英語四級必背的文章摘抄
英語四級必背的文章摘抄
用背誦寫作法來積累語言,可以提高書面表達能力,是一種行之有效的寫作方法。下面小編整理了英語四級必背的文章,希望大家喜歡!
英語四級必背的文章摘抄
Collecting 收藏
People tend to amass possessions, sometimes without being aware of doing so. Indeed they can have a delightful surprise when they find something useful which they did not know they owned. Those who never have to move house become indiscriminate collectors of what can only be described as clutter. They leave unwanted objects in drawers, cupboards and attics for years, in the belief that they may one day need just those very things. As they grow old, people also accumulate belongings for two other reasons, lack of physical and mental energy, both of which are essential in turning out and throwing away, and sentiment. Things owned for a long time are full of associations with the past, perhaps with relatives who are dead, and so they gradually acquire a value beyond their true worth.
Some things are collected deliberately in the home in an attempt to avoid waste. Among these I would list string and brown paper, kept by thrifty people when a parcel has been opened, to save buying these two requisites. Collecting small items can easily become a mania. I know someone who always cuts sketches out from newspapers of model clothes that she would like to buy, if she had the money. As she is not rich, the chances that she will ever be able to afford such purchases are remote; but she is never sufficiently strongminded to be able to stop the practice. It is a harmless habit, but it litters up her desk to such an extent that every time she opens it; loose bits of paper fall out in every direction.
Collecting as a serious hobby is quite different and has many advantages. It provides relaxation for leisure hours, as just looking at one's treasures is always a joy. One does not have to go outside for amusement, since the collection is housed at home. Whatever it consists of, stamps, records, first editions of books, china, glass, antique furniture, pictures, model cars, stuffed birds, toy animals, there is always something to do in connection with it, from finding the right place for the latest addition, to verifying facts in reference books. This hobby educates one not only in the chosen subject, but also in general matters which have some bearing on it. There are also other benefits. One wants to meet like-minded collectors, to get advice, to compare notes, to exchange articles, to show off the latest find. So one's circle of friends grows. Soon the hobby leads to travel, perhaps to a meeting in another town, possibly a trip abroad in search of a rare specimen, for collectors are not confined to any one country. Over the years, one may well become an authority on one's hobby and will very probably be asked to give informal talks to little gatherings and then, if successful, to larger audiences. In this way self-confidence grows, first from mastering a subject, then from being able to talk about it. Collecting, by occupying spare time so constructively, makes a person contented, with no time for boredom.
人們喜歡收藏東西,有時并沒有意識到自己在這樣做。確實,一旦無意之中從自己的收藏品中找到某件有用的東西時,可以給人一種驚喜的感覺。那些從來不必搬家的人們成了一種無所不容的收藏家。他們專門收藏那些只能被稱作雜貨的東西。他們在抽屜里、碗柜中、閣樓上堆放著一些不用的東西,一放就是好幾年,相信總有一天需要的正好是那些東西。人們年老之后也喜歡收藏東西,不過是出于兩個不同的原因:一是體力、精力均告不佳,這二者是清除無用的東西必不可少的因素;另一個原因是感情因素。東西擱得時間久了,便會充滿著與過去歲月的聯系,比方說與死去的親戚有關。因此這些東西慢慢獲得了一種超出它本身的價值。
