經典英語美文閱讀範文欣賞
英語美文的閱讀有助於我們對英語知識的學習，提升我們的英語能力。今天小編就給大家分享一下英語美文欣賞，歡迎閱讀參考
以書爲伴
A man may usually be known by the books he reads as well as by the company he keeps; for there is a companionship of books as well as of men; and one should always live in the best company, whether it be of books or of men.
通常看一個讀些什麼書就可知道他的爲人，就像看他同什麼人交往就可知道他的爲人一樣，因爲有人以人爲伴，也有人以書爲伴。無論是書友還是朋友，我們都應該以的爲伴。
A good book may be among the best of friends. It is the same today that it always was, and it will never change. It is the most patient and cheerful of companions. It does not turn its back upon us in times of adversity or distress. It always receives us with the same kindness; amusing and instructing us in youth, and comforting and consoling us in age.
好書就像是你的朋友。它始終不渝，過去如此，現在如此，將來也永遠不變。它是最有耐心，最令人愉悅的伴侶。在我們窮愁潦倒，臨危遭難時，它也不會拋棄我們，對我們總是一如既往地親切。在我們年輕時，好書陶冶我們的性情，增長我們的知識;到我們年老時，它又給我們以慰藉和勉勵。
Men often discover their affinity to each other by the mutual love they have for a book just as two persons sometimes discover a friend by the admiration which both entertain for a third. There is an old proverb, ‘Love me, love my dog.” But there is more wisdom in this:” Love me, love my book.” The book is a truer and higher bond of union. Men can think, feel, and sympathize with each other through their favorite author. They live in him together, and he in them.
人們常常因爲喜歡同一本書而結爲知已，就像有時兩個人因爲敬慕同一個人而成爲朋友一樣。有句古諺說道：“愛屋及屋。”其實“愛我及書”這句話蘊涵更多的哲理。書是更爲真誠而高尚的情誼紐帶。人們可以通過共同喜愛的作家溝通思想，交流感情，彼此息息相通，並與自己喜歡的作家思想相通，情感相融。
A good book is often the best urn of a life enshrining the best that life could think out; for the world of a man’s life is, for the most part, but the world of his thoughts. Thus the best books are treasuries of good words, the golden thoughts, which, remembered and cherished, become our constant companions and comforters.
好書常如最精美的寶器，珍藏着人生的思想的精華，因爲人生的境界主要就在於其思想的境界。因此，的書是金玉良言和崇高思想的寶庫，這些良言和思想若銘記於心並多加珍視，就會成爲我們忠實的伴侶和永恆的慰藉。
Books possess an essence of immortality. They are by far the most lasting products of human effort. Temples and statues decay, but books survive. Time is of no account with great thoughts, which are as fresh today as when they first passed through their author’s minds, ages ago. What was then said and thought still speaks to us as vividly as ever from the printed page. The only effect of time has been to sift out the bad products; for nothing in literature can long survive but what is really good.
書籍具有不朽的本質，是爲人類努力創造的最爲持久的成果。寺廟會倒坍，神像會朽爛，而書卻經久長存。對於偉大的思想來說，時間是無關緊要的。多年前初次閃現於作者腦海的偉大思想今日依然清新如故。時間惟一的作用是淘汰不好的作品，因爲只有真正的佳作才能經世長存。
Books introduce us into the best society; they bring us into the presence of the greatest minds that have ever lived. We hear what they said and did; we see them as if they were really alive; we sympathize with them, enjoy with them, grieve with them; their experience becomes ours, and we feel as if we were in a measure actors with them in the scenes which they describe.
書籍介紹我們與秀的人爲伍，使我們置身於歷代偉人巨匠之間，如聞其聲，如觀其行，如見其人，同他們情感交融，悲喜與共，感同身受。我們覺得自己彷彿在作者所描繪的舞臺上和他們一起粉墨登場。
The great and good do not die, even in this lmed in books, their spirits walk abroad. The book is a living voice. It is an intellect to which on still listens.
