英语阅读LoveIsJustaThread
Sometimes I really doubt whether there is love between my parents. Every day they are very busy trying to earn money in order to pay the high tuition for my brother and me. They don’t act in the romantic ways that I read in books or I see on TV. In their opinion, “I love you” is too luxurious for them to say. Sending flowers to each other on Valentine’s Day is even more out of the question. Finally my father has a bad temper. When he’s very tired from the hard work, it is easy for him to lose his temper.
One day, my mother was sewing a quilt. I silently sat down beside her and looked at her.
“Mom, I have a question to ask you,” I said after a while.
“What?” she replied, still doing her work.
“Is there love between you and Dad?” I asked her in a very low voice.
My mother stopped her work and raised her head with surprise in her eyes. She didn’t answer immediately. Then she bowed her head and continued to sew the quilt.
I was very worried because I thought I had hurt her. I was in a great embarrassment and I didn’t know what I should do. But at last I heard my mother say the following words:
“Susan,” she said thoughtfully, “Look at this thread. Sometimes it appears, but most of it disappears in the quilt. The thread really makes the quilt strong and durable. If life is a quilt, then love should be a thread. It can hardly be seen anywhere or anytime, but it’s really there. Love is inside.”
I listened carefully but I couldn’t understand her until the next spring. At that time, my father suddenly got sick seriously. My mother had to stay with him in the hospital for a month. When they returned from the hospital, they both looked very pale. It seemed both of them had had a serious illness.
After they were back, every day in the morning and dusk, my mother helped my father walk slowly on the country road. My father had never been so gentle. It seemed they were the most harmonious couple. Along the country road, there were many beautiful flowers, green grass and trees. The sun gently glistened through the leaves. All of these made up the most beautiful picture in the world.
The doctor had said my father would recover in two months. But after two months he still couldn’t walk by himself. All of us were worried about him.
“Dad, how are you feeling now?” I asked him one day.
“Susan, don’t worry about me.” he said gently. “To tell you the truth, I just like walking with your mom. I like this kind of life.” Reading his eyes, I know he loves my mother deeply.
Once I thought love meant flowers, gifts and sweet kisses. But from this experience, I understand that love is just a thread in the quilt of our life. Love is inside, making life strong and warm..
英语阅读：CompanionshipofBooks
Companionship of Books (Samuel Smiles-- The political reformer and moralist was born)
A man may usually be known by the books he reads as well as by the company(playmates) he keeps;(Birds of a feather flock together)for there is a companionship (friendship) of books as well as of men; and one should always live in the best company, whether it be of books or of men. --- the author has contrast of books and friends.
A good book may be among the best of friends.(a good book is like our best friend) 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 (abandon) in times of adversity or distress.(in times of misfortunes or poverty) It always receives us with the same kindness，amusing and instructing us in youth, and comforting and consoling us in age.(in old age)
一本好书就像是一个最好的朋友。它始终不渝，过去如此，现在仍然如此，将来也永远不变。它是最有耐心、最令人愉快的伴侣。在我们穷愁潦倒、临危遭难的时候，它也不会抛弃我们，对我们总是一往情深。在我们年轻时，好书陶冶我们的性情，增长我们的知识;到我们年老时，它又给我们以安慰和勉励。
Men often discover their affinity (close relationship) to each other by the love they have each for a book --- just as two persons sometimes discover a friend by the admiration which both have for a third. There is an old proverb, “Love me, and 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. (uniting force) Men can think, feel, and sympathize (share the feelings or ideas of another) with each other through their favorite author. They live in him together, and he (lives) in them. ---they can find their opinions from books, in reverse, the ideas of the author influence them too.
人们常常因为同爱一本书而结为知己，就像有时两个人因为敬慕同一个人而交为朋友一样。古谚说：“爱屋及乌”。但是，“爱我及书”这句话却有更深的哲理。书是更为坚实而高尚的情谊纽带。人们可以通过共同爱好的作家沟通思想感情，彼此息息相通。他们的思想共同在作者的著述里得到体现，而作者的思想反过来又化为他们的思想。
“Books,” said Hazlitt,“Wind into the heart; the poet's verse slides in the current of our blood. We read them when young, we remember them when old. We feel that it has happened to ourselves. They are to be very cheap and good. We breathe but the air of books.”
