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1、1珍惜每一天(Everyday is A Gift)My brother-in-law opened the bottom drawer of my sisters bureau and lifted out a tissue-wrapped package. This, he said, is not a slip. This is lingerie. He discarded the tissue and handed me the slip. It was exquisite, silk, handmade and trimmed with a cobweb of lace. The p

2、rice tag with an astronomical figure on it was still attached. Jan bought this the first time we went to New York, at least 8 or 9 years ago. She never wore it. She was saving it for a special occasion. Well, I guess this is the occasion. He took the slip from me and put it on the bed, with the othe

3、r clothes we were taking to the mortician. His hands lingered on the soft material for a moment, then he slammed the drawer shut and turned to me, Dont ever save anything for a special occasion. Every day you re alive is a special occasion. I remembered those words through the funeral and the days t

4、hat followed when I helped him and my niece attend to all the sad chores that follow an unexpected death. I thought about them on the plane returning to California from the midwestern town where my sisters family lives. I thought about all the things that she hadnt seen or heard or done. I thought a

5、bout the things that she had done without realizing that they were special. Im still thinking about his words, and theyve changed the weeds in the garden. Im spending more time with my family and friends and less time in committee meetings. Whenever possible, life should be a pattern of experience t

6、o savour, not endure. Im trying to recognize these moment now and cherish them. Im not saving anything; we use our good china and crystal for every special. Event such as losing a pound, getting the sink unstopped, the first camellia blossom I wear my good blazer to the market if I feel like it. My

7、theory is if I look prosperous, I can shell out $28. 49 for one small bag of groceries without wincing. Im not saving my good perfume for special parties; clerks in hardware stores and tellers in banks have noses that function as well as my party going friends. Someday and one of these days are losi

8、ng their grip on my vocabulary. If its worth seeing or hearing or doing, I want to see and hear and do it now. I m not sure what my sister wouldve done had she know that she wouldnt be here for the tomorrow we all take for granted. I think she would have called family members and a few close friends

9、. She might have called a few former friends to apologize, and mend fences for past squabbles. I like to think she would have gone out for a Chinese dinner, her favorite food. Im guessing. Ill never know. Its those little things left undone that would make me angry if I knew that my hours were limit

10、ed. Angry because I put off seeing good friends whom I was going to get in touch with someday. Angry because I hadnt written certain letters that I intended to write one of these days. Angry and sorry that I didnt tell my husband and daughter often enough how much I truly love them. Im trying very h

11、ard not to put off, hold back, or save anything that would add laughter and luster to our lives. And every morning when I open my eyes, I tell myself that every day, every minute, every breath truly, is. a gift from God.译文：妹夫打开了妹妹衣柜最底层抽屉，拿出一个用纸包装的包裹。“这个，”他说，“不是件普通内衣，而是一件豪华内衣。”他把薄纸撕开，递给了我那件内衣。它的确精致无比

12、，丝质、全手工缝制，周围还有一圈网状蕾丝花边。价签都尚未拆去，上面的数字高得惊人。“这是我们第一次去纽约时简买的，至少已是八、九年前的事了。她从没有穿过它。她想等一个特殊的日子再穿它。”唉，我想现在便是那特殊的日子了。妹夫从我手中拿过内衣放在床上，和其他我们要带给殡仪服务人员的衣服放在一起。他的手在那柔软织物上徘徊了一会儿，随即砰然关上抽屉，转身对我说：“永远不要把任何东西留给什么特殊日子。你活着的每一天就是一个特殊的日子。”这两句话久久在我耳边回响着，伴我度过了葬礼和帮妹夫、侄女处理妹妹意外死亡后的伤心后事的那几天。我从位处中西部的妹妹家返回加州时，在飞机上还是在想这两句话。我想到妹妹未曾有

