英语背诵美文30篇　英文＋翻译 
第一篇：Youth 青春
Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple1) knees; it is a matter of will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.
Youth means a temperamental2) predominance3) of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting4) our ideals.
Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.
Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonders, the unfailing childlike appetite of what’s next and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station: So long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, c
heer, courage and power from men and from the infinite5), so long are you young.
When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism6) and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at 20; but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at 80.
[Annotation:]
1）supple adj. 柔软的
2）temperamental adj. 由气质引起的
3）predominance n. 优势
4) desert vt. 抛弃
5) the Infinite上帝
6) cynicism n. 玩世不恭
青春
    青春不是年华，而是心境；青春不是桃面、丹唇、柔膝，而是深沉的意志、恢弘的想象、炙热的感情；青春是生命的深泉在涌动。
    青春气贯长虹，勇锐盖过怯弱，进取压倒苟安。如此锐气，二十年后生而有之，六旬男子则更多见。年岁有加，并非垂老，理想丢弃，方堕暮年。
    岁月悠悠，衰弱只及肌肤；热忱抛却，颓废必致灵魂。忧烦，惶恐，丧失自信，定使心灵扭曲，意气如灰。
    无论年届花甲，抑或二八芳龄，心中皆有生命之欢乐，奇迹之诱惑，孩童般天真久盛不衰。人人皆有一台天线，只要你从天上人间接受美好、希望、欢乐、勇气和力量的信号，你就青春永驻，风华常存。
    一旦天线倒塌，锐气使冰雪覆盖、玩世不恭、自暴自弃油然而生，即使年方二八，实已垂垂老矣，然则只要竖起天线，捕捉乐观信号，你就有望在八十高龄告别尘寰时仍觉年轻。
第二篇： Three Days to See(Excerpts)假如给我三天光明（节选）
All of us have read thrilling1) stories in which the hero had only a limited and specified time to live. Sometimes it was as long as a year; sometimes as short as twenty-four hours. But always we were interested in discovering just how the doomed man chose to spend his last days or his last hours. I speak, of course, of free men who have a choice, not condemned2) criminals whose sphere of activities is strictly delimited3).
Such stories set us thinking, wondering what we should do under similar circumstances. What events, what experiences, what associations should we crowd into those last hours as mortal beings? What happiness should we find in reviewing the past, what regrets?
Sometimes I have thought it would be an excellent rule to live each day as if we should die tomorrow. Such an attitude would emphasize sharply the values of life. We should live each day with a gentleness, a vigor, and a keenness of appreciation which are often lost when time stretches before us in the constant panorama4) of more days and months and years to come. There are those, of course, who would adopt the Epicurean5) motto of “Eat, drink, and be merry“, but most people would be chastened6) by the certainty of impending7) death.
In stories the doomed hero is usually saved at the last minute by some stroke of fortune, but almost always his sense of values is changed. He becomes more appreciative of the meaning of life and its permanent spiritual values. It has often been noted that those who live, or have lived, in the shadow of death bring a mellow sweetness to everything they do.
Most of us, however, take life for granted. We know that one day we must die, but usually we picture that day as far in the future. When we are in buoyant health, death is all but unimaginable. We seldom think of it. The days stretch out in an endless vista8). So we go about our petty tasks, hardly aware of our listless9) attitude toward life.
 
The same lethargy10), I am afraid, characterizes the use of all our faculties and senses. Only the deaf appreciate hearing, only the blind realize the manifold11) blessings that lie in sight. Particularly does this observation apply to those who have lost sight and hearing in adult life. But those who have never suffered impairment of sight or hearing seldom make the fullest use of these blessed faculties. Their eyes and ears take in all sights and sounds
hazily, without concentration and with little appreciation. It is the same old story of not being grateful for what we have until we lose it, of not being conscious of health until we are ill.
I have often thought it would be a blessing if each human being were stricken blind and deaf for a few days at some time during his early adult life. Darkness would make him more appreciative of sight; silence would teach him the joys of sound.
[Annotation:]
1) thrilling adj. 惊心动魄的
2) condemned adj. 被宣告无罪的
3) delimit vt. 定界限
4) panorama n. 全景
5) epicurean adj. 伊壁鸠鲁的，享乐主义的
6) chasten vt. 斥责，惩罚
7) impending adj. 迫近的
8) vista n. 前景，展望
9) listless adj. 冷漠的，倦怠的，情绪低落的
10) lethargy n. 无生气
11) manifold adj. 多方面的
假如给我三天光明（节选）
    我们都读过震撼人心的故事，故事中的主人公只给再活一段很有限的时光，有时长达一年，有时却短至一日。但我们总是想要知道，注定将要离世的人会选择如何度过自己最后的时光。当然，我说的是那些有选择权利的自由人，而不是那些活动范围受到严格限定的死囚。
    这样的故事让我们思考，在类似的处境下，我们该做些什么呢？作为终有一死的人，在临终的几个小时内我们该做什么事、经历些什么或做哪些联想？回忆往昔，什么使我们开心快
乐？什么又使我们悔恨不已？
values翻译    有时我想，把每天都当作生命中的最后一天来过，也不失为一个极好的生活法则。这种态度会使人格外重视生命的价值。我们每天都应该以优雅的姿态、充沛的精力、抱着感恩之心来生活。但当时间以无休止的日、月和年在我们面前流逝时，我们却常常没有了这种感觉。当然，也有人奉行“吃、喝、享受”的享乐主义信条，但绝大多数人还是会受到即将到来的死亡的惩罚。

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