英文小文章

My family I love my family, because I have a happy family. My father is an English teacher. His name is Jacky. He is thirty-eight. He likes playing basketball. What’s my mother job? Is she a teacher? Yes, you’re right! My mother is very kind and nice, she is thirty-seven. My mother is always laborious work. I love my parents! On Saturday and Sunday, I often go to the library and play the piano, My father go to play basketball. Sometimes, we watch TV and listen to music at home. I love my family. Because I’m very happy to live with my parents together! 我的家庭 我爱我的家庭,因为我有一个快乐的家庭. 我的爸爸是一名英语教师,他的名字叫Jacky.他今年38岁.他非常喜欢打篮球.我的妈妈是赶什么呢?她是一名教师吗?是的.你说对了!我的妈妈是一个很亲切、友善的人,她今年37岁.我妈妈总是勤劳的干活.我爱我的父母. 在星期六和星期天里,我经常去图书馆和弹钢琴.我爸爸去打篮球.有时侯,我们都在家看电视和听音乐. 我爱我家.因为我和爸爸妈妈一起生活得很开心! Lan and Fred Lan and Fred were boys. They were both twelve years old, and they were in the same class in their school. Last Friday afternoon they had a fight in class, and their teacher was very angry. He said to both of them, “Stay here after the lessons this afternoon, and write your names a thousand times.” After the last lesson, all the other boys went home, but Lan and Fred stayed in the classroom with their teacher and begin writing their names. Then Fred began crying. The teacher looked at him and said,” Why are you crying, Fred?” “Because his name’s Lan May, and mine’s Frederick Hollingsworth,” Fred said. 易恩和富雷得 易恩和富雷得都是男孩，他们都十二岁了。他们在学校里是同班同学。上周五下午他们在学校里打了一架。为此老师很生气。老师对他们说：“下午下课后留在着把你们的名字写一千遍。” 最后一节课下课，所有的学生都回家了。只有易恩和富雷得被他们的老师留在教师里抄写他们的名字。 接着富雷得哭了起来。 老师看了看他问：“富雷得，你为什么要哭呢？” “因为他的名字是Lan May, 而我的名字确是Frederick Hollingsworth，”富雷得回答道。 Ann’s Diary Today was Sunday. Today was September 30th, 2004. It was a boring day. It was hot. I was not a work. I watched TV all morning. The shows were boring. Then I called my friend, Nancy. She wasn’t at home. I didn’t know where she was. At twelve I was hungry. There was not any food in the fridge. I was lazy. I was tired. Then I ate lunch outside. At one o’clock. I was in bed. In the afternoon I was at the movies. The film was boring. I'm glad tomorrow is Monday. I can go to school and see my friends. 安的日记 今天是星期天，2004年9月30日。这是令人厌烦的一天。今天天气很热，我呆在家里，不用去上学。 我看了一上午的电视。电视节目和无聊。于是我给好朋友南西打电话，可她不在家。我不知道她去哪里了。 十二点我饿了，可是冰箱里什么食物都没有。我很懒惰，也很劳累，于是我出去吃了午饭。一点我上床睡觉。下午我去了电影院。电影很无聊。很高兴明天就是星期一了，我有可以返回学校见到我的好朋友了。Notice To all the teachers and students in Grade 7, This afternoon, all the students in Grade 7 will go to the West Hill to plant trees. We'll take a bus there, and make sure to gather at the school gate at 2pm. Don't be late. The school office March 18th, 2006 告示 今天下午七年级全体同学要乘车去西山(West Hill)植树(plant trees).我们会乘汽车到那，请2:00准时在校门口集合 .不要迟到。 学校办公室2006年3月18号watermelon is many people's favorite. it is sweet and it has a lot of water. watermelon has two colors, green outside and red inside. people usually have watermelons in summer. but nowadays we can eat watermelon every season in the year. 西瓜 西瓜是很多人喜欢的食物。它很甜而且水量多。西瓜的颜色，外面是绿的里面是红的。人们以往通常在夏天才吃西瓜，但现在一年的每个季节我们都可以吃到西瓜了。Inside the Russian Embassy in London a KGB colonel puffed a cigarette as he read the handwritten note for the third time. There was no need for the writer to express regret, he though. Correcting this problem would be easy. He would do that in a moment. The thought of it caused a grim smile to appear and joy to his heart. But he pushed away those thoughts and turned his attention to a framed photograph on his desk. His wife was beautiful, he told himself as he remembered the day they were married. That was forty-three years ago, and it had been the proudest and happiest day of his life. 