优秀英语美文片段

所谓美文,就是发表在报刊上的关于某篇课文的精美的赏析性短文或者教师自己撰写的此类文章。我精心收集了优秀英语美文，供大家欣赏学习!

Self-control is essential to happiness and usefulness. It is the master of all the virtues,andhas its root in self-respect. Let a man yield to his impulses and passions, and from thatmoment he gives up his moral freedom.

It is the self-discipline of a man that enables him to pursue success with superior diligenceand sobriety.Many of the great characters in history illustrate this trait. In ordinary life theapplication is the same.He who would lead must first command himself. The time of test iswhen everybody is excited or angry,then the well-balanced mind comes to the front.

There is a very special demand for the cultivation of his trait at present.The young men whorush into business with no good education or drill will do poor and feverish work.Endurance is amuch better test of character than act of heroism.

A fair amount of self-examination is good. Self-knowledge is a preface to self-control. Toomuch self-inspection leads to morbidness; too little conducts to careless and hasty action.There are two things which will surely strengthen our self-control. One is attention toconscience; the other is a spirit of good will.The man who would succeed in any greatundertaking must hold all his faculties under perfect control; they must be disciplined anddrilled until they quickly and cheerfully obey the will.

In the future days, which we seek to make secure,we look forward to a world founded uponfour essential human freedoms.

The first is freedom of speech and expression - everywhere in the world.

The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way - everywhere in theworld.

The third is freedom from want - which, translated into world terms, means economicunderstandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peace time life for its inhabitants -everywhere in the world.

The fourth is freedom from fear - which, translated into world terms, means a world widereduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will bein a position to commit an actof physical aggression against any neighbor - anywhere in theworld.

That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable inour own time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so called neworder of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb.

To that new order we oppose the greater conception - the moral order. A good society is ableto face schemes of world domination and foreign revolutions alike without fear.

Since the beginning of our American history we have been engaged in change - in a perpetualpeaceful revolution - a revolution which goes on steadily, quietly adjusting itself to changingconditions - without theconcentration camp or the quicklime in the ditch. The world order whichwe seek is the cooperation of freecountries, working together in a friendly civilized society.

This nation has placed its destiny in the hands and heads and hearts of its millions of free menand women;and its faith in freedom under the guidance of God. Freedom means thesupremacy of human rights everywhere. Our support goes to those who struggle to gainthose rights and keep them. Our strength is in our unityof purpose.

To that high concept there can be no end save victory.

While popular in the U.S., the April Fool’s Day tradition is even more prevalent in Europeancountries,such as France and Great Britain. Although the roots of the traditional trickings areunclear,the French andthe British both have claims on the origin of the celebration.

One theory holds that the first April Fool’s Day was on April 1 of the year when King of Franceinstituted the new calendar.This new system placed the day that had formerly been the firstday of a new year on April 1.Many people were reluctant to adjust to the new calandar andcontinued to celebrate New Year’s Day on what had become the first day of April.Thus, theybecome the first April fools.Others began to give gaggifts on the day to mock the foolishnessof thosewho continued to celebrate the new year on April 1.

An English story about the day, however, holds that it began sometime during the 1200s.Atthe time, King John of England was in the habit of making a road out of nearly every path hewalked regularly.The citizensof one particular farm village were aware of this.To avoid havingtheir green meadows and pastures disturbed with one of the king’s roads,they built a fencethat prevented the king from walking through their countryside.The king sent a group ofmessengers to inform the villagers that they must remove the barrier.Upon hearing that theking was planning to do this, however, the villagers developed a plan of their own.Whenthemessengers arrived, they found what appeared to be a community of lunatics,with peoplebehaving in a bizarre manner, throwing things and running around wildly.The messengers,alarmed at what they had found, reported to king John that these people were so mad as tobe beyond punishment.So, the villagers saved their farmland by tricking the King. In GreatBritain,tradition only allows April Fool’s tricks from midnightto noon on April 1. Those who try toplay tricks in the afternoon become the fools themselves.

美文的朗读不仅能让学生培养良好的语言表达技能,还能在更深入地理解文本的过程中受到思想品德以及审美的教育。我整理了关于英语美文，欢迎阅读!

开心的活着,犹如这是人间乐土

If you woke pup this morning with more health than illness……you are more blessed than themillion who will not survive this week.

如果你早上醒来的时候健康无恙……那么，比起活不过这一周的百万人来说，你真是幸运多了。

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, theagony of torture, or the pangs of starvation…you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

如果你未曾经历过战争的危险、入狱的孤独、严刑的苦楚、饥饿的痛苦……那么，比起世界上5亿人来，你真是幸运多了。

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place tosleep… you are richer than 75% of this world.

