高中课外阅读-英语美文欣赏15(中英双语)

英语美文欣赏15

个性的价值被高估了

Have you ever thought about what your own personality is like?

你有没有想过，你自己的个性到底是怎样的？

If you are asked to describe yourself with three words, which three words would you choose?

如果让你用3个词来概括你自己，你会选择哪3个单词？

Or, do you actually have no idea what your own personality is like?

还是说，其实你自己并不清楚自己的个性是怎样的？

Are you actually a person with no personality?

或者你其实是个没有什么个性的人？

But then again, is personality really so important?

但是，话说回来，个性这个东西真的那么重要吗？

Kenya Hara, a leading design personality in Japan, once said:

日本的设计大师原研哉有一句名言：

The value of personality, as well as the explicit expression of likes and dislikes, have been unnecessarily overestimated.

个性的价值，以及明确表达喜欢、不喜欢的态度，都被不必要地高估了。

It is a good thing that we live in a society where all people are free to express their desires.

我们身处一个所有人都能自由表达其欲望的社会，这是一件好事。

But freedom can also bring confusion.

但自由也会带来迷失。

What some people are really seeking is not to enjoy the freedom itself, but to force others to see their freedom.

有些人真正在寻求的已经不是享受自由本身，而是强行让别人看见自己的自由。

For exampl e, “I want to eat Mac Donald’s” and “Mac Donald’s will do” both mean to eat Mac Donald’s.

例如，“我想吃麦当劳”和“麦当劳就行”表达的本来都是去吃麦当劳。

But it seems that the former embodies a person’s independence, while the latter reflects the lack of assertiveness.

但似乎前者体现了一个人的独立，而后者体现的是没主见。

However, is this really necessary?

然而，这样做真的有必要吗？

Is one’s daily performance of independence with a variety of acts not an

embodiment of being not independent?

每天用各种行为强行表现自己的独立，难道不恰好就是不独立的表现？

An independent person will indeed have a personality, but a person with personality may not necessarily be independent.

一个独立的人的确会是有个性的，但一个有个性的人可并不一定有多独立。

They might just be a slave of vanity, craving the attention of others every day.

他们或许只是虚荣心的奴隶罢了，每天渴求着别人的注意力。

What do you really need, freedom and independence, or a tag that hangs on you?

你真正需要的东西，是自由和独立本身，还是一个挂在身上的标签？

It seems that most people have not figured out this issue.

很多人似乎并没有把这个问题想清楚。

自己的人生，只有自己能安排On a bench in Regen’s Park, London, on October 7, 1970, a young man studying for MBA degree at London Business School met an Irish girl who first arrived in London.

1970年的10月7日，在伦敦摄政公园的一个长椅上，一位在伦敦商学院读MBA的小伙子，遇见了一位初到伦敦的爱尔兰姑娘。

The young man was about to graduate from the business school and become a nine-to-fiver.

男生马上要从商学院毕业，眼看着就要过上“朝九晚五”的生活了。

As a matter of fact, he was going to become an engineer at Chrysler Corporation.

事实上，他正要去汽车公司克莱斯勒做一名工程师。

However, his life trajectory was about to change because of the girl in front of him.

然而，他的这个人生轨迹即将因为眼前的这个女孩而改变。

The two of them fell in love at first sight and married a year later.

他们两人一见钟情，并在一年后结婚了。

Normally, they would probably each get a stable job and live a middle-class life day in and day out.

按照正常的生活轨迹，他们大概会各自找一份安定的工作，然后过着每天千篇一律的中产阶级生活。

But they think they want more freedom in their life.

但他们觉得，自己还没过够自由自在的生活。

As a result, the young couple bought a small car a year later and started an

overland journey through Europe and Asia.

于是，这对小夫妻在一年后买了一辆小破车，开始了一场横跨欧亚大陆的旅行。

Eventually, they crossed the whole Oceania and arrived in Australia.

最终，他们穿过大洋洲，来到了澳大利亚；

Here they met with many other people who want to travel on their own, all of whom are eager to know the details of their travels.

在这里，他们碰到了其他很多也想自助旅行的人，这些人都很急切地想知道他们旅行的各种细节。

So the couple published a book to share their travel experiences.

