較長的英語美文摘抄集

　　經典美文與英語寫作是兩項相對獨立但又相互依賴、相輔相成的關係,這一結論對寫作教學有很大啟發。本文就經典美文對英語寫作的促進作用談幾點看法。小編分享較長的英語美文，希望可以幫助大家!

　　較長的英語美文：The Road to Happiness

　　It is a commonplace among moralists that you cannot get happiness by pursuing it. This is only true if you pursue it unwisely. Gamblers at Monte Carlo are pursuing money, and most of them lose it instead, but there are other ways of pursuing money which often succeed. So it is with happiness. If you pursue it by means of drink, you are forgetting the hang-over. Epicurus pursued it by living only in congenial society and eating only dry bread, supplemented by a little cheese on feast days. His method proved successful in his case, but he was a valetudinarian***體弱多病的人*** , and most people would need something more vigorous. For most people, the pursuit of happiness, unless supplemented in various ways, is too abstract and theoretical to be adequate as a personal rule of life. But I think that whatever personal rule of life you may choose it should not, except in rare and heroic cases, be incompatible with happiness.

　　There are a great many people who have all the material conditions of happiness, i.e. health and a sufficient income, and who, nevertheless, are profoundly unhappy. In such cases it would seem as if the fault must lie with a wrong theory as to how to live. In one sense, we may say that any theory as to how to live is wrong. We imagine ourselves more different from the animals than we are. Animals live on impulse, and are happy as long as external conditions are favorable. If you have a cat it will enjoy life if it has food and warmth and opportunities for an occasional night on the tiles. Your needs are more complex than those of your cat, but they still have their basis in instinct. In civilized societies, especially in English-speaking societies, this is too apt to be forgotten. People propose to themselves some one paramount***最重要的*** objective, and restrain***抑制，控制*** all impulses that do not minister to it. A businessman may be so anxious to grow rich that to this end he sacrifices health and private affections. When at last he has become rich, no pleasure remains to him except harrying other people by exhortations to imitate his noble example. Many rich ladies, although nature has not endowed them with any spontaneous pleasure in literature or art, decide to be thought cultured, and spend boring hours learning the right thing to say about fashionable new books that are written to give delight, not to afford opportunities for dusty snobbism***勢利*** .

　　If you look around at the men and women whom you can call happy, you will see that they all have certain things in common. The most important of these things is an activity which at most gradually builds up something that you are glad to see coming into existence. Women who take an instinctive pleasure in their children can get this kind of satisfaction out of bringing up a family. Artists and authors and men of science get happiness in this way if their own work seems good to them. But there are many humbler forms of the same kind of pleasure. Many men who spend their working life in the city devote their weekends to voluntary and unremunerated toil in their gardens, and when the spring comes, they experience all the joys of having created beauty.

　　The whole subject of happiness has, in my opinion, been treated too solemnly. It had been thought that man cannot be happy without a theory of life or a religion. Perhaps those who have been rendered unhappy by a bad theory may need a better theory to help them to recovery, just as you may need a tonic***聲調的*** when you have been ill. But when things are normal a man should be healthy without a tonic and happy without a theory. It is the simple things that really matter. If a man delights in his wife and children, has success in work, and finds pleasure in the alternation of day and night, spring and autumn, he will be happy whatever his philosophy may be. If, on the other hand, he finds his wife fateful, his children's noise unendurable, and the office a nightmare; if in the daytime he longs for night, and at night sighs for the light of day, then what he needs is not a new philosophy but a new regimen----a different diet, or more exercise, or what not.

　　Man is an animal, and his happiness depends on his physiology more than he likes to think. This is a humble conclusion, but I cannot make myself disbelieve it. Unhappy businessmen, I am convinced, would increase their happiness more by walking six miles every day than by any conceivable***可能的*** change of philosophy.

　　較長的英語美文：Butterfly Kisses 蝶吻

　　My newlywed husband said the same thing every morning. "You're beautiful today."

　　One glance in the mirror revealed that it was far from the truth.

　　A skinny girl with mashed***搗爛的*** hair on one side of her head and no makeup smiled back at me. I could feel my sticky morning breath.

　　“Liar,” I shot back with a grin.

　　It was my usual response. My mother's first husband was not a kind man and his verbal and physical abuse forced her and her two children to find a safe place. He showed up on her doorstep one day with roses. She let him in and he beat her with those roses and took advantage of her. Nine months later she gave birth to a 9 lb. 13 oz. baby girl -- me.

　　The harsh words we heard growing up took root. I had trouble seeing myself as someone of value. I had been married two years when I surprised myself. My husband wrapped***包裹，覆蓋*** his arms around me and told me I was beautiful.

　　“Thank you,” I said.

