[英语美文,欣赏]英语美文欣赏小短文

《三种激情》是选自《伯特兰·罗素自传》的一篇优秀散文。它既是作者心灵的抒发，也是生命体验的总结。作者以深刻的感悟和敏锐的目光，分析了人生中的三种激情，即对爱的渴望，对知识的追求和对人类苦难的同情。对爱的渴望，使人欣喜若狂，既能解除孤独，又能发现美好的未来。对知识的追求，使人理解人心，了解宇宙，掌握科学。爱和知识把人引向天堂般的境界，而对人类的同情之心又使人回到苦难深重的人间。作者认为这就是人生，值得为此再活一次的人生。这篇散文似乎信手拈来，但却耐人寻味。充满激情，充满感慨，充满智慧，情文并茂，逻辑性和感染力极强。

伯特兰·罗素(Bertrand Russell,1872-1970)是英国声誉卓著，影响深远的哲学家、数学家、逻辑学家和散文家。他生于威尔士的特莱雷克，就读于剑桥三一学院，在其漫长的一生中完成了40余部著作，涉及哲学、数学、伦理、社会、教育、历史、宗教及政治等许多领域。他早年的成就主要在数学和逻辑学，中年关注伦理道德、教育、政治，激励和启发富有进取精神的人。在1921年曾来中国，在北京大学作过讲座。他在1950年荣获诺贝尔文学奖。在政治上，他反对侵略战争，主张和平，晚年参加反战示威。主要著作有《数学原理》、《哲学大纲》、《教育与美好生活》、《罗素自传》三卷本。

Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course, over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair.

I have sought love, first, because it pings ecstasy –ecstasy so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of life for a few hours of this joy. I have sought it, next, because it relieves loneliness--that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of the world into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss. I have sought it, finally, because in the union of love I have seen, in a mystic miniature, the prefiguring vision of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined. This is what I sought, and though it might seem too good for human life, this is what- at last- I have found.

With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have tried to apprehend the Pythagorean power by which number holds sway above the flu. A little of this, but not much, I have achieved.

Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always pity pought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a hated burden to their sons, and the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer.

This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me.

Relish the moment 拥抱今天

Tucked away in our subconscious is an 我们的潜意识里藏着一派田idyllic vision. We see ourselves on a long 园诗般的风光! 我们仿佛身处一次trip that spans the continent. We are 横贯大陆的漫漫旅程之中! 乘着火traveling by train. Out the windows, we 车, 我们领略着窗外流动的景色：drink in the passing scene of cars on 附近高速公路上奔驰的汽车、十字nearby highways, of children waving at a 路口处招手的孩童、远山上吃草的crossing, of cattle grazing on a distant 牛群、源源不断地从电厂排放出的hillside, of smoke pouring from a power 烟尘、一片片的玉米和小麦、平原plant, of row upon row of corn and wheat, 与山谷、群山与绵延的丘陵、天空of flatlands and valleys, of mountains 映衬下城市的轮廓, 以及乡间的庄and rolling hillsides, of city skylines 园宅第!

and village halls.

But uppermost in our minds is the final 然而我们心里想得最多的却是destination. On a certain day at a certain 最终的目的地! 在某一天的某一时hour, we will pull into the station. Bands 刻, 我们将会抵达进站! 迎接我们will be playing and flags waving. Once we 的将是乐队和飘舞的彩旗! 一旦到get there, so many wonderful dreams will 了那儿, 多少美梦将成为现实, 我come true and the pieces of our lives will 们的生活也将变得完整, 如同一块fit together like a completed jigsaw

puzzle. How restlessly we pace the

--waiting, waiting, waiting for the

station.

after!

Sooner or later, we must realize there 可是我们终究会认识到人生的is no station, no one place to arrive at 旅途中并没有车站, 也没有能够

once and for all. The true joy of life is 一到永逸

将今天从你我身边偷走!

So stop pacing the aisles and counting 那么就不要在过道里徘徊吧, the miles. In stead, climb more

mountains, eat more ice cream, go 别老惦记着你离车站还有多远! 何不换一种活法, 将更多的高山攀barefoot more often, swim more rivers, 爬, 多吃点儿冰淇淋甜甜嘴巴, 经watch more sunsets, laugh more, cry less. 常光着脚板儿溜达溜达, 在更多的Life must be lived as we go along. The 河流里畅游, 多看看夕阳西下, 多station will come soon enough.

