书城外语每天都是精彩:英语诵读美文240篇(英汉对照)
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第132章

A Little at a Time

Guidance for Reciting

Ordinary people merely think how they shall spend their time;a man of talent tries to use it.

T here is an important trick in this time-using formula:you must get into your work quickly. If you have but five minutes for writing,you can't afford to waste four chewing your pencil. You must make your mental preparations beforehand,and concentrate on your task almost instantly when the time comes. Fortunately,rapid concentration is easier than most of us realize.

I confess I have never learned how to let go easily at the end of the five or ten minutes. But life can be counted on to supply interruptions. Carl Walter has had a tremendous influence on my life. To him I owe the discovery that even very short periods of time adds up to all useful hours I need,if I plunge in without delay.

Notes

1.formula [5fC:mjulE] n. 公式,配方,规则;婴儿食品

2.get into 进入特殊状态;投入

3.chew [tFu:] v. 咀嚼,嚼碎,细想

4.beforehand [bi5fC:hAnd] ad. 预先,事先

5.let go 停止思考

6.tremendous [tri5mendEs] a. 巨大的,惊人的

7.plunge [plQndV] v. 投入,跳进,使……陷入

分秒必争

诵读导言

普通人只想到如何度过时间,有才能的人设法利用时间。

利用时间的准则有个重要的诀窍:你必须迅速投入工作。如果你只有5分钟写作的时间,你浪费不起4分钟咬铅笔思考。你得事先做好思想准备,时刻一到,就尽快集中精力干起来。幸运的是,马上集中精力比我们大多数人所意识到的要容易些。

我承认我从来没有学会怎样在5分钟或10分钟后轻易停止思考。然而可以意料到生活总会被人来打扰。卡尔?沃尔特对我一生的影响极大。我感激他使我发现,即使是很短的时刻,只要我分秒不失地一头钻进工作,加起来就成为我需要的特别有用的几个钟头。

注:John Erskine [1879-1951]美国教育家、音乐家和小说家,任教于哥伦比亚大学,曾任纽约交响乐团钢琴独奏演员,早期写过讽刺小说,作品有《亚当和夏娃》、《我的音乐生活》等。

口语点津

1.Every little helps 点点滴滴,有其助益。一颗颗粮食堆成山,一块块铜板成千万。偏远地区的孩子没学上,我们有义务帮助他们。希望大家多支持,捐钱、捐书、捐铅笔,什么都行。多捐多感谢、少捐也不嫌,“Every little helps.”。

2.“口香糖”怎么说?吃口香糖时,你是不是在不断地用牙咬、咀嚼,所以口香糖即为“chewing gum”。

3.这一周有“世界睡眠日”在March 21和“世界水日”在March 22。搜索相关资料和同学进行主题交流吧。