哈兹利特曾经说过：“书潜移默化人们的内心，诗歌熏陶人们的气质品性。少小所习，老大不忘，恍如身历其事。书籍价廉物美，不啻我们呼吸的空气。”
A good book is often the best urn (a vase with foot and round body, especially as anciently for storing ashes of the dead. 有腳之圓形缸，古時以此缸盛人屍體之骨殖。) of a life enshrining (inclosing or preserving as in shrine. 保而藏之(如帝王駕崩，高僧圓寂之後，藏其遺骸於神龕中).) 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 (a place where valuable things are kept. ) of good words, the golden (precious, excellent) thoughts, which, remembered and cherished, become our constant companions and comforters (a thing that gives comfort). “They are never alone,” said Sir Philip Sidney, “that are accompanied by noble thoughts.”
七夕教你“亲爱的”不同说法
Dear
Dear可以用来称呼朋友，也可以用来称呼亲密爱人，也有可能是长辈称呼小辈。
Dear使用的范围比较广。可以用来称呼朋友，也可以用来称呼亲密爱人，也有可能是长辈称呼小辈。另外英语日记通常会用dear 开头。写信时通常的称呼也是Dear XX。
经典美剧老友记第一季第8集中，Ross和Monica的奶奶去世后，Ross在家里收拾东西，他和他妈妈有这么一段对话，Ross就被妈妈叫做dear：
Ross: Oh my God...
Mrs. Geller: Is everything all right, dear?
Ross: Yeah, just... just Nana stuff.
Honey, Darling和Baby都是“亲爱的”比较常见的表达。
例句：
I love you, honey.
Darling, would you please wait a second.
When my girlfriend started calling my best friend "baby", I knew it was over.
Honey也会写成hunny或者hunnie，表示的都是“亲爱的”。
说到这里就想到去年的《海角七号》的插曲《爱你爱到不怕死》：“Honey darling baby，或是叫我的小亲亲，只要哄我高兴，冥王星都陪你去。”
Sweetheart
亲爱的可爱的喜欢的都可以成为sweetheart，另外口语上表示友善的称呼也可以用sweetheart。就像现在很多女生之间喜欢互称“亲爱的”。
例句：
"I like Joaquin, he's a real sweetheart."“我喜欢杰昆，他真是个甜心。”
"What can I get you, sweetheart?"“甜心，我能为你拿点什么?”
《老友记》第一季感恩节篇：
Terry: Rachel, Rachel, sweetheart. You're a terrible, terrible waitress. Really, really awful.
Sweetie
sweetie可以称呼亲密爱人也可以称呼亲密友人，也可用于长辈称呼晚辈的情况。
例句：
Goodnight now sweetie, I'll miss you so much but I'll see you next week!
亲爱的，晚安了，我会非常想你的不过要到下周才能见到你!
美剧《识骨寻踪》中，Angela经常叫女主角Brennan Sweetie。
Sweetums
I love talking to my sweetums. He rocks my face off.
我喜欢和亲爱的他聊天，他让我开心极了。
《哈利波特与密室》：
"I want more bacon."
"There's more in the frying pan, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.
Pumpkin
老外好像对南瓜有种特别的感情，这个词也可以表示亲爱的，宝贝儿这样的含义。
《成长的.烦恼》第三季第10集：
Maggie: Pumpkin, you just had your tonsils out!
New Ben: But...
Maggie: For me?
Pumpkin在口语里也可以说成Pumkin。
Me and my Pumkin are heading to a movie, wanna come?
我和我男(女)朋友要去看电影，一起来吗?
Boo
据说是黑人圈的俚语用法，可以用做男朋友或者女朋友的称呼，也可以表示亲爱的。
Can you handle me? If you can't you ain't gonna be my boo.