在伦敦的俄国使馆，一位克格勃上校一边吞云吐雾，一边读着一张手写的字条，这已是他第三次在读这张字条了。便条的作者不必表示遗憾了，上校这样想着。纠正这个错误其实很容易。他只要一会儿工夫便会做到。想到这里，他的脸上不禁浮现出一种可怕的笑容，他内心深处既伤感而又快活。上校从沉思中游离出来，将注意力集中到桌子上的一个像框上，他的妻子是位美丽的女人，当想起他们成婚的那一天时他不禁自语道。那已是43年前的事情了，可却是他一生中最自豪最幸福的日子。What had happened to all that time? Why had it passed so quickly, and why hadn't he spent more of it with her? Why hadn't he held her close and told her more often that he loved her? He cursed himself as a tear came from the corner of his eye, ran down his cheek, then dropped onto the note. He stiffened and wiped his face with the back of his hand. There was no need for remorse or regret, he told himself. In a few moments he would join her and at that time would express his undying love and devotion. 那些时候都发生了什么？为什么时光流逝得如此之快？为什么他没能将更多的时光用来陪伴她？为什么他没能将她搂紧，更多次地告诉她他爱她？他于是开始诅咒起自己，泪水也忍不住夺眶而出，流过面颊，最后滴落在字条上。这时，他板起了面孔，用手背揩去了眼泪。已经没有必要来自责与悔恨了，他对自己说道。很快他不就会与她团聚了吗？到那时，他将再向她表达他永恒的爱与忠心。After setting the note ablaze he dropped it into an ashtray and watched it burn. For a time the names cast moving shadows on the walls of the darkened room, then they nickered and died out. The colonel dropped the cigarette to the floor and ground it out with his heel, then clutched the photograph to his breast, removed a pistol from his pocket, placed the barrel in his mouth and pulled the trigger. In the ashtray a small portion of the note remained. Where it had been wetted by his tear it had failed to bum, and on that scrap of paper were the words "died yesterday." 他点燃了字条，将它扔进了烟灰缸中，看着它慢慢地燃烧起来。在火苗的映衬下，这间漆黑的屋子里的四壁一时变得影影绰绰。不一会儿，火苗成了星星点点，渐渐地熄灭了。上校把香烟扔在了地板上，用后脚跟碾灭，随后抓起照片放在自己的胸前。他从衣兜中掏出了一把手枪，将枪筒放进自己的嘴中，接着扣动扳机。在烟灰缸中还残留着一小片字条，由于被上校的泪水浸湿而未能燃尽。在这块残片上有这样几个字“昨天去世”。Five Fantastic Mascots 精彩绝伦五福娃 Five Olympic mascots were unveiled exatly 1000 days before the Beiling Olympic opening ceremony . The long--anticipated mascots feature four of China's most popular animals--the fish,the panda,the Tibrtan antelope and the swallow .The fifth mascot is the brightly burning Olympic flame. Each of the mascots has a repeated two-syllable name. This type of name is a traditional way of showing affection for children in China.BeiBei is the fish,JingJing is the panda , HuanHuan is the Olympic flame,YingYing is the Tibetan antelope and NiNi is the swallow.When their names are put together---they say "Welcome to Beijing". The five elements of nature,including the sea,forest,fire,earth and sky are found in the mascot's origins and headpieces. These special headpieces also display the uniqur folk and culture of China. Each mascot also symbolizes a different blessing ---prosperity,happiness,passion,health and good luck. It is the first time more than three mascots will share the important duty of representing their host country .Han Meilin,chief of the mascot design team explained that ,"China has such a profound and diversified culture that no single mascot could possibly represent it !That is why we chose to produce five mascots instesd of one 翻译： 正值北京奥运会开幕式前整整一千天之际，五个奥运会吉祥物揭开了神秘的面纱。人们翘首以待的奥运吉祥物代表了中国最受欢觃的四种动物——鱼、熊猫、藏羚羊及燕子。第五个吉祥物是熊熊燃烧的奥运圣火。 每个吉祥物都有一个叠音名字。在中国，叠音名字是对孩子们表示喜爱的一种传统方式。贝贝代表鱼，晶晶代表熊猫，欢欢代表奥运圣火，觃觃代表藏羚羊，而妮妮代表燕子。把他们的名字放在一起就是“北京欢觃您！” 吉祥物的訽形及头饰充分体现了包括大海、蒧林、火、大地及天空在内的大自然的五大元素。这些特别的头饰也充分展示了中国的民间艺术及传统文化。每一个吉祥物也代表着不同的祝福——繁荣、欢乐、激情、健康和好运。 这是第一次有三个以上的吉祥物共同承担代表东道国的重任。吉祥物设计组组长韩美林解释说：“中国有如此博大精深的文化，不是一个吉祥物就能完全展示出来的。所以我们选择设计出五个而不是一个的吉祥物。