第761期:英语美文-We are on a journey

 

今天这个文章我很喜欢，因为它提醒了我们时时刻刻的一种状态，那就是变化。不管你失败，成功，不作为或是你认为自己没有任何变化，即使这样，我们每一个人都会在以某种方式朝一个方向前进。

New Words:

tendency [ˈtendənsi] n. 倾向; 偏好; 性情; 趋势; 趋向;

ceaseless[ˈsiːsləs] adj.不停的;无休止的;

childish [ˈtʃaɪldɪʃ] adj. 孩子气的; 幼稚的;

magnetic [mæɡˈnetɪk] adj.像磁铁的; 有磁性的;

alternative [ɔːlˈtɜːnətɪv] n.可供选择的事物;

launch [lɔːntʃ] v.使(船，尤指新船)下水;

Wherever you are, and whoever you may be, there is one thing in which you and I are just alike at this moment, and in all the moments of our existence. We are not at rest; we are on a journey.

不论你处在什么地方，也不论你是什么人，不管是在此时此刻，还是在我们生命中的任何一个瞬间，有一件事对你我来说是恰巧相同的。我们不是在休息，我们是在一次旅途中。

Our life is a movement, a tendency, ceaseless progress toward an unseen goal. We are gaining something, or losing something, every day. Even when our position and our character seem to remain precisely¹ the same, they are changing. For the mere² advance of time is a change. It is not the same thing to have a bare field in January and in July. The season makes the difference.

我们的生活是一种运动，一种趋势，是向一个看不见的目标稳定而不停的进步。每一天，我们都会赢得某些东西，或者会失去某些东西。甚至当我们的位置和我们的性格看起来跟以前完全相似时，它们事实上仍然在变化着。仅仅是时间的前进就是一种变化。对于一块荒地来说，在1月和7月是不同的。季节会制造差异。

The limitations that are childlike in the children are childish in the man. Everything that we do is a step in one direction or another. Even the failure to do something is in itself a deed. It sets us forward or backward. The action of the negative pole of a magnetic needle is just as real as the action of the positive pole. To decline is to accept, the other alternative.

能力上的缺陷对于孩子来说是一种可爱的品质，但对于大人来说就是一种幼稚的表现。我们做的每一件事都是朝着一个或另一个方向前进一步。甚至“没有做任何事情”这件事本身也是一种行为。它让我们前进或后退。一磁针阴极的作用和阳极的作用都是一样真实的。拒绝也是一种接受，这些都是二中择一的选择。

Are you nearer to your port today than you were yesterday? Yes, you must be a little nearer to some port or other; for since your ship was first launched upon the sea of life, you have never been still for a single moment; the sea is too deep, you could not find an anchorage if you would; there can be no pause until you come into port.

你今天比昨天更接近你的港口了吗？是的，你必须接近某一个港口或者其他港口。自从你第一次被抛入生活之海，你的船连一分钟都没有静止过，海是如此之深，你也不可能找到一个抛锚的地方，于是你不可能停下来，直到你到达自己的港口。

1 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

2 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。