1、英語名篇名段背誦精華The chess-board is the world: the pieces are the phenomena of the universe; the rules of the game are what we call the laws of nature. The player on the other side is hidden from us. We know that his play is always fair, just and patient. But also we know, to our cost, that he never overlo

2、oks a mistake, or makes the smallest allowance for ignorance.By Thomas Henry Huxley參考譯文棋盤宛如世界：一個個棋子仿佛世間的種種現象：游戲規則就是我們所稱的自然法則。競爭對手藏于暗處，不為我們所見。我們知曉，這位對手向來處事公平，正義凜然，極富耐心。然而，我們也明白，這位對手從不忽視任何錯誤，或者因為我們的無知而做出一絲讓步，所以我們也必須為此付出代價。It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, i

3、t was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going direct to Heaven, we

4、 were all going direct the other way.Excerpt from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens參考譯文這是一個最好的時代，也是一個最壞的時代；這是明智的年代，這是愚昧的年代；這是信任的紀元，這是懷疑的紀元；這是光明的季節，這是黑暗的季節；這是希望的春日，這是失望的冬日；我們面前應有盡有，我們面前一無所有；我們都將直下地獄 Equality and GreatnessBetween persons of equal income there is no social distinction except the

5、distinction of merit. Money is nothing; character, conduct, and capacity are everything. Instead of all the workers being leveled down to low wage standards and all the rich leveled up to fashionable income standards, everybody under a system of equal incomes would find his or her own natural level.

6、 There would be great people and ordinary people and little people, but the great would always be those who had done great things, and never the idiot whose mother had spoiled them and whose father had left a hundred thousand a year; and the little would be persons of small minds and mean characters

7、, and not poor persons who had never had a chance. That is why idiots are always in favor of inequality of income(their only chance of eminence),and the really great in favor of equality.收入相當的人除了品性迥異以外沒有社會差別。金錢不能說明什么；性格，行為，能力才代表一切。在收入平等制度下，每個人將會找到他或她正常的地位，而不是所有的工人被劃到應拿低工資階層，所有的富人被劃到應得高收入的階層。人有卓著偉人，平

8、庸之輩和碌碌小人之別，然偉人總是那些有所建樹之人，而非從小深受母親溺愛，父親每年留下一大筆錢之人；碌碌小人總是那些心胸狹窄，品德卑劣之人，而不是那些從未獲取機會的窮人。愚蠢之眾總是贊成收入不平等（他們職能憑借這種機會才能為人所知），而真正偉大之人則主張平等相待，原因就在于此。 Great ExpectationsAs the night was fast falling, and as the moon, being past the full, would not rise early, we held a little council: a short one, for clearly o

9、ur course was to lie by at the first lonely tavern we could find. So, they plied their oars once more, and I looked out for anything like a house. Thus we held on, speaking little, for four or five dull miles. It was very cold, and, a collier coming by us, with her gallery-fire smoking and flaring,

10、looked like a comfortable home. The night was as dark by this time as it would be until morning; and what light we had, seemed to come more from the river than the sky, as the oars in their dipping stuck at a few reflected stars.天黑得很快，偏巧這天又是下弦月，月亮不會很早升起。我們就稍稍商量了一下，可是也用不著多討論，因為情況是明擺著的，再劃下去我們一遇到冷落的酒店就

11、得投宿。于是他們又使勁打起漿來，我則用心尋找岸上是否隱隱約約有什么房屋的模樣。這樣又趕了四五英里路，一路上好不氣悶，大家簡直不說一句話。天氣非常冷，一艘煤船從我們近旁駛過，船上廚房里生著火，炊煙縷縷，火光熒熒，在我們看來簡直就是個安樂家了。這時夜已透黑，看來就要這樣一直黑到天明，我們僅有的一點光亮似乎不是來自天空，而是來自河上，一漿又一漿的，攪動著那寥寥幾顆倒映在水里的寒星。 The doer of DeedsIt is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, the