于是，这对小夫妻出版了一本书，来专门讲述自己的旅游经历。

In the end, they opened a company that popularized all kinds of travel knowledge and experience and thus became the richest backpackers in the world.

最终，他们开了一家公司，普及各种旅游知识、分享各种旅游经验，并因此成为了世界上最富有的背包客。

The young man is called Tony Wheeler, and the Irish girl is Mauren Wheeler.

这个男生，叫做托尼·惠勒，这个爱尔兰姑娘，叫做莫琳·惠勒。

That is how Lonely Planet was born.

孤独星球这家公司，就此诞生。

如果目标太远大，就不要注视它You may know that Taylor Swift is a creative and dramatic singer.

你可能知道霉霉是一个既有创意又有戏剧性的歌手。

You may know that she is also a songwriter.

你可能也知道她还是个写歌人。

But if you assume that all her commercial success came from herself, then you are wrong.

但你如果以为霉霉的商业成功完全是因为她自己，那你就错了。

There are a lot of people who've made great contribution to this icon's triumph.

她的辉煌，是很多人共同努力的结果。

And one of the most important ones of them all is Jack Antonoff.

而这其中最重要的人之一，就是杰克·安托诺夫。

He is Taylor's producer and a musician himself.

他是霉霉的制作人，同时自己也是一个音乐人。

Don't get me wrong. Jack is not just a producer for Taylor Swift.

别搞错了，杰克并不是霉霉的“一个”制作人。

He is Taylor Swift's main producer.

他是霉霉的主要制作人。

2017 has been a fruitful year for him, because besides Taylor's new album Reputation he also produced quite a lot other eye-catching pop records like Lorde's Melodrama and St. Vincent's Masseduction.

2017 年对他来说是硕果累累的一年，因为他不光为霉霉创作了新专辑Reputation，同时还制作出了其他很多夺人眼球的流行音乐，例如洛德的Melodrama 以及圣文森特的Masseduction。

Being creative is not easy for anyone, even if it's someone as productive as Jack Antonoff that we're talking about.

想做个有创意的人并不是一件容易的事，这对谁来说都一样，即使是想杰克·安托诺夫这样高产的人也不例外。

And his advice is:

而他的建议是：

If it's too big, don't look at it.

如果目标太过远大，那就不要注视它。

“If, on January 1, 2017, someone laid out in front of me that I was going to make the Lorde record and the St. Vincent record and the stuff with Taylor Swift, I’d say I couldn’t do it.

“如果2017 年的 1 月有人说我会给洛德、圣文森特还有霉霉做出这些大作，我肯定会说我做不到。

But I knew they were going to get done. You slowly chip away at it one day at a time and keep your head down.

但我当时知道这些事最终总肯定会被做出来。你所需要做的，就是每天都多做一点，闷头做就好了。

If it’s too big, don’t look at it.

如果目标太过远大，那就不要去注视它。

If you want to do something massive, don’t look at it, because all you’re going to see is why it won’t work.

如果你想完成一件大事，那就不要总是盯着它看，因为那样的话你只能看到做不到的理由。

The killer of productivity is reality.”

创造力的头号杀手，是现实。”

This is the advice that Antonoff shared.

以上就是安托诺夫的建议。

And by the way, the time he usually wakes up is between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m.

啊，对了，他通常起床的时间是中午11 点到12 点之间。

Right, he is not an early bird. And that's something to be despised by nearly all the success books.

是的，他并不是一个早起鸟。这是几乎所有成功学书籍里都在鄙视的。

But apparently he is teaching a lesson way more important than anything they

taught in those books:

但是显然，他教会我们的东西，比这些书里的任何东西都重要得多：

Life is a mess. It's already hard even if someone gave you a plan to follow.

生活就是一团乱麻，即使已经有人给你订好了计划，你过得也不会轻松。

It's much harder if your job is to create something new.

而如果你的工作是创造新东西，那就更难了。

There is no shortcut for anything.

世上没有什么捷径可以走。

You just try everything you can and deal with it when something goes wrong.

