英语经典美文摘抄【精选4篇】

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优秀英语美文文摘【第一篇】

Integrity

正直

-From A Mother in Mannville

——节选自《妈妈住在曼菲尔》

罗林兹

The Orphanage is high in the Carolina mountains. Sometimes in winter the snowdrifts are sodeep that the institution is cut off from the village below,from all the world. Fog hides themountain peaks, the snow swirls down the valleys, and a wind blows so bitterly that theorphanage boys who take the milk twice daily to the baby cottage reach the door with fingersstiff in anagony of numbness.

在卡罗来纳的山地里，有一座孤儿院坐落在高处。隆冬时节，风雪交加，有时候积雪堆得老高，将孤儿院与山下的村庄乃至整个外界完全隔断。云雾遮蔽了重重峰峦，雪花飞旋着冲人山谷。在呼啸的寒风中，孤儿院的男孩们将一份份牛奶端到育婴房去，一天得跑两趟呢。当他们走到育婴房门口的时候，手指冻得僵硬，一点儿都不听使唤了。

I was there in the autumn. I wanted quiet, isolation, to do some troublesome writing. I wantedmountain air to blow out the malaria from too long a time in the subtropics. I was homesick,too, for the flaming of maples in October,and for corn shocks and pumpkins and black-walnuttrees and the lift of hills. I found them all, living in a cabin that belonged to the orphanage, halfa mile beyond the orphanage farm. When I took the cabin, I asked for a boyor man to comeand chop wood for the fireplace. The first few days were warm, I found what wood I neededabout the cabin, no one came, and Iforgot the order.

我秋天就到了那里。我需要安静，与世隔绝，好从事艰辛的创作。我需要山里的清风，把久居亚热带地区染上的疟疾吹散。我还想起家来，老惦着那十月间的枫叶似火，那一垛垛玉米秫秸，南瓜成堆，黑胡桃林子，还有隆起的山丘。我住在孤儿院的一间小屋里，距院农场有半英里，这一切尽收眼底。我住进去的时候，要求派个男孩或者男人帮我劈柴烧壁炉。头几天还算暖和，我在小屋的四周捡了点木柴，没见人来，也就把这话给忘了。

I looked up from my typewriter one late afternoon, a little startled. A boystood at the door,and my pointer dog, my companion, was at his side and had not barked to warn me. The boywas probably twelve years old, but undersized. He wore overalls and a torn shirt, and wasbarefooted.

一天傍晚，我正在打字，猛抬头不禁吃了一惊：有个男孩站在房门口，而跟我做伴的猎狗竟在他身边默默呆着，连个招呼也没跟我打一声。这孩子大概有12岁，不过个子没那么大，他穿着一条工装裤，一件破旧的衬衣，光着两脚。

He said, "I can chop some wood today."

他说：“我今天可以劈点儿木柴。”

I said, "But I have a boy coming from the orphanage."

我说：“可我请了孤儿院的孩子来劈。”

"I'm the boy."

“我就是。”

"You? But you're small."

“是你？可你还小呢。”

"Size don't matter, chopping wood," he said. "Some of the big boys don't chop good. I've beenchopping wood at the orphanage a long time."

“劈柴火可不论个头儿，”他说，“有的大孩子还劈不好呢。我在孤儿院劈了好长一阵了。”

I visualized mangled and inadequate branches for my fires. I was well into my work and notinclined to conversation. I was a little blunt."Very well. There's the ax. Go ahead and see whatyou can do."

我想象中出现了砍得乱七八糟的树枝子，供不上壁炉烧的。我一心在写作，没有心思搭理他，话也说得有点生硬：“好了好了，去拿斧子吧。先劈劈再看吧。”

I went back to work,closing the door. At first the sound of the boy dragging brush annoyedme. Then he began to chop. The blows were rhythmic and steady, and shortly I had forgottenhim, the sound no more of an interruption than a consistent rain. I suppose an hour and ahalf passed, for when I stopped and stretched, and heard the boy's steps on the cabin stoop,the sun was dropping behind the farthest mountain, and the valleys were purplewith somethingdeeper than the asters.

