2023-03-07 17:17:50來源：魔方格
【資料圖】
在英語學習中,閱讀能力是學習者發展其它語言能力(聽、說、寫、譯)的基礎。下面是七考網小編帶來的經典英語好文章摘抄，歡迎閱讀!
Change Makes Life Beautiful(生命美于變化)
To regard all things and principles of things as inconstant modes or fashions has more and more become the tendency of modern thought. Let us begin with that which is without——our physical life. Fix upon it in one of its more exquisite intervals，the moment，for instance，of delicious recoil from the flood of water in summer heat. What is the whole physical life in that moment but a combination of natural elements to which science gives their names?But these elements，phosphorus and lime and delicate fibers，are present not in the human body alone：we detect them in places most remote from it. Our physical life is a perpetual motion of them——the passage of the blood，the wasting and repairing of the lenses of the eye，the modification of the tissues of the brain under every ray of light and sound-processes which science reduces to simpler and more elementary forces. Like the elements of which we are composed，the action of these forces extends beyond us：it rusts iron and ripens corn. Far out on every side of us those elements are broadcast，driven in many currents;and birth and gesture and death and the springing of violets from the grave are but a few out of ten thousand resultant combinations. That clear，perpetual outline of face and limb is but an image of ours，under which we group them a design in a web，the actual threads of which pass out beyond it. This at least of flame——like our life has，that it is but the concurrence，renewed from moment to moment，of forces parting sooner or later on their ways.
生命美于變化
將所有事物和事物的原則統統歸結為經常變化著的形態或風尚，這已日益成為近代思想界的一個趨勢。我們可以從我們的生理活動等表面的事情說起。舉個例子來說，選定在酷暑中猛然浸入滔滔清流的一剎那和感覺極其愉快的這么一個微妙的時刻。在那一瞬間的所有生理活動，難道不可以說是具有科學名稱的各種元素的一種化合作用嗎?但是，像磷、石灰、微細的纖維質等這些元素，不僅存在于人體之中，而且在與人體沒有絲毫關系的地方也能檢查出它們的存在。血液的流通，眼睛中水晶體的消耗和恢復，每一道光波、每一次聲浪對于腦組織所引起的變異——都不外是這些元素永久的運動。但是科學把這些運動過程還原為更為簡單和基本力量的作用。正如我們身體所賴以構成的元素所形成的我們的生理活動的力量，這些力量在我們身體以外也同樣發揮著作用——它可以使鐵生銹，使谷物成熟。這些元素，在種種氣流吹送之下，從我們身外向四面八方傳播：人的誕生，人的姿態，人的死亡，以及在人的墳頭上生長出紫羅蘭——這不過是成千上萬化合結果的點滴例子而已。人類那輪廓分明、長久不變的面顏和肢體，不過是一種表象，在它那框架之內，我們好把種種化合的元素凝聚一團——這好像是蛛網的紋樣，那織網的細絲從網中穿出，又引向他方。在這一點上，我們的生命有些像那火焰——它也是種種力量匯合的結果，這匯合雖不斷延續，那些力量卻早晚要各自飄散。
The Date Father Didn’t Keep (父親失約)
It happened in one of those picturesque Danish taverns that cater to tourists and where English is spoken. I was with my father on a business-and-pleasure trip，and in our leisure hours we were having a wonderful time.
“It‘s a pity your mother couldn’t come，”said Father.“It would be wonderful to show her around.”
He had visited Denmark when he was a young man. I asked him，“How long is it since you were here?”
“Oh，about 30 years. I remember being in this very inn，by the way.”He looked around，remembering.
“Those were gracious days-”He stopped suddenly，and I saw that his face was pale. I followed his eyes and looked across the room to a woman who was setting a tray of drinks before some customers. She might have been pretty once，but now she was stout and her hair was untidy.“Do you know her?”I asked……
“I did once，”he said.
The woman come to our table.“Drinks?”she inquired.
“We‘ll have beer，”I said. She nodded and went away.
“How she has changed!Thank heaven she didn‘t recognize me，”muttered Father mopping his face with a handkerchief.“I know her before I ever met your mother，”he went on.“I was a student，on a tour. She was a lovely young thing，very graceful. I fell madly in live with her，and she with me.”
“Does Mother know about her?”I blurted out，resentfully.
“Of course，”Father said gently. He looked at me a little anxiously. I felt embarrassed for him.
I said，“Dad，you don‘t have to-”
“Oh，yes，I want to tell you. I don‘t want you wondering about this. Her father objected to our romance. I was a foreigner. I had no prospects，and was dependent on my father. When I wrote Father that I wanted to get married he cut off my allowance. And I had to go home. But I met the girl once more，and told her I would return to America，borrow enough money to get married on，and come back for her in a few months.”
