英语优美文章的段落阅读

英语优美段落一 The big rocks One day an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students and, todrive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget. As he stood in frontof the group of highpowered over-achievers he said, "Okay, time for a quiz.” Then he pulled outa one-gallon, wide-mouthed Mason jar and set it on the table in front of him. He thenproduced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is the jarfull?" Everyone in the class said, "Yes." He replied, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel, then dumped some gravel inand shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the space betweenthe big rocks. He asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?" By this time the class was on to him. "Probably not," one of them answered. "Good!" he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand inthe jar and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more heasked the question, "Is the jar full?" "No!" the class shouted. Once again he said, "Good!" Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim.Then he looked at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?" One eagerstudent raised her hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you tryreally hard you can always fit some more things in!" "Good answer, but no," the speaker replied, "that's not my point. The truth this illustrationteaches us is: If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all. What are the'big rocks" in your life? In my life they are my children... my wife... my loved ones... myeducation... my dreams... charities and worthy causes... teaching or mentoring others... doingthings that I love... time for myself... my health... Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in firstor you'll never get them in at all." If you sweat the little stuff then you'll fill your life with little things to worry about that don'treally matter, and you'll never have the real quality time you need to spend on the big, important stuff ：the big rocks. 大石块 一天，一名时间管理专家在对一群学习商业的学生讲话时，为了论证一 个论点，他用了一个令学生们永远难忘的表述方式。站在这群出类拔萃的学 生面前，他说：“来，做个小测试。”他拿出一个一加仑的广口玻璃瓶，放在 他们面前的桌上。接着他拿出一小堆拳头大小的石块，小心翼翼、一块一块 地放进瓶子里。等石块装满到瓶子，再也塞不下时，他问：“瓶子满了吗 ?” 大家都说：“满了。”他问：“真的满了吗?” 他伸手到桌下提出一桶碎石，将碎石倒进瓶子里，摇晃瓶子让碎石漏进 石块的间隙里去。 他又问学生：“瓶子装满了吗?” 这时学生们领悟过来了。“可能还没满吧!”一个学生回答说。 “好!”他说道。 他伸手从桌底下拎出了一桶沙，把沙往瓶子里倒，沙子塞满了石块与碎 石的缝隙，他又一次问：“满了吗?” “没满!”全班学生大声回答。 再一次，他说道：“好!” 然后他又拿出一大罐水往瓶子里倒，一直倒到水升到瓶口高。他看着学 生们问：“这个演示说明了什么?”一个学生急忙举手说：“说明了：不管时间 安排得多紧，只要你想办法，总是可以见缝插针地做更多的事情。” “回答得好，不过，”专家说：“这不是我想说的。这个例子告诉我们一个 事实：如果你不是先放大石块，以后它们就永远摆不进去。你生活中的‘大石 块’是什么呢?在我的生活中，那就是我的孩子、妻子、所爱的人、学习、梦 想、善行和有价值的事业、教导他人、做我喜欢做的事、留给自己的时间、 健康，等等。要记住，必须先放“大石块”，否则它们永远放不进去。” 如果你奔忙于琐事，那么这些无关紧要的小事就会充斥你的生活，让你 成天操心，你就永远没办法腾出有质量的时间来处理你的大事和要事 (大石 块)。 英语优美段落二 A Lesson for Living "Everything happens for the best," my mother said whenever I faced disappointment. "If you 1)carry on, one day something good will happen. And you'll realize that it wouldn't have happened if not for that 2)previous disappointment." Mother was right, as I discovered after graduating from college in 1932. I had decided to try for a job in radio, then work my way up to sports 3)announcer. I 4)hitchhiked to Chicago and knocked on the door of every station - and got 5)turned down every time. In one studio, a kind lady told me that big stations couldn't risk hiring an 6)inexperienced person. "Go out in the sticks and find a small station that'll give you a chance," she said. I 7)thumbed home to Dixon, Illinois. While there was no radioannouncing jobs in Dixon, my father said Montgomery Ward had opened a store and wanted a local 8)athlete to manage its sports department. Since Dixon was where I had played high school football, I applied. The job sounded just right for me. But I wasn't hired. My disappointment must have shown. "Everything happens for the best," Mom reminded me. Dad offered me the car to job hunt. I tried WOC Radio in Davenport, Iowa. The program director, a wonderful Scotsman named Peter MacArthur, told me they had already hired an announcer. As I left his office, my frustration boiled over. I asked aloud, "How can a fellow get to be a sports announcer if he can't get a job in a radio station?" I was waiting for the elevator when I heard MacArthur calling, "What was that you said about sports? Do you know anything about football?" Then he stood me before a microphone and asked me to broadcast an 9)imaginary game. On my way home, as I have many times since, I thought of my mother's words: "If you carry on, one day something good will happen. Something wouldn't have happened if not for that previous disappointment." I often wonder what direction my life might have taken if I'd gotten the job at Montgomery Ward. 生活的一课 每当我遇到挫折时，母亲就会说：“一切都会好的。如果你坚持下去，总 有一天会有好事发生。你会认识到，如果没有以前的挫折就不会有现在的一 切。” 母亲是对的，发现这个时是在 1932 年，我刚从大学毕业。我已决定试 着在电台找个事儿做，然后争取做体育节目的播音员。我搭便车到了芝加哥， 挨家电台地敲门推销自己--但每次都被拒绝了。 在一个播音室里，一位好心的女士告诉我，大的广播电台是不会冒险雇 佣没经验的新手的。“去乡下找一家给你机会的小电台吧，”她说。 我搭车来到我的家乡，那是伊利诺斯州的迪克森。在迪克森当时还没有 电台播音员这样的工作，父亲说，蒙哥马利?沃德开了一家新商店，想雇请 一个本地的运动员管理店里的体育部。我中学时曾在迪克森打过橄榄球，出 于这个原因我去申请了这份工作。工作听起来挺适合我的，但是我没被聘用。 我的沮丧心情一定表现出来了。“一切总会好的，”母亲提醒我说。爸爸 给我买了一辆汽车找工作用。我试到爱荷华州达文波特的 WOC 电台去求职。 那里的电台节目负责人是一个很棒的苏格兰人，名叫彼得?麦克阿瑟，他告 诉我他们已经雇到播音员了。 离开他办公室时，我愤怒极了。我大声地说：“一个连在电台都找不到工 作的家伙又怎么能成为体育节目的播音员呢?” 等电梯时，我听见麦克阿瑟喊道：“你说什么体育?你了解橄榄球吗?”接 着他让我站到麦克风前，请我解说一场想象中的比赛。 在回家的路上--以后也有很多次地，我思考着母亲的那句话：“如果你坚 持下去，总有一天会有好事发生。如果没有以前的挫折，就不会有现在的一 切。” 我常想，如果我当年得到了蒙哥马利?沃德的那份工作，我的人生之路 又会怎样走呢?