居家度日,有目的地收藏某些東西是為了防止浪費。這些東西中我想舉出線繩和包裝紙為例。節(jié)儉的人們打開包裹后便把這兩樣必備的東西收藏起來,省得日后去買。收集小玩藝兒很容易著迷。我認識一個人,她總喜歡從報紙上剪下流行服裝的圖樣,等以后有錢時去買服裝。由于她并不富裕,她買得起這些服裝的可能性十分渺茫。但她又缺乏足夠堅強的意志把這一收集活動停下來。這種習慣無害,只是把寫字臺里堆得滿滿當當,以致每次打開抽屜總能帶出許多紙片四處飛揚。
作為一種嚴肅的業(yè)余愛好的收藏活動完全是另外一回事,它具有許多益處。它可以使人在閑暇中得到休息,因為欣賞自己收藏的珍品總會充滿了樂趣。人們不必走到戶外去尋求娛樂,因為收藏品都是存放在家中。不管收藏品是什么,郵票、唱片、頭版書籍、瓷器、玻璃杯、老式家具、繪畫、模型汽車、鳥類標本,還是玩具動物,從為新增添的收藏品尋找擺放位置到核對參考書中的事實,總歸有事可做。這種愛好不僅能使人從選擇的專題中受到教育,而且也能從與之有關的一般事物中獲得長進。除此之外,還有其他的益處。收藏者要會見情趣相投的收藏者,以獲取教益、交流經驗、交換收藏品、炫耀自己的最新收藏。朋友的圈子就這樣不斷擴太。用不了多久,有這種愛好的人便開始旅行,也許是去另一個城市參加會議,也可能是出國尋找一件珍品,因為收藏家是不分國籍的。一人積了多年經驗會成為自己這種愛好的權威,很可能應邀在小型集會上作非正式的講話。如果講得好,可能向更多的人發(fā)表演說。這樣,你自信心不斷增強,先是因為掌握了一門學問,接下來是因為能夠就此發(fā)表見解。收藏活動通過富有建設性地利用業(yè)余時間使人感到心滿意足,不再有無聊之日。
英語四級必背的文章鑒賞
What Is Immortal
何為不朽
To see the golden sun, the azure sky, the outstretched ocean; to walk upon the green earth, and be lord of a thousand creatures ; to look down yawning precipices or over distant sunny vales; to see the world spread out under one's feet on a map ; to bring the stars near; to view the smallest insects through a microscope; to read history, and consider the revolutions of empire and the successions of generations; to hear the glory of Tyre, of Sidon, of Babylon, and of Susa, and to say all these were before me and are now nothing; to say I exist in such a point of time, and in such a point of space; to be a spectator and a part of its evermoving scene; to witness the change of seasons, of spring and autumn, of winter and summer; and to feel hot and cold, pleasure and pain, beauty and deformity, right and wrong; to be sensible to the accidents of Nature; to consider the mighty world of eye and ear; to listen to the stock-dove's notes amid the forest deep ; to journey over moor and mountain; to hear the midnight sainted choir; to visit lighted halls,or the cathedral's gloom, or sit in crowded theatres and see life itself mocked ; to study the works of art and refine the sense of beauty to agony; to worship fame, and to dream of immortality; to look upon the Vatican, and to read Shakespeare; to gather up the wisdom of the ancients, and to pry into the future; to listen to the trump of war, and the shout of victory; to question history as to the movements of the human heart; to seek for truth; to plead the cause of humanity; to overlook the world as if time and Nature poured their treasures at our feet — to be and to do all this and then in a moment to be as nothing — to have it ail snatched from us as by a juggler's trick, or a phantasmagoria!
我們看到金色的太陽,蔚藍的天空,廣闊的海洋;我們漫步在綠油油的大地之上,做萬物的主人;我們俯視令人目眩心悸的懸崖峭壁,遠眺鮮花盛開的山谷;我們在地圖上指點世界江山;我們把星辰移到眼前觀看,在顯微鏡下觀察極其微小的生物;我們學習歷史,研考帝國的興亡、時代的交替;我們聽人談論推羅、西頓、巴比倫和蘇撒的豐功偉績,然后說:這些事確實發(fā)生過,但現在卻是過眼云煙了;我們思考著自己生活在這樣的一個時代、生活在宇宙間這樣的一個角落;在人生的活動舞臺上,我們既當觀眾、又當演員;我們觀察四季更迭、春秋代序、冬夏交替;感受炎熱寒冷、歡樂痛苦、美麗殘缺和是非對錯;敏銳地感知大自然的變遷,用眼和耳去認知這個浩蕩的宇宙;聆聽野鴿在濃密的樹林中哀訴;翻越荒野峻嶺;傾聽午夜圣詩的合唱;拜訪那燈火輝煌的禮堂和幽靜肅穆的大教堂,或坐在人頭攢動的劇院里,觀看生活本身受到的模仿嘲弄;我們鉆研藝術作品,把自己的美感升華為凄美;我們崇拜榮譽,夢想不朽;觀望梵蒂岡,賞閱莎士比亞;集聚古人的智慧以知未來;傾聽戰(zhàn)爭的號角和勝利的吶喊;質疑歷史如同考究人心的運作;尋求真理;思辯人性;俯瞰世界,有如時空萬靈將其寶物盡都傾于腳前一正當我們面臨這一切、從事這一切的時候,自己卻在一剎那之間化為虛無,眼前的一切,像是魔術師的把戲,像是一場幻影,一下子全都消失得無影無蹤!