　　The same thin girl with the mousy***灰褐色的*** brown hair still stared back at me in the mirror, but somehow the words had finally blossomed in my heart.

　　A lot of years have passed. My husband has grey in his hair. I'm no longer skinny. Last week I woke up and my husband's face was inches from mine.

　　“What are you doing?” I asked.

　　I covered my mouth, trying to hide my morning breath. He reached down and kissed my face.

　　“What I do every morning,” he said.

　　He leaves in the early hours of the morning while I sleep. I miss our morning conversations, but I had not realized that he continued to tell me that he loved me even while I slept. When he left, I rolled over and hugged my pillow. I envisioned***預想*** the picture of me lightly snoring***打鼾*** with my mouth open and giggled.

　　What a man! My husband understands my past. He's been beside me as I've grown from an unsure young girl to a confident woman, mother, speaker and author.

　　But I'm not sure that he understands the part he played in that transition. The words I heard growing up pierced***穿通，刺過*** my soul, yet his words pierced even deeper.

　　This Anniversary Day I plan to wake early. I want to tell Richard how much I love him. He may look in the mirror and see an extra pound or two, or wish for the day when his hair was dark and curly, but all I'll see is the man who saw something in me when I couldn't see it myself, and who leaves butterfly kisses, even after twenty-three years of marriage.

　　較長的英語美文：Don't Let Weakness Limit Your possibilities

　　We all have weaknesses and strengths – no matter who we are. Sometimes the weaknesses seem to outweigh the strengths and sometimes it’s the other way around. Some people get sick easily. Some struggle to manage their finances properly. Some people are hopeless communicators and struggle with relationships.

　　Many people leave it and that and accept it as just bad luck – but not everyone. Some people facing huge limitations still manage to achieve tremendous things. They rise above their weaknesses and do not allow them to limit their possibilities.

　　It's Your Choice

　　I attended a school prize-giving ceremony not so long ago and the guest speaker was Andrew Becroft, who had a severe stutter as a child. Instead of allowing this to limit him, he chose to to work hard to overcome it. He is now the Principal Youth Court Judge for New Zealand. Not only did he become successful, but he did so in a profession where he had to speak in front of others regularly — where his weakness is front and center for all to see. If he hadn’t worked on his speaking ability, it would have been very limiting to his life and career prospects.

　　You can find similar people on New Zealand News channels, and I suspect the same in other countries. There are a number of presenters and reporters who have a noticeably unusual manner of speaking. Perhaps they have a lisp, or they have a peculiar accent or pitch of voice. These people have succeeded in spite of what would be appear to be a weakness in their profession.

　　Lots of people face far more significant limitations than you do. They may be missing limbs or are born into extreme poverty. But no matter what the limitation, you will always find people who have overcome it.

　　Here are some more examples:

　　Brett Eastburn has no arms or legs and yet is an inspirational speaker and and also a very good wrestler. He shares his story in a brief video on his site.

　　Lance Armstrong’s bout with cancer meant he lost one testicle and had to go through chemotherapy which has a horrific effect on the body. Yet he went on to win the Tour de France, one of the most grueling sports events there is, a record 7 times.

　　Ringo Starr, drummer for the Beatles, came from a very poor background. He was constantly plagued with illness as a child and spent large amounts of time in hospital.

　　At 19 months old, Helen Keller became ill and lost her sight and hearing ***before she’d learned to speak***. She went on to become a world famous author and speaker, and an advocate of many social causes.

　　Grant Calder is a tetraplegic and yet he still works outdoors on a large sheep farm in New Zealand’s rugged South Island. Here is his inspiring story.

　　Wilma Rudolph was the 20th of 22 children. As a child she suffered measles, mumps, scarlet fever, chicken pox, double pneumonia and eventually polio, leaving her left leg and foot weak and deformed. Doctors said she would never walk again. She went on to win 3 gold medals in track during the 1960 Olympic games.

　　Mark Inglis lost both of his legs below the knees in a mountaineering accident, but has since climbed Mt Everest.

　　Bill Wilson was an alcoholic who wanted to help other alcoholics and founded what was to become Alcoholics Anonymous, a movement that has helped millions of people.

　　No One Would Have Predicted These Successes

　　These above are cases involving individuals with significant limitations, and it can be easy to write them off as exceptions to the rule, but that’s not the case. They were just people with problems. If one of these people had told you what they hoped to achieve you would have nodded kindly while quietly thinking to yourself that they had no chance. And yet the results speak for themselves.

　　We All Face Challenges in Life

　　Most of us will never have to face the kinds of challenges these people faced. Yet most of us will never achieve to the degree that these people have either.

　　Unless we choose to.

　　If Mark Inglis can climb the highest mountain in the world without legs, what can you do?