英语

Companionship of BooksA 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.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.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.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.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 have been to sift out the bad products; for nothing in literature can long survive e but what is really good.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 the 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.Culture: Mr. Christmas'Christmas comes but once a year' is a familiar phrase, and indeed for many people the 25th of December is the highlight of the calendar.But for one British man once a year is not enough. Andy Park, who is better known by his nickname Mr Christmas, has celebrated Christmas every single day for the last 14 years.The 44-year-old electrician claims to have eaten a full roast dinner every day for the last decade and a half, munching his way through over 5,000 turkeys, 117,000 Brussels sprouts, and around 30,000 roast potatoes in the process.He also sends himself a Christmas card every day and looks forward to unwrapping a present he has bought himself each evening, while watching the Queen's Speech.Mr Park estimates his festive fetish costs him £150 (1,570 yuan) a week. This year, however, the divorcee says he is feeling the pinch due to the global financial crisis, and is scaling back his celebrations.His Christmas habit is putting a strain on more than just his wallet. Mr Park was previously warned by his doctor that his Christmas addiction could kill him. His daily over-indulgence has caused his weight to skyrocket to 19 stone (121 kg).So how did Andy Park's obsession with Christmas begin?"I'll never forget the day it started," said Mr Park, "the sun was shining, but I was just feeling fed up and bored, so I went home and put the decorations up. Suddenly I was happy. I thought, this is fun. So I did it again the next day, and the day after that." And Mr Park has not been content to keep his Christmas cheer to himself. In 2005 he released a song, aptly titled It's Christmas Every Day, but has yet to find chart success. Education: A New StartThe UK has a well-respected higher education system and some of the top universities and research institutions in the world. But to those who are new to it all, it can be overwhelming and sometimes confusing.October is usually the busiest month in the academic calendar. Universities have something called Freshers' Week for their newcomers. It's a great opportunity to make new friends, join lots of clubs and settle into university life.However, having just left the comfort of home and all your friends behind, the prospect of meeting lots of strangers in big halls can be nerve-wracking. Where do you start? Who should you make friends with? Which clubs should you join? Luckily, there will be thousands of others in the same boat as you worrying about starting their university social life on the right foot. So just take it all in slowly. Don't rush into anything that you'll regret for the next three years.Here are some top tips from past students on how to survive Freshers' Week:- Blend in. Make sure you are aware of British social etiquette. Have a few wine glasses and snacks handy for your housemates and friends.- Be hospitable. Sometimes cups of tea or even slices of toast can give you a head start in making friends.- Be sociable. The more active you are, the more likely you'll be to meet new people than if you're someone who never leaves their room.- Bring a doorstop. Keep your door open when you're in and that sends positive messages to your neighbours that you're friendly.So with a bit of clever planning and motivation, Freshers' Week can give you a great start to your university life and soon you'll be passing on your wisdom to next year's new recruits.Gold and DiamondA long time ago, in Egypt lived a famous mystical person named Zun-Nun. A young man came to visit him and asked,"Teacher, I do not understand why people like you when you dress in such a simple way?"The mystic only smiled and took his ring from one of his fingers, and said:"Young friend, I will answer your question, but first do one thing for me, take this ring and go to the market across this street, can you sell this for one chip of gold?"Looking at Zun-Nun's dirty ring, the young man became doubtful, "One chip of gold?I am not sure this ring could be sold at that price."The young man went to the market quickly. He offered the ring to the textile, vegetable, meat, fish traders, and the others. The fact is that no body was willing to pay for a chip of Gold. He went back to Zun-Nun's residence and reported,"Teacher, nobody's brave enough to offer more than one chip of silver."With a wise smile Zun-Nun said,"Now go to the Gold Shop at the back of this street and show this to the owner or to the gold trader. Don't give your price; just listen how much he will pay for this ring."The young man went to the shop mentioned and returned with a different expression on his face. He then reported,"Teacher, the traders in the market really didn't know the value of this ring, the gold trader offered this ring for one thousand of gold, and the value of this ring was one thousand times from what the traders in the market offered."Zun-Nun just smiled subtly and spoke softly," That was the answer of your question, my friend. Someone cannot be valued only from his dress. The traders in the market give value like that but not for 'the gold trader'."The gold and diamond inside someone only could be seen and valued if you could look at the inner soul. It needs heart to see, and it needs a process. We cannot see it from the words or attitude. Many a time what we think is a gold, is only a brass but a brass is a gold.Keep Your Goals in SightWhen she looked ahead, Florence Chadwick saw nothing but a solid wall of fog. Her body was numb. She had been swimming for nearly sixteen hours.Already she was the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions. Now, at age 34, her goal was to become the first woman to swim from Catalina Island to theCalifornia coast.On that