12、doer of deeds could have done them better.The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arenas, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually

13、strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumphs of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those co

14、ld and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.真正令人尊敬的并非那些評論家和那些指出強者是如何跌倒，實干家本該做得更好的人。榮譽屬于那些親臨競技場，滿臉污泥，汗水和鮮血的人。他們不懈努力，他們曾犯過過錯，并一再失敗。因為付出即意味著犯錯和失敗。他們滿懷激情地努力做事，執著不懈，將生命奉獻于崇高的事業。他們為經過艱辛努力最終取得的偉大成就而自豪，如果失敗，他們夜敗的榮耀。因而，這樣的人永遠不應與那些不知道勝利，也從未失敗過的冷淡而膽怯的靈魂相提并論。 American dreamTo Americans, industriousne

15、ss, thrift and ambition are positive values. We encourage our children to be competitive, to get ahead, to make money, to acquire possession. In games and in business alike, the aim is to win the game, the trophy, the contract. We go in for laborsaving devices, gadgets, speed and shortcuts. We think

16、 every young couple should set up a home of their own. And we pity the couple who must share their home with their parent, let alone with other relatives. Actually, of course, not all Americans hold all these values. And those who do may hold other, and at times contradictory values that affect thei

17、r ways of behaving. In the main, however, the collective expectation of our society is that these are desirable goals, and the individual, whatever his personal inclination, is under considerable pressure to conform. 參考譯文：美國夢 對于我們美國人，勤勞、節儉和志氣都是積極的價值觀。我們鼓勵孩子們進取、成功、賺錢、富有。在競賽和商業活動中也是一樣，我們追求的是贏取比賽、獲得獎杯、

18、拿到合同。我們致力于節省勞力的工具、速度和捷徑。我們提倡所有的小兩口都能靠自己的雙手構建家園。我們為那些必須依靠父母或親戚生活的夫婦感到遺憾！其實，并不是所有的美國人都擁有這樣的價值觀，甚至有些人或許會擁有相反的價值觀，這樣的價值觀會影響他們的行為。不過，我們的社會的主流意識/期望還是這種積極的目標，不論個人的傾好如何，他的行為也是被規范在一定的范圍之內的。Shakespeare is above all writers, at least above all modern writers, the poet of nature; the poet that holds up to his r

19、eaders a faithful mirror of manners and of life. His characters are not modified by the customs of particular places, unpracticed by the rest of the world; by the peculiarities of studies or professions, which can operate but upon small numbers; or by the accidents of transient fashions or temporary

20、 opinions: they are the genuine progeny of common humanity, such as the world will always supply, and observation will always find. His persons act and speak by the influence of those general passions and principles by which all minds are agitated, and the whole system of life is continued in motion

21、. In the writings of other poets a character is too often an individual; in those of Shakespeare it is commonly a species.Except from The Major Works by Samuel Johnson參考譯文莎士比亞的才華高于一切作家，至少高于當今的所有作家。他是一位自然的詩人，他的作品將人間百態真實地展現在讀者眼前。他的人物塑造并不拘泥于只為一部分人所遵循的某個特定地區的習俗，也不局限于一小部分人所從事的特定的研究或職業，也不追隨短暫的潮流或暫時的思想觀點：他

22、們據有人們一貫具備的、普遍的人性特點。就像世界能永不竭地供應，眼睛能永不停地發現。他筆下人物的一言一行都受那些能夠觸動所有人的大眾化的情感和能使整個生命體系得以延續的普遍原則所影響。在其他詩人的作品中，一個人物往往就是一個個體，而莎翁筆下的人物通常代表著一類人。 The most loved place, for me, in this country has in fact been many places. It has changed throughout the years, as I and my circumstances have changed. I haven't r

23、eally lost any of the best places from the past, though. I may no longer inhabit them, but they inhabit me, portions of memory, presences in the mind.My best place at the moment is very different, although I guess it has some of the attributes of that long-ago place. It is a small cedar cabin on the