你能搞定我吗?如果你行你可当不了我男朋友。
除了这些称呼之外，看过《绯闻女孩》的朋友们一定知道，写信的时候表示亲密，可以在后面加个“XOXO”，表示抱抱亲亲。你还知道其它表示亲密的词吗?
英语阅读：BeHappy
Be Happy!
"The days that make us happy make us wise."_ John Masefield
When I first read this line by England's Poet Laureate, it startled me. What did Masefield mean? Without thinking about it much. I had always assumed that the opposite was true. But his sober assurance was arresting. I could not forget it.
Finally, I seemed to grasp his meaning and realized that here was a profound observation. The wisdom that happiness makes possible lies in clear perception, not fogged by anxiety nor dimmed by despair and boredom, and without the blind spots caused by fear.
Active happiness not mere satisfaction or contentment_ Often comes suddenly, like an April shower or the unfolding of a bud. Then you discover what kind of wisdom has accompanied it. The grass is greener, bird songs are sweeter, the shortcomings of your friends are more understandable and more forgivable. Happiness is like a pair of eyeglasses correcting your spiritual vision.
Nor are the insights of happiness limited to what is near around you. Unhappy, with your thoughts turned in upon your emotional woes, your vision is cut short as though by a wall. Happy, the wall crumbles.
The long vista is there for the seeing. The ground at your feet, the world about you _people, thoughts, emotions, pressures_ are now fitted into the larger scene. Every thing assumes a fairer proportion. And here is the beginning of wisdom.
快乐吧!
作者介绍：劳埃德莫里斯(1613-1680)，英国著名作家，作品富于机智幽默。著有《格言集》等。本文以演绎的手法论述快乐对人的影响。作者先籍梅斯菲尔德的诗引出“ 快乐和智慧”的关系，接着以人在快乐时的种种心理反应，点出快乐无处不在。最后再给予肯定的结论：快乐是智慧的开端。“快乐的日子，使我们聪明。”--约翰.梅斯菲尔德
第一次读到英国桂冠诗人梅斯菲尔德这行诗的时候，我非常惊讶，它真正的寓意是什么呢?不仔细考虑的话，我一直认为这句诗倒过来才对。不过他的冷静与自信却俘获了我，所以我一直无法忘记这句诗。
终于，我好象领会了他的意思，意识到其中蕴含着深刻的观察思考。快乐带来的智慧存在与清晰的心灵感觉中，不因忧虑担心而困惑，不因绝望、厌烦而迟钝，不因惶恐而出现盲点。
跳动的快乐——不仅是满足或惬意——会突然到来，就像四月的春雨或是花蕾的绽放。然后你发觉智慧已随快乐而来。草儿更绿，鸟儿的歌声更加美妙，朋友的缺点也变得更加可以理解、原谅。快乐就像一副眼镜，可以修正你精神的视力。
快乐的视野并不受你周围事物的局限。只不过当你不快乐的时候，思想便转向你感情上的苦恼，眼界也就被心灵之墙隔断了。而当你快乐的时候，这道墙便崩塌了。
英语阅读：ToBeth’sFirst-GradeTeacher
I didn't know the man in front of me that morning. But I did notice that we both walked a little straighter, a little more proudly, as our daughters held our hands. We were proud but apprehensive on that important day. Our girls were beginning first grade. We were about to give them up, for a while at least, to the institution we call school. As we entered the building, he looked at me. Our eyes met just for a minute, but that was enough. Our love for our daughters, our hopes for their future, our concern for their well-being welled up in our eyes.
You, their teacher, met us at the door. You introduced yourself and showed the girls to their seats. We gave them each a good-bye kiss, and then we walked out the door. We didn't talk to each other on the way back to the parking lot and on to our respective jobs. We were too involved thinking about you.
There were so many things we wanted to tell you, Teacher. Too many things were left unsaid. So I'm writing to you. I'd like to tell you the things we didn't have time for that first morning.
