经典短篇英语文章

改革开放三十多年以来,英语教育在我国已经广为普及,整个社会对英语的要求也愈加精益求精。本文是有关经典英文小短文，希望对大家有帮助!

On warm evenings I often sat in the boat playing the flute, and saw the perch swimming around me. I saw the moon traveling over the bottom of the lake, which was strewn1 with the fallen leaves and branches.

天气晴和的夜晚,我也常独驾一舟,弄笛湖上,看水中的鲈鱼饶舟不去。俯视湖底,落木坠枝,横斜交错,皓月一轮,行径其上。

Once, I used to come to this pond in dark summer nights with a friend. We would make a fire there, which we thought attracted the fishes. Late in the night, we threw the burning firewood high into the air, which, when it came down into the pond, went out with a loud hissing. And we were suddenly in total darkness. duanwenw.com Then, whistling a tune, we made our way to the village again. But now I had made my home by the shore.

以前,在那些深黝的夏日夜晚,我曾不止一次与友人寻胜至此。我们总是先在岸边燃起一堆篝火,我们认为此法最能把鱼招来。待到夜色渐深,我们便把那尚未燃尽的木柴像烟火似地抛入暗空,一阵闪亮之后,缀湖澌灭,嗤然有声。然后长啸一曲,摸黑寻回村落。不过我最近索性就迁居到那里,傍湖而居了。

Sometimes, after the family had all gone to bed, I returned to the woods. Partly for the next day’s dinner, I spent the hours of midnight fishing from a boat by moonlight. At this time, I heard owls and foxes serenade, along with the singing of some unknown birds. These experiences were very memorable and valuable to me. In the center of the water, there were sometimes thousands of small perch and shiners, breaking the surface with their tails. I sometimes threw a line into the pond as I drifted in the gentle night breeze, now and then feeling a slight shaking along it. Pulling the line out of the pond, I saw a perch wriggling in the air.(excerpt)

有时,待家人睡去,我又重新返回林中。半为明日的食物筹措,我于夜半自操一舟,趁着月色,独钓湖上。这时鸱鸣狐啸,伴着一两声怪鸟的戛鸣。回想这些夜游,至今历历难忘。在水中央,鲈鱼银鱼成群,不啻千百,翻舞嬉戏,不时在湖面翻起层层涟漪。有时,于夜风习习之中,我将钓丝投入湖里,但不时忽觉手下一丝微颤。轻轻将线一扯,只见一只鲈鱼在半空中活蹦乱跳。(节选)

Life is full of decisions and most people take their lifetime to master the ability to make one.

生活中,许多事情需要我们做出决定,因此,许多人用一生的时间去学习掌握做决定的能力。

Each of us makes decisions daily, such as what clothes to wear, what to eat, and what to drink. We’re all excellent at judging other people’s decisions. But what about our own decisions? What about the decisions each of us makes, such as going to college, quitting college, duanwenw.com quitting a job for another one and so on? These are life-defining moments that create two different life paths. None of these decisions should be taken lightly.

每个人每天都要做决定,如决定穿什么、吃什么、喝什么。我们都擅长判断别人的决定,但你擅长判断自己的决定吗?我们自己做的决定怎么样?如上学、退学、辞职另谋新生等等。这些都是对人生有界定意义、会创造两种不同人生道路的时刻,每一个都不能怠慢。

Although we are all skillful at judging others, we should spend some time to get comfortable with ourselves to make decisions without the fear of judgment. Judgment comes from insecurity3. Each insecurity that we have moves us further and further to make a good decision. In order to control our insecurities we need to identify them and be comfortable with ourselves. To accomplish that we can all use some help. You may get it from a friend or a family member.

即使擅长判断别人的决定,我们也应该花些时间让自己应付自如地做决定,而且不必害怕做出判断。判断力来自于不安全感。我们的每一个不安全感都会推动我们去做出正确的决定。为了控制我们的不安全感,我们需要辨别它们,让自己能无所顾忌。为了达到这个目标,我们可以寻求别人的帮助。你可以从朋友或者家人那里得到你需要的帮助。

The best part about decision-making is that there is no right or wrong answer. Decisions are choices, and choices are individual. Try to put some more effort into your own decisions and leave the judgment at the door.

