四六级考试网

“Mount Everest, you beat me the first time, but I’ll beat you the next time”(Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay during their Everest expedition)Sir旁边，爵士 Edmund Hillary was the first man to climb Mount Everest珠穆朗玛峰. On May 29, 1953 he scaled the highest mountain then known to man-29,000 feet straight up坦直地，真实地. He was knighted授予爵位 for his efforts. He even made American Express card美国运通卡 commercials because of it! However, until we read his book, High Adventure, we don’t understand that Hillary had to grow into this success. You see, in 1952 he attempted to climb Mount Everest, but failed. A few weeks later a group in England asked him to address its members. Hillary walked on stage to a thunderous像打雷的 applause. The audience was recognizing an attempt at greatness, but Edmund Hillary saw himself as a failure. He moved away from the microphone and walked to the edge of the platform. He made a fist握拳 and pointed at a picture of the mountain. He said in a loud voice, “Mount Everest, you beat me the first time, but I’ll beat you the next time because you’ve grown all you are going to grow… but I’m still growing!”

本文选自美国作家Jim Willis的畅销书《Pieces Of My Heart—–Writings Inspired by Animals and Nature》，该书以自述的情势讲述了一只家犬对旧日主人的真情告白。昔时作者用七千美元以全版告白的情势在报纸上登载了该文章，以一篇文章打动了所有的读者。When I was a puppy小狗，幼犬, I entertained you with my antics风趣动作 and made you laugh. You called me your child, and despite a number of chewed shoes and a couple of murdered throw pillows抱枕, I became your best friend. Whenever I was “bad,” you’d shake your finger at me and ask “How could you?”-but then you’d relent变热和, and roll me over for a belly rub.My housebreaking took a little longer than expected, because you were terribly busy, but we worked on that together. I remember those nights of nuzzling you in bed and listening to your confidences and secret dreams, and I believed that life could not be any more perfect. We went for long walks and runs in the park, car rides, stops for ice cream (I only got the cone because “ice cream is bad for dogs,” you said), and I took long naps in the sun waiting for you to come home at the end of the day.Gradually, you began spending more time at work and on your career, and more time searching for a human mate. I waited for you patiently, comforted you through heartbreaks and disappointments, never chided责备 you about bad decisions, and romped玩耍 with glee欢愉，欢欣 at your homecomings, and when you fell in love. She, now your wife, is not a “dog person”-still I welcomed her into our home, tried to show her affection, and obeyed her. I was happy because you were happy.Then the human babies came along and I shared your excitement. I was fascinated by their pinkness, how they smelled, and I wanted to mother them, too. Only she and you worried that I might hurt them, and I spent most of my time banished放逐 to another room, or to a dog crate. Oh, how I wanted to love them, but I became a “prisoner of love.” As they began to grow, I became their friend. They clung to my fur and pulled themselves up on wobbly legs, poked fingers in my eyes, investigated my ears, and gave me kisses on my nose. I loved everything about them and their touch-because your touch was now so infrequent-and I would have defended them with my life if need be. I would sneak into their beds and listen to their worries and secret dreams, and together we waited for the sound of your car in the driveway. 　There had been a time, when others asked you if you had a dog, that you produced a photo of me from your wallet and told them stories about me. These past few years, you just answered “yes” and changed the subject. I had gone from being “your dog” to “just a dog,” and you resented every expenditure支出，破钞 on my behalf. Now, you have a new career opportunity in another city, and you and they will be moving to an apartment that does not allow pets. You’ve made the right decision for your “family,” but there was a time when I was your only family. 　I was excited about the car ride until we arrived at the animal shelter. It smelled of dogs and cats, of fear, of hopelessness. You filled out the paperwork and said “I know you will find a good home for her”. They shrugged and gave you a pained look. They understand the realities facing a middle-aged dog, even one with “papers”. You had to pry your son’s fingers loose from my collar, as he screamed “No, Daddy. Please don’t let them take my dog!” And I worried for him, and what lessons you had just taught him about friendship and loyalty, about love and responsibility, and about respect for all life.You gave me a good-bye pat on the head, avoided my eyes, and politely refused to take my collar and leash皮带，束厄局促 with you. You had a deadline to meet and now I have one, too. After you left, the two nice ladies said you probably knew about your upcoming move months ago and made no attempt to find me another good home. They shook their heads and asked “How could you?”They are as attentive to us here in the shelter as their busy schedules allow. They feed us, of course, but I lost my appetite食欲，癖好 days ago. At first, whenever anyone passed my pen, I rushed to the front, hoping it was you-that you had changed your mind-that this was all a bad dream…or I hoped it would at least be someone who cared, anyone who might save me. When I realized I could not compete with the frolicking for attention of happy puppies, oblivious to their own fate, I retreated to a far corner and waited.I heard her footsteps as she came for me at the end of the day, and I padded along the aisle通道，走廊 after her to a separate room. A blissfully quiet room. She placed me on the table and rubbed my ears, and told me not to worry. My heart pounded