Keep Your Direction 坚持你的方向 What would you do if you failed? Many people may choose to give up. However, the surest way to success is to keep your direction and stick to your goal. On your way to success, you must keep your direction. It is just like a lamp, guiding you in darkness and helping you overcome obstacles on your way. Otherwise, you will easily get lost or hesitate to go ahead. Direction means objectives. You can get nowhere without an objective in life. You can try to write your objective on paper and make some plans to achieve it. In this way, you will know how to arrange your time and to spend your time properly. And you should also have a belief that you are sure to succeed as long as you keep your direction all the time. 翻译： 如果失败了你会怎么做？很多人可能会选择放弃。然而，要想成功，最可靠的方法就是坚持你的方向和目标。 在通往成功的路上，你必须坚持你的方向。它就像一盏灯，在黑暗中为你指路，帮助你度过难关。否则，你很容易就会迷失方向或犹豫不前。 方向意味着目标。人生如果没有目标，将一事无成。 你可以试着把你的目标写在纸上，并制定实现目标的计划。这样，你就会懂得如何合理安排时间，如何正确地支配时间。而且你还要有这样的信念：只要你一直坚持自己的方向，你就一定可以成功。

I started training my dog everyday when Icame home from school. It began to calm down more everyday! I taught the dog how to sit,run,walk and be quiet when I tell it to.A week later ,the dog did not make any probles.My parents were very happy and so was I. 我每天放学回家以后，就开始训练小狗。我叫他怎样坐，怎样跑，怎样走路，并旦训练它能听懂我的命令，而小狗也变得越来越温顺了，越来越听话了。一周以后，小狗再也不闯祸了，不调皮了。爸爸妈妈看了都非常高兴，而我则更高兴。

狐狸和葡萄 One hot summer day a fox was walking through an orchard. He stopped before a bunch of grapes. They were ripe and juicy. "I'm just feeling thirsty," he thought. So he backed up a few paces, got a running start, jumped up, but could not reach the grapes. He walked back. One, two, three, he jumped up again, but still, he missed the grapes. The fox tried again and again, but never succeeded. At last he decided to give it up. He walked away with his nose in the air, and said“I am sure they are sour.” ●一个炎热的夏日，狐狸走过一个果园，他停在一大串熟透而多汁的葡萄前。 ●狐狸想：“我正口渴呢。”于是他后退了几步，向前一冲，跳起来，却无法够到葡萄。 ●狐狸后退又试。一次，两次，三次，但是都没有得到葡萄。 ●狐狸试了一次又一次，都没有成功。最后，他决定放弃，他昂起头,边走边说：“葡萄还没有成熟，我敢肯定它是酸的。” 寓意: 在经历了许多尝试而不能获得成功的时候，有些人往往故意轻视成功，以此来寻求心理安慰。In The Air Matt and his wife lived in the country. Matt was very stingy(吝啬) and hated spending money. One day a fair(集市) came to the nearby town. “Let’s go to the fair, Matt,” his wife said, “We haven’t been anywhere for a long time.” Matt thought about this for a while. He knew he would have to spend money at the fair. At last he said, “All right, but I’m not going to spend much money. We’ll look at things, but we won’t buy anything.” They went to the fair and looked at all the things to buy. There were many things Matt’s wife wanted to buy ,but he would not let her spend any money. Then , in a nearby field, they saw a small airplane. “Fun flight!” the notice said, “$10 for 10 minutes.” Matt had never been in an airplane and he wanted to go on a fun flight. However, he didn’t want to have to pay for his wife, as well. “I’ve only got $10,” he told the pilot. ( 飞行员). “Can my wife come with me for free?” The pilot wasn’t selling many tickets, so he said , “I’ll make a bargain with you. If your wife doesn’t scream or shout, she can have a free flight.” Matt agreed, and got into the small airplane with his wife. The pilot took off and made his airplane do all kinds of things. At one moment it was flying upside down. When the plane landed , the pilot said, “O.K. your wife didn’t make a sound . She can have her ride free.” “Thank you,” Matt said. “it wasn’t easy for her, you know , especi ally (尤其 ) when she fell out.” 译文： Matt和他的老婆住在乡下。Matt十分吝啬及怕花钱。有一天，隔壁村有举办了一个集市。 “让我们去集市吧，Matt,”他老婆说，“我们很长时间没有出去了。”Matt想了一会儿。他知道他去集市会花钱。最后他说，“好的。不过我将不会花很多钱。我们只看，不买。” 他们去了集市看要买的东西。那里有很多东西Matt的老婆想买，但是他不让她花一分钱。 过了一会，在旁边的一块地上，他们看见了一架小飞机。 “有趣的飞行！”