英語優美文章朗誦
朗誦藝術愛好者眾多,但似乎幽怨哀愁的作品更受青睞。尤其是中國大學生朗誦大賽中,選手多選擇悲劇內容的作品。下面是小編帶來的經典英語美文誦讀，歡迎閱讀!
經典英語美文誦讀篇一
如何為生活中的“第一次”做準備
1. Ditch the perfection 放棄完美
On very rare occasions can you manage to do something perfectly the first time you do it, so when you do something for the first time, it is time to ditch the notion of perfection.
I remember the first time I drove a car in traffic after getting my driver's license. I was very nervous and I was overwhelmed by the traffic — my driving style showed that I wasn't a very confident driver. Now I'm much more experienced as a driver. Although I still don't consider myself a perfect one, I'm much more confident behind the wheel than what I was when I started.
In general, it is useless to strive for perfection when you do something for the first time. You are setting the bar too high and you just feel bad when you are not able to meet the level you have set.
Also, perfection is just another way to procrastinate, so trying to be perfect is just a waste of time. You want to pursue excellence instead.
2. Forget what others think 忘記別人怎麼想
In order to decrease the stress you feel about your first time, just forget what others are thinking of you.
First, many people don't really care that much if you happen to fail at something. If you are open about your inexperience, they are most likely to forgive your inability to perform well.
Second, remember that others have also started from "zero" as well ***driving a car, giving a public speech, going out for a date, etc.***.
Third, focus on your own performance — not on others. For instance, if you're going to be running in your first marathon ever your goal is just to pass the finish line, not to run a new world record.
3. The time you spend doesn’t matter 不要在意你所花費的時間
One common characteristic of doing something for the first time is that it is most likely to be more time-consuming than subsequent times. If you are inexperienced, the first few times you are just going to be learning anyway — and hopefully getting better in the process.
Just take your time and try to learn as much as possible as you go. You will realize that the second time is much easier, since you already have some experience in your pocket.
4. Plan and prepare 計劃和準備
If possible, try to plan and prepare as much as possible before doing something new. This way you will gain more self-confidence, and by planning and preparing you actually may have a bit more control of things.
But you don't always have that sense of control. For instance, if you are going out on a first date, you cannot plan every possible topic to talk about in advance — nor is it reasonable to do that.
On the other hand, if you are going to take a certification test related to your profession, you can study and prepare so that you can reach a whole different level when you take the exam.
5. Prepare for the second time 為第二次做準備
Once you have gone through your "first time experience", you'll have broken the biggest barrier of all. The excitement and fear is most likely gone and the next time won't be that scary anymore.
To make the next time even a smoother experience, do these two things during your first time:
Take notes. It never hurts to write things down as you go. These notes can help you to feel more confident and you can go them through when preparing for the second time
Run through a checklist. Create a checklist, so that you can prepare even better for the next time. For example, to prepare yourself to give a presentation, write down a checklist to go through before the actual event. This way you can make sure that all the necessary requirements are met before the presentation begins.
Conclusion 總結
You'll never be fully prepared for the first time at everything, but if you use the tips above the next time you face something new you'll have a much better chance to enjoy the experience. And then you'll want to do it again.
經典英語美文誦讀篇二
If the bird returned倘若鳥兒回還
Charles saw them both at the same time: a small white bird and the girl wheeling down the walk. The bird glided downward and rested in the grass; the girl directed the chair smoothly along the sunlit, shadowy walk. She stopped to watch the ducks on the pond and when she shoved the wheels again, Charles stood up. "May I push you?" he called, running across the grass to her. The white bird flew to the top of a tree.
查爾斯是在同一時刻看到他們倆的：一隻白色的小鳥和坐著輪椅沿著小徑悠然而來的女孩。小鳥滑翔而下，棲息在草地上;女孩則平穩地駕著輪椅，穿行在陽光下婆娑的樹影之間。她停下來看池塘裡的鴨子，當她再次用手推動輪椅時，查爾斯一下子站了起來。“我來推你好嗎?”他一邊喊道，一邊穿過草地朝她奔去。那隻小鳥嗖地飛上了樹梢。
It was mostly he who talked and he seemed afraid to stop for fear she'd ask him to leave her by herself. Nothing in her face had supported the idea of helplessness conveyed by the wheelchair, and he knew that his assistance was not viewed as a favor. He asked the cause of her handicap.
