初中生专用的英语美文鉴赏，附带翻译哦

一、《行如其人》 It was a sunny Saturday afternoon in Oklahoma City. My friend and proud father Bobby Lewis was taking his two little boys to play miniature golf. He walked up to the fellow at the ticket counter and said, "How much is it to get in?" 这是奥克拉荷马城的一个晴朗的星期六下午。我的朋友巴比·路易斯，一 位令人敬佩的父亲，带着他的两个小儿子去玩迷你高尔夫。他走向售票处， 向售票员问道：“进去需要花多少钱?” The young man replied, "$3.00 for you and $3.00 for any kid who is older than six. We let them in free if they are six or younger. How old are they?" 那个年轻人回答道：“你，3 美元;6 岁以上的儿童，3 美元。6 岁以下的 儿童免费。他们多大了?” Bobby replied, "The lawyer's three and the doctor is seven, so I guess I owe you $6.00." 巴比回答：“律师，3 岁;医生，7 岁。所以我想我应该付给你 6 美元。” The man at the ticket counter said, "Hey, Mister, did you just win the lottery or something? You could have saved yourself three bucks. You could have told me that the older one was six; I wouldn't have known the difference." Bobby replied, "Yes, that may be true, but the kids would have known the difference." 那个售票的说：“嘿，先生，你是刚赢了彩票还是怎么了?你本可以省下 3 美元的。你可以告诉我，最大的 6 岁。我根本看不出来。”巴比回答：“对， 那可能行得通，但是这些孩子会知道这其中的差别。” As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Who you are speaks so loudly I can't hear what you're saying." In challenging times when ethics are more important than ever before, make sure you set a good example for everyone you work and live with. 就像拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生说的那样：“你本身要比你所说的话重要。”在 这个道德比以往任何时候都重要的年代里，你最好给和你一起你生活和工作 的人树立一个良好的榜样。 二、《抬头就是希望》 If you put a buzzard in a pen six to eight feet square and entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of ten to twelve feet. Without space to run, as is its habit, it will not even attempt to fly, but remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top. 如果把一只秃鹫放在一个 6～8 平方英尺的无顶围栏 里，这只大鸟尽管会飞，也绝对会成为 这栏中之囚。原因是秃鹫从地面起飞 前总要先助跑 10～12 英尺的距离。这是它的习惯，如 果没有了足够的助跑 空间，它甚至不会尝试去飞，只会终身困囿于一个无顶的小囚笼中。 The ordinary bat that flies around at night, who is a remarkable nimblecreature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is to shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash. 晚上飞来飞去的普通的蝙蝠，本是一种在空中极其敏捷的动物，但却无 法在平地上起飞。 如果被放在地板或平坦的地面上，它就只会无助地挪动， 毫无疑问这样很痛苦。除非它到 了稍高的位置，有了落差，才可以立刻闪电 般地起飞。 A bumblebee if dropped into an open tumbler will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself. 一只大黄蜂如果掉进了一个敞口平底玻璃杯里，除非有人把它拿出来， 否则它就会一直呆 在里边直到死去。它永远不知道可以从杯口逃出，只坚持 试图从杯底的四壁寻找出路。它 会在根本不存在出口的地方寻找出路，直到 彻底毁了自己。 In many ways, there are lots of people like the buzzard, the bat and the bumblebee. They are struggling about with all their problems and frustrations, not realizing that the answer is right there above them. 其实在很多方面，很多人也像秃鹫、蝙蝠和大黄蜂一样，使尽浑身解数 试图解决问题、克 服挫折，却没有意识到解决之道就在正上方。 三、《我们正在起跑点》 “ We are reading the first verse of the first chapter of a book whose pages are infinite…” I do not know who wrote those words, but I have always liked them as a reminder that the future can be anything we want to make it. We can take the mysterious, hazy future and carve out of it anything that we can imagine, just like a sculptor carves a statue from a shapeless stone. We are all in the position of the farmer. If we plant a good seed, we reap a good harvest. If our seed is poor and full of weeds, we reap a useless crop. If we plant nothing at all, we harvest nothing at all. I want the future to be better than the past. I don’t want it contaminated by the mistakes and errors with which history is filled. We should all be concerned about the future because that is where we will spend the reminder of our lives. The past is gone and static. Nothing we can do will change it. The future is before us and dynamic. Everything we do will effect it. Each day will brings with it new frontiers, in our homes and in our businesses, if we will only recognize them. We are just at the beginning of the progress in every field of human endeavor. “我们正在阅读一本页数无限的书的第一章的第一节……。” 我不知道这段文字是谁写的，我一直很喜欢并用它们来提醒自己，那就 是未来操之在我。我们可以掌握神秘而不可知的未来，从中创出我们所能想 象的任何东西，一如雕刻家可以将未成型的石头刻出雕像一样。 我们每个人都是农夫。我们若种下好种子，就会有丰收。倘若种子长的 不良且长满杂草，我们就会徒劳无获。如果我们什么也不种，就根本不会有 什么收获。 我希望未来会比过去更好。我不希望未来会被那些充斥在历史中的错误 所污染。我们应关心未来，因为往后的余生都要在未来中度过。 往昔已一去不复返而且是静止的。任凭我们怎么努力都不能改变过去。 未来就在我们眼前而且是动态的。 我们的所作所为都会影响未来。只要我们体会的出来，每天都可以发现 新的知识领域伴随而生，可能是在家里，也可能是在我们的事业中。我们正 处在人类所努力钻研的每个领域中进步的起点。