作文是英語考試的重中之重,要想寫出好的作文,就需要多看多背,把好的句子記下來。以下是為大家整理的《2018年中考英語作文素材整理【五篇】》希望對大家的寫作有啟發(fā)和幫助。
【第一篇】
On Motes and Beams
It is curious that our own offenses should seem so much less heinous than the offenses of others. I suppose the reason is that we know all the circumstances that have occasioned them and so manage to excuse in ourselves what we cannot excuse in others. We turn our attention away from our own defects, and when we are forced by untoward events to consider them, find it easy to condone them. For all I know we are right to do this; they are part of us and we must accept the good and bad in ourselves together.
But when we come to judge others, it is not by ourselves as we really are that we judge them, but by an image that we have formed of ourselves fro which we have left out everything that offends our vanity or would discredit us in the eyes of the world. To take a trivial instance: how scornful we are when we catch someone out telling a lie; but who can say that he has never told not one, but a hundred?
There is not much to choose between men. They are all a hotchpotch of greatness and littleness, of virtue and vice, of nobility and baseness. Some have more strength of character, or more opportunity, and so in one direction or another give their instincts freer play, but potentially they are the same. For my part, I do not think I am any better or any worse than most people, but I know that if I set down every action in my life and every thought that has crossed my mind, the world would consider me a monster of depravity. The knowledge that these reveries are common to all men should inspire one with tolerance to oneself as well as to others. It is well also if they enable us to look upon our fellows, even the most eminent and respectable, with humor, and if they lead us to take ourselves not too seriously.
譯文:
微塵與棟梁
讓人奇怪的是,和別人的過錯比起來,我們自身的過錯往往不是那樣的可惡。我想,其原因應(yīng)該是我們知曉一切導(dǎo)致自己犯錯的情況,因此能夠設(shè)法諒解自己的錯誤,而別人的錯誤卻不能諒解。我們對自己的缺點(diǎn)不甚關(guān)注,即便是深陷困境而不得不正視它們的時候,我們也會很容易就寬恕自己。據(jù)我所知,我們這樣做是正確的。缺點(diǎn)是我們自身的一部分,我們必須接納自己的好和壞。
但是當(dāng)我們評判別人的時候,情況就不同了。我們不是通過真實的自我來評判別人,而是用一種自我形象來評判,這種自我形象完全摒棄了在任何世人眼中會傷害到自己的虛榮或者體面的東西。舉一個小例子來說:當(dāng)覺察到別人說謊時,我們是多么地蔑視他啊!但是,誰能夠說自從未說過謊?可能還不止一百次呢。
人和人之間沒什么大的差別。他們皆是偉大與渺小,善良與邪惡,高尚與低俗的混合體。有的人性格比較堅毅,機(jī)會也比較多,因而達(dá)個或那個方面,能夠更自由地發(fā)揮自己的稟賦,但是人類的潛能卻都是相同的。至于我自己,我認(rèn)為自己并不比大多數(shù)人更好或者更差,但是我知道,假如我記下我生命中每一次舉動和每一個掠過我腦海的想法的話,世界就會將我視為一個邪惡的怪物。每個人都會有這樣的怪念頭,這樣的認(rèn)識應(yīng)當(dāng)能夠啟發(fā)我們寬容自己,也寬容他人。同時,假如因此我們得以用幽默的態(tài)度看待他人,即使是天下秀最令人尊敬的人,而且假如我們也因此不把自己看得過于重要,那是很有裨益的。
【第二篇】
An October Sunrise
I was up the next morning be fore the October sunrise, and away through the wild and the woodland. The rising of the sun was noble in the cold and warmth of it peeping down the spread of light, he raised his shoulder heavily over the edge of grey mountain and wavering length of upland. Beneath his gaze the dew-fogs dipped, and crept to crept to the hollow places; then stole away in line and column, holding skirts, and clinging subtly at the sheltering corners where rock hung over grassland, while the brave lines of the hills came forth, one beyond other gliding.
The woods arose in folds, like drapery of awakened mountains, stately with a depth of awe, and memory of the tempests. Autumn’s mellow hand was upon them, as they owned already, touched with gold and red and olive, and their joy towards the sun was less to a bridegroom than a father.
