优秀英文文章
在散文的短小篇幅中,虽然没有像小说一样复杂的故事情节和细致的人物刻画,也没有像戏剧一样大起大落的矛盾冲突。下面是学习啦小编带来的优秀经典英语文章阅读，欢迎阅读!
优秀经典英语文章阅读篇一
Real Life Philosophy
You don‘t actually have to take the quiz. Just read this straight through，and you’ll get the point(an awesome one)it is trying to make!
Take this quiz：
1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world. 2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners. 3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America contest. 4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer prize. 5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress. 6. Name the last decade‘s worth of World Series winners.
How did you do?
The point is，none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.
Here‘s another quiz. See how you do on this one：
1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school. 2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time. 3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile. 4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special. 5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with. 6. Name half a dozen heroes whose stories have inspired you.
Easier?
The lesson：
The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials，the most money，or the most awards. They are the ones that care.
优秀经典英语文章阅读篇二
Three Peach Stones 三颗核桃
Observe a child;any one will do. You will see that not a day passes in which he does not find something or other to make him happy，though he may be in tears the next moment. Then look at a man;any one of us will do. You will notice that weeks and months can pass in which day is greeted with nothing more than resignation1，and endure with every polite indifference. Indeed，most men are as miserable as sinners，though they are too bored to sin-perhaps their sin is their indifference2. But it is true that they so seldom smile that when they do we do not recognize their face，so distorted is it from the fixed mask we take for granted3. And even then a man can not smile like a child，for a child smiles with his eyes，whereas a man smiles with his lips alone. It is not a smile;but a grin;something to do with humor4，but little to do with happiness. And then，as anyone can see，there is a point(but who can define that point?)when a man becomes an old man，and then he will smile again.
It would seem that happiness is something to do with simplicity，and that it is the ability to extract pleasure form the simplest things-such as a peach stone，for instance.
It is obvious that it is nothing to do with success. For Sir Henry Stewart was certainly successful. It is twenty years ago since he came down to our village from London，and bought a couple of old cottages，which he had knocked into one. He used his house a s weekend refuge5. He was a barrister. And the village followed his brilliant career with something almost amounting to paternal pride.
I remember some ten years ago when he was made a King‘s Counsel6，Amos and I，seeing him get off the London train，went to congratulate him. We grinned with pleasure;he merely looked as miserable as though he’d received a penal sentence. It was the same when he was knighted;he never smiled a bit，he didn‘t even bother to celebrate with a round of drinks at the“Blue Fox”7. He took his success as a child does his medicine. And not one of his achievements brought even a ghost of a smile to his tired eyes.
I asked him one day，soon after he‘d retired to potter about his garden，8 what is was like to achieve all one’s ambitions. He looked down at his roses and went on watering them. Then he said“The only value in achieving one‘s ambition is that you then realize that they are not worth achieving.”Quickly he moved the conversation on to a more practical level，and within a moment we were back to a safe discussion on the weather. That was two years ago.
I recall this incident，for yesterday，I was passing his house，and had drawn up my cart just outside his garden wall. I had pulled in from the road for no other reason than to let a bus pass me. As I set there filling my pipe，I suddenly heard a shout of sheer joy come from the other side of the wall.
I peered over. There stood Sir Henry doing nothing less than a tribal war dance9 of sheer unashamed ecstasy. Even when he observed my bewildered face staring over the wall he did not seem put out10 or embarrassed，but shouted for me to climb over.
“Come and see，Jan. Look!I have done it at last!I have done it at last!”
There he was，holding a small box of earth in his had. I observed three tiny shoots out of it.
“And there were only three!”he said，his eyes laughing to heaven.
“Three what?”I asked.
“Peach stones”，he replied.“I‘ve always wanted to make peach stones grow，even since I was a child，when I used to take them home after a party，or as a man after a banquet. And I used to plant them，and then forgot where I planted them. But now at last I have done it，and，what’s more，I had only three stones，and there you are，one，two，three shoots，”he counted.
And Sir Henry ran off，calling for his wife to come and see his achievement-his achievement of simplicity.
R. Duncan
优秀经典英语文章阅读篇三
Give us 15 Minutes A Day
XYour boss has a bigger vocabulary than you have.
That‘s one good reason why he’s your boss.
This discovery has been made in the word laboratories of the world. Not by theoretical English professors，but by practical，hard-headed scholars who have been searching for the secrets of success.
After a host of experiments and years of testing they have found out：
That if your vocabulary is limited your chances of success are limited.
That one of the easiest and quickest ways to get ahead is by consciously building up your knowledge of words.
