大學英語四級美文摘抄
誦讀經典美文,是一種薰陶,也是一種積累,能有效提高學生的文學素養,培養學生的語言能力和寫作能力。本文是大學英語四級美文,希望對大家有幫助!
大學英語四級美文:The Stars ***Excerpt***
星光***節選***
——Mark Twain
——馬克·吐溫
We had the sky up there, all speckled with stars, and we used to lay on our backs and look up at them, and discuss about whether they were made or only just happened. Jim allowed they were made, but I allowed they happened. I judged it would have taken too long to make so many. Jim said the moon couldn’t laid them; well, that looked kind of reasonable, so I didn't say nothing against it, because I've seen a frog lay most as many, so of course it could be done. We used to watch the stars that fell, too, and see them streak down. Jim allowed they'd got spoiled and was hove out of the nest.
我們頭頂就是天空,佈滿了閃閃的星星。我們常常躺***在木筏上***,看著夜空中的星星,並且討論它們是造出來的還是偶然冒出來的。吉姆說他認為星星是造出來的,但我認為星星是偶然冒出來的。我想如果要造那麼多星星,得花費相當長的時間。吉姆說月亮可以把它們生出來,而這個說法似乎很有道理,所以我就不再反駁他了,因為我曾見過青蛙一次下的仔兒,也差不多有這麼多,所以月亮當然也能下出那麼多的星星來。我們還常常看那些掉下來的星星,看著它們劃出一道亮光落下去。吉姆認為它們是變壞了,所以才被趕出了自己的窩。
***From The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn***
——選自《哈克貝里•芬歷險記》
大學英語四級美文:贏得大師的尊重
When the young American composer Daniel Gregory Mason came to Boston to interview the great pianist and composer Ignacy Jan Paderewski , there was trouble from the start.
年輕的美國作曲家丹尼爾•格里格利•梅森來到波士頓,當他拜見偉大的鋼琴家和作曲家伊格納奇•揚•帕岱萊夫斯基時,一開始就遇到了麻煩。
Because of a misunderstanding Mason was two-and-a-half hours late for his meeting with the great pianist. Mason was waiting in the hotel lobby while Paderewski was upstairs, getting more and more aggravated by Mason’s tardiness. Finally Mason went up to see Paderewski and found him cordial enough, but Paderewski’s wife was cold and standoffish. Mason felt awkward and self-conscious. He complimented Paderewski on his “Variations and Fugue on an Original Theme.” Then he added: “Just so you don’t think that’s empty flattery, I’ll tell you frankly that I do not care so much for some of your early pieces.”
因為一個誤會,梅森和這位偉大的鋼琴家會面延遲了兩個半小時。當梅森在旅館大廳裡傻等時,帕岱萊夫斯基卻在樓上房間裡為他的拖拉而越來越惱火。最後梅森上樓見到帕岱萊夫斯基,他還是很熱情,但他的夫人卻冷言冷語。梅森感到尷尬和羞愧。他讚美帕岱萊夫斯基的《原主旋律上的變奏曲和賦格曲》,然後他補充道,“為了不讓您覺得這是我的空洞奉承,我得坦誠地告訴您,我不太喜歡您早期的一些樂曲。”
Paderewski’s wife gave Mason a stony look. “What pieces? What do you not care for?”
帕岱萊夫斯基夫人拉下臉來,問他:“什麼樂曲?你不喜歡什麼樂曲?”
Mason got in deeper. “Well, for example, I do not care so much for the ‘A Minor Concerto’.”
梅森說:“好吧,比如說《a小調協奏曲》,我就不太喜歡。”
Her gaze was unwavering . “The concerto is one of my favorites among my husband’s compositions. I love it more and more.”
她目不轉睛地說:“在我丈夫的作品中,這首協奏曲是我最喜歡的曲子之一。我越來越喜歡了。”
Valiantly , Mason complimented Paderewski’s use of French impressionism.
梅森又冒昧地奉承帕帕岱萊夫斯基對法國印象主義的運用如何美妙。
Now Paderewski himself spoke. “I utterly repudiate any debt to French impressionism. I do not believe in the modern French school, because it is not founded in tradition. It is erratic, bizarre, wayward. ”
這次帕岱萊夫斯基自己說話了:“我和法國印象主義一點關係也沒有。我不相信法國現代派,因為它沒有傳統根基,太怪異了,旁門左道,莫名其妙。”
At last Mason ventured to show Paderewski a movement of his new violin sonata. Paderewski shook hands with him about eight times as he read through the sonata, singing the melody and exclaiming “beautiful!” Finally, with his music, Daniel Gregory Mason had won over the master.