Yet before the floating impress of the woods could clear it self, suddenly the gladsome light leaped over hill and valley, casting amber, blue, and purple, and a tint of rich red rose; according to the scene they lit on, and the curtain flung around; yet all alike dispelling fear and the cloven hoof of darkness, all on the wings of hope advancing, and proclaiming, “God is here!” then life and joy sprang reassured from every crouching hollow; every flower, and bud and bird had a fluttering sense of them; and all the flashing of God’s gaze merged into soft beneficence.
So, perhaps, shall break upon us that eternal morning, when crag and chasm shall be no more, neither hill and valley, nor great unvintaged ocean; but all things shall arise, and shine in the light of the Father’s countenance, because itself is risen.
譯文:
十月的日出
第二天凌晨,在十月的太陽升起之前,我已經(jīng)起身并穿過了曠野和叢林。十月的清晨乍寒還暖,日出的景象非常壯觀。透過一片晨曦,朝日從朦朧的山岡和起伏連綿的高地過際,沉重地抬起肩頭。在它的逼視下,蒙蒙的霧氣向下沉降,落到洼地里去,接著一絲絲一縷縷地悄悄飄散,而在草地之上懸?guī)r之下的那些隱秘角落里,霧氣卻還不愿散去,同時群山的雄姿接二連三地顯現(xiàn)出來。
森林也層層疊疊地顯現(xiàn),宛若剛剛蘇醒的山巒的斗篷,端莊威嚴(yán),并帶著狂風(fēng)暴雨的回憶。秋天成熟的手已經(jīng)在撫摸這些山林,因為它們的顏色已經(jīng)改變,染上了金黃,丹紅和橄欖綠。它們對朝日所懷的一片喜悅,像是要奉獻(xiàn)給一個新郎,更像是要奉獻(xiàn)給一位父親。
然而,在樹林那流動的景色逝去之前,歡悅的晨光突然躍出了峰巒和山谷,光線所及,把照到的地方和周圍的森林分別染成青色,紫色,琥珀色和富麗的紅玫瑰色。光線照到哪里,那里就如同一幅幕布被掀開。而所有的一切都同樣在驅(qū)散恐懼和黑暗的魔影;所有的一切都展開希望的翅膀,向前習(xí)翔,并大聲宣告:“上帝在這里!”于是生命和歡樂從每一個蜷伏的洞穴里信心十足地欣然躍出;一切花朵,蓓蕾和鳥雀都感到了生命和歡樂而抖動起來;上帝的凝視匯合成溫柔的恩澤。
也許,那永恒的晨光就會這樣降臨人間,那時不再有險崖溝壑,不再有峰巒山谷,也不再有浩瀚無際的海洋;萬物都將踴躍升騰,在造物主慈愛的光芒中生輝,因為太陽已經(jīng)升起。
【第三篇】
To Be or Not to Be
Outside the Bible, these six words are the most famous in all the literature of the world. They were spoken by Hamlet when he was thinking aloud, and they are the most famous words in Shakespeare because Hamlet was speaking not only for himself but also for every thinking man and woman. To be or not to be, to live or not to live, to live richly and abundantly and eagerly, or to live dully and meanly and scarcely. A philosopher once wanted to know whether he was alive or not, which is a good question for everyone to put to himself occasionally. He answered it by saying: "I think, therefore am."
But the best definition of existence ever saw did another philosopher who said: "To be is to be in relations." If this true, then the more relations a living thing has, the more it is alive. To live abundantly means simply to increase the range and intensity of our relations. Unfortunately we are so constituted that we get to love our routine. But apart from our regular occupation how much are we alive? If you are interest-ed only in your regular occupation, you are alive only to that extent. So far as other things are concerned--poetry and prose, music, pictures, sports, unselfish friendships, politics, international affairs--you are dead.
Contrariwise, it is true that every time you acquire a new interest--even more, a new accomplishment--you increase your power of life. No one who is deeply interested in a large variety of subjects can remain unhappy; the real pessimist is the person who has lost interest.
