· "Mom, you must have been terribly bored staying at home when I was a child",I said."Bored? Housework is boring.But you were never boring”.

　　"I didn't believe her, so I said.”Surely children are not as stimulating as a career.”

　　"A career is stimulating,” she said. “ I'm glad I had one. But a career is like an open balloon. It remains inflated only as long as you keep pumping. A child is a seed . You water it, 你盡力照看他，他自己就可以長(zhǎng)成一朵美麗的花。

　　單詞提示：

　　stimulating adj. 刺激的，有刺激性的

　　inflated adj. 膨脹的

　　· 參考譯文:

　　You care for it the best you can . And then it grows all by itself into a beautiful flower.

　　In retrospect, I realize what a dynamic educational technique Papa was offering us. Without being aware of it, our family was growing together, sharing experiences and participating in one another’s education. And by looking at us, listening to us, respecting our input, affirming our value, giving us a sense of dignity, 毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)爸爸是對(duì)我們影響最大的老師。

　　參考譯文:

　　Papa was unquestionably our most influential teacher.

　　One lunchtime when I was in the third grade will stay with me always. I had been picked to be the princess in the school play, and for weeks my mother had painstaking rehearsed my lines with me. 盡管在家里我能把臺(tái)詞念的多熟練,可是只要一上臺(tái),我就連一句都說(shuō)不出來(lái)了。

　　單詞提示：

　　painstaking adj. 辛苦的，辛勤的

　　rehearse v. 預(yù)演，排練

　　參考譯文:

　　But no matter how easily I delivered them at home,as soon as I stepped onstage, every word disappeared from my head.

　　Most of us, however, take life for granted. We know that one day we must die, but usually we picture that day as far in the future. When we are in buoyant health, death is all but unimaginable. We seldom think of it. The days stretch out in an endless vista. 于是我們干著瑣碎的事情，幾乎意識(shí)不到我們對(duì)生活的倦怠態(tài)度

　　單詞提示：

　　buoyant adj. 輕快的

　　unimaginable adj. 想不到的

　　參考譯文:So we go about our petty tasks, hardly aware of our listless attitude toward life.

　　全文翻譯:但是，我們大多數(shù)人把生活認(rèn)為是理所當(dāng)然的。我們知道，某一天我們一定會(huì)死，但通常我們把那天想象在遙遠(yuǎn)的將來(lái)。當(dāng)我們心寬體健時(shí)，死亡幾乎是不可想象的，我們很少想到它。時(shí)日在無(wú)窮的展望中延展著，于是我們干著瑣碎的事情，幾乎意識(shí)不到我們對(duì)生活的倦怠態(tài)度(節(jié)選自海倫凱勒《假如給我三天光明》)

　　At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from earth could already be heard. The child knew he had to start on his journey very soon. He asked God one more question, softly, “Oh God, if I am about to leave now, please tell me my angel's name.”God touched the child on the shoulder and answered, 你的天使的名字不難記住， 你就叫她——媽媽

　　參考譯文：Your angel's name is not hard to remember. You will simply call her Mommy.本段節(jié)選自《孩子的守護(hù)天使》

　　原文：

　　Once upon a time there was a child ready to be born. So one day he asked God, “They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?”

　　God replied, “Among the many angels, I chose one for you. She will be waiting for you and will take care of you.”

　　But the child wasn't sure he really wanted to go. “But tell me, here in Heaven, I don't do anything else but sing and smile, that's enough for me to be happy.”

　　“Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you every day. And you will feel your angel's love and be happy.”

　　“And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me,” the child continued, “if I don't know the language that men talk?”

　　God patted him on the head and said, “Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak.”

　　“And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?”

　　But God had an answer for that question too. “Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray.”

　　“I've heard that on earth there are bad men, who will protect me?”

　　“Your angel will defend you even if it means risking her life!”

　　“But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore,” the child continued warily.

　　God smiled on the young one. “Your angel will always talk to you about me and will teach you the way for you to come back to me, even though I will always be next to you.”

　　At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from earth could already be heard. The child knew he had to start on his journey very soon. He asked God one more question, softly, “Oh God, if I am about to leave now, please tell me my angel's name.”

　　God touched the child on the shoulder and answered, “Your angel's name is not hard to remember. You will simply call her Mommy.”