有个提示上写着，“花十块钱玩十分钟。” Matt从来没有坐过飞机，所以他想玩这个。但是，他又不想为他老婆付钱玩。 “我只有10块钱。”他告诉飞行员。“可不可以让我老婆免费坐？”飞行员不是卖票的。所以他回答：“我给你个优惠。如果你老婆不乱喊乱叫，她就可以免费坐飞机。” Matt同意了，跟他老婆一起上了飞机。 飞行员表演了各种技能。其中有一个是倒过来飞。当飞机落地时，飞行员说，“很好，你老婆没有出声音，她可以免费。“ “谢谢。”Matt说，“这对她来说不容易。你知道么？特别是当她掉出去的时候。”One day, a teacher took his pupils to a chicken farm to pay a visit. When they came near the incubator, chick just got out of its egg shell. 一天，老师带学生到养鸡场参观，当他们走近孵化器时，刚好一只小鸡破壳而出。 "It's wonderful to see a little thing come out from the egg shell, isn't it？" the teacher said. “看见一个小生命从蛋壳里出来，岂不是很奇妙的吗？”老师说。 "Yes, sir." said one of the boys, " but it would be more wonderful if we knew how a chick gets in to its eggs hell before hand." “是的，老师。”一个男学生说，“可是，如果我们知道它是怎样事先钻进蛋壳里的那就更奇妙了。” Good and evil 善与恶 Weak forces of good and evil was expelled to the sky. Asked Zeus is good at, how can we return to earth to. Zeus told him that we should not and go, one by one of the world to visit it. Evil and people very close, so one after another to find them. Good because down from the sky, on the very slow to very slow.力量弱小的善,被恶赶走到了天上。善于是问宙斯,怎样才能回到人间去。宙斯告诉他,大家不要一起去,一个一个的去访问人间吧。恶与人很相近,所以接连不断地去找他们。善因为从天上下来,所以就来得很慢很慢。 A man was going to the house of some rich person. As he went along the road, he saw a box of good apples at the side of the road. He said, "I do not want to eat those apples; for the rich man will give me much food; he will give me very nice food to eat." Then he took the apples and threw them away into the dust. He went on and came to a river. The river had become very big; so he could not go over it. He waited for some time; then he said, "I cannot go to the rich man's house today, for I cannot get over the river." He began to go home. He had eaten no food that day. He began to want food. He came to the apples, and he was glad to take them out of the dust and eat them. Do not throw good things away; you may be glad to have them at some other time. 【译文】 一个人正朝着一个富人的房子走去，当他沿着路走时，在路的一边他发现一箱好贫饮，他说：“我不计划吃那些贫饮，因为富人会给我更多的食物，他会给我特别好吃的东西。”接着他拿起贫饮，一把扔到土里去。 他继续走，来到河边，河涨水了，因此，他到不了河对岸，他等了一会儿，接着他说：“今天我去不了富人家了，因为我不能度过河。” 他开始回家，那天他没有吃东西。他就开始去找吃的，他找到贫饮，特别开心地把它们从尘土中翻出来吃了。 不要把好东西扔掉，换个时候你会觉得它们大有效果处。Fox and cock one morning a fox sees a cock. He thinks "This is my breakfast.'' He comes up to the cock and says "I know you can sing very well.Can you sing for me?''The cock is glad.He closes his eyes and begins to sing.The fox sees that and caches him in his mouth and carries him away. The people in the field see the fox.They cry,"Look,look!The fox is carrying the cock away.''The cock says to the fox,"Mr Fox,do you understand?The people say you are carrying their cock away.Tell them it is yours.Not theirs.'' The fox opens his mouth ang says,"The cock is mine,not yours.''Just then the cock runs away from the fox and flies into the tree. 狐狸和公鸡 一天早上，一只狐狸看到了一侄耀鸡。他想：这是我的早餐。 他朝公鸡走来，对他说：“我知道，你能唱得很好听，你能唱给我听么？”公鸡特别开心。他闭上眼睛开始唱歌。狐狸看到这些抓住它放到自己的嘴里走了。 在田地里的人们看到了狐狸。大喊大叫：“看，看！狐狸抓住公鸡逃走了。”公鸡对狐狸说：“狐狸先生，你能理解么？人们认为你叼走了公鸡。告诉他们这是你的，不是他们的。” 狐狸张开她的嘴说：“公鸡是我的，不是你们的。”就在那时，。公鸡跑到了树底下。 The Old Cat An old woman had a cat. The cat was very old; she could not run quickly, and she could not bite, because she was so old. One day the old cat saw a mouse; she jumped and caught the mouse. But she could not bite it; so the mouse got out of her mouth and ran away, because the cat could not bite it. Then the old woman became very angry because the cat had not killed the mouse. She began to hit the cat. The cat said, "Do not hit your old servant. I have worked for you for many years, and I would work for you still, but I am too old. Do not be unkind to the old, but remember what good work the old did when they were young." 