你只能尽力尝试一切你能做到的东西，然后在出问题的时候硬着头皮去应对。

不要瞧不起稳定的生活

Chances are high that you’ve heard such things:

你应该听过这样的论断吧：

Don’t indulge yourself in safety. That’s like boiling a frog in warm water. It will slowly kill you and you won’t even notice it.

不要贪图安逸的环境，那是温水煮青蛙，会在不知不觉中杀死你；

You should get out of your comfort zone. Go for some challenges. Only by doing that can you grow stronger.

走出自己的舒适区，去接受挑战，这样才能变强；

You can only really learn what’s useful when you are facing immediate crisis. Nobody grows in a stable environment.

人只有在危机之中才能学到真正有用的东西，在稳定的环境中是得不到成长的。

And I only have one sentence for all these soup:

对于这些鸡汤，我只想说一句话：

Bullshit.

狗屁。

Don’t let yourself be fooled by those them.

不要被它们冲昏了头脑。

And don’t despise a stable life.

不要瞧不起稳定的生活。

This balanced state of life is a rare treasure.

这种平衡的生活状态是一种非常珍贵的资源。

So many young people fight like hell in those major companies not because they enjoy the thrill of challenges but because they want to make such balance for themselves.

多少年轻人在大公司里艰难求生，并不是在享受竞争的刺激，而是恳望能达到这样的平衡。

The ultimate skill for survival has never been the spirit of adventure or the ability to endure suffering.

生存所需要的基本技能从来就不是冒险精神，也不是什么吃苦的能力；

It is the ability of managing risks.

而是管理风险的能力。

That’s what you should learn.

这才是你该学的。

找准了前进方向，真的很幸福

I remember there is a sentence in the movie Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

我记得电影《午夜巴塞罗那》中有一句话：

"She doesn't know what she likes but she knows what she doesn't like."

“她并不知道她喜欢什么，她只知道她不喜欢什么。”

This sentence is describing Cristina.

这句话是在形容克里斯蒂娜。

Back then I found this sentence really attractive. But that was when I was a foolish child and didn't know yet how hard life can be.

当时，我觉得这句话真的很有吸引力。但那时的我只是个傻里傻气的孩子，还不知道生活能有多艰难。

Now I find no charm in this expression. I only see confusion and pain in it.

而现在，我已经觉得这句话毫无魅力。我只在里面看到了困惑与痛苦。

Not knowing what to do is the greatest suffering in the world.

不知道做什么，这真的是世上最大的苦难了。

I've suffered it, in my life and in my career.

我承受过这种苦难，在生活中和事业中都承受过。

The beauty that I once assumed I would find in this state of vacancy never existed. It only seems to be beauty when you see it in someone else's life.

我曾经以为这种真空状态里蕴含的那种美，其实根本就不存在。它只有在发生于别人身上的时候，才看起来是美的。

When it happens to you. Believe me. It's not beautiful at all.

当它发生在你身上时，相信我，真的一点都不美。

Now I really cherish the goals that I've found or set for myself.

现在，我真的很珍惜那些我为自己找到或者创造的目标。

Life can only be happy if you find something to work for.

只有当你有奋斗目标的时候，生活才可能幸福。

So search for it when you still have time. End your suffering while you can.

所以，趁你还有时间，去寻找他们吧。在你还有能力的时候，结束掉自己的苦难。

失败才是真正的财富

Have you ever failed?

你曾经失败过吗？

If you haven't, I suggest you try some.

如果你没有，那我建议你去尝试一下。

I have failed, many times.

我失败过，太多次了。

And some of these failures were even painful.

而这些失败之中有一些是很惨痛的。

But I cherish them more than I cherish my success.

但我珍惜它们，更甚于我珍惜我的成功。

Success sometimes makes you numb .

成功有时候会让你麻木。

But failures make you awake. Failures are cleansing.

但失败则会让你清醒。失败让你觉得神清气爽。

Failing is not necessarily losing. Neither does a failure make you a loser.

失败并不一定意味着输。失败了，也并不代表你就是个失败者。

Failing is just the name we give to the state you stay in until you succeed.

我们只是用失败来称呼成功之前的那种状态而已。

A failure is a precious opportunity to learn new things.

一次失败是一次学习新东西的好机会。

And trust me. You always remember what you learn in failures better than those you learn in success.