点欢笑哈哈, 少让泪水滴答! 生活得一边过一边瞧! 车站就会很快到达!By Robert J. Hastings 李端奇

译

Mother & Child 妈妈与孩子

It was Christmas 1961. I was teaching 那是1961年的圣诞节。我在俄in a small town in Ohio where my

亥俄州的一个小镇上教小学三年twenty-seven third graders eagerly

anticipated the great day of gifts

giving. 级。班上27个孩子都在积极参加

礼物赠送日

A tree covered with tinsel and gaudy paper 教室的一角被一棵树装chains graced one corner. In another

rested a manger scene produced from 点得熠熠生辉，树上缀满了金银丝

cardboard and poster paints by chubby, 帛和华丽的彩纸。教室的另一角是and sometimes grubby, hands. Someone had

一个涂着海报油彩由纸板制成的马pought a doll and placed it on the straw

in the cardboard box that served as the 槽，这出自孩子们那胖乎乎、脏兮manger. It didn"t matter that you could

pull a string and hear the blue-eyed, 兮的小手。有人带来了一个娃娃，golden-haired dolly say,

把它放在纸板槽里的稻草上(假装Susie.

of the boys proclaimed. Nonetheless,

Susie stayed. 小耶稣)。只要拉拉它身上的一条细

绳，这个蓝眼睛、金发的娃娃就会

说道，

关系。一个男孩提出：

小男孩呀!

来。

Each day the children produced some new 每天孩子们都会做点儿新wonder -- strings of popcorn, hand-made

trinkets, and German bells made from 玩意--爆米花串成的细链子、手工wallpaper samples, which we hung from the 做的小装饰品和墙纸样做的德国式ceiling. Through it all she remained

aloof, watching from afar, seemingly 风铃，我们把这些风铃挂在了天花miles away. I wondered what would happen

板上。但自始至终，她都是孤零零to this quiet child, once so happy, now

so suddenly withdrawn. I hoped the

festivities would appeal to her. But 地远远观望，仿佛是隔了一道几里nothing did. We made cards and gifts for 长的障碍。我猜想着这个沉默的孩mothers and dads, for sisters and

子发生了什么事，原来那个快乐的pothers, for grandparents, and for each

other. At home the students made the 孩子怎么突然变得沉默寡言起来。popular fried marbles and vied with one

another to ping in the prettiest ones. 我希望节日的活动能吸引她，可还

是无济于事。我们制作了许多卡片Teacher. And you let them get real hot,

and then you watch what happens inside. 和礼物，准备把它们送给爸爸妈妈、But you don"t fry them too long or they

兄弟姐妹、祖父母和身边的同学。peak.

of my students a little pouch for carrying 学生们在家里做了当时很流行“油their fried marbles. And I knew they had

each made something for me: bookmarks 炸

最好看的拿来。

drawings; liquid empoidery doilies,

hand-fringed, of course. 放在热油锅里，让它们烧热，然后

看看里面的变化。但不要炸得时间

过长否则会破裂。

学生做了一个装

作为礼物送给他们。我知道他们每

个人也都为我做了礼物：仔细剪裁、

着色，或已粘集成串的书签；贺卡

和特别绘制的图片；透明的镶边碗

碟垫布，当然是手工编制的流苏。

The day of gift-giving finally came. We 赠送礼物的那天终于到了。在oohed and aahed over our handiwork as the

交换礼物时我们为对方亲手做的小presents were exchanged. Through it all,

she sat quietly watching. I had made a 礼品不停地欢呼叫好。而整个过程，special pouch for her, red and green with

white lace. I wanted very much to see her 她只是安静地坐在那儿看着。我为smile. She opened the package so slowly

and carefully. I waited but she turned 她做的小袋很特别，红绿相间还镶away. I had not penetrated the wall of 着白边。我非常想看到她笑一笑。isolation she had built around herself.