英語四級必背的文章賞析
Human Life Like a Poem
人生如詩
I think that, from a biological standpoint, human life almost reads like a poem. It has its own rhythm and beat, its internal cycles of growth and decay. It begins with innocent childhood, followed by awkward adolescence trying awkwardly to adapt itself to mature society, with its young passions and follies, its ideals and ambitions; then it reaches a manhood of intense activities, profiting from experience and learning more about society and human nature; at middle age, there is a slight easing of tension, a mellowing of character like the ripening of fruit or the mellowing of good wine, and the gradual acquiring of a more tolerant, more cynical and at the same time a kindlier view of life; then in the sunset of our life, the endocrine glands decrease their activity, and if we have a true philosophy of old age and have ordered our life pattern according to it, it is for us the age of peace and security and leisure and contentment; finally, life flickers out and one goes into eternal sleep, never to wake up again. One should be able to sense the beauty of this rhythm of life, to appreciate, as we do in grand symphonies, its main theme, its strains of conflict and the final resolution.
我想,從生物學的觀點來說,人生品味起來就像一首詩。它有其自身的韻律和節(jié)拍,有其生老病死的內在循環(huán)過程。它以天真爛漫的童年為序曲;接著便是青澀的青春期,帶著青年人的熱情和愚蠢、理想和抱負,羞澀、懵懂地邁向成人的世界;然后便進入一個活力充沛的成年時期,這個時期人們從閱歷中獲益,對社會及人性也有了更多了解;到中年之時,壓力才稍為減輕,人的性格就像熟透的水果或醇厚的美酒一般,更為圓熟,這時候,對人生的態(tài)度也逐漸變得更寬容、更隨性、更仁慈。此后,便到了我們的遲暮之年,內分泌腺的活動逐漸趨緩。如果我們對年老持一種真正的達觀態(tài)度,并以此來安排我們的生活方式,那么,這個時期對我們來說,就是安寧、穩(wěn)定、閑逸和滿足的時期;最終,生命的火光搖曳不定,之后人將永遠地長眠,不再醒來。人應該能夠體會這種人生之韻的美,應該能夠像欣賞盛大的交響樂那樣,去欣賞人生的主旋律,欣賞它的沖突片斷和最后的尾聲。
The movements of these cycles are very much the same in a normal life, but the music must be provided by the individual himself. In some souls, the discordant note becomes harsher and harsher and finally overwhelms or submerges the main melody. Sometimes the discordant note gains so much power that the music can no longer go on, and the individual shoots himself with a pistol or jumps into a river. But that is because his original leitmotif has been hopelessly over-shadowed through the lack of a good self-education. Otherwise the normal human life runs to its normal end in a kind of dignified movement and procession.
這些循環(huán)過程的運動在每個常人的生命中并無二至,但是生命的樂曲須由我們每個人自己來譜寫。在有些人的靈魂之中,不和諧的音符變得愈加刺耳,到最后完全蓋過或是湮沒了生命的主旋律。有時候,這種不和諧的音符會如此強大以至于生命的樂曲不能繼續(xù)演奏,而使人飲彈自盡或者投河而亡。但那是由于缺乏良好的自我修養(yǎng),人最初的主旋律就已投上了無望的陰影。否則,一t正常人的生活會以一種尊貴的方式演進而最后得贓常結束。
No one can say that a life with childhood, manhood and old age is not a beautiful arrangement; the day has its morning, noon and sunset, and the year has its seasons, and it is good that it is so. There is no good or bad in life, except what is good according to its own season. And if we take this biological view of life and try to live according to the seasons, no one but a conceited fool or an impossible idealist can deny that human life can be lived like a poem.
沒有人能夠說,由童年、成年和老年組成的人生不是一種完美的安排;就像一天有早晨、中午和晚上,一年有四季,如此存在就是美好的。人生并沒有好壞之分,只要符合我們所處的階段,生活就都是人生的大好時光。而如果我們采納這種看待人生的生物學觀點,并且,盡量依照不同的階段來生活,那么,除了狂妄自大的蠢人或不可理喻的理想主義者之外,沒有人能夠否認:人生可以活得像一首詩。