而且，相信我。你永远会把失败中所学的东西记得比成功中所学的东西更牢固。

Failing doesn't mean you lost something forever. It only means that you didn't get it yet and you have to find another way to get it.

一次失败并不意味着你就永远失去了什么。它只是意味着你现在还没得到它，而你需要想另一个办法去得到它。

And isn't that a treasture? A new direction to think.

而这难道不是一份宝藏吗？一个全新的思考方向。

Don't pray for easy success. That' a curse.

请不要祈求唾手可得的成功。那是一种诅咒。

Pray for hard failure.

去祈求重大的失败吧。

As long as it doesn't kill you, it will definitely make you stronger.

只要它没能将你杀死，那它必将使你更强大。

读这5种书的人，境界才能高What books should I read?

我应该读什么书？

What's the purpose of reading books?

读书的目的又是什么？

That's two questions I've been asking myself my whole life.

这是两个我一辈子都在问自己的问题。

For the second question, I guess I've already got the answer.

对于第二个问题，我觉得我已经有了答案。

I read as much as I can so that I can be a man with vision .

我尽我所能读书，是为了成为一个有境界的人。

I think that's the ultimate goal of reading. And I think that's the best gift reading can bring you.

我认为这就是读书的终极目的。我还觉得这是读书能带给你的最好礼物。

And for the first question, I can't say I have the best answer. But I do have some experience to share.

而至于第一个问题，虽然我不能说我的答案是最好的，但我的确有些经验可以分享。

First, you should read books which teach you things about culture.

首先，你应该读那些关于文化的书。

Only by knowing a culture well can you deepen your thoughts. Only by knowing several cultures can you broaden your horizon.

只有深入了解一个文化，你的思想才能深邃。只有了解很多文化，你的视野才能宽广。

Second, you should read books which teach you how to appreciate things.

第二，你应该读那些教你欣赏的书。

The longing for beauty is what has been keeping human cultures developing. You need to know how to identify beauty and how to appreciate them.

对美的追求，是人类文化发展的动力。你需要学习怎样识别美，以及怎样欣赏它们。

Third, you should read books which teach you things from disciplines that you don't know yet.

第三，你应该读那些关于你不了解的学科的书。

There are too many still left to know. We can't assume that we've already known enough.

未知的东西还有太多，我们不能自以为是。

Fourth, you should read books which teach you about all the new things happening now.

第四，你应该读那些关于正在发生的新事物的书。

The world is constantly changing. You need to keep pace with it.

世界在不断地变化，你得跟上它的脚步。

Finally, you should read books which entertain you.

最后，你还应该读一些消遣的书。

You are not a learning machine. You need to enjoy the physical and mental pleasure that every human enjoys. This recovers you and gives you energy to learn better.

你不是一台学习机器。你需要享受那些人类应该享受的身体快感和精神快感。这能帮你恢复，并让你有精力去更好地学习。

These are the 5 kinds of books that I make myself read. And I think everybody should read them.

这就是我让自己读的5种书。而我觉得所有人都该读它们。

Don't you agree with me?

你们同意吗？

20多岁时，千万不能太闲

A group of researchers in America have done a survey .

美国的一群研究人员做了一项调查。

They asked a lot of people what their greatest regret is.

他们询问了很多人，问这些人最大的遗憾是什么。

And according to the statistics they got, 75% of the people said it's that they didn't work hard enough when they were young and as a result they had achieved nothing.

根据他们得到的数据，75%的人都说是年轻的时候不够努力，以至于现在一事无成。

Nowadays it seems popular for young people to deliberately stay confused and do nothing seriously.

如今，年轻人似乎流行故意保持迷茫，做什么都不认真。

That's really sad.

这真的很悲哀。

Youth is the most precious thing you have. And it's the most precious resource at your hand.

青春是你手上最珍贵的东西，也是你手上最珍贵的资源。

Stay busy when you are young. Fight as much as you can. Life is hard enough

even if you try. Let alone if you don't.

在年轻的时候，应该忙起来。你应该尽可能地去奋斗。生活对于那些努力的人来说已经很艰难了，更不用说那些不努力的。

Like what they say in Game of Thrones, winter is coming.