13、机会看到、听到或去做的事。我想到她淡然做过，但却没有意识到其特殊性的事。我至今还在想着妹夫说的话，正是它们改变了我的心境。我花了更多的时间与家人朋友在一起，而少花些时间在那些工作会议上。无论何时，生活应当是一种“品味”而非一种“忍受”。我在学习欣赏每一刻，并珍惜每一刻。我不再去“珍藏”任何东西；只要有一点好事，我们就不吝啬使用精美的瓷器和水晶制品，比如说当体重减了一磅时，当厨房水槽堵塞通了时，当第一朵山茶花绽放时如果我想穿，我就穿上我名牌衣服去市场购物。我的理论是：如果我看上去还富足的话，我可以毫不心疼地为一小袋杂货付出28.49美元。我不再为特殊的派对而珍藏我上好的香水；五金店售货员和银行出

14、纳员们的嗅觉，不会比派对上朋友们来得差。“有朝一日”和“终有一天”这样的词正从我的常用词汇中淡出。如果值得去看、去听或去做，我当即就要去看、去听或去做。人们总是理所当然的以为自己必然有明天，不知假如妹妹知道她将没有明日，她会做些什么。我想她会给家人和几位密友打电话。她可能还会给几位昔日朋友打电话主动道歉，摒弃前嫌。我想她可能会外出吃顿她喜欢的中餐。我只是猜想而已。我永远也不会知道。假如我知道我的时间不多了，那些没来得及做的小事会让我恼火。恼火是因为我一拖再拖没能去看看“有朝一日”会去看的好友们。恼火是因为我还没有写出我“终有一天”要写的信。恼火与内疚是因为我没能更经常地告诉我的丈夫和女儿：我是

15、多么真切地爱他们。 我正努力不再拖延、保留或珍藏那些能给我们生活带来欢笑和光彩的东西。每天清晨当我睁开双眼，我便告诉自己每一天、每一分钟、每一瞬间都真是上帝赐予的礼物。2行胜于言(Louder than Anything You Can Say)I teach economics at UNLV three times per week. Last Monday, at the beginning of class, I cheerfully asked my students how their weekend had been. One young man said that his we

16、ekend had not been so good. He had his wisdom teeth removed. The young man then proceeded to ask me why I always seemed to be so cheerful. His question reminded me of something Id read somewhere before: Every morning when you get up, you have a choice about how you want to approach life that day, I

17、said. I choose to be cheerful. Let me give you an example, I continued, addressing all sixty students in the class. In addition to teaching here at UNLV, I also teach out at the community college in Henderson, 17 miles down the freeway from where I live. One day a few weeks ago I drove those 17 mile

18、s to Henderson. I exited the freeway and turned onto College Drive. I only had to drive another quarter mile down the road to the college. But just then my car died. I tried to start it again, but the engine wouldnt turn over. So I put my flashers on, grabbed my books, and marched down the road to t

19、he college. As soon as I got there I called AAA and arranged for a tow truck to meet me at my car after class. The secretary in the Provosts office asked me what has happened. This is my lucky day, I replied, smiling. Your car breaks down and today is your lucky day? She was puzzled. What do you mea

20、n? I live 17 miles from here. I replied. My car could have broken down anywhere along the freeway. It didnt. Instead, it broke down in the perfect place: off the freeway, within walking distance of here. Im still able to teach my class, and Ive been able to arrange for the tow truck to meet me after

21、 class. If my car was meant to break down today, it couldnt have been arranged in a more convenient fashion. The secretarys eyes opened wide, and then she smiled. I smiled back and headed for class. So ended my story. I scanned the sixty faces in my economics class at UNLV. Despite the early hour, n

22、o one seemed to be asleep. Somehow, my story had touched them. Or maybe it wasnt the story at all. In fact, it had all started with a students observation that I was cheerful. Deepak Chopra has quoted an Indian wise man as saying, Who you are speaks louder to me than anything you can say. I suppose

23、it must be so.译文：我在内华达大学拉斯维加斯分校教经济学，每周上三次课。上周一，在刚开始上课的时候，我兴致勃勃地问学生们周末过得怎么样。一个男生说，他的周末不太愉快，因为他的智齿被拔掉了，结果让他痛了一整天。然后，他又问我为何我总能保持那么快乐的心情。他的问题使我想起了一句不知出处的话：“每天早上，当你起床的时候，你可以选择如何面对一天的生活”，我说：“我选择快乐。”“我给你们举个例子吧，”我对着全班六十个学生继续说道，“除了在这儿上课，我还在一所社区大学任教，那儿离我家17英里。几周前的一天，我驾车前往那所学校，驶离高速公路后，我转入了校园区。在只差400多米就到学校的时候，我