关于做决定,其最美好之处在于答案没有对错之分。做决定是种抉择,而且抉择是仁者见仁、智者见智。尽力做出自己的选择,不必介意你的选择是对或是错。

Perhaps your idea is a business venture, a travel adventure, or a career that you would like to pursue. duanwenw.com When you get an idea that excites you, don’t push the idea away. Remember to follow your dream, because you have the power to make it come true.

或许你想去投资经商、旅游历险或是致力于你喜爱的事业。当你有了让自己激动的想法,那就坚持这个想法。记得坚持自己的梦想,因为你有能力让梦想成真。

Would you say your life is fun? Would you say you have more fun days than not? You would be surprised at so many people tell me that they do not think their life is fun and that most of their days are anything but fun. I find that a shame! Life is more fun than you think!

你会说自己的生活很有趣吗?你会说你度过的有趣日子比无趣的日子多吗?你会惊讶于许多人曾告诉我他们从不觉得自己的生活有趣甚至根本就无趣。这些人的话真令人感到遗憾。实际上,生活比你想像的要有趣得多。

What’s fun about it? That depends on you! What is it that would make your life more fun? duanwenw.com I know the answer for me. I find all sorts of things fun, but if my mind is thinking negatively, then nothing seems fun.

生活怎么才有趣?决定权在你。什么会让你的生活更有趣?我知道什么能让我的生活更有趣。我发现各种各样有趣的事物,但如果我的思想很消极,那一切有趣的事物都会变得很无趣。

How’s your thinking? If your head is in the wrong place, you could have a million dollars cash but you wouldn’t be having fun. On the other side of the coin, you could be changing a flat tire and, if your mind is right, it might be the most fun thing you have ever done.

关于有趣的生活,你有何见解?如果心态不对,即使拥有一百万美金你也不可能尽情享乐。换个角度想想,如果心态是对的,即使是在换爆掉的轮胎,那都可能会是你干过的最有趣的事。

You decide what is fun. When I do something, I just tell myself that I am not going to complain about it and that I will enjoy it; and I do.

你可以决定什么事情有趣。当我做事时,我会告诉自己不去抱怨而是享受。我确实做到了。

If you believe, think and act like everything is a pain, then it will be. If you think, believe and act like life is happy, then that will become your reality as well.

如果你的信仰、思维和行为表现得好像任何事情都是痛苦的,那任何事情就都会是一种痛苦。反而言之,如果你的思维、信仰和行为表现得好像生活很幸福,那你的生活也就会很幸福。

Which do you choose?

你打算做何选择呢?

英语美文有助于我们培养对英语学习的兴趣，也能提高我们的写作能力。以下是我整理的3篇英语精美短文，供大家学习和参阅。

一：为什么你存不下钱

Don’t save what is left after spending. But spend what is left after savings.

不要把花剩下的钱拿来存，而是把存剩下的钱拿来花。

Wanting to save money is not enough. Anyway, there are a lot of things which didn’t come true although you wanted them to.

想存钱是远远不够的，毕竟你希望发生的事情并不一定就能发生。

Saving is a technique . It’s simple. It’s just not easy.

存钱是一门技术，这门技术很简单，只是不容易实现。

If you only come to think about saving after you spend, there is no chance for you to accumulate a considerable fortune, because spending is always irrational.

如果你总是在消费之后才想着应该存钱，那你肯定存不下钱，因为任何消费都是非理性的。

The way that works is to make plans in advance.

真正可行的方法，是事先计划好自己的消费方式。

Would it be too much to use 40% of my income to rent an apartment?

每个月用收入的40%租房子会不会太多?

Is it really enough to save just 20% every month?

每个月只存收入的20%会不会太少?

Only by making it clear how much you want to save can you come to know how much you can actually spend.

你只有先计划好要存多少钱，才能知道自己实际上可以花多少钱。

二：真正有意义的生活

What will matter?