Bacon said that a man dies as often as he loses a friend. But we gain new life by contacts, new friends. What is supremely true of living objects is only less true of ideas, which are also alive. Where your thoughts are, there will your live be also. If your thoughts are confined only to your business, only to your physical welfare, only to the narrow circle of the town in which you live, then you live in a narrow cir-conscribed life. But if you are interested in what is going on in China, then you are living in China~ if you’re interested in the characters of a good novel, then you are living with those highly interesting people, if you listen intently to fine music, you are away from your immediate surroundings and living in a world of passion and imagination.
To be or not to be--to live intensely and richly, merely to exist, that depends on ourselves. Let widen and intensify our relations. While we live, let live!
譯文:
生存還是毀滅
“生存還是毀滅。”如果把《圣經(jīng)》除外,這六個字便是整個世界文學(xué)中最有名的六個字了。這六個字是哈姆雷特一次喃喃自語時說的,而這六個字也就成了莎士比亞作品中最有名的幾個字了,因為這里哈姆雷特不僅道出了他自己的心聲,同時也代表了一切有思想的男男女女。是活還是不活——是要生活還是不要生活,是要生活得豐滿充實,興致勃勃,還是只是活得枯燥委瑣,貧乏無味。一位哲人一次曾想弄清他自己是否是在活著,這個問題我們每個人也大可不時地問問我們自己。這位哲學(xué)家對此的答案是: “我思故我在。”
但是關(guān)于生存我所見過的一條的定義卻是另一位哲學(xué)家下的:“生活即是聯(lián)系?!比绻@話不假的話,那么一個有生命者的聯(lián)系越多,它也就越有生氣。所謂要活得豐富充實也即是要擴(kuò)大和加強(qiáng)我們的各種聯(lián)系。不幸的是,我們往往會因為天性不夠豐厚而容易陷入自己的陳規(guī)舊套。試問除去我們的日常工作,我們的真正生活又有多少?如果你只是對你的日常工作才有興趣,那你的生趣也就很有限了。至于在其它事物方面,比如詩歌、散文、音樂、美術(shù)、體育、無私的友誼、政治與國際事務(wù),等等——你只是死人一個。
但反過來說,每當(dāng)你獲得一種新的興趣——甚至一項新的造詣——你就增長了你的生活本領(lǐng)。一個能對許許多多事物都深感興趣的人是不可能總不愉快的,真正的悲觀者只能是那些喪失興趣的人。
培根曾講過,一個人失去朋友即是死亡。但是憑著交往,憑著新朋,我們就能獲得再生。這條對于活人可謂千真萬確的道理在一定程度上也完全適用于人的思想,它們也都是活的。你的思想所在,你的生命便也在那里。如果你的思想不出你的業(yè)務(wù)范圍,不出你的物質(zhì)利益,不出你所在城鎮(zhèn)的狹隘圈子,那么你的一生便也只是多方受著局限的狹隘的一生。但是如果你對當(dāng)前中國那里所發(fā)生的種種感到興趣,那么你便可說也活在中國;如果你對一本佳妙小說中的人物感到興趣,你便是活在一批極有趣的人們中間;如果你能全神貫注地聽點(diǎn)好的音樂,你就會超脫出你的周圍環(huán)境而活在一個充滿激情與想象的神奇世界之中。
生存還是毀滅——活得熱烈活得豐富,還是只是簡單存在,這就全在我們自己。但愿我們都能不斷擴(kuò)展和增強(qiáng)我們的各種聯(lián)系。只要一天我們活著,就要一天是在活著。
【第四篇】
Gettysburg Address
Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now, we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us---that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
譯文:
在葛底斯堡的演說
87年前,我們的先輩們在這個大陸上創(chuàng)立了一個新國家,它孕育于自由之中,奉行一切人生來平等的原則?,F(xiàn)在我們正從事一場偉大的內(nèi)戰(zhàn),以考驗這個國家,或者任何一個孕育于自由和奉行上述原則的國家是否能夠長久存在下去。我們在這場戰(zhàn)爭中的一個偉大戰(zhàn)場上集會。烈士們?yōu)槭惯@個國家能夠生存下去而獻(xiàn)出了自己的生命,我們來到這里,是要把這個戰(zhàn)場的一部分奉獻(xiàn)給他們作為最后安息之所。我們這樣做是完全應(yīng)該而且是非常恰當(dāng)?shù)摹?BR> 但是,從更廣泛的意義上來說,這塊土地我們不能夠奉獻(xiàn),不能夠圣化,不能夠神化。那些曾在這里戰(zhàn)斗過的勇士們,活著的和去世的,已經(jīng)把這塊土地圣化了,這遠(yuǎn)不是我們微薄的力量所能增減的。我們今天在這里所說的話,全世界不大會注意,也不會長久地記住,但勇士們在這里所做過的事,全世界卻永遠(yuǎn)不會忘記。毋寧說,倒是我們這些還活著的人,應(yīng)該在這里把自己奉獻(xiàn)于勇士們已經(jīng)如此崇高地向前推進(jìn)但尚未完成的事業(yè)。倒是我們應(yīng)該在這里把自己奉獻(xiàn)于仍然留在我們面前的偉大任務(wù)——我們要從這些光榮的死者身上汲取更多的獻(xiàn)身精神,來完成他們已經(jīng)完全徹底為之獻(xiàn)身的事業(yè);我們要在這里下定的決心,不讓這些死者白白犧牲;我們要使國家在上帝福佑下得到自由的新生,要使這個民有、民治、民享的政府永世長存。