她打开包装，动作又慢又小心。我

等待着，但是她却转过了身。我还

是没能穿过她在自己周围树起的高

墙，这堵墙将她与大家隔离了开来。

After school the children left in

day yet to come when long-hoped-for

two-wheelers and pight sleds would 放学后，学生们三三俩俩地离节：家中的圣诞树旁将发现自己心系已久的自行车和崭新发亮的雪little groups, chattering about the great 开了，边走边说着即将到来的圣诞appear beside their trees at home. She 橇。她慢慢地走在后面，看着大家lingered, watching them bundle up and go 拥挤着走出门外。我坐在孩子们的out the door. I sat down in a child-sized 小椅子上稍稍松了口气，对要发生chair to catch my peath, hardly aware of 的事没有一点准备。这时她向我走what was happening, when she came to me 来，双手拿着一个白色的盒子向我with outstretched hands, bearing a small 伸过来。盒子没有打包装，稍有些white box, unwrapped and slightly soiled, 脏。好像是被孩子未洗过的小手摸as though it had been held many times by 过了好多遍。她没有说话。

nothing.

it. There inside, glistening green, a 打开它。盒子里面有一条金色的链fried marble hung from a golden chain.

子，上面坠着一块闪闪发光的“油Then I looked into that elderly

eight-year-old face and saw the question 炸

-- she had made it for her mother, a mother 虽只有8岁，可却是成人的表情。she would never see again, a mother who

在她深棕色的眼睛里我找到了问题would never hold her or push her hair or

share a funny story, a mother who would 的答案。我在一瞬间明白过来--这never again hear her childish joys or

sorrows. A mother who had taken her own 是她为妈妈做的项链，她再也见不life just three weeks before.

到的妈妈，再也不能抱她、给她梳

头或一起讲故事的妈妈。她的妈妈

已再也不能分享她充满童稚的快

乐，分担她孩子气的忧伤。就在3

个星期前她的妈妈离开了人世。

I held out the chain. She took it in both 我拿起那条链子。她用双手接her hands, reached forward, and secured

过它，向前探了探身，在我的脖子the simple clasp at the back of my neck.

She stepped back then as if to see that 后把简易的项链钩系好。然后她向all was well. I looked down at the shiny

piece of glass and the tarnished golden 后退了几步，好像在看看是否合适。chain, then back at the giver. I meant it

when I whispered,

She stumbled into my arms and we wept 头望着她。我很认真地轻声说道：together. And for that pief moment I

“哦，玛丽亚，这链子真漂亮。你became her mother, for she had given me

the greatest gift of all: herself. 妈妈一定会喜欢的。

制住泪水。她踉踉跄跄地扑进我的

怀里，我们都哭了。在那短暂的一

刻我成了她的妈妈，而她送给了我

一份最珍贵的礼物：她的信任和爱。

By Patricia A. Habada

Peeling Away Artifice For the Pure

Original

Sarah came running in.

么。

支离破碎的东西出现在报纸上，把reading came a crispy, crumbling long

我吓得跳了起来。那是一条蛇的蜕object that caused me to jump. It was a

皮，我们的花园里有很多蛇。 snake skin that had been shed by one of

our many garden snakes. 小女儿眨着她的大眼睛问道。

seven-year-old.

I stared at the organic wrapper and 我看着那条蛇皮，自忖它实在算thought to myself that it really wasn" 不上漂亮，但我明白决不能对孩子t that beautiful, but I have learned 冷淡抑或感到厌烦。孩子们初次见never to appear nonchalant or jaded with 到的东西对于他们是形成美感以及children. Everything they see for the 创造力的基础。在接受相关教育之first time is elementary to their sense 前，他们应当只会看到世上美好的of beauty and creativity; they see only 事物。

merit and excellence in the world until

萨拉问：

特说：

Robert, ever the innocent comedian, 的蛇。

said:

garden!

I also try to customize every 我也利用一切机会教给孩子们opportunity to teach my children that 知道任何事物不单有其表像，更有there is almost always something beyond 其深层原因的含义。 我解释说：

my family, the original subject leads to

another and another, until we are

discussing something quite different.

themselves?

Robert quipped:

Sarah and I politely ignored her

pother. I suddenly remembered an 萨拉和我没再理会她哥哥。我忽然记起许多年前报上曾有一篇文article on this page many years ago where 章，作者表述了她对新生的看法：the writer was expressing her concept of 她用糊在墙壁上的一层层的壁纸来renewal. She used layers of paper over 形容我们是如何将真实的自我隐藏a wall to describe how we hide our

original selves, and said that by

see the underlying original beneath.

absorbed daughter.

t think he looks as smart in it as he once

did. Like buying a new suit.