大部分時間都是他在喋喋不休，他似乎害怕話一停，她就會請他離開，好讓她獨自呆著。從她的臉上看不出有任何緣於輪椅的無助表情，因而他知道，他的幫助並沒有被看作是一種恩惠。他問起她致殘的原因。
"It was an automobile accident when I was 12," Amy explained.
“我12歲那年出了一場車禍，”艾米解釋說。
They went for lunch, and he would have felt awkward except that she knew completely how to take care of herself.
他們一起去吃午餐。幸好她能完全照料自己，不然他可就尷尬了。
"Do you live with someone?" he asked the next day when they met.
“你和什麼人住在一起嗎?”第二天見面時他問。
"Just myself," she answered. Asking the question made him feel uneasy because of his own loneliness even though he was hoping for this answer.
“就我自己，”她答道。儘管他希望得到這樣一個答案，但是問這個問題仍然讓他有些不安，因為他自己也過得很孤獨。
He came to like to feel the white handles in his grasp, to walk between the two white-rimmed metal wheels. And he grew almost more familiar with the slight wave at the back of her hair than with her eyes or her mouth. Once, he said to the wave at the back of her hair, "I hope I'm the only chair-pusher in your life," but she had only smiled a little and her eyes had admitted nothing.
他開始喜歡把輪椅的白色手柄握在手裡的感覺，喜歡在那兩隻鑲有白邊的金屬輪子中間推車行走。他對她披在身後的、微微起伏的長髮愈加熟悉，幾乎超過了對她的眼睛和嘴脣的熟悉程度。有一次，他對著她波浪一般起伏的長髮說：“真希望我是你生命中惟一為你推輪椅的人。”但她只是莞爾一笑，眼裡沒有任何表示。
She cooked dinner for him once in June. He expected her to be proud of her ability to do everything from her seat in the wheelchair—and was faintly disappointed to see that she would not feel pride at what was, for her, simply a matter of course. He watched his own hand pick up the salt shaker and place it on one of the higher unused shelves, and awaited her plea for assistance. He didn't know why he'd done it, but the look in her eyes made him realize how cruel his prank was. To make her forget what he'd done, he told her about the little white bird in the park.
6月裡，她曾為他燒過一頓晚餐。她坐在輪椅上樣樣事情都能做，他以為她會為此而自豪的，但她僅僅把這視為一件理所當然的事，並無自豪感可言。發現這一點後，他不免有些悵然若失。他望著自己的手拿起鹽瓶，把它放到一塊較高的、不常用的碗櫃擱板上，然後等著她請求幫助。他不明白自己為什麼要這樣做，但她的眼神讓他意識到，他的惡作劇有多麼殘酷。為了讓她忘掉他剛才的蠢行，他跟她談起了公園裡的那隻小白鳥。
"I've seen it, too," she said. "I read a poem once about a little white bird that came to rest on a windowsill and the lady who lived in the house began to put out food for it. Soon the lady fell in love, but it was a mismatched love. Every day the little bird came to the window and the lady put out food. When the love affair was over, the little white bird never returned, but the woman went on putting out the crumbs every day for years and the wind just blew them away."
“我也看見了，”她說。“我曾經讀過一首詩，詩中的小白鳥經常飛來棲息在一戶人家的窗臺上，女主人開始拿出食物餵它。很快，女主人便愛上了這隻鳥兒，可這場愛戀並不般配。小鳥每天飛到窗前，女主人便每天捧出食物。戀情結束之後，小白鳥一去不返，可女主人連著幾年日復一日地把麵包屑放到窗臺上，任風把它們吹走。”
In July he took her boating frequently. The most awkward event, she felt, was getting in and out of the boat. For Charles, however, these "freight handlings," as she came to call it, seemed to be the highlight of the outings. In the boat she felt helpless, unable to move around, sitting in one spot. Also, she was unable to swim, should the boat turn over. Charles didn't observe her discomfort; she did note how much he enjoyed being in control. When he called for her one day in early August, she refused to.
7月裡，他時常帶她去划船。最令她感到不自在的是隻能由查爾斯把她抱上抱下，她稱之為“貨物裝卸”。但對查爾斯而言，那樣的時刻彷彿就是他們戶外活動的最精彩部分。她在船上感到很無助，只能坐在一個地方，沒法四處活動。而且如果翻船，她可不會游泳。查爾斯對她的不安不予體察。她卻發現了他是多麼喜歡控制別人。8月初的一天，他來喊她去划船，她說什麼也不肯去。
They would, instead, she said, go for a walk in which she would move herself by the strength of her own arms and he would walk beside her.