就像他们在《权力的游戏》里面说的：凛冬将至。

Winter is coming for everyone, all the time.

凛冬正在向所有人袭来，而且是无时不刻。

This winter's name is Time.

这个凛冬的名字，叫时间。

Opportunities are for those who have prepared themselves.

机会是给那些又准备的人的。

Are you one of them?

你是其中之一吗？

奋斗没有你想想的那么美好Recently, one of M’s friend was about to graduate. He had been looking for a job and he came to M for advice.

最近，M的一位朋友即将毕业，正在找工作，来咨询M的意见。

This friend of M’s now works as an intern in a public institution. This institution deals with international trades and provides a lot opportunities of international communication. And they pay the employees nicely.

M的这位朋友目前在一家事业单位实习，这是一家参与国际贸易的机构，有很多国际交流的机会，而且待遇也不错。

Besides, it has a feature that most public institutions share: leisure.

另外，它也有着大多数事业单位的特征：轻松。

The jobs are nine-to-five and you rarely work overtime there. You can say that it’s many people’s dream workplace.

这里朝九晚五，几乎不用加班，可以说是很多人梦寐以求的工作场所了。

An d the most thrilling part is that the institution wants this friend of M’s to become a regular employee. They offered him to stay.

而且，更难得的是，这个机构希望M的这位朋友转正，主动提出想留用他。

But what’s astonishing is that this friend turned them off.

然而，令人吃惊的是，M的这位朋友竟然谢绝了。

And this is why he came to M.

而这也是他来找M的原因。

He was afraid that he would lose his competitiveness in such a secured environment.

他害怕自己在这样一个稳定的环境中会失去竞争力。

He was afraid that he would become the frog.

他害怕自己成为那只温水中的青蛙。

He thought he should find a place with fiercer competition and acquire abilities there.

他觉得自己应该到竞争更激烈的地方去积累能力。

And for the payment part, though what the institution offered is way higher than what most fresh graduates can get, but he had heard about the surprisingly high starting salary that BAT pay their employees.

至于薪酬这一块，虽然这里给出的条件远高于大多数毕业生的薪资，但是他曾经听说过BAT这些巨头那高得令人乍舌的起薪；

So he confidently thought that he could certainly find a better job.

所以，他觉得自己一定还能找到更好的出路。

However, he does not have any other offer at hand.

然而，他手上其实还并没有其他的offer。

This beautiful future is just his imagination so far.

这些美好的未来都还只是他的想象。

M was nearly scared to death when he heard this.

M听到之后吓出了一身冷汗。

He was originally planning to persuade this friend to stay there.

他本来是想劝这位朋友留在那里的。

But fortunately, there are still several months left before the friend’s internship ends. And anyway, it was the institution which proposed the job in the first place. So there is still a chance for him to turn back.

不过还好，这位朋友的实习期还有几个月，而且毕竟是机构要留他，之后还有回头的机会。

Yes, if you examine all those success books and industry legends, you would find a lot of successful cases which were born under great risks.

的确，放眼各种成功学书籍和行业传奇，有很多成功案例都是在巨大的风险中产生的。

The spirit of adventure seems to have become something worshiped by the whole society.

冒险精神似乎成了一种被整个社会推崇的品质。

On the other hand, a stable job is usually despised by people. They think it shows a person’s lack of ambition and even lack of merits.

相反，稳定的工作则常常被人看不起，人们觉得这样的人没志向，甚至没本事。

But all these successful cases born under great risks are just like the thought that you grow faster in severe competition. They are both survivor bias.

然而，那些巨大风险中出现的成功案例，其实和“激烈的竞争中成长更快”一样，是一种幸存者偏误。

The ones who can show up in front of you and tell you this are the minority who survived. Most of the others have already died and disappeared. They don’t have the chance to come and warn you.

那些能出现在你面前跟你讲这些的人，都只是那少数几个幸存下来的人，而绝大多数人已经死不见了，根本没有机会来警告你。

Yes, this is the current job market. Many young people who came to the first-tier cities ended up in devastating failures.

对，这就是现在的职场，很多在北上广深创业公司打拼的年轻人，其实失败得血本无归。

And you won’t know these people’s stories.

而这些人的故事，你是看不见的。