Fourth of July morning in 1952, the sea was like an ice bath and the fog was so dense she could hardly see her support boats. Sharks cruised toward her lone figure, only to be driven away by rifle shots. Against the frigid grip of the sea, she struggled on—hour after hour— while millions watched on national television.Alongside Florence in one of the boats, her mother and her trainer offered encouragement. They told her it wasn‟t much farther. But all she could see was fog. They urged her not to quit. She never had . . . until then. With only a half mile to go, she asked to be pulled out.Still thawing her chilled body several hours later, she told a reporter, "Look, I‟m not excusing myself, but if I could have seen land I might have made it." It was not fatigue or even the cold water that defeated her. It was the fog. She was unable to see her goal.Two months later, she tried again. This time, despite the same dense fog, she swam with her faith intact and her goal clearly pictured in her mind. She knew that somewhere behind that fog was land and this time she made it! Florence Chadwick became the first woman to sw im the Catalina Channel, eclipsing the men‟s record by two hours!Kissing the BrideWestern brides have been kissed as part of the wedding ceremony since the days of the Roman Empire. Among engaged Roman couples, the kiss was a legal bond, the public certification that the union had taken place symbolically; if one of the contracting parties died before the formal ceremony，the survivor could keep the wedding gifts if, and only if, the two had kissed. “The symbolic value of this kiss,”Nicolas Perella notes, “depends upon the deeply rooted idea of the kiss as a vehicle for the transference of power or …souls‟.” The kiss as a binding symbol survives in the modern wedding ceremony. According to the church and the state, a couple is one when the officiant pronounces them so，but that is never enough for the guests：The community sees the ceremony as completed －－that is，as formally “sealed”－－only when the bride and groom kiss.The wedding kiss also symbolizes the change of state of the bride. When he lifts her veil to touch her lips, the husband announces to the congregation that he defines and accepts her new identity. Just as the kiss of the Prince awakens Sleeping Beauty, so the kiss of her own Prince Charming fractures the bride‟s slumber of maidenhood and initiates her into adult life. The custom of having the guests kiss the bride may be seen as an elaboration of this initiation motif. The serial pecking ritual that often follows the ceremony －－in which everybody from Uncle Joe to the newspaper boy gets a shot at the bride －－should be seen not as a harmless sexual game，and much less as the distribution of bridal favors，but as a communal welcoming rite. The guests‟ kissing fortifies and endorses the husband‟s.Knowledge and VirtueKnowledge is one thing, virtue is another; good sense is not conscience, refinement is not humility, nor is largeness and justness of view faith.Philosophy, however enlightened, however profound, gives no command over the passions, no influential motives, no vivifying principles. Liberal Education makes not the Christian, not the Catholic, but the gentleman.It is well to be a gentleman, it is well to have a cultivated intellect, a delicate taste, a candid, equitable, dispassionate mind, a noble and courteous bearing in the conduct of life—these are the connatural qualities of a large knowledge; they are the objects of a University.I am advocating, I shall illustrate and insist upon them; but still, I repeat, they are no guarantee for sanctity or even for conscientiousness, and they may attach to the man of the world, to the profligate, to the heartless, pleasant, alas, and attractive as he shows when decked out in them.Taken by themselves, they do but seem to be what they are not; they look like virtue at a distance, but they are detected by close observers, and in the long run; and hence it is that they are popularly accused of pretense and hypocrisy, not, I repeat, from their own fault, but because their professors and their admirers persist in taking them for what they are not, and are officious in arrogating for them a praise to which they have no claim.Quarry the granite rock with razors, or moor the vessel with a thread of silk, then may you hope with such keen and delicate instruments as human knowledge and human reason to contend against those giants, the passion and the pride of man.Life StruggleOnce upon a time in a land far far away, there was a wonderful old man who loved everything. Animals, spiders, insects...One day while walking through the woods the nice old man found a cocoon of a butterfly. He took it home.A few days later, a small opening appeared; he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther.Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon.The butterfly then emerged easily.But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with aswollen body and shriveled wings.It never was able to fly.What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were Nature's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If we were allowed to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been.And we could never fly.Look Around YouA very special teacher in a high school had a husband who died suddenly of a heart attack. About a week after his death, she shared some of her thoughts with a classroom of students. As the late afternoon sunlight shined through the classroom windows, and when the class was nearly over, she moved a few things aside on her desk and sat down there.With a gentle look on her face, she paused and said, "Before class is over, I would like to share with all of you a thought which I feel is very important. Each of us is put here on earth to learn, share, love, appreciate and give of ourselves...and none of us knows when this fantastic experience will end. It can be taken away at any moment. Perhaps this is a sign that we must make the most out of every single day."Her eyes beginning to water, she went on, "So I would like you all to make me a promise...from now on, on your way to school, or on your way