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初中英語(yǔ)閱讀短文
適合初中學(xué)生閱讀的短文有哪些呢?下面小編為大家準(zhǔn)備了初中的英語(yǔ)閱讀短文，希望大家喜歡!
初中英語(yǔ)閱讀短文一：The Road To Happiness幸福之道
It is a commonplace among moralists that you cannot get happiness by pursuing it. This is only true if you pursue it unwisely. Gamblers at Monte Carlo are pursuing money, and most of them lose it instead, but there are other ways of pursuing money, which often succeed.
So it is with happiness. If you pursue it by means of drink, you are forgetting the hang-over. Epicurus pursued it by living only in congenial society and eating only dry bread, supplemented by a little cheese on feast days.
His method proved successful in his case, but he was a valetudinarian, and most people would need something more vigorous. For most people, the pursuit of happiness, unless supplemented in various ways, is too abstract and theoretical to be adequate as a personal rule of life. But I think that whatever personal rule of life you may choose it should not, except in rare and heroic cases, be incompatible with happiness.
There are a great many people who have all the material conditions of happiness, i.e. health and a sufficient income, and who, nevertheless, are profoundly unhappy. In such cases it would seem as if the fault must lie with a wrong theory as to how to live. In one sense, we may say that any theory as to how to live is wrong.
We imagine ourselves more different from the animals than we are. Animals live on impulse, and are happy as long as external conditions are favorable. If you have a cat it will enjoy life if it has food and warmth and opportunities for an occasional night on the tiles. Your needs are more complex than those of your cat, but they still have their basis in instinct. In civilized societies, especially in English-speaking societies, this is too apt to be forgotten.
People propose to themselves some one paramount objective, and restrain all impulses that do not minister to it. A businessman may be so anxious to grow rich that to this end he sacrifices health and private affections. When at last he has become rich, no pleasure remains to him except harrying other people by exhortations to imitate his noble example.
Many rich ladies, although nature has not endowed them with any spontaneous pleasure in literature or art, decide to be thought cultured, and spend boring hours learning the right thing to say about fashionable new books that are written to give delight, not to afford opportunities for dusty snobbism.
If you look around at the men and women whom you can call happy, you will see that they all have certain things in common. The most important of these things is an activity which at most gradually builds up something that you are glad to see coming into existence.
Women who take an instinctive pleasure in their children can get this kind of satisfaction out of bringing up a family. Artists and authors and men of science get happiness in this way if their own work seems good to them.
But there are many humbler forms of the same kind of pleasure. Many men who spend their working life in the city devote their weekends to voluntary and unremunerated toil in their gardens, and when the spring comes, they experience all the joys of having created beauty.
The whole subject of happiness has, in my opinion, been treated too solemnly. It had been thought that man cannot be happy without a theory of life or a religion. Perhaps those who have been rendered unhappy by a bad theory may need a better theory to help them to recovery, just as you may need a tonic when you have been ill. But when things are normal a man should be healthy without a tonic and happy without a theory.
It is the simple things that really matter. If a man delights in his wife and children, has success in work, and finds pleasure in the alternation of day and night, spring and autumn, he will be happy whatever his philosophy may be. If, on the other hand, he finds his wife fateful, his children's noise unendurable, and the office a nightmare; if in the daytime he longs for night, and at night sighs for the light of day, then what he needs is not a new philosophy but a new regimen----a different diet, or more exercise, or what not.
Man is an animal, and his happiness depends on his physiology more than he likes to think. This is a humble conclusion, but I cannot make myself disbelieve it. Unhappy businessmen, I am convinced, would increase their happiness more by walking six miles every day than by any conceivable change of philosophy.