【译文】 老猫 一位老妇有只猫，这只猫特别老，它跑不快了，也咬不了东西，因为它年纪太大了。一天，老猫发现一只老鼠，它跳过去抓这只老鼠，然而，它咬不住这只老鼠。因此，老鼠从它的嘴边溜掉了，因为老猫咬不了它。 于是，老妇特别生气，因为老猫没有把老鼠咬死。她开始打这只猫，猫说：“不要打你的老仆人，我已经为你服务了特别多年，还而且愿意为你效劳，但是，我实在太老了，对年纪大的不要这么无情，要记住老年人在年青时所做过的有益的事情。” The City Mouse and the Country Mouse Once there were two mice. They were friends. One mouse lived in the country; the other mouse lived in the city. After many years the Country mouse saw the City mouse; he said, "Do come and see me at my house in the country." So the City mouse went. The City mouse said, "This food is not good, and your house is not good. Why do you live in a hole in the field? You should come and live in the city. You would live in a nice house made of stone. You would have nice food to eat. You must come and see me at my house in the city." The Country mouse went to the house of the City mouse. It was a very good house. Nice food was set ready for them to eat. But just as they began to eat they heard a great noise. The City mouse cried, " Run! Run! The cat is coming!" They ran away quickly and hid. After some time they came out. When they came out, the Country mouse said, "I do not like living in the city. I like living in my hole in the field. For it is nicer to be poor and happy, than to be rich and afraid." 【译文】 城里老鼠和乡下老鼠 从前，有两只老鼠，它们是好好友。一只老鼠居住在乡村，另一只住在城里。特别多年以后，乡下老鼠碰到城里老鼠，它说：“你一定要来我乡下的家瞧瞧。”于是，城里老鼠就去了。乡下老鼠领着它到了一块田地上它自己的家里。它把全部最精美食物都找出来给城里老鼠。城里老鼠说：“这东西不好吃，你的家也不好，你为啥住在田野的地洞里呢？你应该搬到城里去住，你能住上用石头造的漂亮房子，而且会吃上美味佳肴，你应该到我城里的家瞧瞧。” 乡下老鼠就到城里老鼠的家去。房子十分漂亮，好吃的东西也为他们摆好了。可是正当他们要开始吃的时候，听见特别大的一阵响声，城里的老鼠叫喊起来：“快跑！快跑！猫来了！”他们飞快地跑开躲藏起来。 过了一会儿，他们出来了。当他们出来时，乡下老鼠说：“我不喜欢住在城里，我喜欢住在田野我的洞里。因为这样虽然贫穷但是快乐自在，比起虽然富有却要过着提心吊胆的生活来说，要好些。” Isn't it funny how two people will often think of the same thing at the same time, and neither one know that the other is thinking of it? That is just what happened the day that Buster Bear first thought of going berrying. While he was walking around in the Green Forest, talking to himself about how hungry he was for some berries and how sure he was that there must be some up in the Old Pasture, some one else was thinking about berries and about the Old Pasture too. "Will you make me a berry pie if I will get the berries to-morrow?" asked Farmer Brown's boy of his mother. Of course Mrs. Brown promised that she would, and so that night Farmer Brown's boy went to bed very early that he might get up early in the morning, and all night long he dreamed of berries and berry pies. He was awake even before jolly, round, red Mr. Sun thought it was time to get up, and he was all ready to start for the Old Pasture when the first Jolly Little Sunbeams came dancing across the Green Meadows. He carried a big tin pail, and in the bottom of it, wrapped up in a piece of paper, was a lunch, for he meant to stay until he filled that pail, if it took all day. 【译文】这不是很可笑的两个人往往会认为同样的事情在同一时间，任何一方都知道，另一个是它的思想呢？这是刚刚发生的事情的一天，熊先巴斯特去berrying思 想。当他走在绿森林，自言自语他是如何渴望一些浆果和如何确定他是必须有一些在旧牧场，另外一个人在想浆果和对太旧帕斯彻。 “你让我一个浆果馅饼，如果我将得到浆果明天？”问农民布朗对他母亲的男孩。

写作思路：从文章的写作目的、中心主旨入手，以使文章中心思想鲜明、深刻地表现出来，正文：

There was a man from the state of song who was looking forward to the height of the seedlings, so he went to the fields to raise them one by one. After a day, he was very tired but very satisfied. When he came home, he said to his family, "I'm exhausted. I've helped the seedlings grow."

有个宋国人，他十分期盼禾苗长高，于是就去田里把禾苗一个个的拔高，一天下来十分疲劳但很满足，回到家对他的家人说：“可把我累坏了，我帮助禾苗长高了！”

When his son heard about it, he rushed to the field to see the seedlings, but they all withered.