我关上门，继续写作。起先听他拽木头，闹得我心烦。后来他动手劈柴了。他劈得错落有致，不紧不慢，我很快就把他忘了，那斧声就跟一场绵绵细雨似的对我全无干扰。我估计他劈了有一个半小时吧，因为这时我歇下来舒展一下身子，听见他正走上门口的台阶，夕阳已渐渐沉没在远山的背后，壑谷间一片紫霭，颜色比翠菊还浓。

The boy said, "I have to go to supper now. I can come again tomorrow evening."

这孩子说道：“我得去吃晚饭了。我明晚再来。”

I said, "I'll pay you now for what you've done," thinking I should probably have to insist on anolder boy. "Ten cents an hour'?"

我说：“我这就把你的工钱结了吧，”心想恐怕还得换个大孩子来，“一小时算一毛？”

"Anything is all right."

“怎么都行。”

We went together back of the cabin. An astonishing amount of solid wood had been cut. Therewere cherry logs and heavy roots of rhododendron, and blocks from the waste pine and oakleft from the building of the cabin.

我们一起来到屋后。只见满地都是劈好了的结结实实的木柴，简直令人咂舌。其中有樱桃树的圆木干和杜鹃灌木的粗根，就连盖小屋剩下的废松木和废栎木，也都劈成了大块的木柴。

"But you've done as much as a man," I said. "This is a splendid pile."

“你可是跟大人劈得一样多了，”我说，“瞧这么大一堆，太好了。”

I looked at him, actually, for the first time. His hair was the color of the corn shocks, and hiseyes, very direct, were like the mountain sky when rain is pending-gray, with a shadowing ofthat miraculous blue. As I spoke a light came over him, as though the setting sun hadtouched him with the same suffused glory with which it touched the mountains. I gave him aquarter.

我端详着他，说真的，这还是头一回。他的头发呈玉米秫秸的颜色，两眼里一片率真，像是山雨欲来的天空——灰暗中透出那奇异的天蓝。我正说着，忽见他周身一片光亮，仿佛落日那洒满群山的余辉也洒到了他身上。我给了他一枚两角五分的硬币。

"You may come tomorrow," I said, "and thank you very much."He looked at me, and at the coin,and seemed to want to speak, but could not, and turned away.

“你明天来吧，”我说，“多谢你了。”他看看我，又看看硬币，好像要说什么，可又说不出来，就转身离去。

"I'll split kindling tomorrow," he said over his thin ragged shoulder. "You'llneed kindling andmedium wood and logs and backlogs."

“明天我劈引火柴，”他回过头来又说，衬衣的肩部都磨薄磨破了，“点火柴，引火柴，原木，垫底的，你都用得着。”

At daylight I was half wakened by the sound of chopping. Again it was so even in texture that Iwent back to sleep. When I left my bed in the cool morning, the boy had come and gone, and astack of kindling was neat against the cabin wall. He came again after school in the afternoonand worked until time to return to the orphanage. His name was Jerry; he was twelve years old,and he had been at the orphanage since he was four. I could picture him at four, with the samegrave gray-blue eyes and the same-independence? No, the word that comes to me is"integrity."

第二天黎明时分，一阵劈柴声搅得我似醒非醒。那拍子依然不紧不慢，又把我带回梦乡。我早上起床，天很凉，这孩子来过又走了，只见一堆引火柴整整齐齐码在墙边。他下午放学后又来了，一口气干到该回孤儿院了才歇手。他叫杰里，12岁了，从四岁起就呆在孤儿院。我可以想象他四岁的样子，也是这双郑重其事的灰蓝色眼睛，也是这份自立？不，我想到的词儿是“正直”。

The word means something very special to me, and the quality for which I use it is a rare father had it-there is another of whom I am almost sure-but almost no man of myacquaintance possesses it with the clarity,the purity, the simplicity of a mountain the boy Jerry had it. It is bedded-on courage, but it is more than brave. It is honest, but itis more than honesty. The ax handle broke one day. Jerry said the woodshop at theorphanage would repair it. I brought money to pay for the job and he refused it.