什么才重要?

Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end. There will be no more sunrises, no days, no hours or minutes. All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else.

无论是否准备好，总有一天它都会走到尽头。 那里没有日出，没有白天，没有小时和分钟。 你收集的所有东西，不管你珍惜或忘记与否，它们都将流入他人手中。

Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.

不管是你得到的或是你欠别人的，可你的财产、名誉和权势也都会变成和你毫不相干的东西。

Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies will finally disappear.

你的怨恨、愤慨、挫折和妒忌最终也将消失。

So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will all expire.The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.

因此，你的希望、抱负、计划以及行动日程表也将全部结束。 当初看得比较重的成功得失也会消失。

It won't matter where you came from, or on what side of the tracks you lived.

你来自何方，住在穷人区还是富人区也都不重要了。

It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant. Your gender, skin color, ethnicity will be irrelevant.

你昔日的漂亮与辉煌也都不重要了，你的性别、肤色、种族地位也将消失。

So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?

因此，什么重要呢? 怎么衡量你有生之年的价值呢?

What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built; not what you got, but what you gave.

重要的不是你买了什么，而是你创造了什么; 不是你得到了什么，而是你给予了什么。

What will matter is not your success, but your significance.

重要的不是你成功了，而是你生命的意义。

What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.

重要的不是你学到了什么，而是你传授了什么。

What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage and sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.

重要的是每个行动之中都有正直和勇气的气概，伟大的同情心和牺牲精神，并且鼓励他人遵从榜样。

What will matter is not your competence, but your character.

重要的不是你的能力，而是你的性格。

What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone.

重要的不是你认识多少人，而是在你离开后，多少人会怅然若失。

What will matter is not your memories, but the memories of those who loved you.

重要的不是你的回忆，而是爱你的人对你的追思。

What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.

重要的是别人会记你多长时间，谁记着你，为什么记着你。

Living a life that matters doesn’ t happen by accident.

过有意义的生活不是一桩偶然。

It s not a matter of circumstance but of choice.

是因为你选择了它。

Choose to live a life that matters.

选择有意义的人生吧!

三：难道真要工作一辈子吗?

Warren Buffet once said: "If you don’t find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die."

沃伦·巴菲特曾经说过：“如果你不想个办法在你睡觉的时候赚钱，那你就得一直工作到死。”

Sounds ridiculous in the first place, right? Isn’t that obvious?

这句话初听下来有点荒.唐，这不是明摆着的吗?

And how on earth can it be possible to make money while you sleep?

而且，怎么可能在睡觉的时候赚钱?

If you want to have an income, you have to work, right?

如果需要有收入，当然就得一直工作，对不对?

But no, what he said is not wrong.

不，其实他说的并没有错。

That way which he described as to make money while you sleep is called investing.

他所说的那种“在睡觉时赚钱”的方法，就是投资。

Normal middle-class use their skills and time to make money. But the rich use their money to make money. They invest the money that they own now to make ROI, which means return on investment.

普通的中产阶级靠技能和时间换钱，而有钱人是靠钱赚钱的，他们用自己现有的钱去赚取投资回报。

It’s not a hard thing to do, because there are a lot of ways to manage your personal finance.

这个方法并不难，因为理财的方式有很多。

In the past, I usually spent as much as I could earn in a month.

从前，我是一个大手大脚的月光族，每个月赚多少就花多少。

But when I saw this quote of Buffett, I suddenly realized: Isn’t that making all my efforts in vain? Because I have nothing left. I didn’t make anything for my future.

但自从看到了巴菲特的这句话，我才恍然大悟：这样一来，我每个月不就白工作了吗?因为什么都没有剩下，我并没有为自己的未来创造什么。

That’s why I started to face the truth of how I was living. And I made some bold changes and began to save money.

这也就是为什么我开始正视自己的生活方式，并进行了大刀阔斧的改变，开始存钱。

I wish that there is a day when I no longer need to work and can use money to make money.

我希望有一天能不再工作，而是用钱来赚钱。