“We know，”he continued，“that her father might intercept a letter，so we agreed that I would simply mail her a slip of paper with a date on it，the time she was to meet me at a certain place;then we‘d married. Well，I went home，got the loan and sent her the date. She received the note. She wrote me：”I’ll be there.“But she wasn‘t. Then I found that she had been married about two weeks before，to a local innkeeper. She hadn’t waited.”
Then my father said，“Thank God she didn‘t. I went home，met your mother，and we’ve been completely happy. We often joke about that youthful love romance.”
The woman appeared with our beer.
“You are from America?”she asked me.
“Yes，”I said.
She beamed.“A wonderful country，America.”
“Yes，a lot of your countrymen have gone there. Did you ever think of it?”
“Not me. Not now，”she said.“I think so one time，a ling time ago. But I stay here. I much better here.”
We drank our beer and left. Outside I said，“Father，just how did you write that date on which she was to meet you?”
He stopped，took out an envelope and wrote on it.“Like this，”he said.“12/11/73，which was，of course，December 11，1973.”
“No!”I exclaimed.“It isn‘t in Denmark or any European country. Over here they write the day first，then the month. So that date wouldn’t be December 11 but the 12th of November!”
Father passed his hand over his face.“So she was there!”he exclaimed.“And it was because I didn‘t show up that she got married.”He was silent a while.“Well，”he said.，“I hope she’s happy. She seems be.”
As we resumed walking I blurted out，“It is a lucky thing it happened that way. You wouldn‘t have met Mother.”
He put his arm around my shoulders，looked at me with a heart-warming smile，and said，“I was doubly lucky，young fellow，for otherwise I wouldn‘t have met you，either!”
改變一生的邂逅
Isn‘t it amazing how one person，sharing one idea，at the right time and place can change the course of your life’s history?This is certainly what happened in my life. When I was 14，I was hitchhiking from Houston，Texas，through El Paso on my way to California. I was following my dream，journeying with the sun. I was a high school dropout with learning disabilities and was set on surfing the biggest waves in the world，first in California and then in Hawaii，where I would later live.
Upon reaching downtown El Paso，I met an old man，a bum，on the street corner. He saw me walking，stopped me and questioned me as I passed by. He asked me if I was running away from home，I suppose because I looked so young. I told him，“Not exactly，sir，”since my father had given me a ride to the freeway in Houston and given me his blessings while saying，“It is important to follow your dream and what is in your heart. Son.”
The bum then asked me if he could buy me a cup of coffee. I told him，“No，sir，but a soda would be great.”We walked to a corner malt shop and sat down on a couple of swiveling stools while we enjoyed our drinks.
After conversing for a few minutes，the friendly bum told me to follow him. He told me that he had something grand to show me and share with me. We walked a couple of blocks until we came upon the downtown El Paso Public Library.
We walked up its front steps and stopped at a small information stand. Here the bum spoke to a smiling old lady，and asked her if she would be kind enough to watch my things for a moment while he and I entered the library. I left my belongings with this grandmotherly figure and entered into this magnificent hall of learning.
The bum first led me to a table and asked me to sit down and wait for a moment while he looked for something special amongst the shelves. A few moments later，he returned with a couple of old books under his arms and set them on the table. He then sat down beside me and spoke. He started with a few statements that were very special and that changed my life. He said，“There are two things that I want to teach you，young man，and they are these：
“Number one is to never judge a book by its cover，for a cover can fool you.”He followed with，“I bet you think I‘m a bum，don’t you，young man?”
I said，“Well，uh，yes，I guess so，sir.”
“Well，young man，I‘ve got a little surprise for you. I am one of the wealthiest men in the world. I have probably everything any man could ever want. I originally come from the Northeast and have all the things that money can buy. But a year ago，my wife passed away，bless her soul，and since then I have been deeply reflecting upon life. I realized there were certain things I had not yet experienced in life，one of which was what it would be like to live like a bum on the streets. I made a commitment to myself to do exactly that for one year. For the past year，I have been going from city to city doing just that. So，you see，don’t ever judge a book by its cover，for a cover can fool you.
“Number two is to learn how to read，my boy. For there is only one thing that people can t take away from you，and that is your wisdom.”At that moment，he reached forward，grabbed my right hand in his and put them upon the books he‘d pulled from the shelves. They were the writings of Plato and Aristotle-immortal classics from ancient times.
The bum then led me back past the smiling old woman near the entrance，down the steps and back on the streets near where we first met. His parting request was for me to never forget what he taught me.