After 21 years of marriage, I discovered a new way of keeping alive the spark of love. A little while ago I had started to go out with another woman. It was really my wife’s idea.”I know that you love her,” she said one day, taking me by surprise.The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was my mother.She had been a widow for 19 years, but the demands of my work and my three children had made it possible to visit her only occasionally.That night I called to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie.”What’s wrong, are you well?” she asked. My mother is the type of woman who suspects that a late night call or a surprise invitation is a sign of bad news.”I thought that it would be pleasant to pass some time with you,”I responded, “just the two of us.”She thought about it for a moment then said, “I would like that very much.”That Friday after work as I drove over to pick her up I was a bit nervous. When I arrived at her house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be nervous about our date.She waited in the door with her coat on. She had curled（卷曲，环抱） her hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding anniversary.She smiled from a face that was as radiant（精神抖擞的，光线四射的） as an angel’s.”I told my friends that I was going to go out with my son, and they were impressed,” she said, as she got into the car. “They can’t wait to hear about our meeting.”We went to a restaurant that, although not elegant, was very nice and cozy（舒适的，舒畅的） . My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady.After we sat down, I had to read the menu. Her eyes could only read large print. Half way through the entree（主菜） , I lifted my eyes and saw Mom sitting there staring at me. A nostalgic（怀旧的，乡愁的） smile was on her lips.”It was I who used to have to read the menu when you were small,” she said.”Then it’s time that you relax and let me return the favor,” I responded.During the dinner we had an agreeable（令人兴奋的） conversation, nothing extraordinary, but catching up on recent events of each other’s lives. We talked so much that we missed the movie.As we arrived at her house later she said, “I’ll go out with you again, but only if you let me invite you.”I agreed.“How was your dinner date?”my wife asked when I got home.“Very nice. Much more so than I could have imagined,”I answered.A few days later my mother died of a massive heart attack. It happened so suddenly that I didn’t have a chance to do anything for her.Some time later I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt from the same place mother and I had dined.An attached note said: “I paid this bill in advance（预先，提早） . I was almost sure that I couldn’t be there, but nevertheless（但是，不过） I paid for two plates–one for you and the other for your wife. You will never know what that night meant for me. I love you.”At that moment I understood the importance of saying, in time: “I LOVE YOU” and giving our loved ones the time that they deserve …Yesterday is a canceled check.Tomorrow is a promissory note.Today is cash … Spend it wisely.

暗中仿佛具有可以或许遮断一切光亮的魔力。可是人类对光亮的神驰是永久也不成能被阻断的。镜子轻易破裂，可是破裂的镜片仍然能反射出无缺的阳光。是光或不是光也罢，首要的是要尽本身所能来反射光亮，固然微弱，也能驱走暗中。”Dr.Papaderos, what is the meaning of life?”The usual laughter followed, and people stirred（激起，惹起） to go.Papaderos held up his hand and stilled the room and looked at me for a long time, asking with his eyes if I was serious and seeing from my eyes that I was.”I will answer your question.”Taking his wallet out of his hip pocket, he fished into a leather billfold（皮夹子） and brought out a very small round mirror, about the size of a quarter.And what he said went like this:”When I was a small child, during the war, we were very poor and we lived in a remote village. One day, on the road, I found the broken pieces of a mirror. A German motorcycle had been wrecked（掉事） in that place.”I tried to find all the pieces and put them together, but it was not possible, so I kept only the largest piece. This one, and, by scratching（擦伤，刮痕） it on a stone, I made it round. I began to play with it as a toy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun would never shine—in deep holes and crevices（裂缝） and dark closets. It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places I could find.”I kept the little mirror, and, as I went about（四周走动） my growing up, I would take it out in idle moments and continue the challenge of the game. As I became a man, I grew to understand that this was not just a child’s game but a metaphor（比方，暗喻） for what I might do with my life. I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of light. But light—truth, understanding, knowledge—is there, and it will shine in many dark places only if I reflect it.”I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not know. Nevertheless, with what I have I can reflect light into the dark places of this world—into the black places in the hearts of men—and change some things in some people. Perhaps others may see and do likewise. This is what I am about. This is the meaning of my life.”