24、 Atonable river in southern Ontario. I've lived three summers there, writing, bird watching, river watching. I sometimes feel sorry for the people in speedboats who spend their weekends zinging up and down the river at about a million miles an hour. For all they're able to see, the riverbank

25、s might just as well be green concrete and the river itself flowing with molten plastic.By Margaret Laurence參考譯文在這個國家里我最喜歡的地方其實一直有很多。這些年來，由于我們自己和情況的變遷，我最愛的地方也隨著改變。雖然如此，過去我喜愛過的任何一個地方我并沒有真正地失去它們。我或許不再居住在那兒，但它們卻存在于我的心里，成為我記憶中的片段，時常浮現在腦海中此刻我最喜愛的地方相當不同，但我想它仍具有和老早的那個地方（即明湖，Clear Lake）相同的某些特質。這個地方是安大略省南方奧托

26、拿比河邊的一間松木小屋。我在那兒居住了三個夏天：寫作、賞鳥、觀河。有時候我為那些來此地度周末，卻駕著快艇以極速在河上往來呼嘯的人感到難過，因為這些人看見的河岸只不過是綠色的混凝土岸，而河流本身也仿佛只是條閃亮的流動塑料。 When I look upon the tombs of the great, every emotion of envy dies in me; when I read the epitaphs of the beautiful, even inordinate desire goes out; when I meet with the grief of parents

27、upon a tombstone, my heart melts with compassion; when I see the tomb of the parents of themselves, I consider the vanity of grieving for those who deposed them, when I consider rival wits placed side by side, or the holy men that divided the world with their contests and disputes, I reflect with so

28、rrow and astonishment on the little competitions, factions, and debates of mankind. When I read the several dates of the tombs, of some that died yesterday, and some six hunderd years ago, I consider that great when we shall all of us be contemporaries, and make our appearance together.Excerpt from

29、Westminster Abbey by Joseph Addison參考譯文當我瞻仰偉人的墳墓，心中所有的嫉妒頓時煙消云散；當我讀到偉人的悼文，所有的非分之想頃刻消失殆盡；當我遇見在墓碑旁悲痛欲絕的父母親，我的心中也滿懷同情；當我看到那些父母親自己的墳墓，我不禁感慨：既然我們很快都要追隨逝者的腳步，悲傷又有何用。當我看到國王與那些將他們廢黜的人躺在一起，當我想到那些爭斗一生的智者，或是那些通過競爭和爭執將世界分裂的圣人們被后人并排葬在一起，我對人類的那些微不足道的競爭、內訌和爭論感到震驚和悲傷。當我看到一些墳墓上的日期，有的死于昨日，而有的死于六百年前，我不禁想到，有那么一天我們都會在同一個

30、時代同時出現在世人眼前。 "I tell you I must go!" I retorted, roused to something like passion. "Do you think I can stay to become nothing to you? Do you think I am an automaton?-a machine without feelings? and can bear to have my morsel of bread snatched from my lips, and my drop of living water

31、dashed from my cup? Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong!-I have as much soul as you,-and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is no

32、w for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor ever of mortal flesh;-it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both has passed through the grave, and we stood at God's feet, equal,-as we are!"Excerpt from Jane Eyre by Cha

33、rlotte Bronte參考譯文“我告訴你我非走不可！”我回駁著，感情很有些沖動。“你難道認為，我會留下來甘愿做一個對你來說無足輕重的人？你以為我是一架機器一架沒有感情的機器？能夠容忍別人把一口面包從我嘴里搶走，把一滴生命之水從我杯子里潑掉？難道就因為我一貧如洗、默默無聞、長相平庸、個子瘦小，就沒有靈魂和心腸了？你想錯了！我的心靈跟你一樣豐富，我的心胸跟你一樣充實！要是上帝賜予我一點姿色和財富，我會使你難以離開我，就像現在我很難離開你一樣。我不是根據習俗、常規，甚至也不是血肉之軀同你說話，而是我的靈魂同你的靈魂在對話，就仿佛我們兩人穿過墳墓，站在上帝腳下，彼此平等，本來就如此！” You m