【第五篇】
First Inaugural Address(Excerpts)
We observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom, symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning; signifying renewal, as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three quarters ago.
In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than in mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.
Now the trumpet summons us again, not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are; but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, “rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation”, a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.
Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?
In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility. I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it. And the glow from that fire can truly light the world.
And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.
My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.
Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth, God’s work must truly be our own.
譯文:
就職演講(節(jié)選)
今天我們慶祝的不是政黨的勝利,而是自由的勝利。這象征著一個結(jié)束,也象征著一個開端;意味著延續(xù)也意味看變革。因為我已在你們和全能的上帝面前,宣讀了我們的先輩在170多年前擬定的莊嚴(yán)誓言。
公民們,我們方針的最終成敗與其說掌握在我手中,不如說掌握在你們手中。自從合眾國建立以來,每一代美國人都曾受到召喚去證明他們對國家的忠誠。響應(yīng)召喚而獻(xiàn)身的美國青年的墳?zāi)贡榧叭颉?BR> 現(xiàn)在,號角已再次吹響---不是召喚我們拿起武器,雖然我們需要武器;不是召喚我們?nèi)プ鲬?zhàn),雖然我們嚴(yán)陣以待。它召喚我們?yōu)橛永杳鞫缲?fù)起漫長斗爭的重任,年復(fù)一年,從希望中得到歡樂,在磨難中保持耐性,對付人類共同的敵人---****、社團(tuán)、疾病和戰(zhàn)爭本身。
為反對這些敵人,確保人類更為豐裕的生活,我們能夠組成一個包括東西南北各方的全球大聯(lián)盟嗎?你們愿意參加這一歷史性的努力嗎?
在漫長的世界歷史中,只有少數(shù)幾代人在自由處于最危急的時刻被賦予保衛(wèi)自由的責(zé)任。我不會推卸這一責(zé)任,我歡迎這一責(zé)任。我不相信我們中間有人想同其他人或其他時代的人交換位置。我們?yōu)檫@一努力所奉獻(xiàn)的精力、信念和忠誠,將照亮我們的國家和所有為國效勞的人,而這火焰發(fā)出的光芒定能照亮全世界。
因此,美國同胞們,不要問國家能為你們做些什么、而要問你們能為國家做些什么。
全世界的公民們,不要問美國將為你們做些計人,而要問我們共同能為人類的自由做些什么。
最后,不論你們是美國公民還是其他國家的公民,你們應(yīng)要求我們獻(xiàn)出我們同樣要求于你們的高度力量和犧牲。問心無愧是我們可靠的獎賞,歷史是我們行動的最終裁判,讓我們走向前去,引導(dǎo)我們所熱愛的國家。我們祈求上帝的福佑和幫助,但我們知道,確切地說,上帝在塵世的工作必定是我們自己的工作。
【第一篇】
On Motes and Beams
It is curious that our own offenses should seem so much less heinous than the offenses of others. I suppose the reason is that we know all the circumstances that have occasioned them and so manage to excuse in ourselves what we cannot excuse in others. We turn our attention away from our own defects, and when we are forced by untoward events to consider them, find it easy to condone them. For all I know we are right to do this; they are part of us and we must accept the good and bad in ourselves together.