这个词对我有特殊的含义，我用它来说明一种难得的品格。我父亲就有这种品格——我相信还有别人，但是在我的相识中几乎没有一个人像一泓山泉那般清澈、纯洁和朴素地具备这种品格。然而杰里这孩子就有。他的正直植根于勇气，但又超出勇敢。它是诚实，但又超出诚实。有一天，斧把断了。杰里说孤儿院的木工房给修。我掏出修理费，他不肯收。

"I'll pay for it," he said. "I broke it. I brought the ax down careless."

“这钱该我出，”他说，“我弄断的。我砍得不小心。”

"But no one hits accurately every time," I told him. "The fault was in the wood of the 'll see the man from whom I bought it.

“可谁都有个闪失的时候，”我对他说，“都怪木把不结实。我找卖斧子的去。”

"It was only then that he would take the money. He was standing back of his own carelessness. He was a free-will agent and he chose to do careful work, and if he failed, he took theresponsibility without subterfuge.

他这才肯把钱收下。他对自己的疏忽毫不遮掩。他是个自有主意的人，干活就要认真干好，没干好，他就承担责任，决不借故推诿。

优秀英语美文文摘【第二篇】

iller on Wings Is Under Threat

飞翔的杀手正受到威胁

Could anything be more majestic, serene or threatening than the largest bird of prey in theworld, the harpy eagle, soaring above its domain? Weighing nine kilograms and with a wingspan, this giant of the .sky glides at 65 kilometres per hour over dense Brazilianrainforest. Its cruel head with flaring coloured crest and huge hooked beak twists constantlyfrom side to side.

有什么比世界上最大的食肉猛禽热带大雕在它的领地上方搏击长空更加壮丽，更加安详，又更具威胁性呢？体重九公斤，翼幅达米的空中巨物在茂密的巴西雨林上空以每小时65公里的速度滑翔。它那长着展开的有色肉冠和巨大钩状鹰嘴的残暴的脑袋木断地向两边扭来扭去。

It spots a monkey in a treetop kilometres away and zeroes in on its prey. The monkeymunches on, oblirious to the threat. Then the eagle strikes,plucking its prey from its perchwith talons bome on legs the thickness of your wrists. The monkey dies instantly, pierced bythe talons. The eagle carries the body back to its treetop lair. The famed and feared harpyeagle has killed again.

它发现了公里之外树梢上的一只猴子，就立即把注意力集中在这只猎物身上。猴子全然不知威胁的存在，仍在津津有味地咀嚼着。大雕发起了进攻，用它的利爪将猎物从树枝上一把抓了起来，那利爪长在与人的手腕一般粗的腿上。被利爪刺穿了的猴子刹时间一命呜呼。大雕将其尸体带回树梢上的窝里。鼎鼎大名、令人生畏的热带大雕又杀生了。

Whether this frightening creature does indeed soar like other eagles in search of prey is opento conjecture . Forless is known about the harpy than any other eagle-the remoteness of itshabitat sees to that. But it has been seen carrying monkeys, sloth and even small deer back toits nest.

这吓人的热带大雕捕食时是否真的和其他鹰类一样翱翔还没有定论，尚待猜测。人们对大雕的了解比对其他鹰类的了解都少——这是因为它的栖息地十分遥远而造成的，但确实见过它将猴子、树獭甚至小鹿带回巢中。

This eagle's extraordinary eyesight is one of its greatest assets. Like many other eagles, it cansee between four and eight times as much detail as canhumans. The result is an ability to seeclearly a smaU monkey at a distance of up to kilometres and to judge distances withpinpoint accuracy . The latter is an obvious requirement if prey is to be snatched at speed.

大雕非凡的视力是其最大的优势之一。和许多其他鹰类一样，它看清细节的能力比人类要强四至八倍。这样它就能够看清两点五公里以外的一只小猴子，并能极精确地判定距离，若想快速抓获猎物，准确判断距离很明显是必需的。

It's hard to believe that a creature so well equipped to survive could- ever find itself underthreat. But with huge tracts of rainforest being felled in Centraland South America, the harpy'sfood sources are harder to find.

令人难以置信的是生存条件如此优越的生物竟然也会处于威胁之中，但随着中、南美洲大片热带雨林的被砍伐，大雕的食物来源更为困难。

The threat posed could soon be similar to that facing the harpy's near relative, the Philippinesmonkey-eating eagle. This acutely threatened bird was reduced in numbers to fewer than 100in the wild by the loss of its forest habitat and by the heavy demands of trophy hunters in thePhilippines.