她建議他們不妨出去散散步，這樣她可以憑自己的臂力推動自己，他則可以走在她身邊。
"Why don't you just rest your arms and let me push you?"
“你為什麼不讓自己的胳膊輕鬆一下，讓我來推你呢?”
"No."
“不用。”
"Your arms will get sore14. I've been helping you do it for three months now."
“你的胳膊會酸的。三個月來一直是我在推你呀!”
"I wheeled myself for 12 years before you came along."
“可在你出現之前，我推了自己12年。”
"But I don't like having to walk beside you while you push yourself!"
“但我不願你自己推自己而我卻只能袖手旁觀!”
"Do you think I liked sitting helpless in your boat every weekend for the past two months?"
“你以為過去兩個月的每個週末，我就喜歡無可奈何地坐在你的船上嗎?”
He never considered this and was shocked into silence. Finally he said quietly, "I never realized that, Amy. You're in a wheelchair all the time - I never thought you'd mind sitting in the boat. It's the same thing."
他從未考慮過這個問題，一時間驚訝得說不出話。最後他平靜地說道：“我從未意識到這一點，艾米。你一直坐在輪椅裡——我沒想過讓你坐在船上你會介意。我以為這是一回事。”
"It is not the same thing. In this chair, I can move by myself; I can go anywhere I need to go. That boat traps me so I can't do anything - I couldn't even save myself if something happened and I fell out."
“這不是一回事。坐在輪椅裡，我能自己行動，需要去哪兒就可以去哪兒。而那條船卻困住了我，讓我無計可施——萬一發生什麼事，我掉到了水裡，我甚至連自救都不會。”
"But I'm there. Don't you think I could save you or help you move or whatever it is you want?"
“可是有我在呀!難道你認為我救不了你，不能幫你活動或是幹你想幹的任何事嗎?”
"Yes, but Charles - the point is I've spent 12 years learning to manage by myself. I even live in a city that's miles from my family so I'll have to be independent and do things for myself. Being placed in the boat takes all that I've won away from me. Can't you see why I object to it? I don't want to feel helpless."
“你能。可是，查爾斯——問題在於我花了12年的時間才學會自理。我甚至孤身一人住在離家幾英里遠的城市，強迫自己獨立，一切都由自己動手。把我放在船上等於剝奪了我所獲得的一切。難道你不明白我為什麼反對你那樣做嗎?我不想讓自己感到懦弱無助。”
As they went down the path Charles selfishly only thought of his own needs, finally he lost control and said，"Amy, I need to have you dependent upon me." He grabbed the wheelchair and pushed her along. She had to let go of the wheels or injure herself. He could not see the anger in her eyes, and it was just as well for it was an anger he would not have understood.
他們沿著小路繼續往前走著，最後他失去了控制，說：“艾米，我需要你依賴我。” 查爾斯只在心裡自私地想著自己的需要。他一把抓過輪椅，推著她飛跑起來。結果她只得把手從輪子上放開，以免傷著了自己。他看不到她眼眸中的憤怒，這樣也好，因為那種憤怒不是他所能理解的。
She would not answer her telephone the next morning but in his mail that afternoon came an envelope that he knew had come from Amy. The handwriting was not beautiful, but it was without question hers. Inside was only a card on which she had written:
第二天早上，她不願接他打來的電話。不過下午，在他收到的郵件中有一封信，他知道那準是艾米寫來的。字寫得並不漂亮，但無疑是她的筆跡。裡面只有一張卡片，她在上面寫道：
If you want something badly enough,
You must let it go free.
If it comes back to you,
It's yours.
If it doesn't,
You really never had it anyway.
***Anonymous***
如果你渴望愛情，
就必須給它自由。
倘若鳥兒回還，
它就不再飛走。
若它去無影蹤，
你從未真正擁有。
***無名氏***
He ran out of his apartment, refusing to believe that Amy might no longer be in her home. As he was running towards her apartment, he kept hearing a roar in his ears: "You must let it go free; you must let it go free."
他衝出公寓大樓，不相信艾米會搬家。他朝她的公寓狂奔而去，一路上只有一個聲音不絕於耳：“給它自由;你必須給它自由!”
But he thought: I can't risk it, she is mine, can't give her a chance not to belong to me, can't let her think she doesn't need me, she must need me. Oh God, I have to have her.
