最新四级主题美文

2021-06-13 经典美文

　　Experiencing Scotland 苏格兰的风情

　　Scotland is a unique and austere place, laden with history, where you can find aristocratic palaces and castles, as well as the traditional parades in national costumes. It has some of the most beautiful cities in Europe, a living testimony of a proud and splendid past.

　　In order to see and discover the true soul of Scotland today, what forged the character of this splendid region, we have to go towards the northern regions, to the Grampian Mountains. Beautiful and unspoiled, it was difficult to farm. The Scots subdued the environment with simple spades and strong arms.

　　The history of this ancient struggle, and its people's ancient love affair with the hard land, is enclosed within the walls of the Angus Folk Museum. You are able to get a feel of the typical rural atmosphere of times past from the everyday artifacts displayed here.

　　From coastal Aberdeen in towards the interior of the Grampian Mountains there runs the Castle Trail, a road that touches on many fortresses, which are witnesses of continual revolts against the dominion of neighboring England in Scottish history.

　　Perhaps the most uplifting moment for Scottish autonomy is the one experienced inside this ancient abbey of Arbroath, where, in 1320; the Declaration of Independence was celebrated, at the instigation of King Robert the Bruce. He carried out the plan for autonomy drawn up by the great popular hero William Wallace, to whom cinema has dedicated the wonderful film "Braveheart", the winner of five Oscars.

　　This is Glamis Castle. It is often remembered for being the residence of King Macbeth and Queen Elizabeth in her childhood. Among the most assiduous guests here are the inevitable ghosts, which are nourished, if not actually created, by ancient popular beliefs. These have been handed down over the centuries by a people inclined to live with mystery, with the forces of the supernatural.

　　Another attraction here is a legendary monster: the Loch Ness Monster. Is it real or imaginary, this monster, which has been nicknamed Nessie, has collected a good 3000 sightings over the last 50 years? To fuel the debate about the monster, and perhaps also curiosity about the lake, a price of 500,000 pounds sterling has been put on Nessie's head.

　　The true flag of Scotland, tartan, is recognisable from the brightly coloured plaid patterns which are used to distinguish the various clans. Over the last few decades this fabric has made a comeback and is part of the daily life of this country.

　　The typical Scottish garment, the kilt, is de rigeur when the Scots play the Great Highland bagpipes, especially when they march in parades.

　　Bagpipes and dancing open the competitions of local sporting events, which are called Highland Gatherings. The games, which have strange rules, involve a spirit that has more to do with brute force than with athletics.

　　感受苏格兰

　　苏格兰是一个独特的地方，自然条件虽不得天独厚，历史的厚重感却随处可见。豪门望族的府第与城堡历历在目，仪仗队的士兵也还穿着传统服装。这里有全欧洲最美的城市，诉说着苏格兰昔日的荣光。

　　想看看真正的苏格兰，追寻这里民族精神的源泉，就得去北部的格兰扁山区。格兰扁山区景色怡人，还没有受到现代文明的污染。格兰扁一度不适合耕作，倔强的苏格兰人，凭着双手征服了这片土地。

　　苏格兰先民的艰苦劳作与他们自古对这片贫瘠土地的眷恋，在这个博物馆里一览无余。这里展出的都是平常的物品，营造出往日乡间的氛围，使人油然而生怀旧之情。

　　从沿海的阿伯丁，有一条古堡之路，一直蜿蜒到格兰扁山区深处。沿途很多昔日的要塞，都是苏格兰在历史上不断反抗英格兰统治的见证。

　　苏格兰争取自治的过程中最大快人心的时刻莫过于1320年在这个修道院，布鲁斯国王鼓动百姓大肆庆贺独立宣言签订。布鲁斯采纳传奇英雄威廉·华勒斯所献的计策，完成了自治大业，这个故事后来被改编成电影《勇敢的心》，该片曾摘取了五项奥斯卡奖。