如果你冰箱里有食物，身上有衣服可穿，有屋篷遮蔽，有地方睡觉……那么，比起世界上75%的人来，你真是富足多了。

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in dish someplace…you areamong the top 8% of the world’s wealth.

如果你银行中有存款，钱包中也有钱，还能到某处消费习菜……你便跻身在世界上最富有的8%人口当中了。

If your parents are still alive and still married…you are very rare, even in the United Stated andCanada.

如果你的父母依然健在，而且还在一起生活的话……这可是非常难得的事，即使是在美国与加拿大。

Someone once said: What goes around comes around.

有人说过：我所付出的终将会回归。

So…

所以……

Work live you don’t need the money.

去工作时，犹如你不需要金钱。

Love like you’ve never been hurt.

去爱他人，犹如你从未被伤害。

Dance like nobody’s watching.

去舞蹈吧，犹如无人在一旁观看。

Sing like nobody’s listening.

去歌唱吧，犹如无人在一边谛听。

Live like it’s Heaven on Earth.

好好地生活，犹如这里是人间乐土。

一直走在阳光下

Greta always said, "dear, keep walking in sunshine!" no matter how terrible my day started, ialways felt sunny walking home from greta’s house-even beneath the winter starlight.

葛丽塔总是这样说：“亲爱的，请走在阳光里!”无论我过的每一天是如何糟糕地开始，从葛丽塔的小屋出来走回家的时候，即使是披着冬夜的星光，我都会感觉心情愉悦。

I arrived at greta’s house today just after sunset. an ambulance had stopped a few feet fromher door, it’s red lights flashing. when i ran into the old house, greta recognized me right away.

这天，我在傍晚后来到了葛丽塔的家。一辆救护停在她家门口附近，红色的灯在闪烁不停。当我冲进她家的老房子，葛丽塔立刻认出了我。

She smiled at me with her unforgettable twinkling blue eyes. she was almost out of breath whenshe reached out and softly touched my arm. her last words to me were "dear, keep walking insunshine!"

她对我微笑，一双令人难忘的蓝眼睛闪烁着光芒。当她艰难地走出来，温柔地抚摸着我的胳膊的时候，她几乎已经奄奄一息。她对我说的最后一句话是：“亲爱的，记得一直要走在阳光下。”

我的世界观

How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose heknows not, though he sometimes thinks he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knowsfrom daily life that one exists for other people—first of all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness is wholly dependent, and then for the many, unknown to us, towhose destinies we are bound by the ties of sympathy. A hundred times every day I remindmyself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, andthat I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am stillreceiving. I am strongly drawn to a frugal life and am often oppressively aware that I amengrossing an undue amount of the labor of my fellowmen. I regard class distinctions asunjustified and, in the last resort, based on force. I also believe that a simple andunassuming life is good for everybody, physically and mentally.

我们这些肉体凡胎是多么奇怪啊!每个人来到这个世上都只作短暂停留，究竟为了什么目的却无从知晓，虽然有时觉得自己好像有所感悟。但是，无需深入思考，仅从日常生活就可明白，人是为他人而存在的——首先是为这样一些人：他们的欢笑、健康和福祉与我们的幸福息息相关;其次是为那些为数众多的陌生人，因为同情他们，使得我们与他们的命运联系在了一起。每一天，我都上百次地提醒自己，我的精神和物质生活都是建立在他人(包括生者和死者)的劳动基础上，对于我已经得到和正在得到的一切，我必须尽力给以相同程度的回报。我深深向往一种俭朴的生活，由于经常意识到自己占用了同胞太多的劳动而心有不安。我认为阶级区分是不正当的，其最终的达成方式常常诉诸暴力。我还认为，无论是在身体上还是心理上，过一种简单而不铺张浪费的生活对每个人都有好处。

I do not at all believe in human freedom in the philosophical sense. Everybody acts not onlyunder external compulsion but also in accordance with inner necessity. Schopenhauer’ssaying, “A man can do what he wants, but not want what he wants,” has been a very realinspiration to me since my youth; it has been a continual consolation in the face of life’shardships, my own and others’, and an unfailing wellspring of tolerance. This realizationmercifully mitigates the easily paralyzing sense of responsibility and prevents us from takingourselves and other people all too seriously; it is conducive to a view of life which, inparticular, gives humor its due.

