適合初中的英文文章

　　噹噹噹當，小編我又來了，今天繼續為大家帶來優質的，我們一起來看看吧。

　　It has been said that everyone lives by selling something. In the light of this statement, teachers live by selling knowledge, philosophers by selling wisdom and priests by selling spiritual comfort.

　　Though it may be possible to measure the value of material goods in terms of money, it is extremely difficult to estimate the true value of the services which people perform for us. There are times when we would willingly give everything we possess to save our lives, yet we might

　　grudge paying a surgeon a high fee for offering us precisely this service. The conditions of society are such that skills have to be paid for in the same way that goods are paid for at a shop. Everyone has something to sell.

　　Tramps seem to be the only exception to this general rule. Beggars almost sell themselves as human beings to arouse the pity of passers-by. But real tramps are not beggars. They have nothing to sell and require nothing from others. In seeking independence, they do not sacrifice their human dignity. A tramp may ask you for money, but he will never ask you to feel sorry for him. He has deliberately chosen to lead the life he leads and is fully aware of the consequences He, may never be sure where the next meal is coming from, but he is free from the thousands of anxieties which afflict other people. His few material possession make it possible for him to move from place to place with ease- By having to sleep in the open, he gets far closer to the world of nature than most of us ever do. He may hunt, beg, or steal occasionally to keep himself alive; he may even in times of real need, do a little work; but he will never sacrifice his freedom. We often speak of tramps with contempt and put them in the same class as beggars, but how many of us can honestly say that we have not felt a little envious of their simple way of life and their freedom from care?

　　據說每個人都靠出售某種東西來維持生活。根據這種說法，教師靠賣知識為生，哲學家靠賣智慧為生，牧師靠賣精神安慰為生。雖然物質產品的價值可以用金錢來衡量，但要估算別人為我們為所提供的服務的價值卻是極其困難的。有時，我們為了挽救生命，願意付出我們所佔有的一切。但就在外科大夫給我們提供了這種服務後，我們卻可能為所支付的昂貴的費用而抱怨。社會上的情況就是如此，技術是必須付錢去買的，就像在商店裡要花錢買商品一樣。人人都有東西可以出售。

　　在這條普遍的規律前面，好像只有流浪漢是個例外，乞丐出售的幾乎是他本人，以引起過路人的憐憫。但真正的流浪並不是乞丐。他們既不出售任何東西，也不需要從別人那兒得到任何東西，在追求獨立自由的同時，他們並不犧牲為人的尊嚴。遊浪漢可能會向你討錢，但他從來不要你可憐他。他是故意在選擇過那種生活的，並完全清楚以這種方式生活的後果。他可能從不知道下頓飯有無著落，但他不像有人那樣被千萬樁愁事所折磨。他幾乎沒有什麼財產，這使他能夠輕鬆自如地在各地奔波。由於被迫在露天睡覺，他比我們中許多人都離大自然近得多。為了生存，他可能會去打獵、乞討，偶爾偷上一兩回;確實需要的時候，他甚至可能幹一點兒活，但他決不會犧牲自由。說起流浪漢，我們常常帶有輕蔑並把他們與乞丐歸為一類。但是，我們中有多少人能夠坦率地說我們對流浪漢的簡樸生活與無憂無慮的境況不感到有些羨慕呢?

　　No one can avoid being influenced by advertisements. Much as we may pride ourselves on our good taste, we are no longer free to choose the things we want, for advertising exerts a subtle influence on us. In their efforts to persuade us to buy this or that product, advertisers have made a close study of human nature and have classified all our little weaknesses. Advertisers discovered years ago that all of us love to get something for nothing. An advertisement which begins with the

　　magic word FREE can rarely go wrong. These days, advertisers not only offer free samples but free cars, free houses, and free trips round the world as well. They devise hundreds of competitions which will enable us to win huge sums of money. Radio and television have made it possible for advertisers to capture the attention of millions of people in this way. During a radio programme, a company of biscuit manufacturers once asked listeners to bake biscuits and send them to their factory. They offered to pay $2 a pound for the biggest biscuit baked by a listener. The response to this competition was tremendous. Before long, biscuits of all shapes and sizes began arriving at the factory. One lady brought in a biscuit on a wheelbarrow. It weighed nearly 500 pounds. A little later, a man came along with a biscuit which occupied the whole boot of his car. All the biscuits that were sent were carefully weighed. The largest was 713 pounds. It seemed certain that this would win the prize. But just before the competition closed, a lorry arrived at the factory with a truly colossal biscuit which weighed 2400 pounds. It had been baked by a college student who had used over 1000 pounds of flour, 800 pounds of sugar, 200 pounds of fat, and 400 pounds of various other ingredients. It was so heavy that a crane had to be used to remove it from the lorry. The manufacturers had to pay more money than they had anticipated, for they bought the biscuit from the student for $4800.