　　这座城堡之所以名闻遐迩，却是因为曾经的两位主人——苏格兰国王麦克白与幼年时的伊丽莎白女王。如今这里最相看无厌的客人当数传说中挥之不去的幽灵，这些传说即使不是源于世代相传的民间故事，也大有借鉴化用的嫌疑。苏格兰人似乎生来就笃信超自然的力量，因此才有了这些传说。

　　这里游人如织的另一个原因则是尼斯湖的怪兽。真假姑且不论，这个昵称Nessie的.怪兽在过去的半个世纪中已经吸引了三千余名游客。如今它头上有五十万英镑的悬赏，使得学术界的争论日益激烈，或许也会令游人的好奇日盛吧。

　　苏格兰格子呢是苏格兰真正的旗帜。它显著的花格子图案曾经是区分不同宗族的标志。在过去几十年里，格子呢在苏格兰再度流行，如今则已在日常生活中不可或缺。

　　苏格兰传统的褶裙按照礼节是应该在演奏高地风笛时穿的，尤其是列队前进的时候。

　　高地风笛与利尔舞揭开了高地运动盛会的序幕。运动会的比赛项目规则奇特，与其说是田径比赛，不如说是大力士的较量。

　　英语美文 Competition

　　It is a plain fact that we are in a world where competition is going on in all areas and at all levels.This is exciting.Yet, on the other hand, competition breeze a pragmatic attitude.People choose to learn things that are useful,and do things that are profitable.Todays' college education is also affected by this general sense of utilitarianism. Many college students choose business nor computing programming as their majors convinced that this professions are where the big money is. It is not unusual to see the college students taking a part time jobs as a warming up for the real battle.I often see my friends taking GRE tests, working on English or computer certificates and taking the driving licence to get a licence. Well, I have nothing against being practical. As the competition in the job market gets more and more intense, students do have reasons to be practical. However, we should never forget that college education is much more than skill training. Just imagine, if your utilitarianism is prevails on campus, living no space for the cultivation of students' minds,or nurturing of their soul. We will see university is training out well trained spiritless working machines.If utilitarianism prevails society, we will see people bond by mind-forged medicals lost in the money-making ventures;we will see humality lossing their grace and dignity, and that would be disastrous.I'd like to think society as a courage and people persumed for profit or fame as a horese that pulls the courage.Yet without the driver picking direction the courage would go straight and may even end out in a precarious situation .A certificate may give you some advantage, but broad horizons, positive attitudes and personal integrities ,these are assets you cannot acquire through any quick fixed way.In today's world, whether highest level of competition is not of skills or expertise , but vision and strategy. Your intellectual quality largely determinds how far you can go in your career.

　　英语美文 Chinese Undergraduates in the US

　　Each year, elite American universities and liberal arts colleges, such as Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Amherst and Wellesley, offer a number of scholarships to Chinese high school graduates to study in their undergraduate programs. Four years ago, I received such a scholarship from Yale.

　　What are these Chinese undergrads like? Most come from middle-class families in the big urban centers of China. The geographical distribution is highly skewed, with Shanghai and Beijing heavily over-represented. Outside the main pool, a number of Yale students come from Changsha and Ningbo,swhereseach year American Yale graduates are sent to teach English.

　　The overwhelming majority of Chinese undergraduates in the US major in science, engineering or economics. Many were academic superstars in their high schools - gold medallists in international academic Olympiads or prize winners in national academic contests. Once on US campuses, many of them decide to make research a lifelong commitment.

　　Life outside the classroom constitutes an important part of college life. At American universities the average student spends less than thirteen hours a week in class. Many Chinese students use their spare time to pick up some extra pocket money. At Yale, one of the most common campus jobs is washing dishes in the dining halls. Virtually all Chinese undergraduates at Yale work part-time in the dining halls at some point in their college years. As they grow in age and sophistication, they upgrade to better-paying and less stressful positions. The more popular and interesting jobs include working as a computer assistant, math homework grader, investment office assistant and lab or research assistant. The latter three often lead to stimulating summer jobs.