But when we come to judge others, it is not by ourselves as we really are that we judge them, but by an image that we have formed of ourselves fro which we have left out everything that offends our vanity or would discredit us in the eyes of the world. To take a trivial instance: how scornful we are when we catch someone out telling a lie; but who can say that he has never told not one, but a hundred?
There is not much to choose between men. They are all a hotchpotch of greatness and littleness, of virtue and vice, of nobility and baseness. Some have more strength of character, or more opportunity, and so in one direction or another give their instincts freer play, but potentially they are the same. For my part, I do not think I am any better or any worse than most people, but I know that if I set down every action in my life and every thought that has crossed my mind, the world would consider me a monster of depravity. The knowledge that these reveries are common to all men should inspire one with tolerance to oneself as well as to others. It is well also if they enable us to look upon our fellows, even the most eminent and respectable, with humor, and if they lead us to take ourselves not too seriously.
譯文:
微塵與棟梁
讓人奇怪的是,和別人的過錯比起來,我們自身的過錯往往不是那樣的可惡。我想,其原因應(yīng)該是我們知曉一切導(dǎo)致自己犯錯的情況,因此能夠設(shè)法諒解自己的錯誤,而別人的錯誤卻不能諒解。我們對自己的缺點(diǎn)不甚關(guān)注,即便是深陷困境而不得不正視它們的時候,我們也會很容易就寬恕自己。據(jù)我所知,我們這樣做是正確的。缺點(diǎn)是我們自身的一部分,我們必須接納自己的好和壞。
但是當(dāng)我們評判別人的時候,情況就不同了。我們不是通過真實的自我來評判別人,而是用一種自我形象來評判,這種自我形象完全摒棄了在任何世人眼中會傷害到自己的虛榮或者體面的東西。舉一個小例子來說:當(dāng)覺察到別人說謊時,我們是多么地蔑視他啊!但是,誰能夠說自從未說過謊?可能還不止一百次呢。
人和人之間沒什么大的差別。他們皆是偉大與渺小,善良與邪惡,高尚與低俗的混合體。有的人性格比較堅毅,機(jī)會也比較多,因而達(dá)個或那個方面,能夠更自由地發(fā)揮自己的稟賦,但是人類的潛能卻都是相同的。至于我自己,我認(rèn)為自己并不比大多數(shù)人更好或者更差,但是我知道,假如我記下我生命中每一次舉動和每一個掠過我腦海的想法的話,世界就會將我視為一個邪惡的怪物。每個人都會有這樣的怪念頭,這樣的認(rèn)識應(yīng)當(dāng)能夠啟發(fā)我們寬容自己,也寬容他人。同時,假如因此我們得以用幽默的態(tài)度看待他人,即使是天下秀最令人尊敬的人,而且假如我們也因此不把自己看得過于重要,那是很有裨益的。
【第二篇】
An October Sunrise
I was up the next morning be fore the October sunrise, and away through the wild and the woodland. The rising of the sun was noble in the cold and warmth of it peeping down the spread of light, he raised his shoulder heavily over the edge of grey mountain and wavering length of upland. Beneath his gaze the dew-fogs dipped, and crept to crept to the hollow places; then stole away in line and column, holding skirts, and clinging subtly at the sheltering corners where rock hung over grassland, while the brave lines of the hills came forth, one beyond other gliding.
The woods arose in folds, like drapery of awakened mountains, stately with a depth of awe, and memory of the tempests. Autumn’s mellow hand was upon them, as they owned already, touched with gold and red and olive, and their joy towards the sun was less to a bridegroom than a father.
