美文佳作.docx

1、美文佳作1. THE FIRST SNOWThe first snow came. How beautiful it was, falling so silently all day long, all night long, on the mountains, on the meadows, on the roofs of the living, on the graves of the dead! All white save the river, that marked its course by a winding black line across the landscape; an

2、d the leafless trees, that against the leaden sky now revealed more fully the wonderful beauty and intricacies of their branches. What silence, too, came with the snow, and what Seclusion! Every sound was muffled, every noise changed to something soft and musical. No more tramping hoofs, no more rat

3、tling wheels! Only the chiming of sleigh-bells, beating as swift and merrily as the hearts of children. From Kavanagh by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow2. THE HUMMING-BIRDOf all animated beings this is the most elegant in form and the most brilliant in colors. The stones and metals polished by our arts a

4、re not comparable to this jewel of Nature. She has placed it least in size of the order of birds, “maxime miranda in minimis.” Her masterpiece is this little humming-bird, and upon it she has heaped all the gifts which the other birds may only share. Lightness, rapidity, nimbleness, grace, and. rich

5、 apparel all belong to this little favorite. The emerald, the ruby, and the topaz gleam upon its dress. It never soils them with the dust of earth, and in its aerial life scarcely touches the turf an instant. Always in the air, flying from flower to flower, it has their freshness as well as their br

6、ightness. It Jives upon their nectar, and dwells only in the climates where they perennially bloom. From Natural Historyby George Louis Leclerc Buffon3. TREESI think that I shall never seeA poem lovely as a tree;A tree whose hungry mouth is prestAgainst the earths sweet flowing breast;A tree that lo

7、oks at God all day,And lifts her leafy arms to pray;A tree that may in Summer wear A nest of robins in her hair;Upon whose bosom snow has lain, Who intimately lives with rain.Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree.From Trees ana Other Poems by Joyce Kilmer4. READING GOOD BOOES

8、Devote some of your leisure, I repeat, to cultivating a love of reading good books. Fortunate indeed are those who contrive to make themselves genuine book-lovers. For book-lovers have some noteworthy advantages over other people. They need never know lonely hours so long as they have books around t

9、hem, and the better the books the more delightful the company. From good books, moreover, they draw much besides entertainment. They gain mental food such as few companions can supply. Even while resting from their labors they are, through the books they read, equipping themselves to perform those l

10、abors more efficiently. This albeit they may not be deliberately reading to improve their mind. All unconsciously the ideas they derive from the printed pages are stored up, to be worked over by the imagination for their future profit.From Self-Developmzentby Henry Addington Bruce5. ON ETIQUETTEEtiq

11、uette to society is what apparel is to the individual. Without apparel men would go in shameful nudity which would surely lead to the corruption of morals; and without etiquette society would be in a pitiable state and the necessary intercourse between its members would be interfered with by needles

12、s offences and troubles. If society were a train, the etiquette would be the rails along which only the train could rumble forth; if society were a state coach, the etiquette would be the wheels and axis on which only the coach could roll forward. The lack of proprieties would make the most intimate

13、 friends turn to be the most decided enemies and the friendly or allied countries declare war against each other. We can find many examples in the history of mankind. Therefore I advise you to stand on ceremony before anyone else and to take pains not to do anything against etiquette lest you give o

14、ffences or make enemies.by William Hazlitt6. THE FLIGHT OF YOUTHThere are gains for all cur losses.There are balms for all our pain:But when youth, the dream, departs It takes something from our hearts, And it never comes again.We are stronger, and are better,Under manhoods sterner reign;Still we fe

15、el that something sweetFollowed youth, with flying feet, And will never come again.Something beautiful is vanished,And we sigh for it in vain;We behold it everywhere,On the earth, and in the air,But it never comes again ! by Richard Henry Stoddard7. ADDRESS AT GETTYSBURGFourscore and seven years ago

16、 our fathers brought forth on 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 ba