If ever（假定，如果） the scene had been set, this was it.A week in Paris. He is strikingly（明显地，凸起地） handsome with his classic Californian good looks and a smile that could melt butter, and I am probably at my physical peak, with wavy brown hair, bright blue eyes, and curves that could stop traffic.Neither of us knew what to expect. After meeting on a humanitarian aid（人道主义支援） trip in Central America, there was clearly a connection between us that we had neither time nor opportunity to explore. The fact that he moved to Europe the day after our return left us to continue building our relationship online through email and chat.So as I flew across the Atlantic to visit him during my vacation, the possibilities ran wildly through my head. Friends at home had inundated（覆没） me with notions that Paris is the city of love, and we would be fools not to be swept away. Pessimism（悲观） reared its head, too, taunting（嘲弄，调侃） that I didn’t really know this man, and for all I knew he was actually a monstrous human being I would be stranded（搁浅） with for a week.However, from the time I stepped off of the metro（地铁，大都会） and jumped into his arms until the moment we tearfully said goodbyes at the same station, all speculation was forgotten and the natural flow of “us” prevailed（流行，克服） .There were no impassioned kisses or nights of passion. But there were hours of conversation under the glow of the Eiffel Tower. Barrels of laughter over inside jokes that will never makes sense to anyone but us. Tears over the deepest secrets and pains of our hearts. Comfortable silences that can only happen in the peace of trust. Speculation over the future, our dreams and fears. Confession of our fears and failures. And reassurances（使安心） that we see each other beyond the facade（正面，概况） and to the truth.And as I returned to anxious friends waiting to hear stories of scandalous（离间性的，可耻的） Parisian rendezvous（约会） , there seemed to be some hint of disappointment. No excitement, no scandal, no drama. As though（仿佛，仿佛） I had missed out on something.Although our relationship did not progress or digress（离题） as I imagined or feared, I couldn’t have written a more perfect story. No, I didn’t walk away with（顺手带走，等闲获得） a lover, but I now have a friend who is dear to my heart. Who I shared an amazing week with, who holds many of my precious memories, and who knows me and loves me. How could I hope for more?One moment that resonates（共叫，共振） with me is of my last night in Paris.Exhausted from a full week and dreading my departure the next morning, we collapsed onto the bed and looked at each other. His bright blue eyes softly pierced mine with a reassuring knowledge that he knew me, and I knew him, and this was good. As we lay there, I knew that this was right, and what was meant to grow between us had.”Just friends” is not a disappointment. Sometimes it’s exactly what you need.