我完全不相信哲学意义上的人的自由。每个人的行为不仅受外在力量的约束，还要与内在需求协调一致。叔本华说：“人可以任意而为，却不能心想事成。”这句话从我年轻时起就一直深深地启发着我。在面对生活的艰辛时——无论是我自己还是他人的艰辛，这句话总能不断地给我安慰，成为永不枯竭的忍耐的源泉。这一认识能够仁慈地缓和那份令人几欲崩溃的责任感，并防止我们太把自己或者他人当回事，还有助于形成一种尤其幽默的人生观。

To inquire after the meaning or object of one’s own existence or that of all creatures hasalways seemed to me absurd from an objective point of view. And yet everybody has certainideals which determine the direction of his endeavors and his judgments. In this sense I havenever looked upon ease and happiness as ends in themselves—this ethical basis I call the idealof a pigsty. The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me newcourage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth. Without the sense ofkinship with men of like mind, without the occupation with the objective world, the eternallyunattainable in the field of art and scientific endeavors, life would have seemed to me empty.The trite objects of human efforts—possessions, outward success, luxury—have alwaysseemed to me contemptible.

客观地说，探求自己或者其他所有生命存在的意义或者目标，我一直都认为是荒.唐之举。然而，每个人多少都有自己的理想，决定着他的奋斗目标和他对事情的看法。从这个意义上说，我从来都不会把安逸和幸福看作终极目标——我将这种伦理道德的基础称之为“猪圈理想”。一直以来，是对真、善、美的追求照亮了我的道路，一次又一次给我以新的勇气，让我愉快地面对生活。如果没有对志同道合者的那种亲近感，如果没有对客观世界——那个艺术和科学研究永远也无法穷极的世界——的孜孜以求，生命对我来说就是一场空。那些向来为世人竞相追求的目标——财产、奢华和外在的成功——我对此不屑一顾。

My passionate sense of social justice and social responsibility has always contrasted oddlywith my pronounced lack of need for direct contact with other human beings and humancommunities. I am truly a “lone traveler” and have never belonged to my country, my home, myfriend, or even my immediate family, with my whole heart; in the face of all these ties, I havenever lost a sense of distance and a need for solitude-feelings which increase with the years.One becomes sharply aware, but without regret, of the limits of mutual understanding andconsonance with other people. No doubt, such a person loses some of his innocence andunconcern; on the other hand, he is largely independent, of the opinions, habits, andjudgments of his fellows and avoids the temptation to build his inner equilibrium upon suchinsecure foundations.

一方面，我有着强烈的社会正义感和社会责任感，另一方面，我的内心又明显没有与他人和社会直接接触的需求，二者形成了一个奇怪的对比。我确实是一个“孤独的旅者”，我的心从未完全地属于过我的祖国、我的家庭、我的朋友，甚至我最亲近的家人。在面对所有这些羁绊时，我从来没有失去过距离感，也没有摆脱掉孤独感——这种感觉随着年岁的增长还在增加。一个人开始强烈地意识到人与人之间的相互理解与和谐一致是有限度的，但却并不为此遗憾时，此人毫无疑问已经失去了部分天真无邪、无忧无虑的童心，但另一方面，他也在很大程度上获得了独立，不再受他人观点、习惯和判断的影响，同时也能避免内心那种要将平衡建立在这种不可靠的基础之上的强烈愿望。

The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotionwhich stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can nolonger wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed. It was theexperience of mystery—even if mixed with fear—that engendered religion. A knowledge of theexistence of something we cannot penetrate, our perceptions of the profoundest reason andthe most radiant beauty, which only in their most primitive forms are accessible to our minds—it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute true religiosity; in this sense, and in thisalone, I am a deeply religious man. I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes hiscreatures, or has a will of the kind that we experience in ourselves. Neither can I nor would Iwant to conceive of an individual that survives his physical death; let feeble souls, from fear orabsurd egoism, cherish such thoughts. I am satisfied with the mystery of the eternity of lifeand with the awareness and a glimpse of the marvelous structure of the existing world,together with the devoted striving to comprehend a portion, be it ever so tiny, of theReason that manifests itself in nature.

人类所能享有的最美妙的体验就是神秘感，这是真正的科学与艺术的根源中最基础的情感。无论是谁，如果没有感受过它的魅力，如果不再感到好奇，不再发出惊叹，他就无异于行尸走肉，瞎眼盲心。正是这种神秘的体验——即使夹杂着恐惧——促进了宗教的产生。我们知道有某种事物的存在我们无法参透，我们对最深刻的理性与最绚丽的美的感知，只有在它们以最原始的形式出现时才能有所理解——正是这种认知和情感构成了真正的宗教信仰。在这种意义上，也只有在这种意义上，我是一个笃信宗教的人。我无法臆想出一个对自己创造出来的生命加以奖赏和惩罚的上帝，也无法想象他会拥有我们自身所拥有的意志。我无法也不愿想象一个人在肉体死去之后仍然可以活着。让那些脆弱的灵魂，出于恐惧或者可笑的私利，去拥抱这种想法吧。我满足于对生命的永恒保持神秘感，满足于对现存世界神奇结构的粗浅感知和匆匆一瞥，也满足于通过不懈的努力，对自然本身显露出的一部分“道”进行理解，哪怕只是极其微小的一部分。