书城外语用耳朵听最优美的散文
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第48章 智慧人生(14)

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总词汇量:0383词汇

每个好故事都有灵魂!

今日关键语导读 Today's Key Points

无论做什么工作,都需要热情与激情,而且需要把这种工作态度保持下去,态度决定一切,某种情况下,还能帮助我们赢得人们的尊敬并成就大事业。

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One flne afternoon I was walking along Fifth Avenue.When I remembered that it was necessary to buy a pair of socks,I turned into the flrst sock shop that caught my eye.A boy clerk who could not have been more than seventeen years old came forward.His eyes gIowed.There was a note of passion in his voice."Did you know that you had come into the flnest place in the world to buy socks?"Then he ecstatically led me to the rear of the shop and he began to haul down from the shelves box after box,displaying their contents for my deIectation.

I told him I would buy a pair. However,he said,"but I want you to see how marvelously beautiful these are."There was on his face an expression of solemn and holy rapture as if he were revealing to me the mysteries of his religion.I became far more interested in him than in the socks.I looked at him in amazement."My friend,"said I,"if you can keep this up,if this is not merely the enthusiasm that comes from noveIty from having a new job.[A]if you can keep up this zeal and excitement day after day,in ten years you will own every sock in the United States."

My amazement at his pride and joy in salesmanship is because in many shops the customer has to wait for someone to wait upon him. When some clerk does deign to notice you,you are made to feel as if you were interrupting him skyIarking with a girl clerk and you feel like apologizing for thrusting yourself into such intimacy.He displays no interest either in you or in the goods he is paid to sell.Yet possibly that very clerk who is now so apathetic began his career with hope and enthusiasm.Then he saw younger clerks who had more zest in their work,promoted over him.He became sour.[B]That was the last stage.His usefulness was over.

I have observed this meIanchoIy decline in the lives of so many men in so many occupations that I have come to the conclusion that the surest road to failure is to do things mechanically.

难点重点,一目了然!

长难句解析 Sentence Structures

A if you can keep up this zeaI and excitement day after day,in ten years you will own every sock in the United States.

如果你能天天如此,把这种热情和激情保持下去,不出十年,你会成为全美国的短袜大王。

句中own every sock in the United States:成为美国织袜业的大老板。这是借喻的说法。

B That was the Iast stage. His usefuIness was over.

他已走到最后一站。他不再管用了。

此句中 the last stage;最后一站。这是借喻。

The Wholeness of Life 完整的人生

Track 028. MP3

朗读指数:★★★★☆

背诵指数:★★★★☆

难度指数:★★☆☆☆

总词汇量:0336词汇

每个好故事都有灵魂!

今日关键语导读 Today's Key Points

一个拥有一切的人在某些方面也是个穷人,他永远不会知道什么是渴望、什么是期待;永远不知道用渴求更美好的东西来充实他的灵魂。我们应该要求自己的人生不一定是完美,而是尽力做到完整。

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Once a circle missed a wedge.The circle wanted to be whole,so it went around looking for its missing piece.It admired the flowers along the way and also enjoyed the sunshine.It found lots of different pieces,but none of them fit.So it left them all by the side of the road and kept on searching.

One day the circle found a piece that flt perfectIy.It incorporated the missing piece into itself and began to roll.[A]Now that it was a perfect circle,it could roll very fast,too fast to notice flowers or talk to the worms.It realized how different the world seemed when it rolled so quickly,it stopped and left its found piece by the side of the road and rolled slowly away.There is a wholeness about the person who has come to terms with his limitations,who has been brave enough to let his unrealistic dreams go and not feel like a failure for doing so.There is a wholeness about the man or woman who has learned that he or she is strong enough to go through a tragedy and survive,she can lose someone and still feel like a complete person.

Life is not a trap set for us by God so that he can condemn us for failing.[B]Life is not a spelling bee,where no matter how many words you've gotten right,you"re disquaIified if you make one mistake,Our goal is to win more games than we lose. When we accept that imperfection is part of being human,and when we can continue rolling through life and appreciate it,we will have achieved a wholeness that others can only aspire to.

If we are brave enough to love,strong enough to forgive,generous enough to rejoice in another's happiness,and wise enough to know there is enough love to go around for us all,then we can achieve a ful flllment that no other living creature will ever know.

难点重点,一目了然!

长难句解析 Sentence Structures

A Now that it was a perfect circle,it could roll very fast,too fast to notice flowers or talk to the worms.

既然它现在是个完整的圆圈了,它可以滚得很快,快到忽视了花儿,快到没有时间和虫子们说话。

句中now that“既然”,引导让步状语从句。例如,Now that everyone is here,let's start.

既然人都来了,那我们开始吧。

B Life is not a spelling bee,where no matter how many words you've gotten right,you're disqualified if you make one mistake.

人生也不是一场拼字比赛,无论你拼出了多少单词,只要拼错了一个你就前功尽弃了。

句中spelling bee<美>拼字比赛会。Where引导的是非限制性定语从句。

Five Balls of Life 生命中的五个球

Track 029. MP3

朗读指数:★★★★☆

背诵指数:★★★★☆

难度指数:★★★☆☆

总词汇量:0357词汇

每个好故事都有灵魂!

今日关键语导读 Today's Key Points

不要留恋过去的种种,也不要寄希望于未来,从而让你的生命在指缝间无声地溜走。如果你珍视生活的每一天,那么你生命中的每一天也将变得更有意义。

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Imagine of life as a game in which you are juggling five balls in the air.You name them work,family,health,friends and spirit and you keep all of them in the air.You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball.If you drop it,it will bounce back.

But the other four balls,family,health,friends and spirit,are made of glasses.[A]If you drop one of these,they will be irrevocably scuffed,marked,nicked,damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same.You must understand that and try to have balance in your life.How?