Yet before the floating impress of the woods could clear it self, suddenly the gladsome light leaped over hill and valley, casting amber, blue, and purple, and a tint of rich red rose; according to the scene they lit on, and the curtain flung around; yet all alike dispelling fear and the cloven hoof of darkness, all on the wings of hope advancing, and proclaiming, “God is here!” then life and joy sprang reassured from every crouching hollow; every flower, and bud and bird had a fluttering sense of them; and all the flashing of God’s gaze merged into soft beneficence.
So, perhaps, shall break upon us that eternal morning, when crag and chasm shall be no more, neither hill and valley, nor great unvintaged ocean; but all things shall arise, and shine in the light of the Father’s countenance, because itself is risen.
譯文:
十月的日出
第二天凌晨,在十月的太陽升起之前,我已經(jīng)起身并穿過了曠野和叢林。十月的清晨乍寒還暖,日出的景象非常壯觀。透過一片晨曦,朝日從朦朧的山岡和起伏連綿的高地過際,沉重地抬起肩頭。在它的逼視下,蒙蒙的霧氣向下沉降,落到洼地里去,接著一絲絲一縷縷地悄悄飄散,而在草地之上懸?guī)r之下的那些隱秘角落里,霧氣卻還不愿散去,同時群山的雄姿接二連三地顯現(xiàn)出來。
森林也層層疊疊地顯現(xiàn),宛若剛剛蘇醒的山巒的斗篷,端莊威嚴(yán),并帶著狂風(fēng)暴雨的回憶。秋天成熟的手已經(jīng)在撫摸這些山林,因為它們的顏色已經(jīng)改變,染上了金黃,丹紅和橄欖綠。它們對朝日所懷的一片喜悅,像是要奉獻(xiàn)給一個新郎,更像是要奉獻(xiàn)給一位父親。
然而,在樹林那流動的景色逝去之前,歡悅的晨光突然躍出了峰巒和山谷,光線所及,把照到的地方和周圍的森林分別染成青色,紫色,琥珀色和富麗的紅玫瑰色。光線照到哪里,那里就如同一幅幕布被掀開。而所有的一切都同樣在驅(qū)散恐懼和黑暗的魔影;所有的一切都展開希望的翅膀,向前習(xí)翔,并大聲宣告:“上帝在這里!”于是生命和歡樂從每一個蜷伏的洞穴里信心十足地欣然躍出;一切花朵,蓓蕾和鳥雀都感到了生命和歡樂而抖動起來;上帝的凝視匯合成溫柔的恩澤。
也許,那永恒的晨光就會這樣降臨人間,那時不再有險崖溝壑,不再有峰巒山谷,也不再有浩瀚無際的海洋;萬物都將踴躍升騰,在造物主慈愛的光芒中生輝,因為太陽已經(jīng)升起。
【第三篇】
To Be or Not to Be
Outside the Bible, these six words are the most famous in all the literature of the world. They were spoken by Hamlet when he was thinking aloud, and they are the most famous words in Shakespeare because Hamlet was speaking not only for himself but also for every thinking man and woman. To be or not to be, to live or not to live, to live richly and abundantly and eagerly, or to live dully and meanly and scarcely. A philosopher once wanted to know whether he was alive or not, which is a good question for everyone to put to himself occasionally. He answered it by saying: "I think, therefore am."
But the best definition of existence ever saw did another philosopher who said: "To be is to be in relations." If this true, then the more relations a living thing has, the more it is alive. To live abundantly means simply to increase the range and intensity of our relations. Unfortunately we are so constituted that we get to love our routine. But apart from our regular occupation how much are we alive? If you are interest-ed only in your regular occupation, you are alive only to that extent. So far as other things are concerned--poetry and prose, music, pictures, sports, unselfish friendships, politics, international affairs--you are dead.
Contrariwise, it is true that every time you acquire a new interest--even more, a new accomplishment--you increase your power of life. No one who is deeply interested in a large variety of subjects can remain unhappy; the real pessimist is the person who has lost interest.