当然了，我敢肯定这样的解释 Of course, I" m sure this explanation

不能让真正的博物学家满意。但萨won" t sit well with bonafide

拉听明白了。谈话间，我知道萨拉naturalists. But Sarah was getting the

point. As we talked, I knew that she 尽管是朦朦胧胧的，但理解了新生began to comprehend, albeit slightly, 是进步的一部分，理解到我们需要

好好审视自我、房间、功课、创造that renewal is part of progress; that

力以及灵性，想想需要留下什么，we need to take a good look at ourselves,

摒弃哪些。我用心地解释这是自然and our rooms and schoolwork and

creativity and spirituality, and see 过程，并非强迫着去做的。 what we need to keep and what we need to

cast off. I was careful to point out that

this is a natural process, not one to be

forced.

their growth.

I hoped she would remember this. That

我希望她能记住这一次。为了often, in order to find our real selves

找寻年复一年为社会和环境所掩盖underneath the layers of community and

culture with which we cloak ourselves 的真正的自我，我们需要检查这些

examining these layers. We need to 壁纸

去一些，最好是将那些摒弃的东西gently peel some away, as we recognize

them to be worthless, unnecessary, or 尘封在记忆中，激励我们更有活力

和更有精神地前进。By Roy H. flawed; or at best, store the discarded

Barnacle （袁堂欣 译The ones as mementoes of our promotion to a

better vitality or spirit. Christian Science Monitor

Natural Resources

Nature has provided us with many kinds of resources. Almost everything we use in our everyday life comes from Nature. The food we eat, the water we drink, the clothes we wear, the concrete and picks to build our houses, the materials to make bikes we ride, etc. all come originally from Nature.

People have been making use of these natural supplies for thousands of years. With the development of technology and the increase of the population, the amount and range of materials taken has increased. It is estimated that this tread will continue in the years to come.

However, natural resources are not in exhaustible. Some resources are already nearly used up. For example, the end of the world’s fuel is already within sight. Such an essential daily item as water is in short supply in many parts of the world. We can no longer thoughtlessly use the many resources provided by Nature. We must learn to conserve what remains.

We Have Only One World

When industries grow, pollution also grows. Today the problem of environment has become more and more important. The world population is rising so quickly that the

world has become too crowded. We are using up our natural resources too quickly and at the same time we are polluting our environment with dangerous chemicals. If we don’t take action immediately, then we will destroy our only world.

Man has made great progress in environment protection. Government of many countries has established laws to protect the forest and sea resource and to stop the environmental pollution.

Still more measures should be taken to solve the problem. First, we should start by educating the public about the hazards of pollution. The government on its part should also design stricter laws. This is not only for our own generation but also for the future generation to come.

It is necessary to protect our nature environment. We must begin now to protect our only world.

Make The Best Use of Our Land

It is the land that has been providing us with everything we need for centuries. In other words, almost everything we use daily comes from the land directly or indirectly. The food, clothes, houses, even the books and furniture are all supplied by the land. But the limited land is decreasing at a surprising speed. With the expanding of the cities, the development of the industry and over population, lots of large pieces of good farmland are being turned into residential areas with many houses and apartment buildings, or industrial areas, or warehouses.

Therefore some measures must be taken to stop the abusing of our farmland. On the other hand, we should let everyone realize the danger of being short of land. And also we should educate them how to make better use of our land.

Try to Be a Good Student

Perhaps it is the dream of everyone to be a good student at school, but quite a few students feel at a loss on how to make it. In my opinion it is rather easy if you can act on the following points.

First of all, make full use of your time and work hard. Don’t put off till tomorrow what should be done today, as time past will never come back. The fast developing society requires adequate knowledge, which presses us to spare no efforts to study. Of course, your hard work will be rewarded one day.

Secondly, use your own head and present your point of view. Credulous（轻信的）attitude will only make you take anything for granted. With your own judgment you will be able to tell right from wrong and set up your own theory.

Thirdly, set aside enough time for relaxation, entertainment, etc. don’t ignore the harm of all work

and no play. Proper sports will build up your body and improve the efficiency of your studying.

To be a good student is easier said than done, for it needs a student’s consistent efforts. But nothing is difficult to a man if he puts his heart into it.