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英语四级考试美文阅读

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随着经济活动的全球化,英语日益成为国际交往的重要工具,英语教育的低龄化使幼儿园英语教育逐渐成为教育界的一个热点话题。下面是本站小编带来的英语四级考试美文阅读,欢迎阅读!

英语四级考试美文阅读
  英语四级考试美文阅读篇一

The little boat that sailed through time

I spent the tenth summer of my childhood,the most memorable months of my life,in western Norway at the mountain farm where my mother was born. What remains most vivid in my mind are the times I shared with my Grandfather Jorgen.

As an American,I always thought people simply bought whatever they needed. Whether Grandfather knew this,I don‘t know. But it seems he wanted to teach me something,because one day he said,“Come. I have something for you.

I followed him into the basement,where he led me to a workbench by a window.“You should have a toy boat can sail it at Storvassdal,”he said,referring to a small lake a few miles from the house.

Swell,I thought,looking around for the boat. But there was none.

Grandfather picked up a block of wood,about 18 inches long.“The boat is in there,”he said.“You can bring it out.”Then he handed me a razor-sharp ax.

I wasn‘t sure what to do,so Grandfather showed me how to handle the tool. I started to chop away to shape the bow. Later,after he taught me the proper use of hammer and chisel,I began to hollow out the hull.

“It‘ll be a fine boat,and you’ll be making it all with your won hands,”he said.“No one can give you what you do for yourself.”The words rang in my head as I worked.

Finally I finished the hull and made a mast and sail. The boat wasn‘t much to look at,but I was proud of what I had built. I launched my boat and daydreamed while a slight breeze carried the little craft to an opposite shore. The air was crisp and clean. There was no sound but the occasional warble of a bird.

A crisis developed when we were ready to return to America.“You cannot bring that boat home with you,”my mother said. We already had too much baggage.

With saddened heart,I went to Storvassdal for the last time,found that large boulder,placed my boat in a hollow space under its base,piled stones to hide it and resolved to return one day to recover my treasure.

In the summer of 1964,I went to Norway with my parents and my wife and children. I shall never forget that moment. As I cradled the boat,I felt my grandfather‘s presence. He had died 22 years before,and yet he was there. We three were together again——Grandfather and me and little boat.

My last trip to Storvassdal was in 1991. This time I brought two of my granddaughters from America:Catherine,13,and Claire,12. As we climbed the mountain,I thought of my grandfather and compared his life with that of my granddaughters.

Working tirelessly on that isolated farm,my grandfather taught me that we should accept and be grateful for what we have——whether it be much or little. We must bear the burdens and relish the joys. There is so much we cannot control,but we must try to make things better when we are able. We must depend upon ourselves to make our own way as best we can.

On the day I took them to Storvassdal,I hoped they would somehow understand the importance of the little boat and its simple message of self-reliance.

High in the mountain,I hesitated to speak lest I disturb our tranquility. Then Claire looked up and broke my reverie as she said softly,“Grandpa,someday I‘ll comeback.”She paused.“And I’ll bring my children.”

Arnold Berwick

  英语四级考试美文阅读篇二

My Pupil Robby

At the prodding of my friends,I am writing this story.

My name is Mildred Hondorf. I am a former elementary school music teacher from DeMoines,Iowa. I‘ve always supplemented my income by teaching piano lessons——something I’ve done for over 30 years.

Over the years I found that children have many levels of musical ability. I‘ve never had the pleasure of having a protégéthough I have taught some talented students. However I’ve also had my share of what I call“musically challenged”pupils.

One such student was Robby. Robby was 11 years old when his mother(a single mom)dropped him off for his first piano lesson. I prefer that students(especially boys!)begin at an earlier age,which I explained to Robby. But Robby said that it had always been his mother‘s dream to hear him play the piano. So I took him as a student.

Well,Robby began with his piano lessons and from the beginning I thought it was a hopeless endeavor. As much as Robby tried,he lacked the sense of tone and basic rhythm needed to excel. But he dutifully reviewed his scales and some elementary pieces that I require all my students to learn.

Over the months he tried and tried while I listened and cringed and tried to encourage him. At the end of each weekly lesson he‘d always say,“My mom’s going to hear me play someday.”But it seemed hopeless. He just did not have any inborn ability. I only knew his mother from a distance as she dropped Robby off or waited in her aged car to pick him up. She always waved and smiled but never stopped in.

Then one day Robby stopped coming to our lessons. I thought about calling him but I assumed that because of his lack of ability he had decided to pursue something else. I also was glad that he stopped coming. He was a bad advertisement for my teaching!