我很拖沓，我一向都如许。这是脾气缺点，我承认。我试过各类编制想降服这个习惯：列出要做的工作的清单、邮件提示和各类各样列表之类的编制，可是只有一件事管用，那就是：此刻就做。我知道这一点很是清楚，可是很多人都意识不到这个最根基的手艺。实在不是我们不知道我们此刻得把工作做好，而是我们已忘了该如何做好。以下是我正在让本身此刻开端干事的几个技能：I am a procrastinator（拖沓者）. I always have been. It’s a character flaw, and I admit it. I’ve tried all sorts of things to beat the habit — Getting Things Done, e-mail reminders, dozens of list systems — but the only thing that seems to work is to: Do it now.This is blindingly obvious, I know, but many people lose sight of this fundamental skill. It’s not that we don’t know that we should do things now; it’s that we’ve forgotten how. Here are some techniques I’ve been using to try to force myself to get to now:Set aside blocks of time to do things. When I was talking with my wellness coach earlier this year, she asked me why I didn’t exercise more often. “I don’t have the time,” I said. “Something always comes up.” She wasn’t impressed. “J.D.,” she said, “You have to make time（抽暇儿）. Make an appointment with yourself to run or to go for a bike ride.” The same principle applies to other things you might procrastinate（延迟，担搁）.Kris and I used to schedule a block of time on Saturday morning specifically to clean the house. Each week we’d tackle a different room. If we didn’t do this, I’d just put it off for weeks (or months). Pick an hour a day to get things done.If it comes to mind, then do it. Often I’ll be sitting on the back porch（门廊） reading a book, and it will occur to me that some chore needs to be done — pruning the laurel（月桂树，名誉） hedge（树篱，障碍）, for example. “I need to write that down so I can remember it,” I tell myself. Wrong! What usually happens is that I forget to write it down, and even if I do, I just look at the list and procrastinate for weeks on end. The best move is to actually do the chore when I think of it. (Assuming, of course, that I have the time at that moment. Which I usually do.)Use a timer to bring you back to reality. Part of the reason I procrastinate is that I have a rich mental life. This is just a flowery（灿艳的，富丽的） way of saying that I’m a daydreamer. I’m always lost in thought. One way to keep on track is to use a timer. I use the Ultrak Jumbo Countdown Timer, but not as often as I should. I set it for 48 minutes. When it goes off, it serves as an instant reality check: Am I doing what I’m supposed to be doing?Do not multitask. Oh, how I love multitasking. “I’m great at doing many things at once,” I told Kris once. She gave me one of those looks. “No, you’re not,” she said. “You’re great at starting many things at once, but you never actually do any of them.” Ouch! But she’s right. In order for me to get something done, I need to focus my attention on it. Trying to do several things at once（立即，顿时） is a sure way to be sure they’ll all be unfinished tomorrow. Modify your environment to eliminate distractions.Distractions feed procrastination. How many of these have you told yourself: “I’ll just check e-mail one more time before I start.”,”I’ll go for a walk after I finish reading this magazine.”,”I can paint the house next weekend. I want to watch the Seahawks game today.” Whenever possible, eliminate distractions. Remove clutter（混乱） and snack items from your workspace. When working on your computer, only keep the programs you need open. (Ha! I feel like a hypocrite for advising this — I can’t even make myself close my e-mail client for five minutes.) Keep your office tidy. Don’t turn on the television unless there’s something specific you intend to watch.Compare your actions with your personal values. Last week I wrote that it doesn’t matter what we say is important to us — the things that are priorities in our lives are the things we actually do. How does what you do mesh（编织） with what you believe? If you say that getting out of debt is important to you, are you actually doing the things that will lead you to get out of debt? If one of your goals is to fit into your old Levi’s, how is watching another episode of The Office going to help you achieve that? Go for a walk!Take back your brain! I’ve mentioned this website before in the context of marketing. Its premise（前提） is simple: Instead of letting advertisers persuade you, use marketing techniques to advertise to yourself. While this is a great way to fight consumer culture, it’s also a smart way to combat procrastination. Create some in-home (or in-office) advertising to remind you to stop putting things off, to encourage you to do it now.Beating procrastination isn’t rocket science, but it is psychology（心理学）. For many of us, that’s just as difficult. It’s scary how well this Psychology Today article describes me. If only it gave some tips on how to move beyond this. Instead it offers one small slice of solace（安抚）:Procrastinators can change their behavior — but doing so consumes a lot of psychic energy（心理能量）. And it doesn’t necessarily mean one feels transformed internally. It can be done with highly structured cognitive（认知的，熟谙的） behavioral therapy.Can you tell I’ve been struggling with procrastination lately? This is something I’ll continue to work on. If you have any tips or stories, I’d love to hear them. Meanwhile, it must be time to read The War of Art again. Maybe I’ll do that next week…

Recently, I heard a touching story which illustrates（申明，申明） the power that words have to change a life — a power that lies right in the hands of those reading this article. Mary had grown up knowing that she was different from the other kids, and she hated it. She was born with a cleft palate（腭裂） and had to bear the jokes and stares（凝睇，谛视） of cruel children who teased her non-stop about her misshaped（畸形） lip, crooked（曲折的，歪的） nose, and garbled（混乱的，窜改的） speech. With all the teasing, Mary grew up hating the fact that she was “different”. She was convinced that no one, outside her family, could ever love her … until she entered Mrs. Leonard’s class.Mrs. Leonard had a warm smile, a round face, and shiny brown hair. While everyone in her class liked her, Mary came to love Mrs. Leonard. In the 1950′s, it was common for teachers to give their children an annual hearing test. However, in Mary’s case, in addition to her cleft palate, she was barely able to hear out of one ear. Determined not to let the other children have another “difference” to point out, she would cheat on the test each year. The “whisper test” was given by having a child walk to the classroom door, turn sideways, close one ear with a finger, and then repeat something which the teacher whispered. Mary turned her bad ear towards her teacher and pretended to cover her good ear. She knew that teachers would often say things like, “The sky is blue,” or “What color are your shoes?” But not on that day. Surely, God put seven words in Mrs. Leonard’s mouth that changed Mary’s life forever. When the “Whisper test” came, Mary heard the words: “I wish you were my little girl.”Dads, I wish there was some way that I could communicate to you the incredible blessing which affirming words impart to（奉告，流露） children. I wish, too, that you could sit in my office, when I counsel（奉劝，建议） , and hear the terrible damage that individuals received from not hearing affirming words–particularly affirming words from a father. While words from a godly teacher can melt a heart, words from a father can powerfully set the course of a life.If affirming words were something rarely spoken in your home growing up, let me give you some tips on words and phrases that can brighten your own child’s eyes and life. These words are easy to say to any child who comes into your life. I’m proud of you, Way to go, Bingo … you did it, Magnificent（绚丽的，宏伟的） , I knew you could do it, What a good helper, You’re very special to me, I trust you, What a treasure, Hurray for you, Beautiful work, You’re a real trooper, Well done, That’s so creative, You make my day, You’re a joy, Give me a big hug, You’re such a good listener, You figured it out, I love you, You’re so responsible, You remembered, You’re the best, You sure tried hard, I’ve got to hand it to you, I couldn’t be prouder of you, You light up（照亮，点亮） my day, I’m praying for you, You’re wonderful, I’m behind you, You’re so kind to your (brother/sister), You’re God’s special gift, I’m here for you.