　　沒有人能避免受廣告的影響。儘管我們可以自誇自己的鑑賞力如何敏銳，但我們已經無法獨立自主地選購自己所需的東西了。這是因為廣告在我們身上施加著一種潛移默化的影響。做廣告的人在力圖勸說我們買下這種產品或那種產品之前，已經仔細地研究了人的本性，並把人的弱點進行了分類。

　　做廣告的人們多年前就發現我們大家都喜歡免費得到東西。凡是用"免費"這個神奇的詞開頭的廣告很少會失敗的。目前，做廣告的人不僅提供免費樣品，而且還提供免費汽車，免費住房，免費周遊世界。他們設計數以百計的競賽，競賽中有人可贏得鉅額獎金。電臺、電視使做廣告的人可以用這種手段吸引成百萬人的注意力。

　　有一次，在電臺播放的節目裡，一個生產餅乾的公司請聽眾烘製餅乾送到他們的工廠去。他們願意以每磅10美元的價錢買下由聽眾烘製的最大的餅乾。這次競賽在聽眾中引起極其熱烈的反響。不久，形狀各異，大小不一的餅乾陸續送到工廠。一位女士用手推車運來一個餅乾，重達500磅左右。相隔不一會兒，一個男子也帶來一個大餅乾，那個餅乾把汽車的行李箱擠得滿滿的。凡送來的餅乾都仔細地稱量。最重的一個達713磅，看來這個餅乾獲獎無疑了。但就在競賽截止時間將到之際，一輛卡車駛進了工廠，運來了一個特大無比、重達2,400磅的餅乾。它是由一個大學生烘製的，用去1,000多磅的麵粉、800磅食糖、200磅動物脂肪及400磅其他各種原料。餅乾份量太重了，用了一臺起重機才把它從卡車上卸下。餅乾公司不得不付出比他們預計多得多的錢，因為為買下那學生烘製的餅乾他們支付了24,000美元.

　　One of the most famous sailing ships of the nineteenth century, the Cutty Sark, can still be seen at Greenwich. She stands on dry land and is visited by thousands of people each year. She serves as an impressive reminder of the great ships of the past. Before they were replaced by steam-ships, sailing vessels like the Cutty Sark were used to carry tea from China and wool from Australia. The Cutty Sark was one of the fastest sailing ships that has ever been built. The only other ship to match her was the Thermopylae. Both these ships set out from Shanghai on June 18th, 1872 on an exciting race to England. This race, which went on for exactly four months, was the last of its kind. It marked the end of the great tradition of ships with sails and the beginning of a new era. The first of the two ships to reach Java after the race had begun was the Thermopylae, but on the Indian Ocean, the Cutty Sark took the lead. It seemed certain that she would be the first ship home, but during the race she had a lot of bad luck. In August, she was struck by a very heavy storm during which her rudder was torn away. The Cutty Sark rolled from side to side and it became impossible to steer her. A temporary rudder was made on board from spare planks and it was fitted with great difficulty. This greatly reduced the speed of the ship, for there was danger that if she travelled too quickly, this rudder would be torn away as well. Because of this, the Cutty Sark lost her lead. After crossing the equator , the captain called in at a port to have a new rudder fitted, but by now the Thermopylae was over five hundred miles ahead. Though the new rudder was fitted at tremendous speed, it was impossible for the Cutty Sark to win. She arrived in England a week after the Thermopylae. Even this was remarkable, considering that she had had so many delays. There is no doubt that if she had not lost her rudder she would have won the race easily.

　　人們在格林威治仍可看到19世紀最有名的帆船之一"卡蒂薩克"號。它停在陸地上，每年接待成千上萬的參觀者。它給人們留下深刻的印象，使人們回憶起歷史上的巨型帆船，在蒸汽船取代帆船之前。"卡蒂薩克"號之類的帆船被用來從中國運回茶葉，從澳大利亞運回羊毛。"卡蒂薩克"號是帆船製造史上建造的最快的一艘帆船。唯一可以與之一比高低的是"塞姆皮雷"號帆船。兩船於1872年6月18日同時從上海啟航駛往英國，途中展開了一場激烈的比賽。這場比賽持續了整整4個月，是這類比賽中的最後一次，它標誌著帆船偉大傳統的結束與一個新紀元的開始。

　　比賽開始後，"賽姆皮雷"號率先抵達爪哇島。但在印度洋上，"卡薩薩克"號駛到了前面。看來，它首先返抵英國是確信無疑的了，但它卻在比賽中連遭厄運。8月份"卡蒂薩克"號遭到一場特大風暴的襲擊，失去了一隻舵。船身左右搖晃，無法操縱。船員用備用的木板在船上趕製了一隻應急用的舵，並克服重重困難將舵安裝就位，這樣一來，大大降低了船的航速。因為船不能開得太快，否則就有危險，應急舵也會被颳走。因為這個緣故，"卡蒂薩克"號落到了後面。跨越赤道後，船長將船停靠在一個港口，在那兒換了一隻舵。但此時，"賽姆皮雷"號早已在500多英里之遙了。儘管換裝新舵時分秒必爭，但"卡蒂薩克"號已經不可能取勝了，它抵達英國時比"塞姆皮雷"號晚了1個星期。但考慮到路上的多次耽擱，這個成績也已很不容易了。毫無疑問，如果中途沒有失去舵， "卡帝薩克"號肯定能在比賽中輕易奪冠。