home, find something beautiful to notice. It doesn't have to be something you see---it could be a scent---perhaps of freshly baked bread wafting out of someone's house, or it could be the sound of the breeze slightly rustling the leaves in the trees, or the way the morning light catches one autumn leaf as it falls gently to the ground. Please, look for these things, and remember them."For, although it may sound silly to some people, these things are the stuff' of life. The little things we are put here on earth to enjoy. The things we often take for granted. We must make it important to notice them, for at any time...it can all be taken away."The class was completely quiet. We all picked up our books and filed out of the room silently. That afternoon, I noticed more things on my way home from school than I had that whole semester. Every once in a while, I think of that teacher and remember what an impression she made on all us, and I try to appreciate all of those things that sometimes we all overlook.Take notice of something special you see on your lunch hour today. Go barefoot. Or walk on the beach at sunset. Stop off on the way home tonight to get a double dip ice cream cone. For as we get older, it is not the things we did that we often regret, but the things we didn't do.The Love of BeautyThe love of beauty is an essential part of all healthy human nature. It is a moralquality. The absence of it is not an assured ground of condemnation, but the presence of it is an invariable sign of goodness of heart. In proportion to the degree in which it is felt will probably be the degree in which nobleness and beauty of character will be attained.Natural beauty is an all-pervading presence. The universe is its temple. It unfolds into the numberless flowers of spring. It waves in the branches of trees and the green blades of grass. It haunts the depths of the earth and the sea. It gleams from the hues of the shell and the precious stone. And not only these minute objects but the oceans, the mountains, the clouds, the stars, the rising and the setting sun---all overflow with beauty. This beauty is so precious, and so congenial to our tenderest and noblest feelings, that it is painful to think of the multitude of people living in the midst of it and yet remaining almost blind to it. All persons should seek to become acquainted with the beauty in nature. There is not a worm we tread upon, nor a leaf that dances merrily as it falls before the autumn winds, but calls for our study and admiration. The power to appreciated beauty not merely increases our sources of happiness---it enlarges our moral nature, too. Beauty calms our restlessness and dispels our cares. Go into the fields or the woods, spend a summer day by the sea or the mountains, and all your little perplexities and anxieties will vanish. Listen to sweet music, and your foolish fears and petty jealousies will pass away. The beauty of the world helps us to seek and find the beauty of goodness.The Power of WordsA group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit. When the other frogs saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead. The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit with all their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took heed of what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down and died.The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, "Did you not hear us?" The frog explained to them that he was a little deaf.He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.This story teaches us two lessons:1. There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging word to someone who is down can lift them up and help them make it through the day.2. A destructive word to someone who is down can be what it takes to kill them. Becareful of what you say. Speak life to those who cross your path. The power of words is sometimes hard to understand that an encouraging word can go such a long way. Anyone can speak words that tend to rob another of the spirit to continue in difficult times. Special is the individual who will take the time to encourage another.What makes a teacher?It is customary for adults to forget how hard and dull and long school is. The learning by memory of all the basic things one must know is a most incredible and unending effort.Learning to read is probably the most difficult and revolutionary thing that happens to the human brain and if you don't believe that,watch an illiterate adult try to do it. School is not easy and it is not for the most part very much fun,but then,if you are very lucky,you may find a real teacher. Three real teachers in a lifetime is the very best of my luck. My first was a science and math teacher in high school, my second , a professor of creative writing at Stanford , and my third was my friend and partner, Ed Ricketts.I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. It might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit.My three had these things in common:they all loved what they were doing. They did not tell, they catalyzed a burning desire to know. Under their influence, the horizons sprung wide and fear went away and unknown became knowledge. But most important of all ,the truth,that dangerous stuff,became beautiful and precious.I shall speak only of my first teacher because in addition to the other things, she brought discovery.She aroused us to shouting,book-waving discussion. She had the noisiest class in school and she didn't even seem to know it . We could never stick to the subject. Our speculation ranged the world.She breathed curiosity into us so that we brought in facts or truths shielded in our hands like captured fireflies.She was fired and perhaps rightly so, for failing to teach fundamentals. Such things must be learned. But she left a passion in us for the pure knowable world and she inflamed me with a curiosity which has never left . I could not do simple arithmetic but through her I sensed that abstract mathematics was very much like music. When she was relieved, a sadness came over us but the light did not go out.竹子的启示(The Lesson of the Bamboo Trees竹子，在中国传统文化中，一直是清秀俊逸、高洁无华的象征。