但是他想：我不能冒這個險，她是我的;我決不能放手，決不能讓她不屬於我，決不能讓她以為她不需要我;她一定需要我。哦，上帝，我必須得到她!
But her apartment was empty. Somehow in the hours overnight, she had packed - by herself -and moved by herself. The rooms were now impersonal; their cold stillness could not respond when he fell to the floor and sobbed.
然而她的公寓空空如也。她一定是在頭天夜裡花了幾個小時打好行裝——自己動手——獨自離去。此刻，房間裡不再有任何生命的氣息。他倒地啜泣，回答他的只有一片陰冷的寂靜。
By the middle of August he had heard nothing from Amy. He went often to the park but avoided looking for the white bird.
到了8月中旬，他依然沒收到艾米的任何訊息。他時常去公園，但總是小心翼翼地不去尋找那隻小白鳥。
September came and had almost gone before he finally received a letter. The handwriting was without question hers. The postmark was that of a city many miles distant. He tore open the envelope and at first thought it was empty. Then he noticed a single white feather had fallen from it. In his mind, the white bird rose in flight and its wings let fly one feather. Were it not for the feather, no one would have known that the white bird had ever been. Thus he knew Amy would not be back, and it was many hours before he let the feather drop out of his hand.
9月不覺來臨，又即將悄然逝去，他終於收到了另一封熟悉的來信。無疑是她的筆跡。郵戳標明寄自另一個遙遠的城市。他撕開信封，最初還以為裡面空無一物，隨後才發現有一根從信封中飄落的潔白羽毛。他的腦海裡幻化出那隻小白鳥，它振翅飛翔，一片羽毛從它的翅上抖落。倘若不是鳥兒在離去時留下這片羽毛為證，有誰會知道小白鳥曾經來過?他幡然醒悟：艾米再也不會回來了。不知過了多久，他才讓那根羽毛從手中悄然滑落。
經典英語美文誦讀篇三
Broken Trust破碎的信任
It's never good news when your business adviser calls out of the blue and says, "Wes, we need to talk."
That's what happened to me one spring morning not long after I'd arrived at my office. I own a small agency that handles speaking engagements and literary rights for Christian entertainers, authors and leaders. I started the business in my 20s and it grew to about a dozen employees, earning me enough to provide a comfortable living for my family and to send my kids to college.
That year, though, the company hit a rough patch, so I'd hired a business consultant to give me some ideas for improvement. He's the one who called that April morning.
"Wes," he said, "your company is in more trouble than you know. We need to get together. Soon."
Before I could ask what was wrong he told me he had already been in touch with my banker and my accountant. "How about we meet at your house tonight?" I stammered out an okay and spent the rest of the day in a knot.
That evening, Ken, the consultant, Ed, my banker, and Tom, my CPA, sat down in my living room. Normally they were laid-back Southern guys. Tonight they looked deadly serious. Tom pulled out some spreadsheets and other documents. "Wes," he said, "do you realize how deeply your company's in debt?"
My eyes widened. A while back I'd transferred much of the day-to-day running of the company to two people I trusted. One was my chief operating officer. The other was Tim, my vice president. Tim had joined the business eight years earlier soon after graduating college. The COO had been with me 14 years. We were a team and close friends besides. Most weeks we spent far more time with each other than we did with our families.
Ed, the banker, said, "Wes, I've been getting these phone calls from Tim asking questions about the company's accounts I didn't think were proper."
"Did you know about this line of credit?" Ed continued, pointing to a paper with my signature authorizing the loan for a substantial sum of money. I didn't remember agreeing to borrow that much.
"Take a look at these expenses," Ken said, indicating high-priced hotel rooms and restaurant bills Tim and the COO had charged to the company.
I felt the color drain from my face. What on earth was going on? Yes, the past year had been difficult at work. I was in my 50s and eager to dial back, but I often disagreed with where Tim and the COO wanted to take the company. Still, none of our arguments ever suggested either of them wanted to deceive me.
"The bottom line, Wes," said Ken, "is it's pretty clear these guys are taking advantage of you. We need to do some more research, but at the very least you're going to have to let these guys go. Legal charges may even be in order."
I was stunned. The three of them went over some more figures then told me to lie low till we'd gathered enough documentation to make a clear case for dismissal. "In the meantime we're going to have to figure out how to get your company's finances back in order," said Tom. "You're in a pretty deep hole and it'll take some doing to climb out."