不久，这种威胁就会和热带大雕的近亲——菲律宾食猴鹰所面临的威胁相似了。由于森林栖息地的丧失和菲律宾猎手的大量捕杀，这种受到严重威胁的鸟类的野外数量已减少到不足100只。

Like its Filipino cousm, the harpy eagle nests in the tops of the largest forest trees. It thereforeneeds an intact forest to breed. The seemingly invinable harpy is vulnerable for anotherreason. A mating pair is thought to produce only one eaglet every two years. Harpy eggs takeup to 60 days to hatch and chicks take a further 60 days before they learn to fly. What ismore, the youngster is fed by the parents for many months after it has learned to fly. Annualbreeding then is impossible.

和它的菲律宾同伴一样，热带大雕把巢筑在最大的树顶上。因此，它的繁殖需要一个保持完好的森林环境。似乎不可战胜的热带大雕易受伤害还有一个原因。据信，一对交配的大雕每两年才能生下一个雏雕。雕蛋的孵化需要60天，雏雕学飞之前还需60天。而且，雏雕学会飞行之后还需父母喂养多月。因而，大雕不可能每年繁殖。

Folklore has long held that the harpy eagle preys on human babies as well as forest animals. Tothe ancient Mayans of CentralAmerica the bird was Moan,a bird of ill omen and death. The harpyfrom which the eagle derives its name was a mythical wreaker of vengeance. Yet there is noevidence, according to British naturalist Leslie Brown, that children have ever been taken bythe harpy.

民间传说里，一直认为热带大雕既捕食森林动物，也捕食婴儿。对中美洲的古代玛雅人来说，热带大雕就是Moan，一种带来不祥和死亡的鸟。鹰的名字来自哈比( Harpy)，神话中的一个复仇者。然而，按照英国博物学家莱斯利·布朗的说法，还没有证据表明大雕曾经掠走过小孩。

But the Anglia Television Company fflm crew from England that compiled a televisiondocumentary titled Fury of the Forest can vouch for the harpy's ferociousness when its nest isthreatened. One camera team was attacked when filming a pair of harpys mating and nesting.

但制作电视纪录片《森林的愤怒》的英国英吉利电视公司的拍摄人员可以证明：热带大雕，在它的巢穴受到威胁时，是无比凶暴的。一个摄制组在拍摄一对大雕交配和筑巢时受到了它们的袭击。

The harpy eagle does not face the same immediate threat as its Filipino cousin. But if thedestruction of its forest habitat continues at its present rate, the largest of avian predators,too, could join those birds already on the endangered species list. Leslie Brown wrote in 1976that nearly half of the 59 species of eagle were under threat. Those who appreciate naturewill be hoping that the harpy can surmount this threat, to soar on over the forests of SouthAmerica.

英语经典美文【第三篇】

While popular in the , the April Fool’s Day tradition is even more prevalent in European countries,such as France and Great Britain. Although the roots of the traditional trickings are unclear,the French andthe British both have claims on the origin of the celebration.

One theory holds that the first April Fool’s Day was on April 1 of the year when King of France instituted the new new system placed the day that had formerly been the first day of a new year on April people were reluctant to adjust to the new calandar and continued to celebrate New Year’s Day on what had become the first day of , they become the first April began to give gaggifts on the day to mock the foolishness of thosewho continued to celebrate the new year on April 1.

An English story about the day, however, holds that it began sometime during the the time, King John of England was in the habit of making a road out of nearly every path he walked citizensof one particular farm village were aware of avoid having their green meadows and pastures disturbed with one of the king’s roads,they built a fence that prevented the king from walking through their king sent a group of messengers to inform the villagers that they must remove the hearing that the king was planning to do this, however, the villagers developed a plan of their messengers arrived, they found what appeared to be a community of lunatics,with people behaving in a bizarre manner, throwing things and running around messengers, alarmed at what they had found, reported to king John that these people were so mad as to be beyond , the villagers saved their farmland by tricking the King. In Great Britain,tradition only allows April Fool’s tricks from midnightto noon on April 1. Those who try to play tricks in the afternoon become the fools themselves.