　　· “I have lived like an animal in the street, but I am going to die like an angel, loved and cared for.” And it was so wonderful to see the greatness of that man who could speak like that, who could die like that without blaming anybody, without cursing anybody, without comparing anything. 像天使一樣――這便是我們的人民的偉大之所在。

　　參考譯文：Like an angel-this is the greatness of our people.

　　本段節(jié)選自印度特蕾莎修女《Beautiful Smile and Love》

　　· With confidence in our armed forces - with the unbounding(此處可以理解為“無(wú)比的”) determination of our people 因此，勝利必定屬于我們，愿上帝保佑我們

　　參考譯文：we will gain the inevitable triumph . so help us God.

　　Inevitable adj. 不可避免的，必然的

　　Triumph n. 勝利，成功

　　本句節(jié)選自美國(guó)富蘭克林·德拉諾·羅斯�？偨y(tǒng)要求國(guó)會(huì)對(duì)日本宣戰(zhàn)時(shí)的發(fā)言

　　· The Population Action International study gives several solutions to the water problem. One way, it says, is to find ways to use water for more than one purpose. Another way is to teach people to be careful not to waste water. 第三就是少用農(nóng)業(yè)水。

　　參考譯文：A third way is to use less water of agriculture.

　　本句節(jié)選自《World Water Shortage》

　　· you see: the beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. the beauty of a woman must be seen in her eyes, 因?yàn)槟鞘撬�心靈的窗戶和愛(ài)居住的地方

　　參考譯文：because that is the doorway to her heart and the place where love resides.

　　本句節(jié)選自《女人的眼淚》

　　· “I really want to give you something…the only thing left is my dying roots.” The tree said with tears. “I don’t need much now, just a place to rest. I am tired after all these years.” The boy replied. “太好了!老樹(shù)墩就是倚著休息的最好地方。過(guò)來(lái)，和我一起坐下休息吧。” The boy sat down and the tree was glad and smiled with tears…

　　參考譯文：“Good! Old tree roots are the best place to lean on and rest. Come here, please sit down with me and have a rest.”

　　本句節(jié)選自《A Boy and His Tree》

　　· To learn that it only takes a few seconds to open profound wounds in persons we love, and that it takes many years to heal them.

　　To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness.

　　To learn that there are persons that love them dearly, but simply do not know how to show their feelings.

　　去了解錢可以買萬(wàn)物，就是買不到幸福;

　　參考譯文：To learn that money can buy everything but happiness.

　　本句節(jié)選自《Interview God》

　　· "When I put the last kid through college. ""When I have paid off the mortgage!""When I get a promotion.""When I reach the age of retirement, I shall live happily ever after! "　 Sooner or later, we must realize there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and for all.

　　生活的真正樂(lè)趣在于旅行的過(guò)程, 而車站不過(guò)是個(gè)夢(mèng);

　　單詞提示：

　　mortgage n. 抵押

　　參考譯文：The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream.

　　本句節(jié)選自《擁抱今天》

　　Through our lives, we can gain a lot and lose so much. But being honest should always be with us. If we bear ourselves in a deceptive and dishonest way, we may succeed temporarily 但從長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)看，他最終是個(gè)失敗者。

　　單詞提示：

　　deceptive adj. 欺騙性的; dishonest adj. 不誠(chéng)實(shí)的; temporarily adv. 臨時(shí)

　　參考譯文：However, from the long-term view, he will be a loser.

　　本句節(jié)選自《The Importance of Being Honest》

　　Her tears now flowing hard. Her fingers shaking, as she slowly reached to get the card. Inside the card, she saw that he had written her a note. Then, as she stared in total silence, this is what he wrote："Hello my love, I know it's been a year since I've been gone, I hope it hasn't been too hard for you to overcome. " "I know it must be lonely, and the pain is very real. For if it was the other way, I know how I would feel. The love we shared made everything so beautiful in life. "我對(duì)你的愛(ài)無(wú)法用言語(yǔ)表達(dá)，你是最完美的妻子。"

　　單詞提示：

　　overcome v. 戰(zhàn)勝，征服;

　　參考譯文：

　　"I loved you more than words can say, you were the perfect wife. "

　　本句節(jié)選自《Roses for Rose》

　　Indeed, just take China as example; Our modern life has been influenced by Western style of living, in so many ways that it's no longer surprising to see teenagers going crazy about rock-and-roll, whole families dining out at McDonald's 甚至老年人穿蘋(píng)果牌牛仔褲

　　單詞提示：

　　rock-and-roll 搖滾樂(lè); teenager n.青少年

　　參考譯文：and even elderly people dressed in Apple Jeans.