他儿子听说后急忙到田里去看苗（的情况），然而苗都枯萎了。

英语是国际经济、技术、信息等交流中应用最广泛的语言，下面就是我给大家整理的英文小 文章 ，希望大家喜欢。英文小文章：爱如鲜花盛开 I was nine when my father first sent me flowers. I had been taking tapdancing(踢踏舞) lessons for six months, and the school was giving its yearly recital. As an excited member of the beginners' chorus line, I was aware of my lowly status. So it was a surprise to have my name called out at the end of the show along with the lead dancers and to find my arms full of long-stemmed red roses. I can still feel myself standing on that stage, blushing furiously and gazing over the footlights to see my father's grin as he applauded loudly. Those roses were the first in a series of large bouquets(花束，宴会) that accompanied all the milestones in my life. They brought a sense of embarrassment. I enjoyed them, but was flustered by the extravagance. Not my father. He did everything in a big way. If you sent him to the bakery for a cake, he came back with three. Once, when Mother told him I needed a new party dress, he brought home a dozen. His behavior often left us without funds for other more important things. After the dress incident, there was no money for the winter coat I really needed--or the new ice skates I wanted. Sometimes I would be angry with him, but not for long. Inevitably he would buy me something to make up with me. The gift was so apparently an offering of love he could not verbalize that I would throw my arms around him and kiss him--an act that undoubtedly perpetuated(保持) his behavior. Then came my 16th birthday. It was not a happy occasion. I was fat and had no boyfriend. And my well-meaning parents furthered my misery by giving me a party. As I entered the dining room, there on the table next to my cake was a huge bouquet of flowers, bigger than any before. I wanted to hide. Now everyone would think my father had sent flowers because I had no boyfriend to do it. Sweet 16, and I felt like crying. I probably would have, but my best friend, Phyllis, whispered, "Boy, you're lucky to have a father like that. As the years passed, other occasions--birthdays, recitals(朗诵), awards, graduations--were marked with Dad's flowers. My emotions continued to seesaw between pleasure and embarrassment. When I graduated from college, though, my days of ambivalence(矛盾情绪) were over. I was embarking on a new career and was engaged to be married. Dad's flowers symbolized his pride, and my triumph. They evoked only great pleasure. Now there were bright-orange mums for Thanksgiving and a huge pink poinsettia at Christmas. White lilies at Easter, and velvety red roses for birthdays. Seasonal flowers in mixed bouquets celebrated the births of my children and the move to our first house. As my fortunes grew, my father's waned, but his gifts of flowers continued until he died of a heart attack a few months before his 70th birthday. Without embarrassment, I covered his coffin with the largest, reddest roses I could find. Often in the dozen years since, I felt an urge to go out and buy a big bouquet to fill the living room, but I never did. Often in the dozen years since, I felt an urge to go out and buy a big bouquet to fill the living room, but I never did. I knew it would not be the same. Then one birthday, the doorbell rang. I was feeling blue because I was alone. My husband was playing golf, and my two daughters were away. My 13-year-old son, Matt, had run out earlier with a "see you later," never mentioning my birthday. So I was surprised to see his large frame at the door. "Forgot my key," he said, shrugging. "Forgot your birthday too. Well, I hope you like flowers, Mum." He pulled a bunch of daisies from behind his back. "Oh, Matt," I cried, hugging him hard. "I love flowers!" 