24、的汽车抛锚了。我努力重新发动引擎，但就是不行。我只好把指示灯打亮，然后抓起课本直奔学校。”我一到学校就马上打电话给汽车协会，让他们在我下课后开辆拖车过来。院长办公室的秘书问我发生了什么事。“今天我真走运。”我笑着答道。 “你的车坏了，你还说今天走运？”她一脸的困惑。“你什么意思啊？”我回答到：“我住在离这儿17英里的地方。其实我的车有可能在高速公路上的什么地方就坏掉了的，但庆幸的是，没有。相反，汽车是在离开了高速公路后才抛锚，而且距离学校很近。我还赶得及上课，还能够安排拖车在课后来处理。如果我的汽车是注定了要在今天抛锚的，那在这个位置抛锚已经是非常幸运了。”“那个秘书听得目瞪口呆地，然后她笑了

25、。我也冲她笑了一下，便上课去了。”这就是我的故事。 我扫视了一下全班六十张脸。虽然是在大清早，但没有一个学生在打盹儿。不知道为什么，他们好像被我的故事触动了。也许触动他们的并不是故事本身。其实，从一开始有学生发现我兴致高昂的时候，他们便已经被我的快乐感染了。 著名的印度作家乔布拉，曾经引述过一位印度智者的名言：“你为人行事的本身，比你的语言更具说服力。”我认为这的确是真理。3老爸(Dad) The first memory I have of him of anything, really is his strength. It was in the late afternoon in a h

26、ouse under construction near ours. The unfinished wood floor had large, terrifying holes whose yawning张大嘴 darkness I knew led to nowhere good. His powerful hands, then age 33, wrapped all the way around my tiny arms, then age 4, and easily swung摇摆 me up tohis shoulders to command all I surveyed. The

27、 relationship between a son and his father changes over time. It may grow and flourish繁茂 in mutual maturity成熟. It may sour in resented dependence or independence. With many children living in single-parent homes today, it may not even exist. But to a little boy right after World War II ,a father see

28、med a god with strange strengths and uncanny离奇的 powers enabling him to do and know things that no mortal could do or know. Amazing things, like putting a bicycle chain back on, just like that. Or building a hamster仓鼠 cage.Or guiding a jigsaw拼板玩具 so it forms the letter F;I learned the alphabet字母表 tha

29、t way in those pre-television days. There were, of course, rules to learn. First came the handshake. None of those fishy冷冰冰的 little finger grips, but a good firm squeeze accompanied by an equally strong gaze into the others eyes. “ The first thing anyone knows about you is your handshake,” he would

30、say. And wed practice it each night on his return from work, the serious toddler in the battered用旧了的 Cleveland Indians cap running up to the giant father to shake hands again and again until it was firm enough. As time passed, there were other rules to learn. “Always do your best.” “Do it now.” “Nev

31、er lie!” And most importantly, “You can do whatever you have to do.” By my teens, he wasnt telling me what to do anymore, which was scary令人害怕的 and heady使人兴奋的 at the same time. He provided perspective, not telling me what was around the great corner of life but letting me know there was a lot more th

32、an just today and the next, which I hadnt thought of. One day, I realize now, there was a change. I wasnt trying to please him so much as I was trying to impress him. I never asked him to come to my football games. He had a high-pressure career, and it meant driving through most of Friday night. But

33、 for all the big games, when I looked over at the sideline, there was that familiar fedora. And by God, did the opposing team captain ever get a firm handshake and a gaze he would remember. Then, a school fact contradicted something he said. Impossible that he could be wrong, but there it was in the

34、 book. These accumulated over time, along with personal experiences, to buttress my own developing sense of values. And I could tell we had each taken our own, perfectly normal paths. I began to see, too, his blind spots, his prejudices偏见 and his weaknesses. I never threw these up at him. He hadnt t

35、o me, and, anyway, he seemed to need protection. I stopped asking his advice; the experiences he drew from no longer seemed relevant to the decisions I had to make. He volunteered advice for a while. But then, in more recent years, politics and issues gave way to talk of empty errands and, always, t