道德家們常說(shuō)：幸福靠追求是得不到的。只有用不明智的方式去追求才是這樣。蒙特卡洛城的賭徒們追求金錢(qián)，但多數(shù)人卻把錢(qián)輸?shù)袅耍硗庖恍┳非蠼疱X(qián)的辦法卻常常成功。追求幸福也是一樣。如果你通過(guò)暢飲來(lái)追求幸福，那你就忘記了酒醉后的不適。埃畢丘魯斯追求幸福的辦法是只和志趣相投的人一起生活，只吃不涂黃油的面包，節(jié)日才加一點(diǎn)奶酪。他的辦法對(duì)他來(lái)說(shuō)是成功的，但他是個(gè)體弱多病的人，而多數(shù)人需要的是精力充沛。就多數(shù)人來(lái)說(shuō)，除非你有別的補(bǔ)充辦法，這樣追求快樂(lè)就過(guò)于抽象和脫離實(shí)際，不宜作為個(gè)人的生活準(zhǔn)則。不過(guò)，我覺(jué)得無(wú)論你選擇什么樣的生活準(zhǔn)則，除了那些罕見(jiàn)的和英雄人物的例子外，都應(yīng)該是和幸福相容的。
很多人擁有獲得幸福的全部物質(zhì)條件，即健康的身體和豐足的收入，可是他們非常不快樂(lè)。就這種情況來(lái)說(shuō)，似乎問(wèn)題處在生活理論的錯(cuò)誤上。從某種意義上講，我們可以說(shuō)任何關(guān)于生活的理論都是不正確的。我們和動(dòng)物的區(qū)別并沒(méi)有我們想象的那么大。動(dòng)物是憑沖動(dòng)生活的，只要客觀條件有利，它們就會(huì)快樂(lè)。如果你有一只貓，它只要有東西吃，感到暖和，偶爾晚上得到機(jī)會(huì)去尋歡，它就會(huì)很快活。你的需要比你的貓要復(fù)雜一些，但還是以本能為基礎(chǔ)的。在文明社會(huì)中，特別是在講英語(yǔ)的社會(huì)中，這一點(diǎn)很容易被忘卻。人們給自己定下一個(gè)最高的目標(biāo)，對(duì)一切不利于實(shí)現(xiàn)這一目標(biāo)的沖動(dòng)都加以克制。生意人可能因?yàn)榍型l(fā)財(cái)以致不惜犧牲健康和愛(ài)情。等他終于發(fā)了財(cái)，他除了苦苦勸人效法他的好榜樣而攪得別人心煩外，并沒(méi)有得到快樂(lè)。很多有錢(qián)的貴婦人，盡管自然并未賦予她們?nèi)魏涡蕾p文學(xué)或藝術(shù)的興趣，卻決意要使別人認(rèn)為她們是有教養(yǎng)的，于是他們花費(fèi)很多煩人的時(shí)間學(xué)習(xí)怎樣談?wù)撃切┝餍械男聲?shū)。這些書(shū)寫(xiě)出來(lái)是要給人以樂(lè)趣的，而不是要給人以附庸風(fēng)雅的機(jī)會(huì)的。
只要你觀察一下周?chē)切┠憧煞Q(chēng)之為幸福的男男女女，就會(huì)看出他們都有某些共同之處。在這些共同之處中有一點(diǎn)是最重要的：那就是活動(dòng)本身，它在大多數(shù)情況下本身就很有趣，而且可逐漸的使你的愿望得以實(shí)現(xiàn)。生性喜愛(ài)孩子的婦女，能夠從撫養(yǎng)子女中得到這種滿(mǎn)足。藝術(shù)家、作家和科學(xué)家如果對(duì)自己的工作感到滿(mǎn)意，也能以同樣的方式得到快樂(lè)。不過(guò)，還有很多是較低層次的快樂(lè)。許多在城里工作的人到了周末自愿地在自家的庭院里做無(wú)償?shù)膭趧?dòng)，春天來(lái)時(shí)，他們就可盡情享受自己創(chuàng)造的美景帶來(lái)的快樂(lè)。
在我看來(lái)，整個(gè)關(guān)于快樂(lè)的話(huà)題一向都被太嚴(yán)肅的對(duì)待過(guò)了。過(guò)去一直有這樣的看法：如果沒(méi)有一種生活的理論或者宗教信仰，人是不可能幸福的。也許那些由于理論不好才導(dǎo)致不快樂(lè)的人需要一種較好的理論幫助他們重新快活起來(lái)，就像你生過(guò)病需要吃補(bǔ)藥一樣。但是，正常情況下，一個(gè)人不吃補(bǔ)藥也應(yīng)當(dāng)是健康的;沒(méi)有理論也應(yīng)當(dāng)是幸福的。真正有關(guān)系的是一些簡(jiǎn)單的事情。如果一個(gè)男人喜愛(ài)他的妻子兒女，事業(yè)有成，而且無(wú)論白天黑夜，春去秋來(lái)，總是感到高興，那么不管他的理論如何，都會(huì)是快樂(lè)的。反之，如果他討厭自己的妻子，受不了孩子們的吵鬧，而且害怕上班;如果他白天盼望夜晚，而到了晚上又巴望著天明，那么，他所需要的就不是一種新的理論，而是一種新的生活——改變飲食習(xí)慣，多鍛煉身體等等。
人是動(dòng)物，他的幸福更多的時(shí)候取決于其生理狀況而非思想狀況。這是一個(gè)很庸俗的結(jié)論，然而我無(wú)法使自己懷疑它。我確信，不幸福的商人與其找到新的理論來(lái)使自己幸福，還不如每天步行六英里更見(jiàn)效。
初中英語(yǔ)閱讀短文二：If the Dream is Big Enough如果夢(mèng)想足夠大
I used to watch her from mykitchenwindow, she seemed so small as she muscled her way throughthecrowd of boys on the playground. The school was across thestreetfrom our home and I would often watch the kids as theyplayedduring recess. A sea of children, and yet to me, she stoodout fromthem all.I remr the first day I saw her playing basketball.
I watched in wonder as she ran circles around the other kids.Shemanaged to shoot jump shots just over their heads and into thenet.The boys always tried to stop her but no one could.I begantonotice her at other times, basketball in hand, playing alone.Shewould practice dribbling and shooting over and overagain,sometimes until dark.