34、ust study to be frank with the world: frankness is the child of honesty and courage. Say just what you mean to do, on every occasion. If a friend asks a favor, you should grant it, if it is reasonable; if not, tell him plainly why you cannot. You would wrong him and wrong yourself by equivocation of

35、 any kind.Never do a wrong thing to make a friend or keep one. The man who requires you to do so is dearly purchased at a sacrifice. Deal kindly but firmly with all your classmates. You will find it the policy which wears best. Above all, do not appear to others what you are not.If you have any faul

36、t to find with any one, tell him, not others, of what you complain. There is no more dangerous experiment than that of undertaking to do one thing before a man's face and another behind his back. We should say and do nothing to the injury of any one. It is not only a matter of principle, but als

37、o the path of peace and honor.By Robert E. Lee參考譯文在世間必須學會以真誠示人：率真乃是誠實與勇敢之子。無論在何種場合，都應該道出自己的真實想法。如果朋友對你有所求，對于合情合理之請，應該欣然同意；不然，應該明明白白地告訴朋友拒絕的理由。任何模棱兩可的話語將會讓別人誤解，也會使自己蒙受冤屈。千萬不要為了結交朋友或者挽留友情而做錯一事。對你有這種要求的人也會付出沉重的代價。與同學真心相對，絕不背叛。你將發現這是最有效用的準則。總之，要以真實面目示人。如果發現某人身有瑕疵，直接告訴他你的意見，而不是訴之他人。人前一套，背后又是一套，沒有什么比這更加危機

38、四伏。任何有損他人的言語或者事情我們都應該避免。這不僅是一種做人的原則，而且也是通向平和的人際關系、獲得他人尊敬之道。Letter to a Young FriendBenjamin FranklinMy dear friendI know of no Medicine fit to diminish the violent natural inclination you mention; and if I did, I think I should not communicate it to you. Marriage is the proper Remedy. It is the most

39、 natural State of man, and therefore the state in which you will find solid Happiness. Your Reason against entering into it at present appears to be not well founded. The Circumstantial Advantages you have in view by Postponing it, are not only uncertain, but they are small in comparison with the Th

40、ing itself, the being married and settled. It is the Man and Woman united that makes the complete human Being, Separate she wants his force of Body and Strength of Reason; he her Softness, Sensibility and acute Discernment. Together they are most likely to succeed in the World. A single man has not

41、nearly the value he would have in that State of Union. He is an incomplete Animal. He resembles the odd Half of a Pair of Scissors.If you get a prudent, health wife, your Industry in your Profession, with her good Economy, will be a Fortune sufficient.Your Affectionate Friend參考譯文給年輕朋友的一封信本杰明·富蘭

42、克林我知道沒有藥物能夠消除你們所提到的那種瘋狂的自然傾向;即使我知道,我想我也不該告訴你.婚姻是適當的藥物。它是人類最本能的狀態, 因此是一種最幸福的生活狀態。你拒絕現在進入婚姻殿堂的理由顯的不夠充分.你認為推遲婚姻可能存在好處,不僅不一定實現，而且,那些利益跟婚姻本身以及婚后的安定相比起來就微不足道了。男人和女人只有聯合起來才能組成完整的人.女人缺乏男人的力量和周密的推理,而男人缺乏女人的溫柔、感性和敏銳的洞察力。因此當男人和女人聯合起來。就能夠無往不勝。單身和離婚生活的男男女女不可能具有婚姻生活中的價值，是一種不完善的動物。他簡直好比半把剪刀-孤掌難鳴。如果你擁有一位健康而謹慎的妻子，你的辛勤工作，加上她的勤儉節約，必定會創造充足的財富。您真摯的朋友 Henry David Thoreau/享利.大衛.梭羅However mean your life is, meet it and live it ;do not shun it and call it hard names. It is not so bad as you are. It