愚人节的习俗在美国是很流行的，在欧洲国家如法国和英国就更是如此了。虽然这种愚弄人习俗的起源不甚清楚，但是法国人和英国人却都宣称这种庆祝活动是由他们开始的。

有一种说法认为，第一个愚人节始于法国国王设立新历法那一年的4月1曰。这种新历法将以前新的一年的第一天定在4月1曰。很多人都不愿意按照新的历法行亊，还继续在根据新的历法已经是4月的第一天庆祝新年，于是他们就成了第一批愚人。另有一些人开始在这一天送戏弄人的礼物来取笑那些继续在4月1曰庆祝新年的人。

然而关于愚人节这一天，英国的一则故亊却认为它始于13世纪的某一天。那时，英格兰的约翰国王习惯于将他经常走的几乎每条小道都修成一条路。有一个乡村的居民觉察到了这一点。为了保护他们绿油油的草地和牧场免受国王修路所造成的破坏，他们筑了一道篱笆来阻挡国王在他们的乡间穿行。国王派遗了一队使者去通报村民们必须撤掉障碍。在听到国王正要打算这么做时，村民们也想出了自己的办法。当使者到达的时候，他们看到这里的人像一群疯子似的，举止古怪，乱扔东西，并且四下疯跑。此情此景令使者们惊恐万分，后来赶紧向约翰国王报告说，这些人疯疯癱癲的，根本没办法处置。村民们就这样骗过了国王，保护了自己的农田。在英国，按习俗在4月1曰这—天只允许从子夜到中午的这段时间搞恶作剧，到下午还这么做的人自己就成了愚人了。

英语经典美文【第四篇】

英国人的保守

Conservatism refers to the acceptance of anything familiar and refusal of anything strange are numerous facts that tell the conservatism of the Englishmen.

The monarchy as nominal head of the state still exists in the highly developed capitalistcountry.

The national anthem was, is and will be in the near 1000 years the old “God Save the King (orQueen)”.

English judges as usual wear long wigs in law courts, as shown in many films shot in HongKong.(As a colony of the British Empire, Hong Kong was once forced to adopt the Britishlegal system.)

Despite the fact that the feudal class is a term of only history significance,

noble titles are conferred on distinguished persons, who would accept the titles as somethingof the greatest honor.

Many Englishmen still spend lots of money keeping dummy fireplaces that are of no value atall,although their rooms are heated by gas or electric fire. They find it difficult to say goodbye tothe past.

As the first country to complete the industrial revolution, Britain refused to introduce decimalsystem until , shilling, pound and inch, foot, yard... all these are hard to beforgotten.

English people are always suspicious of any new plans of the they are stilldoubtful of the Europe integration plan,thus they are reluctant to allow pound to beintegrated into Euro Dollars.

Never talk about any kind of reform to an Englishman, he would surely be silent and keep awayfrom you!

保守是指一种乐于接受熟悉的东西、而拒绝陌生或新奇亊物的心态。有很多的事实可以证明英国人是多么的保守：在这样一个高度发达的资本主义国家，君主作为国家名义上的统治者而仍然存在。

英国的国歌过去是、现在是、也许再过1000年还是那首古老的“上帝拯救国王(或女王)”。

正如在香港拍摄的许多电影里所看到的那样，英国的法官在法庭上依然戴着长长的假发。(香港曾经作为英国的殖民地 而被迫采用英国的法律制度。)

虽然在亊实上，封建阶级早已成为历史意义上的专用名词，但是英国仍绐声名显赫的人授予贵族封号，而他们也把这种封号视作莫大的荣黉。

虽然许多英国人的房子早就用暖气或者电暖器取暖了，但是他们还在大把大把地花费金钱去保养毫无价值的仿制壁炉。对他们而言，和过去吿别难上加难。

作为世界上第一个完成工业革命的国家，英国直到1971年还柜绝采用十进制。便士、先令、英镑，英寸、英尺、码……这些实在让他们难以忘怀。

英国人对政府制定的任何新政策总是持怀疑态度。直到今天，他们对欧洲的统一计划仍然心存疑虑。因而，他们不愿意把 英镑纳入欧元计划之中。

千万别跟英国人谈论任何种类的改革——对此他们必定会沉默不语，并对你避而远之！