我们能让这世界变得更夸姣么？这句话本身就是一个弊端的假定，以为这世界不好。反过来，我们应当说世界就是如许的，没有甚么尽对的好与不好。这是我们选择的糊口编制，也是我们喜好的糊口编制。换个角度对待事物：接管并试着理解。接管这世界，你会欢愉。“There is nothing either good or bad,but thinking makes it so.” — William Shakespeare, “Hamlet”One of the greatest sources of unhappiness, in my experience, is the difficulty we have in accepting things as they are.Without judgment, without wishing for otherwise.When we see something we don’t like, we wish it could be different — we cry out for something better. That may be human nature, or perhaps it’s something that’s ingrained（根深蒂固的） in our culture.The root of the unhappiness isn’t necessarily that we want things to be different, however: it’s that we decided we didn’t like it in the first place. We’ve judged it as bad, rather than saying, “It’s not bad or good, it just is.”An example: In my recent post, A Beautiful Method to Find Peace of Mind, quite a few commenters thought my outlook was negative, pessimistic（悲观的）, or fatalistic（宿命论的） … because I said you should expect people to mess up, expect things to go differently than you planned, and that you should embrace that.It’s too negative to expect things to go wrong, they said. However: it’s only negative if you see it as negative. If you judge it as bad.Instead, you could accept it as the way the world works — as the way things actually are. And try to understand why that is, and embrace it. As it is.This can be applied to whatever you do: whether it be how other people act at work, how politics works and how depressing the news media can be. Accept these things as they are, and try to understand why they’re that way.It’ll save you a lot of grief, because you’ll no longer say, “Oh, I wish things didn’t suck!”Does it mean you can never change things? Not at all. But change things not because you can’t accept things as they are, but because you enjoy the process of change, of learning and growing.Can we make this world a better place? Again, that’s assuming that it’s a bad place right now. But instead, you could say the world is just what it is — and that’s neither good nor bad. You can say that you’ll continue to try to do things to help others, to grow as a person, to make a difference in this world — not because you’re such a bad person now, or the world sucks, but because that’s the path you choose to take, because you enjoy that path.As you catch yourself judging, and wishing for different — and we all do it — try a different approach: accept, and understand. It might lead to some interesting results.

I suspect that the most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention. And especially if it’s given from the heart. When people are talking, there’s no need to do anything but receive them. Just take them in. Listen to what they’re saying. Care about it. Most times caring about it is even more important than understanding it. Most of us don’t value ourselves or our love enough to know this. It has taken me along time to believe in the power of simple saying, “I’m so sorry,” when someone is in pain. And meaning it. One of my patients told me that when she tried to tell her story people often interrupted to tell her that they once had something just like that happen to them. Then her pain became a story about themselves. Eventually she stopped talking to most people. It was just too lonely. We connect through listening. When we interrupt what someone is saying to let them know that we understand, we move the focus of attention to ourselves. When we listen, they know we care. Many people with cancer can talk about the relief ,of having someone just listen. I have even learned to respond to someone crying by just listening. In the old days I used to reach for伸手往拿 the tissues组织，面巾纸 until I realized that passing a person a tissue may be just another way to shut them down, to take them out of their experience of sadness and grief. Now I just listen. When they have cried all they need to cry, they find me there with them. This simple thing has not been that easy to learn. It certainly went against everything I had been taught since I was very young. I thought people listened only because they were too timid羞怯的，怯懦的 to speak or did not know the answer. A loving silence often has far more power to heal and to connect than the most well intentioned出于意向的，有诡计的 words.