17、ttlefield of that war. We have come td 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 h

18、allow - 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 t

19、o 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 honoured dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we her

20、e 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, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.by Abraham Lincoln APRIL DAYSDays of witchery, subtly sweet,When every hill

21、and tree finds heart,When winter and spring like lovers meetIn the mist of noon and part In the April days.Nights when the wood frogs faintly peepOnce twice and then are still,And the woodpeckers martial voices sweepLike bugle notes from hill to hill -Through the pulseless haze.Days when the soil is

22、 warm with rain,And through the wood the shy wind steals,Rich with the pine and the poplar smell,And the joyous earth like a dancer reels Through April days!by Hamlin GarlandAN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF COLLEGE LIFE It is perfectly possible to organize the life of our colleges in such a way that students

23、and teachers alike will take part in it; in such a way that a perfectly natural daily intercourse will be established between them; and it is only by such an organization that they can be given real vitality as places of serious training, be made communities in which youngsters will come fully to re

24、alize how interesting intellectual work is, how vital, how important, how closely associated with all modern achievement - only by such an organization that study can be made to seem part of life itself. Lectures often seem very formal and empty things; recitations generally prove very dull and unre

25、warding. It is in conversation and natural intercourse with scholars chiefly that you find how lively knowledge is, how it ties into everything that is interesting and important, how intimate a part it is of everything that is interesting and important, how intimate a part it is of everything that i

26、s “practical” and connected with the world. Men are not always made thoughtful by books; but they are generally made thoughtful by association with men who think.by Woodrow WilsonNIGHTNight has fallen over the country. Through the trees rises the red moon, and the stars are scarcely seen. In the vas

27、t shadow of night the coolness and the dews descend. I sit at the open window to enjoy them; and hear only the voice of the summer wind. Like black hulks, the shadows of the great trees ride at anchor on the billowy sea of grass. I cannot see the red and blue flowers, hut I know that they are there.

28、 Far away in the meadow gleams the silver Charles. The tramp of horses hoofs sounds from the wooden bridge. Then all is still save the continuous wind of the summer night. Sometimes I know not if it be the wind or the sound of the neighboring sea. The village clock strikes; and I feel that I am not

29、alone.How different it is in the city I It is late, and the crowd is gone. You step out upon the balcony, and lie in the very bosom of the cool, dewy night as if you folded her garments about you. Beneath lies the public walk with trees, like a fathomless, black gulf, into whose silent darkness the

30、spirit plunges, and floats away with some beloved spirit clasped in its embrace. The lamps are still burning up and down the long street. People go by with grotesque shadows, now foreshortened, and now lengthening away into the darkness and vanishing, while a new one springs up behind the walker, an

31、d seems to pass him revolving like the sail of a windmill. The iron gates of the park shut with a jangling clang. There are footsteps and loud voices; a tumult; a drunken brawl; alarm of fire; then silence again. And now at length the city is asleep, and we can see the night. The belated moon looks

32、over the roofs, and finds no one to welcome her: The moonlight is broken. It lies here and there in the squares, and the opening of the streets angular like blocks of white marble,by Nathanial Hawthorne参考译文 初 雪 亨利沃兹沃思朗费罗 初雪飘临。多么美啊!，它整日整夜那么静静地飘着，落在山岭上，落在草地上，落在世人的屋顶上，落在死者的坟墓上! 在一片白茫茫之中，只有河流在美丽的画面上划出一道曲曲弯弯的黑线，还有那叶儿落净的树木，映衬着铅灰色的天空，此刻更显得枝丫交错，姿态万千。初雪飘落时，是何等的宁谧, 何等的幽静!一切声响都趋沉寂，一切噪音都化作柔和的音乐。再也听不见马蹄得得，再也听不见车轮辚辚1唯有雪橇的铃铛，奏出和谐的乐声，那明快欢乐的节拍犹如孩子们心房的搏动。 蜂 鸟 乔治路易勒克