簡單的英語美文誦讀摘抄
閲讀經典美文可以讓學生穿越時空與作者展開靈魂的交流,在不斷提升的精神境界中讓生命之樹得以枝繁葉茂。下面小編整理了簡單的英語美文誦讀，希望大家喜歡!
Life Struggle生命的拼搏
Once upon a time in a land far far away, there was a wonderful old man who loved everything. Animals, spiders, insects...
One day while walking through the woods the nice old man found a cocoon of a butterfly. He took it home.
A few days later, a small opening appeared; he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther.
Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon.
The butterfly then emerged easily.
But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any Moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings.
It never was able to fly.
What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were Nature's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If we were allowed to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been.
And we could never fly.
從前，在一個非常非常遙遠的國度，有一位心地善良的老人。他喜愛一切東西，動物啦、蜘蛛啦、昆蟲啦。
一天，這位善良的老人在樹林裏散步的時候，發現了一個蝴蝶的繭。他把繭帶回了家。
幾天後，繭裂開了一道小縫。老人幾小時地坐在那裏，看着蝴蝶掙扎着讓自己的身體從小縫中擠出來。後來，蝴蝶破繭好象停了下來，沒有什麼進展了。看來蝴蝶好象是撐到了最後，再也不可能前進了。
看到這裏，老人決定幫助蝴蝶。於是他找出一把剪刀，把繭剩餘的部分剪破了。
這樣，蝴蝶就輕易地從繭中脱出來了。
但是，蝴蝶的身子腫脹着，翅膀又小又皺。老人繼續觀察着蝴蝶，因為他期望着這樣一個時刻的到來：蝴蝶的翅膀會變大，大到能支持它的身體，而蝴蝶的身體屆時也會縮小。可是什麼也沒有發生。事實上，這隻蝴蝶的餘生中就只能拖着臃腫的身體和萎縮的翅膀爬來爬去了。
它永遠也不能飛起來了。
在好心和匆忙間，老人並不理解，蝴蝶破繭而出時需要的那種束縛和掙扎其實是大自然用來將蝴蝶的體液擠到翅膀中的方法，這樣，蝴蝶一旦能從繭中脱出，就能準備好飛翔了。
有時候，掙扎正是我們生活中所需要的。如果我們能得以毫無障礙地走過一生，這會使我們軟弱。我們就不可能變得強壯。
重要的是，我們就不可能騰飛。
簡單的英語美文誦讀鑑賞Louder than Anything You Can Say行勝於言
I teach economics at UNLV three times per week. Last Monday, at the beginning of class, I cheerfully asked my students how their weekend had been. One young man said that his weekend had not been so good. He had his wisdom teeth removed. The young man then proceeded to ask me why I always seemed to be so cheerful.
我在內華達大學拉斯維加斯分校教經濟學，每週上三次課。上週一，在剛開始上課的時候，我興致勃勃地問學生們週末過得怎麼樣。一個男生説，他的週末不太愉快，因為他的智齒被拔掉了，結果讓他痛了一整天。然後，他又問我為何我總能保持那麼快樂的心情。
His question reminded me of something I'd read somewhere before: "Every morning when you get up, you have a choice about how you want to approach life that day," I said. "I choose to be cheerful."
他的問題使我想起了一句不知出處的話：“每天早上，當你起牀的時候，你可以選擇如何面對一天的生活”，我説：“我選擇快樂。”
"Let me give you an example," I continued, addressing all sixty students in the class. "In addition to teaching here at UNLV, I also teach out at the community college in Henderson, 17 miles down the freeway from where I live. One day a few weeks ago I drove those 17 miles to Henderson. I exited the freeway and turned onto College Drive. I only had to drive another quarter mile down the road to the college. But just then my car died. I tried to start it again, but the engine wouldn't turn over. So I put my flashers on, grabbed my books, and marched down the road to the college.
“我給你們舉個例子吧，”我對着全班六十個學生繼續説道，“除了在這兒上課，我還在一所社區大學任教，那兒離我家17英里。幾周前的一天，我駕車前往那所學校，駛離高速公路後，我轉入了校園區。在只差400多米就到學校的時候，我的汽車拋錨了。我努力重新發動引擎，但就是不行。我只好把指示燈打亮，然後抓起課本直奔學校。”
"As soon as I got there I called AAA and arranged for a tow truck to meet me at my car after class. The secretary in the Provost's office asked me what has happened. 'This is my lucky day,' I replied, smiling.
我一到學校就馬上打電話給汽車協會，讓他們在我下課後開輛拖車過來。院長辦公室的祕書問我發生了什麼事。“今天我真走運。”我笑着答道。
"'Your car breaks down and today is your lucky day?' She was puzzled. 'What do you mean?'