即使在人世間，偉大傑出的人物也永生不來。他們的精神被載入書冊，傳於四海。書是人生至今仍在聆聽的智慧之聲，永遠充滿着活力。
《抱負》
It is not difficult to imagine a world short of ambition. It would probably be a kinder world: with out demands, without abrasions, without disappointments. People would have time for reflection. Such work as they did would not be for themselves but for the collectivity. Competition would never enter in. conflict would be eliminated, tension become a thing of the past. The stress of creation would be at an end. Art would no longer be troubling, but purely celebratory in its functions. Longevity would be increased, for fewer people would die of heart attack or stroke caused by tumultuous endeavor. Anxiety would be extinct. Time would stretch on and on, with ambition long departed from the human heart. 一個缺乏抱負的世界將會怎樣，這不難想象。或許，這將是一個更爲友善的世界：沒有渴求，沒有磨擦，沒有失望。人們將有時間進行反思。他們所從事的工作將不是爲了他們自身，而是爲了整個集體。競爭永遠不會介入;衝突將被消除。人們的緊張關係將成爲過往雲煙。創造的重壓將得以終結。藝術將不再惹人費神，其功能將純粹爲了慶典。人的壽命將會更長，因爲由激烈拼爭引起的心臟病和中風所導致的死亡將越來越少。焦慮將會消失。時光流逝，抱負卻早已遠離人心。 Ah, how unrelieved boring life would be! 啊，長此以往人生將變得多麼乏味無聊! There is a strong view that holds that success is a myth, and ambition therefore a sham. Does this mean that success does not really exist? That achievement is at bottom empty? That the efforts of men and women are of no significance alongside the force of movements and events now not all success, obviously, is worth esteeming, nor all ambition worth cultivating. Which are and which are not is something one soon enough learns on one’s own. But even the most cynical secretly admit that success exists; that achievement counts for a great deal; and that the true myth is that the actions of men and women are useless. To believe otherwise is to take on a point of view that is likely to be deranging. It is, in its implications, to remove all motives for competence, interest in attainment, and regard for posterity. 有一種盛行的觀點認爲，成功是一種神話，因此抱負亦屬虛幻。這是不是說實際上並不豐在成功?成就本身就是一場空?與諸多運動和事件的力量相比，男男*的努力顯得微不足?顯然，並非所有的成功都值得景仰，也並非所有的抱負都值得追求。對值得和不值得的選擇，一個人自然而然很快就能學會。但即使是最爲憤世嫉俗的人暗地裏也承認，成功確實存在，成就的意義舉足輕重，而把世上男男*的所作所爲說成是徒勞無功纔是真正的無稽之談。認爲成功不存在的觀點很可能造成混亂。這種觀點的本意是一筆勾銷所有提高能力的動機，求取業績的興趣和對子孫後代的關注。 We do not choose to be born. We do not choose our parents. We do not choose our historical epoch, the country of our birth, or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing. We do not, most of us, choose to die; nor do we choose the time or conditions of our death. But within all this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we shall live: courageously or in cowardice, honorably or dishonorably, with purpose or in drift. We decide what is important and what is trivial in life. We decide that what makes us significant is either what we do or what we refuse to do. But no matter how indifferent the universe may be to our choices and decisions, these choices and decisions are ours to make. We decide. We choose. And as we decide and choose, so are our lives formed. In the end, forming our own destiny is what ambition is about. 我們無法選擇出生，無法選擇父母，無法選擇出生的歷史時期與國家，或是成長的周遭環境。我們大多數人都無法選擇死亡，無法選擇死亡的時間或條件。但是在這些無法選擇之中，我們的確可以選擇自己的生活方式：是勇敢無畏還是膽小怯懦，是光明磊落還是厚顏無恥，是目標堅定還是隨波逐流。我們決定生活中哪些至關重要，哪些微不足道。我們決定，用以顯示我們自身重要性的，不是我們做了什麼，就是我們拒絕做些什麼。但是不論世界對我們所做的選擇和決定有多麼漠不關心，這些選擇和決定終究是我們自己做出的。我們決定，我們選擇。而當我們決定和選擇時，我們的生活便得以形成。最終構築我們命運的就是抱負之所在。
感恩的心
One day, a poor boy who was trying to pay his way through school by selling goods door to door found that he only had one dime left. He was hungry so he decided to beg for a meal at the next house.
一天，一個貧窮的小男孩爲了攢夠學費正挨家挨戶地推銷商品。飢寒交迫的他摸遍全身，卻只有一角錢。於是他決定向下一戶人家討口飯吃。
However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so she brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly, and then asked, “How much do I owe you?”
然而，當一位美麗的年輕女子打開房門的時候，這個小男孩卻有點不知所措了。他沒有要飯，只乞求給他一口水喝。這位女子看到他飢餓的樣子，就倒了一大杯牛奶給他。男孩慢慢地喝完牛奶，問道：“我應該付多少錢?”
“You don't owe me anything,” she replied. “Mother has taught me never to accept pay for a kindness.” He said, “Then I thank you from the bottom of my heart.” As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but it also increased his faith in God and the human race. He was about to give up and quit before this point.
年輕女子微笑着回答：“一分錢也不用付。我媽媽教導我，施以愛心，不圖回報。”男孩說：“那麼，就請接受我由衷的感謝吧!”說完，霍華德-凱利就離開了這戶人家。此時的他不僅自己渾身是勁兒，而且更加相信上帝和整個人類。本來，他都打算放棄了。
Years later the young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where specialists can be called in to study her rare disease. Dr. Howard Kelly, now famous was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes. Immediately, he rose and went down through the hospital hall into her room.
數年之後，那位女子得了一種罕見的重病，當地醫生對此束手無策。最後，她被轉到大城市醫治，由專家會診治療。大名鼎鼎的霍華德-凱利醫生也參加了醫療方案的制定。當他聽到病人來自的那個城鎮的名字時，一個奇怪的念頭霎時間閃過他的腦際。他馬上起身直奔她的病房。
Dressed in his doctor's gown he went in to see her. He recognized her at once. He went back to the consultation room and determined to do his best to save her life. From that day on, he gave special attention tcase.
身穿手術服的凱利醫生來到病房，一眼就認出了恩人。回到會診室後，他決心一定要竭盡所能來治好她的病。從那天起，他就特別關照這個對自己有恩的病人。
After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr. Kelly requested the business office to pass the final bill to him for approval. He looked at it and then wrote something on the side. The bill was sent to her room. She was afraid to open it because she was positive that it would take the rest of her life to pay it off. Finally she looked, and the note on the side of the bill caught her attention. She read these words...
經過艱苦的努力，手術成功了。凱利醫生要求把醫藥費通知單送到他那裏，他看了一下，便在通知單的旁邊簽了字。當醫藥費通知單送到她的病房時，她不敢看。因爲她確信，治病的費用將會花費她整個餘生來償還。最後，她還是鼓起勇氣，翻開了醫藥費通知單，旁邊的那行小字引起了她的注意，她不禁輕聲讀了出來：
“Paid in full with a glass of milk.” (Signed) Dr. Howard Kelly.
“醫藥費已付：一杯牛奶。” (簽名)霍華德-凱利醫生