That the vocabularyl of the average person almost stops growing by the middle twenties. And that from then on it is necessary to have an intelligent plan if progress is to be made. No haphazard hit-or-miss methods will do.
It has long since been satisfactorily established that a high executive does not have a large vocabulary merely because of the opportunities of his position. That would be putting the cart before the horse. Quite the reverse is true. His skill in words was a tremendous help in getting him his job.
Dr.Johnson O‘;Connor of thee Human Engineering Laboratory of Boston and of the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken，New Jersey，gave a vocabulary test to 100 young men who were studying to be industrial executives.
Five years later those who had passed in the upper ten percent all.，without exception，had executive positions，while not a single young man of the lower twenty-five per cent had become an executive.
You see，there are certain factors in success that can be measured as scientifically as the contents of a test-tube，and it has been discovered that the most common characteristic of outstanding success is“an extensive knowledge of the exact meaning of English words”。
The extent of your vocabulary indicates the degree of your intelligence. Your brain power will increase as you learn to know more words. Here‘s the proof.
Two classes in a high school were selected for an experiment. Their ages and their environment were the same. Each class represented an identical cross-section of the community. One，the control class，took the normal courses. The other class was given special vocabulary training. At the end of the period the marks of the latter class surpassed those of the control group，not only in English，but in every subject，including mathematics and the sciences.
Similarly it has been found by Professor Lewis M.Terman，of Stanford University，that a vocabulary test is as accurate a measure of intelligence as any three units of the standard and accepted Stanford-Binet I.Q.tests.
The study of words is not merely something that has to do with literature. Words are your tools of thought. You can‘t even think at all without them. Try it. If you are planning to go down town this afternoon you will find that you are saying to yourself：“I think I will go down town this afternoon.”You can’t make such a simple decision as this without using words.
Without words you could make no decisions and from no judgments whatsoever. A pianist may have the most beautiful tunes in his head，but if he had only five keys on his piano he would never get more than a fraction of these tunes out.
Your words are your keys for your thoughts. And the more words you have at your command the deeper，clearer and more accurate will be your thinking.
A command of English will not only improve the. processes of your mind. It will give you assurance;build your self-confidence;lend color to your personality;increase your popularity. Your words are your personality. Your vocabulary is you. Your words are all that we，your friends，have to know and judge you by. You have no other medium for telling us your thoughts-for convincing us，persuading us，giving us orders.
Words are explosive. Phrases are packed with TNT.A simple word can destroy a friendship，land a large order. The proper phrases in the mouths of clerks have quadrupled the proper phrases inthe mouths of clerks have quadrupled the sales of a department store. The wrong words used by a campaign orator have lost an election. For instance，on one occasion the four unfortunate words，“Rum，Romanism and a Rebellion”used in a Republican campaign speech threw the Catholic vote and the presidential victory to Grover Cleveland. Ears are won by words. Soldiers fight for a phrase.“Make the world safe for Democracy.”“All out for England.”“V for Victory.”The“Remember the Maine”of Spanish war days has now been changed to“Remember Pearl Harbor.”
Words have changed the direction of history. Words van also change the direction of your life. They have often raised a man from mediocrity to success.
If you consciously increase your vocabulary you will unconsciously raise yourself to a more important station in life，and the new and higher position you have won will，in turn，give you a better opportunity for further enriching your vocabulary. It is a beautiful and successful cycle.
It is because of this intimate connection between words and life itself that we have organized this small volume in a new way. We have not given you mere lists of unrelated words to learn. We have grouped the words around various departments of your life.
This book is planned to enlist your active cooperation. The authors wish you to read it with a pencil in your hand，for you will often be asked to make certain notations，to write answers to particular questions. The more you use your pencil，the more deeply you will become involved，and the deeper your involvement the more this book will help you. We shall occasionally ask you to use your voice as your pencil-to say things out loud. You see，we really want you to keep up a running conversation with us.
It‘s fun. And it’s so easy. And we‘ve made it like a game. We have filled these pages with a collection of devices that we hope will be stimulating. Here are things to challenge you and your friends. Try these tests on your acquaintances. They will enjoy them and it may encourage them to wider explorations in this exciting field of speech. There are entertaining verbal calisthenics here，colorful facts about language，and many excursions among the words that keep our speech the rich，flexible，lively means of communication that it is.
Come to this book every day. Put the volume by your bedside，if you like. A short time spent on these pages before you turn the lights out each night is better than an irregular hour now and then. If you can find the time to learn only two or three words a day-we will still promise you that at the end of thirty days you will have found a new interest. Give us fifteen minutes a day，and we will guarantee，at the end of a month，when you have turned over the last page of this book，that your words and your reading and your conversation and your life will all have a new and deeper meaning for you.
For words can make you great!
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