Several weeks later I mailed to the student‘s homes a flyer on the upcoming recital. To my surprise Robby(who received a flyer)asked me if he could be in the recital. I told him that the recital was for current pupils and because he had dropped out he really did not qualify. He said that his mom had been sick and unable to take him to piano lessons but he was still practicing.“Miss Hondorf……I’ve just got to play!”he insisted.

I don‘t know what led me to allow him to play in the recital. Maybe it was his persistence or maybe it was something inside of me saying that it would be alright.

The night for the recital came. The high school gymnasium was packed with parents,friends and relatives. I put Robby up last in the program before I was to come up and thank all the students and play a finishing piece. I thought that any damage he would do would come at the end of the program and I could always salvage his poor performance through my“curtain closer.”

Well the recital went off without a hitch. The students had been practicing and it showed. Then Robby came up on stage. His clothes were wrinkled and his hair looked like he‘d run an eggbeater through it.“Why didn’t he dress up like the other students?”I thought.“Why didn‘t his mother at least make him comb his hair for this special night?”

Robby pulled out the piano bench and he began. I was surprised when he announced that he had chosen Mozart‘s Concerto #21 in C Major. I was not prepared for what I heard next. His fingers were light on the keys. they even danced nimbly on the ivories. He went from pianissimo to fortissimo……from allegro to virtuoso. His suspended chords that Mozart demands were magnificent!Never had I heard Mozart played so well by people his age. After six and a half minutes he ended in a grand crescendo and people were all on their feet in wild applause.

Overcome and in tears I ran up on stage and put my arms around Robby in joy.“I‘ve never heard you play like that Robby!How did you do it?”

Through the microphone Robby explained:“Well Miss Hondorf……remember I told you my mom was sick?Well…actually she had cancer and passed away this morning……She was born deaf so tonight was the first time she ever heard me play. I wanted to make it special.”

There wasn‘t a dry eye in the gymnasium that evening. As the people from Social Services led Robby from the stage to be placed into foster care,I noticed that even their eyes were red and puffy and I thought to myself how much richer my life had been for taking Robby as my pupil. No,I’ve never had a protégébut that night I became a protégé…of Robby‘s. He was the teacher and I was the pupil. For it is he that taught me the meaning of perseverance and love and believing in yourself and maybe even taking a chance in someone and you don’t know why.

  英语四级考试美文阅读篇三

发现自己(Find Thyself )

The only problem unconsciously assumed by all Chinese philosophers to be of any importance is:How shall we enjoy life,and who can best enjoy life?No perfectionism,no straining after the unattainable,no postulating of he unknowable;but taking poor,modal human nature as it is,how shall we organize our life so that we can woke peacefully,endure nobly and live happily?

一切中国的哲学家在不知不觉中认为唯一重要的问题是:我们要怎样享受人生?谁最会享受人生?我们不追求十全十美的理想,我们不寻找那些得不到的东西,我们不要求知道那些不得而知的东西;我们只认识不完美的、会死的人类的本性,那么我们要怎样调整我们的人生,使我们可以和平地工作着,旷达地忍耐着,幸福地生活着呢?

Who are we?That is first question. It is a question almost impossible to answer. But we all agree with the busy self occupied in our daily activities is not quite the real self. We are quite sure we have lost something in the mere pursuit of living. When we watch a person running about looking for something in a field,the wise man can set a puzzle for all the spectator to solve:what has that person lost?Some one thinks is a watch;another thinks it is a diamond brooch;and others will essay other guesses. After all the guesses have failed,the wise man who really doesn‘t know what the person is seeking after,tells the company:“I’ll tell you. He has lost some breath.”And no one can deny that he is right. So we often forget our true self in the pursuit of living,like a bird forgetting its own danger in pursuit of a mantis which again forgets its own danger in pursuit of another.

我们是谁呢?这是第一个问题。这个问题几乎是无法答复的。可是我们都承认在我们曰常活动中那么忙碌的自我,并不完全是真正的自我;我们相信我们在生活的追求中已经失掉了一些东西。当我们看见一个人在一片田野里跑来跑去在寻找东西时,智者可以弄出一个难题给一切旁观者去解答:那个人失掉了什么东西呢?有的猜一只表;有的猜一支钻石胸针;其他的人则作其他的猜测。智者委实也不知道那个人在寻找什么东西;可是当大家都猜不中的时候,他会对大家说:“我告诉你们吧。他失掉了一些气息了。”没有人会否认他的话是对的。所以我们在生活的追求中常常忘掉了真正的自我,像庄子在一个美妙的譬喻里所讲的那只鸟那样,为了要捕捉一只螳螂而忘掉自身的危险,而那只螳螂又为了要捕捉一只蝉而忘掉自身的危险。


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