　　Student activities are another prominent feature of American college life. Each week there are countless student-organized events of all sorts - athletic, artistic, cultural, political or social (i.e. just for fun). New student organizations are constantly being created, and Chinese undergrads contribute to this ferment. Sport looms much larger on US campuses than in China. At Yale, intramural sports from soccer to water polo take place all year long; hence athletic talent is a real social asset. One of the Chinese students at Yale several years ago was a versatile sportsman. His athletic talents and enthusiastic participation in sporting events, combined with his other fine qualities, made him a popular figure in his residential college.

　　英语美文 I Want to Know

　　It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

　　It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive.

　　It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain!

　　It doesn’t interest me if the story you’re telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. if you can be faithful and therefore be trustworthy.

　　It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after a night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done for the children.

　　It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away. I want to know if you can be alone with yourself, and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

　　It doesn’t interest me who you are, how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

　　I want to know if you can sit with pain, without moving to hide it

　　I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being human.

　　I want to know if you can see beauty , if you can source your life from god’s presence. I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes!”

　　英语美文 Beauty

　　there were a sensitivity and a beauty to her that have nothing to do with looks. She was one to be listened to, whose words were so easy to take to heart.

　　I have thought about her often over the years and how she struggled in a society that places an incredible premium on looks, class, wealth and all the other fineries of life. She suffered from a disfigurement that cannot be made to look attractive. I know that her condition hurt her deeply.

　　Would her life have been different had she been pretty? Chances are it would have. And yet there were a sensitivity and a beauty to her that had nothing to do with looks. She was one to be listened to, whose words were so easy to take to heart. Her words came from a wounded but loving heart, very much like all hearts, but she had more of a need to be aware of it, to live with it and learn from it. She possessed a fine-tuned sense of beauty. Her only fear in life was the loss of a friend.

　　It is said that the true nature of being is veiled. The labor of words, the expression of art, the seemingly ceaseless buzz that is human thought all have in common the need to get at what really is so. The hope to draw close to and possess the truth of being can be a feverish one. In some cases it can even be fatal, if pleasure is one's truth and its attainment more important than life itself. In other lives, though, the search for what is truthful gives life.

　　The truth of her life was a desire to see beyond the surface for a glimpse of what it is that matters. She found beauty and grace and they befriended her, and showed her what is real.

　　英语美文 New Theories on Keeping Slim

　　Year after year cook books and diet books are the biggest seller, how not to eat it once you’ve learned how to cook it. To sell a diet book you need some crazy idea of what to eat or not to eat. Here’s a peanut butter diet book, the ice cream diet book, the bikini diet, none of these books agrees on what you should or shouldn’t eat.

　　The Atkins Diet has been popular for year, Atkins make nutritionists mad by saying you can eat just about all the fat you want, as long as you don’t eat many carbohydrates, sugar and bread. I like Atkins because I cook with butter. The Scarsdale Diet was a popular fad for several years, it's a chart in here indicating what you ought to weigh. It Says a woman five feet four ought weigh between 110 and 123 pounds. If you’re a man five foot eight, Doctor Tarnower said you should weigh between 137 and 153 pounds. Well I’m a man five foot eight, who weighs between 205 and 206 pounds, according to him I should be six feet six inches tall.

　　Doctor Phil has a new book out, looks good but I’d be afraid Doctor Phil’s diet might make bald. The Pritikin Diet, everything is non-fat milk in these diets. That’s why kids aren’t drinking milk anymore: tastes like fat-free dishwater. They only have charts listing things you could eat, like half a piece of celery of 4.5 grams of applesause. Is there anyone who knows what a gram of applesauce look like?

　　This is the most popular book these days, the South Beach Diet Book. There are some surprises in here, it ahs a list of foods to avoid and one of them is apples. Maybe that’s because apples are bad for the doctor’s business, “an apple a day keeps a doctor without pay.”

　　You’ve all seen the diet ads at the back of bad magazines, before after, she took Hydroxycut to lose weight. Before, midpoint, after, boy, she’s had that bathing suit a long while. If I really wanted to lose weight though I know what I’d do, I’d cut my eyebrows.

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