　　本句節(jié)選自一篇講演稿《Crossing the Sea》

　　I’ve written eight books. Four have been published and three are still out with the publishers. One stinks. To all those who dream of writing, I’m shouting at you: “Yes, you can. Yes, you can. Don’t listen to them.” I don’t write right but I’ve beaten the odds. 寫(xiě)作很容易，十分有趣，每個(gè)人都做得來(lái)。

　　單詞提示：

　　One stinks 譯為：一本寫(xiě)砸了; beaten the odds 譯為：戰(zhàn)勝了不可能

　　參考譯文：Writing is easy, it’s fun and anyone can do it.

　　本句節(jié)選自《I Never Write Right》

　　個(gè)人學(xué)習(xí)心得：本文中有兩句話很特別，值得學(xué)習(xí)一下

　　第一句是One stinks.本文中說(shuō)的是書(shū)寫(xiě)砸了，我們平時(shí)說(shuō)某件事辦砸了，也可以借鑒一下這個(gè)說(shuō)法。

　　第二句是I’ve beaten the odds.是說(shuō)我戰(zhàn)勝了不可能。

　　· I know my children are going to encounter hardship, and I’m praying they won’t be naive. There’s always a cold wind blowing somewhere. So I’m changing my prayer. Because life is tough, whether we want it to be or not.我們已祈禱了太多的安逸，但卻少有實(shí)現(xiàn)。

　　單詞提示：

　　encounter v. 遭遇; naive adj. 天真的

　　答案：Too many times we pray for ease, but that’s a prayer seldom met.本句節(jié)選自《Growing Roots》

　　1.前半句中祈禱某物最簡(jiǎn)練的表達(dá)就是pray for sth.

　　2.后一句中“少有”的表達(dá)，除了seldom，還可以用few,hardly,rarely來(lái)表達(dá)。

　　It took me a long time and a lot of hard work but I finally returned to the University of Texas in the fall of 1983 -- a year and a half after almost dying. The next few years were very difficult for me, but I truly believe that in order to see beauty in life you have to experience some unpleasantness. Maybe I have experienced too much unpleasantness, 但我有一個(gè)信念——充實(shí)地過(guò)每一天，盡力做到最好。

　　單詞提示：

　　Texas n. 得克薩斯(美國(guó)州名) ; unpleasantness n. 不幸

　　答案：but I believe in living each day to the fullest, and doing the very best I can.

　　本句節(jié)選自《My Miraculous Life》

　　1.信念一詞可以說(shuō)成faith,belief，其中faith表達(dá)的信心更強(qiáng)烈一些。

　　2.充實(shí)地過(guò)第一天，有些滬友用fully enjoy every day，表達(dá)的比較好。

　　2.do the very best——盡最大努力，這是一種表達(dá)很常用。

　　Promises are scary things. To keep them means relinquishing some of our freedom;to break them means losing some of our integrity. Though we have to make them today, promises are all about tomorrow--and the only thing we know for sure about tomorrow is that we don't know anything for sure! And it's not just the outer world that changes in unforeseeable ways;it's you yourself. 每種新的體驗(yàn)--新的責(zé)任, 新的交往--都會(huì)使你的想法改變!

　　單詞提示：

　　relinquishing v. 放棄 ; integrity n. 正直 ; unforeseeable 不可預(yù)見(jiàn)的

　　答案： Every new experience--new responsibilities, new contacts--changes your perspective.

　　本句節(jié)選自《The Power of a Promise》

　　總結(jié)：關(guān)于句中的幾個(gè)詞，對(duì)大家的回答做了以下統(tǒng)計(jì)。

　　體驗(yàn)，experience

　　責(zé)任，duty,responsibility,obligation

　　交往，communication,intercourse,association,contact

　　想法，mind,idea,perspective,opinion

　　以上的說(shuō)法都可以表達(dá)出本句的意思。

　　Michael lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. 寧可做不被人喜愛(ài)的真我，也不做被人喜愛(ài)的假我。

　　答案：I would rather be disliked for who I am than liked for who I am not.