One day I asked her why she practicedsomuch. She looked directly in my eyes and without a momentofhesitation she said, “I want to go to college. The only way Icango is if I get a scholarship. I like basketball. I decided thatifI were good enough, I would get a scholarship.
I am going toplaycollege basketball.
I want to be the best. My Daddy told me ifthedream is big enough, the facts don’t count.” Then she smiledandran towards the court to recap the routine I had seen overandover again.
Well, I had to give it to her—she was determined.Iwatched her through those junior high years and into highschool.Every week, she led her varsity team to victory.One day inhersenior year, I saw her sitting in the grass, head cradled inherarms.
I walked across the street and sat down in the coolgrassbeside her. Quietly I asked what was wrong. “Oh, nothing,”came asoft reply. “I am just too short.” The coach told her that at5’5”she would probably never get to play for a top ranked team—muchless offered a scholarship—so she should stop dreamingaboutcollege.She was heartbroken and I felt my own throat tightenas Isensed her disappointment.
I asked her if she had talked to herdadabout it yet.She lifted her head from her hands and told methather father said those coaches were wrong. They just didnotunderstand the power of a dream. He told her that if shereallywanted to play for a good college, if she truly wantedascholarship, that nothing could stop her except one thing — herownattitude. He told her again, “If the dream is big enough, thefactsdon’t count.”The next year, as she and her team went totheNorthern California Championship game, she was seen by acollege recruiter.
She was indeed offered a scholarship, a fullride, toa Division I, NCAA women’s basketball team. She was goingto getthe college education that she had dreamed of and workedtoward forall those years.It’s true: If the dream is big enough,the factsdon’t count.
我以前常常從廚房的窗戶(hù)看到她穿梭于操場(chǎng)上的一群男孩子中間，她顯得那么矮小。
學(xué)校在我家的街對(duì)面，我可以經(jīng)常看到孩子們?cè)谙抡n時(shí)間打球。盡管有一大群的孩子，但我覺(jué)得她跟其他的孩子截然不同。
我記得第一天看到她打籃球的情景。看著她在其他孩子旁邊兜來(lái)轉(zhuǎn)去，我感到十分驚奇。她總是盡力地跳起投籃，球恰好越過(guò)那些孩子的頭頂飛入籃筐。那些男孩總是拼命地阻止她，但沒(méi)有人可以做得到。
我開(kāi)始注意到她有時(shí)候一個(gè)人打球。她一遍遍地練習(xí)運(yùn)球和投籃，有時(shí)直到天黑。有一天我問(wèn)她為什么這么刻苦地練習(xí)。她直視著我的眼睛，不加思索地說(shuō):“我想上大學(xué)。只有獲得獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金我才能上大學(xué)。我喜歡打籃球，我想只要我打得好，我就能獲得獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金。我要到大學(xué)去打籃球。我想成為最棒的球員。我爸爸告訴我說(shuō)，心中有目標(biāo)，風(fēng)雨不折腰。”說(shuō)完她笑了笑，跑向籃球場(chǎng)，又開(kāi)始我之前見(jiàn)過(guò)的一遍又一遍的練習(xí)。
嘿，我服了她了——她是下定了決心了。我看著她這些年從初中升到高中。每個(gè)星期，她帶領(lǐng)的學(xué)校籃球代表隊(duì)都能夠獲勝。
高中那會(huì)兒的某一天，我看見(jiàn)她坐在草地上，頭埋在臂彎里。我穿過(guò)街道，坐到她旁邊的清涼的草地上。我輕輕地問(wèn)出什么事了。“哦，沒(méi)什么，”她輕聲回答，“只是我太矮了。”原來(lái)籃球教練告訴她，以五英尺五英寸的身材，她幾乎是沒(méi)有機(jī)會(huì)到一流的球隊(duì)去打球的——更不用說(shuō)會(huì)獲得獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金了——所以她應(yīng)該放棄想上大學(xué)的夢(mèng)想。
她很傷心，我也覺(jué)得自己的喉嚨發(fā)緊，因?yàn)槲腋杏X(jué)到了她的失望。我問(wèn)她是否與她的爸爸談過(guò)這件事。
她從臂彎里抬起頭，告訴我，她爸爸說(shuō)那些教練錯(cuò)了。他們根本不懂得夢(mèng)想的力量。他告訴她，如果真的想到一個(gè)好的大學(xué)去打籃球，如果她真的想獲得獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金，任何東西也不能阻止她，除非她自己不愿意。他又一次跟她說(shuō)：“心中有目標(biāo)，風(fēng)雨不折腰。”
第二年，當(dāng)她和她的球隊(duì)去參加北加利福尼亞州冠軍賽時(shí)，她被一位大學(xué)的招生人員看中了。她真的獲得了獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金，一個(gè)全面資助的獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金，并且進(jìn)入美國(guó)全國(guó)大學(xué)體育協(xié)會(huì)其中一隊(duì)女子甲組籃球隊(duì)。她將接受她曾夢(mèng)想并為之奮斗多年的大學(xué)教育。
是的，心中有目標(biāo)，風(fēng)雨不折腰。
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