Bacon said that a man dies as often as he loses a friend. But we gain new life by contacts, new friends. What is supremely true of living objects is only less true of ideas, which are also alive. Where your thoughts are, there will your live be also. If your thoughts are confined only to your business, only to your physical welfare, only to the narrow circle of the town in which you live, then you live in a narrow cir-conscribed life. But if you are interested in what is going on in China, then you are living in China~ if you’re interested in the characters of a good novel, then you are living with those highly interesting people, if you listen intently to fine music, you are away from your immediate surroundings and living in a world of passion and imagination.
To be or not to be--to live intensely and richly, merely to exist, that depends on ourselves. Let widen and intensify our relations. While we live, let live!
譯文:
生存還是毀滅
“生存還是毀滅。”如果把《圣經(jīng)》除外,這六個字便是整個世界文學(xué)中最有名的六個字了。這六個字是哈姆雷特一次喃喃自語時說的,而這六個字也就成了莎士比亞作品中最有名的幾個字了,因為這里哈姆雷特不僅道出了他自己的心聲,同時也代表了一切有思想的男男女女。是活還是不活——是要生活還是不要生活,是要生活得豐滿充實,興致勃勃,還是只是活得枯燥委瑣,貧乏無味。一位哲人一次曾想弄清他自己是否是在活著,這個問題我們每個人也大可不時地問問我們自己。這位哲學(xué)家對此的答案是: “我思故我在。”
但是關(guān)于生存我所見過的一條的定義卻是另一位哲學(xué)家下的:“生活即是聯(lián)系?!比绻@話不假的話,那么一個有生命者的聯(lián)系越多,它也就越有生氣。所謂要活得豐富充實也即是要擴(kuò)大和加強(qiáng)我們的各種聯(lián)系。不幸的是,我們往往會因為天性不夠豐厚而容易陷入自己的陳規(guī)舊套。試問除去我們的日常工作,我們的真正生活又有多少?如果你只是對你的日常工作才有興趣,那你的生趣也就很有限了。至于在其它事物方面,比如詩歌、散文、音樂、美術(shù)、體育、無私的友誼、政治與國際事務(wù),等等——你只是死人一個。
但反過來說,每當(dāng)你獲得一種新的興趣——甚至一項新的造詣——你就增長了你的生活本領(lǐng)。一個能對許許多多事物都深感興趣的人是不可能總不愉快的,真正的悲觀者只能是那些喪失興趣的人。
培根曾講過,一個人失去朋友即是死亡。但是憑著交往,憑著新朋,我們就能獲得再生。這條對于活人可謂千真萬確的道理在一定程度上也完全適用于人的思想,它們也都是活的。你的思想所在,你的生命便也在那里。如果你的思想不出你的業(yè)務(wù)范圍,不出你的物質(zhì)利益,不出你所在城鎮(zhèn)的狹隘圈子,那么你的一生便也只是多方受著局限的狹隘的一生。但是如果你對當(dāng)前中國那里所發(fā)生的種種感到興趣,那么你便可說也活在中國;如果你對一本佳妙小說中的人物感到興趣,你便是活在一批極有趣的人們中間;如果你能全神貫注地聽點(diǎn)好的音樂,你就會超脫出你的周圍環(huán)境而活在一個充滿激情與想象的神奇世界之中。
生存還是毀滅——活得熱烈活得豐富,還是只是簡單存在,這就全在我們自己。但愿我們都能不斷擴(kuò)展和增強(qiáng)我們的各種聯(lián)系。只要一天我們活著,就要一天是在活著。
【第四篇】
Gettysburg Address
Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now, we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us---that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
譯文:
在葛底斯堡的演說
