英语朗诵入门& 提高

5. I Dread the End of the Year

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\dread to come to the end of the year, said a friend to me recently, \makes me realize▼ I am growing old.”

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William James, the great psychologist, said that most men are \fogies at

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twenty-fiveHe was right. Most men at twenty-five▼ are satisfied with their jobs. They

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have accumulated the little stock of prejudices▼ that they call their \, \and closed their minds to all new ideas; they have ceased to grow.

The minute▼ a man ceases to grow-no matter what his years-that minute he begins to be old. On the other hand, the really great man never grows old.

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Goethe passed out at eighty-three, and finished his Faust ▼ only a few years

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earlier; Gladstone took up a new language▼ when he was seventy. Laplace,↗ the

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astronomer,↗ was still at work▼ when death caught up with him▼ at

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seventy-eight. He died crying, \we know is nothing; what we do not know is immense.\ ︵

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And there you have the real answer to the question, \is a man old?↘\

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Laplace at seventy-eight died young. He was still unsatisfied, still sure that he had

a lot to learn.

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As long as a man can keep himself in that attitude of mind,↗ as long as

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he can look back on every year▼ and say , \grew,\still young.

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The minute he ceases to grow, the minute he says to himself, \know all that I

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need to know,\hat day youth stops. He may be twenty-five or seventy-five, it makes no difference. On that day▼ he begins to be old.

背诵小贴士 Recitation tips

这篇文章是典型的摆事实，讲道理的结构，作者从几个方面反复论证一个道理：The minute a man ceases to grow-no matter what his years-that minute he begins to be old. On the other hand, the really great man never grows old. 前两段不背也罢，后面的把几个事例记住就好了。

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参考译文

我惧怕岁末年尾

“我惧怕临近岁末年尾”，一位朋友最近对我说：“它使我意识到我正在变老。”

伟大的心理学家威廉·詹姆斯就曾说过，大多数人“25岁时就成了守旧落伍者”。他的话是对

的。大多数人25岁时就满足于他们的工作。他们已经积累了一些他们称之为“原则”的偏见，对所有新的思想关闭心灵之门；他们已经停止成长。

一个人一旦停止成长--不管他年龄多大--他就开始衰老。反之，真正的伟人从来不会衰老。 歌德享年83岁，逝世前几年才完成《浮士德》；格莱斯顿70岁时又开始学习一门外国语；

法国天文学家拉普拉斯78岁死时还在工作着。临死前，他大声喊道：“我们所知的太少太少，我们所不知的太多太多。”

“一个人何时变老？”，从这类事例中对这个问题你已经有了真正的答案。 拉普拉斯78岁逝世时依然年轻。他依旧不满足，依旧感到许多东西要学。

一个人，只要他能够保持这种心态，只要他在回首过去的一年时能够说“我在成长”，他就

依然年轻。 他一旦停止成长，他一旦对自己说“我该懂的都懂了”，这个时候他的青春也就完了。他可能在25岁时死去，也可能在75岁时死去，这都没有区别。就在那一天，他开始变老。

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6. Pain and Growth

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over my life, it seems to me that▼ I have learned the most▼ when

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I felt the greatest pain. My mother's death, for example, made me more profoundly

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aware of the beauty in nature. My capacity for finding joy in the most ordinary events

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(watching a flower open,↗ leaves turning red,↗ a bird taking a bath↘) seems

Looking back

to deepen each time I live through great sorrow. Death makes life more precious;↗

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frustration makes success more fulfilling;↗ failure makes the next accomplishment more meaningful.

︵︵︵︵︵ In order to feel deeply▼ it is necessary to feel everything. It is

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impossible to choose. You can't really know▼ how great▼ is your sense of joy at a

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baby's birth▼ or your satisfaction at succeeding at a hard job▼ unless you are

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also deeply aware of the anguish of separation▼↗ and the pain of failure.↘ It's

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through the capacity to feel▼ that we discover ourselves and others▼ and explore

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the potential for a full,↗ significant life.

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This is an especially crucial issue for parents. Our natural inclination is

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to try to protect children from pain. We have the mistaken notion that▼ if a child is

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happy▼ we are doing a good job; if a child is sad▼ we are failing as parents. But

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giving children the message that▼ happy is good▼↗ and sad is terrible▼↘

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decreases their capacity to explore the full range of human experiences.

Children need to understand that▼ suffering,↗ frustration↗ and failure↘ are not ︵︵︵︵only inevitable▼ but helpful. The parent who took a simple puzzle away from a

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four-year-old child ▼has dreadful feeling▼ because \gets too upset and

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frustrated▼ when he can't get it right immediately,\id the child a great

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disservice. Children need to experience such feelings as they grow up; it helps them to

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develop the patience,↗ persistence↗ and ability↘ to cope▼ that they'll need▼

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when a scientific experiment fails, or a low grade is received▼ after diligent

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study. There is nothing so terrible about failing↘ and feeling pain; what hurts▼ in

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the long run▼ is▼ not trying▼ because of the fear of pain.

背诵小贴士 Recitation tips

我们都害怕痛苦，事实上没有痛苦做为参照，我们又怎能体会欢欣的价值？

1. Looking back over my life, it seems to me that I have learned the most when I felt the greatest pain. Death-life; frustration-success; failure-accomplishment.

2. Children need to understand that suffering, frustration and failure are not only inevitable but helpful.

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参考译文

痛苦与成长

囖首往事，我觉得最痛苦的经历似乎给了我最大启迪。比方说，母亲的去世让我更加深切地佒会到大自然的美好。每经受一次大的痛苦，我在对日常事物中发现愉悦的能力（覂赏花儿开放，叶儿变红，鸟儿沐浴）就增加一分。死亡使得甗命栬外珍贵；挫折佯得成功更加完滠；失败使得下一次成就更有?义

要想感受深切，就衻感?一切?有所选择地感凗是不可胸的。你没有深切体会到分娩的阵痛，又哪能眝正领悙到新生呝诞生的巨大喜悦？你没有深切体会到失败的疛楚，又哪能真正领悟到成功完成一项艐巨工作之后的满足？我们嘨感受之中凑现自嗱和他人，探索完泡而有意义暄生活犄可能性。

这尤其是父母面临的一个严峻问题。做家长的总是情不自禁地竭力避免让孩子受苦。我们错诮地认为，只要孩子幸福，家长就算尽了职，而孩子不幸，家长就是失了职。但是，让孩子感知幸福即好、不幸即糟这一议息，则削弱了他们全院发掘人生经验的能力。

孩子们嚔诤憂得，痛苦、挣折咈失败非但不可避免，而且非常有益。父母拾走四岁孩子手中的智力玩具，唯恐“他一时做不好就会灰心丧气”，这无异于害了孩子。孩子们在成长过程中需要这样的情感经历，这种情感经历有助于培养孩子的耐心、毅力和能力，让他们将来在科学实验失败的时候，在经过努力学习仍取得低分皀时候，都能够处之泰然。失败和痊苦并不可怕；归根结底，真正有害的是因为惧怕痚苦而拂绝尝试。

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