最後,梅森斗膽地拿出了自己寫的小提琴奏鳴曲的一個樂章,讓帕岱萊夫斯基過目。帕岱萊夫斯基看奏鳴曲時,一邊哼唱著,一邊叫著:“太棒了!”這過程中居然和梅森握了八次手。丹尼爾•格里格利•梅森終於憑著他的音樂,贏得了大師的尊重。
大學英語四級美文:無論夢想大小,堅定就能走到
I have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch. He has let me use his house toput on fund-raising events. The last time I was there he introduced me by saying: “I want to tellyou a story. It all goes back to a story about a young man who was the son of an itineranthorse trainer who would go from stable to stable, race track to race track, farm to farm andranch to ranch, training horses. As a result, the boy’s high school career was continuallyinterrupted. When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted tobe and do when he grew up.
我有一個朋友叫蒙蒂•羅伯茨,他擁有一座養馬場。他讓我用他的房子作為舉辦籌集基金活動的地點。上次我在他那兒時,他跟我說:“我想給你講一個故事。這要追溯到一個年輕人身上發生的故事,他是一位巡迴馴馬師的兒子,他的馴馬師父親從馬廄到賽馬場,從農莊到牧場,負責訓練那裡的馬匹。結果,這個男孩的中學生涯就不斷地被中斷。當他成為一名高年級學生的時候,老師要求他寫一篇文章,內容有關他長大後想成為什麼人以及想做些什麼。
“That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of someday owning a horse ranch.He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch,showing the location of all the buildings, the stables and the track. Then he drew a detailedfloor plan for a 4,000-square-foot house that would sit on a 200-acre dream ranch.
“那天夜裡,他寫了長達七頁的文章,描述了自己將來有一天能擁有一座養馬場的目標。他極其詳細地介紹了自己的這個夢想,甚至還畫出了一幅200英畝牧場的示意圖,在上面標出所有建築、馬廄和跑道的具體位置。然後他又畫了一幅面積達4,000平方英尺的房屋平面圖,這棟房子會坐落在200英畝的夢想牧場上。
“He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the next day he handed it in to histeacher. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F with anote that read, ‘See me after class.’
“他在這個專案上投入了很多心血,第二天,他把文章交給了老師。兩天後,他收到了自己的文章。在第一頁上,有一個大大的紅色F,並帶有一條批註:‘課後來見我。’
“The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked, ‘Why did I receive anF?’ The teacher said, ‘This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. You have nomoney. You come from an itinerant family. You have no resources . Owning a horse ranchrequires a lot of money. You have to buy the land. You have to pay for the original breedingstock and later you’ll have to pay large stud fees . There’s no way you could ever do it.’ Thenthe teacher added, ‘If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will reconsideryour grade.’
“這個懷揣夢想的男孩課後去見那位老師,他問:‘為什麼我得了一個F?’老師回答說:‘對於像你這樣的小男孩來說,這是一個不切實際的夢想。你沒錢。你出身於一個居無定所的家庭。你也沒什麼才智謀略。要擁有一座養馬場需要很多錢。你得買地。你還得為原有的種畜付錢,之後,你將要支付大筆的種馬費。你是永遠也無法做到的。’隨後,老師又補充道:‘如果你針對一個更為實際的目標重寫這篇文章的話,我會重新考慮你的成績的。’
“The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked his father what he shoulddo. His father said, ‘Look, son, you have to make up your own mind on this. However, I think itis a very important decision for you.’ Finally, after a week, the boy turned in the same paper,making no changes at all. He stated, ‘You can keep the F and I’ll keep my dream.’ ”
“這個男孩回家苦苦思索了很久,他問自己的父親他該做些什麼。父親回答說:‘哎,兒子,你必須要在這件事上自己下定決心。不過,我認為這對你來說是一個非常重要的決定。’最終,男孩在一週後交上了同樣一篇文章,他根本沒做任何更改。他表明:‘你可以保留這個F,而我將繼續懷有我的這個夢想。’”
Monty then turned to the assembled group and said, “I tell you this story because you aresitting in my 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of my 200-acre horse ranch. I still havethat school paper framed over the fireplace.” He added, “The best part of the story is that twoyears ago that same schoolteacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week. Whenthe teacher was leaving, he said, ‘Look, Monty, I can tell you this now. When I was yourteacher, I was something of a dream stealer. During those years I stole a lot of kids’ dreams.Fortunately you had enough gumption not to give up on yours.’ ”
然後,蒙蒂轉向聚集的人群說:“我告訴你們這個故事,是因為你們目前正坐在我4,000平方英尺的房子裡,它就坐落在我這200英畝的養馬場中心。我依然留著那份學校論文,把它裝在鏡框裡,掛在壁爐的上方。”他補充道:“這個故事裡最精彩的部分是,就在兩年前,同一位老師帶著30個孩子在我的牧場上露營了一週的時間。當那位老師離開時,他說:‘喂,蒙蒂,我現在可以對你說這些了,當我做你老師的時候,我其實有點兒像一個偷夢人。在那些歲月裡,我偷走了很多孩子的夢想。但幸運的是,你有足夠的魄力,沒有放棄自己的夢想。’”
“Don’t let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what,” Monty at lastconcluded.
“不要讓任何人偷走你的夢想。無論怎樣都要跟隨你自己的心,”蒙蒂最後總結道。