87年前,我們的先輩們在這個大陸上創(chuàng)立了一個新國家,它孕育于自由之中,奉行一切人生來平等的原則?,F(xiàn)在我們正從事一場偉大的內(nèi)戰(zhàn),以考驗這個國家,或者任何一個孕育于自由和奉行上述原則的國家是否能夠長久存在下去。我們在這場戰(zhàn)爭中的一個偉大戰(zhàn)場上集會。烈士們?yōu)槭惯@個國家能夠生存下去而獻(xiàn)出了自己的生命,我們來到這里,是要把這個戰(zhàn)場的一部分奉獻(xiàn)給他們作為最后安息之所。我們這樣做是完全應(yīng)該而且是非常恰當(dāng)?shù)摹?BR> 但是,從更廣泛的意義上來說,這塊土地我們不能夠奉獻(xiàn),不能夠圣化,不能夠神化。那些曾在這里戰(zhàn)斗過的勇士們,活著的和去世的,已經(jīng)把這塊土地圣化了,這遠(yuǎn)不是我們微薄的力量所能增減的。我們今天在這里所說的話,全世界不大會注意,也不會長久地記住,但勇士們在這里所做過的事,全世界卻永遠(yuǎn)不會忘記。毋寧說,倒是我們這些還活著的人,應(yīng)該在這里把自己奉獻(xiàn)于勇士們已經(jīng)如此崇高地向前推進(jìn)但尚未完成的事業(yè)。倒是我們應(yīng)該在這里把自己奉獻(xiàn)于仍然留在我們面前的偉大任務(wù)——我們要從這些光榮的死者身上汲取更多的獻(xiàn)身精神,來完成他們已經(jīng)完全徹底為之獻(xiàn)身的事業(yè);我們要在這里下定的決心,不讓這些死者白白犧牲;我們要使國家在上帝福佑下得到自由的新生,要使這個民有、民治、民享的政府永世長存。
【第五篇】
First Inaugural Address(Excerpts)
We observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom, symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning; signifying renewal, as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three quarters ago.
In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than in mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.
Now the trumpet summons us again, not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are; but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, “rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation”, a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.
Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?
In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility. I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it. And the glow from that fire can truly light the world.
And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.
My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.
Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth, God’s work must truly be our own.
譯文:
就職演講(節(jié)選)
今天我們慶祝的不是政黨的勝利,而是自由的勝利。這象征著一個結(jié)束,也象征著一個開端;意味著延續(xù)也意味看變革。因為我已在你們和全能的上帝面前,宣讀了我們的先輩在170多年前擬定的莊嚴(yán)誓言。
公民們,我們方針的最終成敗與其說掌握在我手中,不如說掌握在你們手中。自從合眾國建立以來,每一代美國人都曾受到召喚去證明他們對國家的忠誠。響應(yīng)召喚而獻(xiàn)身的美國青年的墳?zāi)贡榧叭颉?BR> 現(xiàn)在,號角已再次吹響---不是召喚我們拿起武器,雖然我們需要武器;不是召喚我們?nèi)プ鲬?zhàn),雖然我們嚴(yán)陣以待。它召喚我們?yōu)橛永杳鞫缲?fù)起漫長斗爭的重任,年復(fù)一年,從希望中得到歡樂,在磨難中保持耐性,對付人類共同的敵人---****、社團(tuán)、疾病和戰(zhàn)爭本身。
為反對這些敵人,確保人類更為豐裕的生活,我們能夠組成一個包括東西南北各方的全球大聯(lián)盟嗎?你們愿意參加這一歷史性的努力嗎?
在漫長的世界歷史中,只有少數(shù)幾代人在自由處于最危急的時刻被賦予保衛(wèi)自由的責(zé)任。我不會推卸這一責(zé)任,我歡迎這一責(zé)任。我不相信我們中間有人想同其他人或其他時代的人交換位置。我們?yōu)檫@一努力所奉獻(xiàn)的精力、信念和忠誠,將照亮我們的國家和所有為國效勞的人,而這火焰發(fā)出的光芒定能照亮全世界。
因此,美國同胞們,不要問國家能為你們做些什么、而要問你們能為國家做些什么。
全世界的公民們,不要問美國將為你們做些計人,而要問我們共同能為人類的自由做些什么。
最后,不論你們是美國公民還是其他國家的公民,你們應(yīng)要求我們獻(xiàn)出我們同樣要求于你們的高度力量和犧牲。問心無愧是我們可靠的獎賞,歷史是我們行動的最終裁判,讓我們走向前去,引導(dǎo)我們所熱愛的國家。我們祈求上帝的福佑和幫助,但我們知道,確切地說,上帝在塵世的工作必定是我們自己的工作。