英文小文章：适应力的 故事 Don't worry if you have problems! Which is easy to say until you are in the midst of a really big one, I know. But the only people I am aware of who don't have troubles are gathered in little neighborhoods. Most communities have at least one. We call them cemeteries(墓地). If you're breathing, you have difficulties. It's the way of life. And believe it or not, most of your problems may actually be good for you! Let me explain. Maybe you have seen the Great Barrier Reef, stretching some 1,800 miles from New Guinea to Australia. Tour guides regularly take visitors to view the reef. On one tour, the guide was asked an interesting question. "I notice that the lagoon(环礁湖) side of the reef looks pale and lifeless, while the ocean side is vibrant and colorful," a traveler observed. "Why is this?" The guide gave an interesting answer: "The coral around the lagoon side is in still water, with no challenge for its survival. It dies early. The coral on the ocean side is constantly being tested by wind, waves, storms -- surges of power. It has to fight for survival every day of its life. As it is challenged and tested, it changes and adapts. It grows healthy. It grows strong. And it reproduces." Then he added this telling note: "That's the way it is with every living organism." That's how it is with people. Challenged and tested, we come alive! Like coral pounded by the sea, we grow. Physical demands can cause us to grow stronger. Mental and emotional stress can produce tough-mindedness and resiliency. Spiritual testing can produce strength of character and faithfulness. So, you have problems -- no problem! Just tell yourself, "Here I grow again " 英文小文章：放弃是一种美丽 One of tests used by a company to enroll fresh blood helps you know whether you stand the trial from yourself. In a stormy night, you drive your car through a stop where three people are waiting for a bus: a dying and poor old man, a doctor who is your benefactor(恩人) because he saved your life so that you are eager to render back, and a woman or a man who is your dreamgirl or your dreamboy and likely dissapears from your life once you miss the chance. Unfortunately, there is just room for one person in your car. Which one would you pick up? Then give your reasons. Think it over before looking at the following text. I have no idea whether it is a characteristic test, because every answer has its reason. The dying old man should be first helped,however, his final destination is death. It's reasonable for you to pick up the doctor first--your benefactor and is a good chance to reciprocate(报答，互换) what he did for you. Meanwhile, some people think it available to render the doctor back in someday in future. And if you miss the chance, you will never meet such an attractive person. Only one of two hundred people was hired. He wrote his answer without providing his reason: "Give the key of my car to the doctor, and let him take the old man to the hospital. But I wait in the stop for the bus with my dreamboat(梦中人，爱人) together." Every acquaintance of mine regarded it as the best answer but nobody (including me) realized it at first. It is caused by our idea of not giving up the advantage (the car key) we have had? Sometimes, if we abandon some of our parochialism(狭隘), advantages, and intransigence(不妥协), we can get more.