“你的車壞了，你還説今天走運?”她一臉的困惑。“你什麼意思啊?”
"'I live 17 miles from here.' I replied. 'My car could have broken down anywhere along the freeway. It didn't. Instead, it broke down in the perfect place: off the freeway, within walking distance of here. I'm still able to teach my class, and I've been able to arrange for the tow truck to meet me after class. If my car was meant to break down today, it couldn't have been arranged in a more convenient fashion.'
我回答到：“我住在離這兒17英里的地方。其實我的車有可能在高速公路上的什麼地方就壞掉了的，但慶幸的是，沒有。相反，汽車是在離開了高速公路後才拋錨，而且距離學校很近。我還趕得及上課，還能夠安排拖車在課後來處理。如果我的汽車是註定了要在今天拋錨的，那在這個位置拋錨已經是非常幸運了。”
The secretary's eyes opened wide, and then she smiled. I smiled back and headed for class." So ended my story.
“那個祕書聽得目瞪口呆地，然後她笑了。我也衝她笑了一下，便上課去了。”這就是我的故事。
I scanned the sixty faces in my economics class at UNLV. Despite the early hour, no one seemed to be asleep. Somehow, my story had touched them. Or maybe it wasn't the story at all. In fact, it had all started with a student's observation that I was cheerful.
我掃視了一下全班六十張臉。雖然是在大清早，但沒有一個學生在打盹兒。不知道為什麼，他們好像被我的故事觸動了。也許觸動他們的並不是故事本身。其實，從一開始有學生髮現我興致高昂的時候，他們便已經被我的快樂感染了。
Deepak Chopra has quoted an Indian wise man as saying, "Who you are speaks louder to me than anything you can say." I suppose it must be so.
著名的印度作家迪帕克·喬布拉，曾經引述過一位印度智者的名言：“你為人行事的本身，比你的語言更具説服力。”我認為這的確是真理。
簡單的英語美文誦讀賞析Big Rocks 人生的大石頭
One day, an expert in time management was speaking to a group of students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget.
一天，時間管理專家為一羣學生講課。他現場做了演示，給學生們留下了一生都難以磨滅的印象。
As he stood in front of the group of overachievers he said, "OK, time for a quiz." He pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouth jar and set it on the table in front of him. He also produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?"
站在那些高智商高學歷的學生前面，他説：“我們來做個小測驗”，拿出一個一加侖的廣口瓶放在他面前的桌上。隨後，他取出一堆拳頭大小的石塊，仔細地一塊放進玻璃瓶。直到石塊高出瓶口，再也放不下了，他問道：“瓶子滿了?”
Everyone in the class yelled, "Yes." The time management expert replied, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. He dumped some gravel in and shook the jar, causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. He then asked the group once more, "Is this jar full?"
所有學生應道：“滿了!”。時間管理專家反問：“真的?”他伸手從桌下拿出一桶礫石，倒了一些進去，並敲擊玻璃瓶壁使礫石填滿下面石塊的間隙。“現在瓶子滿了嗎?”他第二次問道。
By this time the class was on to him. "Probably not," one of them answered. "Good!" he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?"
但這一次學生有些明白了，“可能還沒有”，一位學生應道。“很好!”專家説。他伸手從桌下拿出一桶沙子，開始慢慢倒進玻璃瓶。沙子填滿了石塊和礫石的所有間隙。他又一次問學生：“瓶子滿了嗎?”
"No!" the class shouted. Once again he said, "Good." Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?" One eager student raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in it!"
“沒滿!”學生們大聲説。他再一次説：“很好!”然後他拿過一壺水倒進玻璃瓶直到水面與瓶口平。抬頭看着學生，問道：“這個例子説明什麼?”一個心急的學生舉手發言：“無論你的時間多少，如果你確實努力，你可以做更多的事情!”
"No," the speaker replied, "that's not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is if you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all. What are the 'big rocks' in your life? Time with your loved ones, your education, your dreams, a worthy cause, teaching or mentoring others? Remember to put these big rocks in first or you'll never get them in at all."
“不!”時間管理專家説，“那不是它真正的意思，這個例子告訴我們：如果你不是先放大石塊，那你就再也不能把它放進瓶子了。那麼，什麼是你生命中的大石頭呢?也許是你的道德感、你的夢想?還有你的---切切記得先去處理這些大石塊，否則，一輩子你都不能做!”
我們可曾問過自己這個問題：人一生的“大石頭”是什麼?找出自己人生的“大石頭”，然後把它們先放進我們人生的瓶子中!