36、o ailments. From his bed, he showed me the many sores and scars on his misshapen body and all the bottles for medicine. “ Sometimes,” he confided倾诉, “ I would just like to lie down and go to sleep and not wake up.” After much thought and practice (“ You can do whatever you have to do.” ), one night

37、last winter, I sat down by his bed and remembered for an instant those terrifying dark holes in another house 35 years before. I told my father how much I loved him. I described all the things people were doing for him. But, I said, he kept eating poorly, hiding in his room and violating the doctors

38、 orders. No amount of love could make someone else care about life, I said; it was a two-way street. He wasnt doing his best. The decision was his. He said he knew how hard my words had been to say and how proud he was of me. “ I had the best teacher,” I said. “ You can do whatever you have to do.”

39、He smiled a little. And we shook hands, firmly, for the last time. Several days later, at about 4 A.M., my mother heard Dad shuffling拖着 about their dark room. “ I have some things I have to do,” he said. He paid a bundle of bills. He composed for my mother a long list of legal and financial what-to-

40、dos “ in case of emergency.” And he wrote me a note.Then he walked back to his bed and laid himself down. He went to sleep, naturally. And he did not wake up.译文：我对他实际上是对所有事的最初记忆，就是他的力量。那是一个下午的晚些时候，在一所靠近我家的正在修建的房子里，尚未完工的木地板上有一个个巨大可怕的洞，那些张着大口的黑洞在我看来是通向不祥之处的。时年33岁的爸爸用那强壮有力的双手一把握住我的小胳膊，当时我才4岁，然后轻而易举地把我甩

41、上他的肩头，让我把一切都尽收眼底。 父子间的关系是随着岁月的流逝而变化的，它会在彼此成熟的过程中成长兴盛，也会在令人不快的依赖或独立的关系中产生不和。而今许多孩子生活在单亲家庭中，这种关系能根本不存在。然而，对于一个生活在二战刚刚结束时期的小男孩来说，父亲就像神，他拥有神奇的力量和神秘的能力，他无所不能，无所不知。那些奇妙的事儿有上自行车链条，或是建一个仓鼠笼子，或是教我玩拼图玩具，拼出个字母“F”来。在那个电视机还未诞生的年代，我便是通过这种方法学会了字母表的。当然，还得学些做人的道理。首先是握手。这可不是指那种冷冰冰的手指相握，而是一种非常坚定有力的紧握，同时同样坚定有力地注视对方的眼睛。

42、老爸常说：“人们认识你首先是通过同你握手。”每晚他下班回家时，我们便练习握手。年幼的我，戴着顶破克利夫兰印第安帽，一本正经地跌跌撞撞地跑向巨人般的父亲，开始我们的握手。一次又一次，直到握得坚定，有力。随着时间的流逝，还有许多其他的道理要学。比如：“始终尽力而为”，“从现在做起”，“永不撒谎”，以及最重要的一条：“凡是你必须做的事你都能做到”。当我十几岁时，老爸不再叫我做这做那，这既令人害怕又令人兴奋。他教给我判断事物的方法。他不是告诉我，在人生的重大转折点上将发生些什么，而是让我明白，除了今天和明天，还有很长的路要走，这一点我是从未考虑过的。有一天，事情发生了变化，这是我现在才意识到的。我不再

43、那么迫切地想要取悦于老爸，而是迫切地想要给他留下深刻的印象。我从未请他来看我的橄榄球赛。他工作压力很大，这意味着每个礼拜五要拼命干大半夜。但每次大型比赛，当我抬头环视看台时，那顶熟悉的软呢帽总在那儿。并且感谢上帝，对方队长总能得到一次让他铭记于心的握手坚定而有力，伴以同样坚定的注视。 后来，在学校学到的一个事实否定了老爸说过的某些东西。他不可能会错的，可书上却是这样写的。诸如此类的事日积月累，加上我的个人阅历，支持了我逐渐成形的价值观。我可以这么说：我俩开始各走各的阳关道了。与此同时，我还开始发现他对某些事的无知，他的偏见，他的弱点。我从未在他面前提起这些，他也从未在我面前说起，而且，不管怎么