I hope you noticed Beth's dress. She looked beautiful in it. Now I know you might think that's a father's prejudice, but she thinks she looks beautiful in it, and that's what's really important. Did you know we spent a full week searching the shopping malls for just the right dress for that special occasion? She wouldn't show you, but I'm sure she'd like you to know that she picked that dress because of the way it unfurled as she danced in front of the mirrors in the clothing store. The minute she tried it on, she knew she'd found her special dress. I wonder if you noticed. Just a word from you would make that dress all the more wondrous.
Her shoes tell a lot about Beth and a lot about her family. At least they're worth a minute of your time. Yes, they're blue shoes with one strap. Solid, well-made shoes, not too stylish, you know the kind. What you don't know is how we argued about getting the kind of shoes she said all the girls would be wearing. We said no to plastic shoes in purple or pink or orange.
Beth was worried that the other kids would laugh at her baby shoes. In the end she tried the solid blue ones on and, with a smile, told us she always did like strap shoes. That's the first-born, eager to please. She's like the shoes – solid and reliable. How she'd love it if you mentioned those straps.
I hope you quickly notice that Beth is shy. She'll talk her head off when she gets to know you, but you'll have to make the first move. Don't mistake her quietness for lack of intelligence. Beth can read any children's book you put in front of her. She learned reading the way it should be taught. She learned it naturally, snuggled up in her bed with her mother and me reading her stories at naptime, at bedtime and at cuddling times throughout the day. To Beth, books are synonymous with good times and loving family. Please don't change her love of reading by making the learning of it a burdensome chore. It has taken us all her life to instill in her the joy of books and learning.
英语阅读：TheColorsoftheRainbow
Once upon a time the colors of the world started to quarrel: all claimed that they were the most important, the most useful, the favorite.
Green said: "Clearly I am the most important. I am the sign of life and of hope. I was chosen for the grass, trees, leaves- without me, all animals would die. Look over the countryside and you will see that I am in the majority.
Blue interrupted: "You only think about the earth, but consider the sky and the sea. It is the water that is the basis of life and drawn up by the clouds from the deep sea. The sky gives space and peace and serenity. Without my peace, you would all be nothing"
Yellow chuckled: "You are all so serious! I bring laughter, gaiety, and warmth into the world. The sun is yellow, the moon is yellow, the stars are yellow. Every time you look at a sunflower, the whole world starts to Smile. Without me there would be no fun!"
Orange started next to blow her trumpet: "I am the color of Health and Strength. I may be scarce, but I am precious for I serve the needs of human life. I carry the most important vitamins. Think of carrots, pumpkins, oranges, mangoes and pawpaw. I don't hang around all the time, but when I fill the sky at sunrise or sunset, my beauty is so striking that no one gives another thought to any of you."
Red could stand it no longer: He shouted out, "I am the ruler of all of you- I am blood- life's blood! I am the color of danger and of bravery. I am willing to fight for a cause. I bring fire into the blood. Without me, the earth would be as empty as the moon! I am the color of passion and love the red rose, the poinsettia and the poppy."
Purple rose up to his full height: He was very tall and spoke with great pomp:" I am the color of royalty and power. Kings, Chiefs, and Bishops have always chosen me for I am the sign of authority and wisdom. People do not question me they listen and obey"
Finally, Indigo spoke, much more quietly than all the others, but with just as much determination: Think Of Me. I am the color of silence. You hardly notice me, but without me you all become superficial. I represent thought and reflection, twilight and deep water. You need be for balance and contrast, for prayer and inner peace"
And so the color went on boasting, each convinced of his or her own superiority. Their quarreling became louder and louder. Suddenly there was a startling flash of bright lightening- thunder rolled and boomed, Rain started to pour down relentlessly. The colors crouched down in fear, drawing close to one another for comfort. In the midst of the clamor, Rain began to speak, "You foolish colors, fighting amongst yourselves, each trying to dominate the rest. Don't you know that you were each made for a special purpose, unique and different? Join hands with one another and come to me. Doing as they were told ,the color united and joined hands. The rain continued, "From now on, when it rains, each of you will stretch across the sky in a great bow of color as a reminder that you can all live in peace. The rainbow is a sign of hope of tomorrow." And as Whenever a good rain washes the world and a Rainbow appears in the sky let us remember to appreciate one another.
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