on his desk. “Here we go, Dan,” he said, “Guaranteed accuracy down to the decimal. To me that was worth taking an extra day.”“Why didn’t you work on Saturday to finish this?”“It seemed like a huge waste when we could just use the computer and get it right,” Mike said, “so we waited until Monday.” Dan stared at the top page for a long while, then nodded. At that moment the tension went out of the room like air going out of a balloon. He even cracked a smile.
我極力剋制着自己的淚水。正在這時，邁克飄然而進，手裏拿着新的報告。“丹，給，”他啪的一聲把報告放在桌子上。“保證準確無誤，分毫不差。在我看來，一天的耽誤是值得的。”“爲什麼你們不在週六完成?”“那會是對人力的巨大浪費，因爲這活兒我們可以用電腦來做，而且準確性高，”邁克說，“這樣，我們就推到了週一做。我得遵循我自己的判斷。”丹花了很長時間看第一面，然後點了點頭。在那一刻，緊張的氣氛頓時煙消雲散，就像氣球泄氣那樣。他甚至咧嘴笑了。
Later, finally on my way to talk to Dan about my pregnancy, I stopped by Mike’s cubicle. There he was, working as hard as ever, surrounded by the photos of his boys, the football team he coached, his family on Easter Sunday. That’s why he didn’t make time wasting decisions or worry about office politics. He had his priorities right: faith, family, then work. And because of that he was good at all three.
過後，當我最終要去找丹談我身孕之事時，我順便去了下邁克的隔間。他在那兒，和以往一樣努力地工作着，周圍貼着孩子們。阻截手訓練隊和復活節全家福的照片，這些不是分心的東西，而是他力量的源泉。正因爲如此，他從不做浪費時間的決策，從來不把自己的地位或辦公室政治放在心上。他對輕重緩急心中自有原則：信仰口家庭，然後纔是工作。正因爲如此，他在三方面都很成功。
“Thanks, Mike.” I said. “I learned to get my priorities straight. Now I’m ready to tell my boss the good news.”
“邁克，謝謝你爲我做的一切。”我也有了自己的輕重緩急的原則。我這就去告訴老闆我的那個好消息。