44、说，他看起来需要保护了。我不再向他征求意见；他的那些经验也似乎同我要做出的决定不再相干。老爸当了一段时间的“自愿顾问”，但后来，特别是近几年里，他谈话中的政治与国家大事让位给了空洞的使命与疾病。躺在床上，他给我看他那被岁月扭曲了的躯体上的疤痕，以及他所有的药瓶儿。他倾诉着：“有时我真想躺下睡一觉，永远不再醒来。”通过深思熟虑与亲身体验（“凡是你必须做的事你都能做到”），去年冬天的一个夜晚，我坐在老爸床边，忽然想起35年前那另一栋房子里可怕的黑洞。我告诉老爸我有多爱他。我向他讲述了人们为他所做的一切。而我又说，他总是吃得太少，躲在房间里，还不听医生的劝告。我说，再多的爱也不能使一个人自己去热爱生

45、命：这是一条双行道，而他并没有尽力，一切都取决于他自己。 他说他明白要我说出这些话多不容易，他是多么为我自豪。“我有位最好的老师，”我说，“凡是你必须做的事你都能做到”。他微微一笑，之后我们握手，那是一次坚定的握手，也是最后的一次。几天后，大约凌晨四点，母亲听到父亲拖着脚步在他们漆黑的房间里走来走去。他说：“有些事我必须得做。”他支付了一叠帐单，给母亲留了张长长的条子，上面列有法律及经济上该做的事，“以防不测”。接着他留了封短信给我。 然后，他走回自己的床边，躺下。他睡了，十分安详，再也没有醒来。4布雨之龙(The Dragons Who Rained) 一个英文写成的中国传统神话故事，关于中

46、国四条江的形成。 Long, long ago, rain stopped falling in China. The people prayed for rain to the Jade Emperor, for it was he who looked after everything in heaven, on the land and in the sea, but no matter how much they prayed, rain did not fall. Four dragons lived in the East China Sea in those days. They

47、 swam to shore to see what was happening, and saw people tearing grass from the caked ground, for the people had nothing else left to eat. We must do something, Long Dragon said, and Yellow Dragon nodded. We must help them ourselves, said Pearl Dragon, for the Jade Emperor will never answer their pr

48、ayers. They suddenly thought of a way to help. They started swimming this way and that, scooping up water with their bodies. Then all four leapt into the sky. Black Dragon flew to the north, Long Dragon flew to the west, Pearl Dragon flew to the southernmost tip of China, and Yellow Dragon flew to t

49、he very center of the vast country. All at once, they let the water fall from their mouths, arms, legs, and even their tails. The people down below looked up, but they could not see the dragons. They could only see the rain falling from the sky - drops of rain more beautiful than any jewel. Rain! th

50、ey cried joyfully, and all the people and animals ran out into the rain and started to dance. When the Jade Emperor saw the rain, he was furious. Who dares to tamper with干预 my world? he shouted, and then saw the four dragons swooping around in the sky. You will not escape! he thundered, and summonin

51、g招集 Mountain God, he ordered him to kill the dragons. Mountain God sent four mountains tumbling after the dragons. The moment the creatures landed, the four mountains landed on top of them, crushing them. Then an odd thing happened. Suddenly four rivers formed, springing out from beneath the mountai

52、ns and spreading across the whole country. This, people say, is how the four great rivers of China were created: the Yangtze, the Yellow, the Pearl and the Heilongjiang are all that remain of the four great dragons who once saved the people of China.译文： 在很久很久以前的中国，遇到了一次滴水不降的旱灾。人们就向掌管天上、地下、海洋的玉皇大帝求拜，

53、但无论他们怎么祈求，雨始终不落一滴。当时，有四条龙住在中国的东海。他们游到岸边去看怎么回事，看到人们在从结块的土地上拔草吃，因为土地上实在没有别的东西吃了。 “我们得做点什么，”长龙说道，黄龙点头附和。“我们一定得帮帮他们，”珠龙说，“因为玉帝是不会答应他们的祈求的。”他们突然想到了一个办法。他们在海里游，然后用他们的身体汲取水。然后他们四个分别腾飞天空。黑龙飞向了北面，长龙飞去了西面，珠龙飞去了中国的最南端，而黄龙则飞去了这个辽阔国度的最中心。突然，他们让水从他们的嘴巴、手脚、尾巴流出来。 地面的人们看到了，但他们看不到龙。他们只能看到雨从天空降下来雨滴比任何珠宝都来得美丽。“雨！”人们欢呼