They left and I stumbled upstairs. My wife, Linda, was getting ready for bed. I told her everything. Her face turned ashen. "Wes," she said, "I can't believe it. Those guys are our friends. They betrayed you! Why?"
I shook my head. Until Linda used that word I hadn't thought of it as betrayal. These men were among my best friends. For some reason they'd taken advantage of my trust and drained money from the business we'd worked so hard to build. Maybe there was some explanation. Maybe it wasn't so utterly awful.
The next morning in the office I knew it was that awful. Shock and dismay must've been written all over my face because the minute I said hello to Tim and the COO they stiffened and gave each other a look. The company's offices were small, a two-story brick building in a complex outside Nashville. My office was downstairs. The other two guys worked on the second floor. That day and the days following I sat at my desk listening to the profound silence upstairs. The office was unbearably tense.
A stream of shocking revelations came from my advisers. They compiled paperwork on Tim first. The day I let Tim go I called him into the conference room with Ken and me, laid out the evidence and said, "Tim, we've come to the end of the road here. I know what's been happening and the company's in real trouble. I need to fire you, effective immediately." Tim didn't say a word except that he needed to get some things from his desk. On the way out he surreptitiously turned off his computer, effectively locking it since only he knew the password. He didn't say goodbye.
With the help of a computer expert, we got into Tim's computer and discovered the full extent of what he and the COO had been up to. They'd aimed to drain resources and clients from my company into a new shadow company they'd created. They intended to put me out of business then walk away with my clients. I now had enough evidence to fire the COO. The day I planned to let him go, he resigned. I immediately went to see a lawyer. The lawyer, surprisingly, told me that though I could sue both men successfully, he wouldn't recommend it.
"It'll eat up years of your life when you should be working to repair your company," he said. A lawyer, willingly turning down business! Maybe it was a sign from God.
Except I didn't want to hear from God. I was over the initial shock and now I was just angry. Bitterly angry. Tim and the COO even had the nerve to set up their new company right across the parking lot from my office! What had I done to deserve this?
I thought back over all our years together, our good times in the office, our celebrations when we landed a particularly big client. I knew they chafed at my authority, especially when I started handing them more responsibility. They didn't like me weighing in on all their decisions. But it was my company! I'd built it and I had a right to say where it should go. No, I simply needed to admit that this was the reality of human relationships, especially in business. People were cutthroat, kindness was an illusion and trust was for fools.
I went on like this for months. One day I found myself driving along I-40, returning to Nashville after dropping off my daughter at college in Knoxville. The rolling green hills unspooled out the window and it seemed like I was heading from nowhere to nowhere. I felt weighted down and alone. Alone with my anger.
I often stayed up late at night poring over financial documents. Sometimes I screamed at the wall. My relationship with Linda was strained. I was terse and grim at the office too. It was no way to live, but what was I supposed to do when every day I pulled into work and saw my former friends' cars parked right across the lot? Surely no one expected me to forgive them?
The moment that thought entered my mind I felt a kind of stilling of my heart. Forgiveness. I'd heard plenty of sermons about forgiveness. Heck, I'd scheduled plenty of speakers on the topic. But senseless betrayal by close friends? Who could forgive something like that?
The hills rolled by, silent and serene. I heard no voice, felt no presence—indeed, I'd never felt emptier. Yet all of a sudden a prayer came unbidden to my lips: "Lord, fill my emptiness with your presence." I spoke those words and it was as if a film was immediately lifted from my eyes. Not only was forgiveness possible, it was required. It was the only way to fill the emptiness and stop the anger. Forgiveness was the presence of God. I would have laughed except I was so dismayed. I knew what I had to do. I just didn't know how to do it.
In fact, it took me three years, a Christian men's retreat and a final face-to-face meeting with Tim to reach that place of forgiveness. Along the way I let go of my self-righteousness and admitted that I'd been unfair, expecting two subordinates to take the reins as I neared retirement and yet still follow my direction. That didn't excuse their betrayal, but it felt right to acknowledge my own role in our failed relationship.
I read those powerful words in Matthew, "Love your enemies," and I realized that in the end I had to forgive both men whether or not they ever apologized. I opened my heart to reconciliation.
Sometime later Tim got in touch with me ***I still haven't heard from the COO***. By that point their new business had foundered and Tim was at loose ends. I didn't offer him a job, though my company's back on sound financial footing. What I offered was friendship. We're still in touch and I can honestly say I hold no bitterness toward either man.