54、雀跃，所有的人和动物都奔入雨中，欢呼起舞。 当玉帝看到雨，他十分震怒。“是谁干的？”他咆哮道，然后他看到了飞在空中的四条龙。“你们跑不了的！”他大吼道，然后招集山神，他命令山神杀死四条龙 山神派了四座山去压倒四龙。当龙一到，四座上就压倒他们，压垮他们。奇怪的事情发生了，突然间形成了四条河，从山下流出，贯穿了整个国家。 人们说，这就是中国四条大江的由来，长江、黄河、珠江和黑龙江就是这四条龙的遗赠，5. 美丽的微笑与爱心(Beautiful Smile and Love) 作者介绍: 特蕾莎修女(Mother Teresa,1910-1997)，印度著名的慈善家，印度天主教仁爱传教会创始人，在世界

55、范围内建立了一个庞大的慈善机构网，赢得了国际社会的广泛尊敬。1979年被授予诺贝尔和平奖。本文所选即好在领取该奖项时的演讲辞，语言简洁质朴而感人至深。诺贝尔奖领奖台上响起的声音往往都是文采飞扬、热烈、激昂。而特雷莎修女的演说朴实无华，其所举事例听来似平凡之至，然而其中所蕴含的伟大而神圣的爱感人至深。平凡中孕育伟大，真情才能动人。我们作文时，要善于从自己所熟知的平凡中发掘伟大，以真情来打动读者。 The poor are very wonderful people. One evening we went out and we picked up four people from the str

56、eet. And one of them was in a most terrible condition，and I told the sisters: You take care of the other three. I take care of this one who looked worse. So I did for her all that my love can do. I put her in bed, and there was such a beautiful smile on her face. She took hold of my hand as she said

57、 just the words “thank you” and she died. I could not help but examine my conscience良心before her and I asked what would I say if I was in her place. And my answer was very simple. I would have tried to draw a little attention to myself. I would have said I am hungry, that I am dying, I am cold, I am

58、 in pain, or something, but she gave me much more-she gave me her grateful love. And she died with a smile on her face. As did that man whom we picked up from the drain阴沟、下水道, half eaten with worms, and we brought him to the home. “I have lived like an animal in the street, but I am going to die lik

59、e an angel, loved and cared for.” And it was so wonderful to see the greatness of that man who could speak like that, who could die like that without blaming anybody, without cursing anybody, without comparing anything. Like an angel-this is the greatness of our people. And that is why we believe wh

60、at Jesus had said: I was hungry, I was naked, I was homeless, I was unwanted, unloved, uncared for, and you did it to me. I believe that we are not real social workers. We may be doing social work in the eyes of the people, but we are really contemplatives修行者、沉思冥想的人 in the heart of the world. For we

61、 are touching the body of Christ twenty-four hoursAnd I think that in our family we dont need bombs and guns, to destroy, to bring peace, just get together, love one another, bring that peace, that joy, that strength of presence of each other in the home. And we will be able to overcome all the evil

62、 that is in the world. And with this prize that I have received as a Prize of Peace, I am going to try to make the home for many people who have no home. Because I believe that love begins at home, and if we can create a home for the poor I think that more and more love will spread. And we will be a

63、ble through this understanding love to bring peace be the good news to the poor. The poor in our own family first, in our country and in the world. To be able to do this, our Sisters, our lives have to be wove with prayer. They have to be woven with Christ to be able to understand, to be able to sha

64、re. Because to be woven with Christ is to be able to understand, to be able to share. Because today there is so much sufferingWhen I pick up a person from the street, hungry, I give him a plate of rice, a piece of bread, I have satisfied. I have removed that hunger. But a person who is shut out, who feels unwanted, unloved, terrified, the person who has been thrown out from society-that poverty is so full of hurt and so unbearableAnd so let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love, and once