經典美文英語

A. 經典英語文章

I HAVE A DREAM 我有一個夢想
如下： score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity. But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free.

One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land.

So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition. In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.

This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation.

So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of graalism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights.

The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. we must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" we can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring." And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

B. 短小的英語經典美文

多少詞算短呀？
Youth

Samuel Ullman

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.

Youth means a temperamental predominance 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 deserting 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 st.

Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being』s heart the lure of wonder,the unfailing childlike appetite for 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, cheer, courage and power from men and from the Infinite, so long as you are young.

When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism 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.

青春

塞繆爾·厄爾曼

人生匆匆，青春不是易逝的一段。青春應是一種永恆的心態。滿臉紅光，嘴唇紅潤，腿腳靈活，這些都不是青春的全部。真正的青春啊，它是一種堅強的意志，是一種想像力的高品位，是感情充沛飽滿，是生命之泉的清澈常新。

青春意味著勇敢戰勝怯懦，青春意味著進取戰勝安逸，年月的輪回就一定導致衰老嗎？要知道呵，老態龍鍾是因為放棄了對真理的追求。

無情歲月的流逝，留下了深深的皺紋，而熱忱的喪失，會在深處打下烙印。焦慮、恐懼、自卑，終會使心情沮喪，意志消亡。

60也罷，16也罷，每個人的心田都應保持著不泯的意志，去探索新鮮的事物，去追求人生樂趣。我們的心中都應有座無線電台，只要不斷地接受來自人類和上帝的美感、希望、勇氣和力量，我們就會永葆青春。倘若你收起天線，使自己的心靈蒙上玩世不恭的霜雪和悲觀厭世的冰凌，即使你年方20，你已垂垂老矣；倘若你已經80高齡，臨於辭世，若豎起天線去收聽樂觀進取的電波，你仍會青春煥發。

C. 英語經典美文

懸賞分太少

D. 經典英文文章

"… want to know"

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, and if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, and if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being a human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you're telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself, and if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.

I want to know if you can be faithful and trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see the beauty even when it is not pretty every day, and if you can source your life from its presence.

I want to know if your can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon "Yes".

It doesn't interest me to know where you live, or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done for the children.

It doesn't interest me who you are, or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else fails away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself, and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

E. 英語經典美文誦讀

這篇美文的名稱是《Angel》。

【原文】

Once upon a time, a child was ready to be born. So he askedGod, "How am I going to live there? I am so small and helpless."

Godanswered, "Among many angels, I chose one for you. She will be waiting for you and will take care of you."

The child asked, "Here I am in Heaven, I don't do anything else but sing and smile. That's enough for me to be happy."

Godanswered, "Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you every day. You will feel your angel's love and be happy."

The child asked, "How will I learn? I don't know the language that human beings speak."

God said, "Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweetest words you will ever hear. With much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to live."

The child asked, "What am I going to do when I want to talk to you?"

God smiled, "Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray."

The child asked, "Who will protect me?"

God said, "Your angel will protect you even if it means risking her own life."

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from the earth could already be heard, and the child in a hurry asked softly, "Oh God, if I am about to leavenow, please tell me my angel's name."

"Your angel's name is of no importance. You will simply call your angel 'Mom'. "

【譯文】《天使》

從前，一個孩子正准備出生。所以他問上帝，「我怎麼在那裡生活？我是如此的渺小和無助。」

上帝回答說：「在眾多天使中，我為你選擇了一個。她會等你，會照顧你的。」

孩子問：「我在天堂，除了唱歌和微笑，我什麼也不做。這就足夠讓我開心了。」

上帝回答說：「你的天使會為你歌唱，也會每天為你微笑。你會感受到天使的愛，並感到幸福。」

孩子問：「我要怎麼學？」？我不懂人類的語言。」

上帝說：「你的天使會告訴你你所聽到的最美麗、最甜蜜的話語。你的天使會以極大的耐心和細心教導你如何生活。」

孩子問：「當我想和你說話的時候，我該怎麼辦？」

上帝微笑著說：「你的天使會把你的手放在一起，教你如何祈禱。」

孩子問：「誰來保護我？」

上帝說：「你的天使會保護你，即使這意味著冒著生命危險。」

那一刻，天堂里非常平靜，但是已經可以聽到來自大地的聲音，急急忙忙的孩子輕聲問道：「哦，上帝，如果我現在就要離開，請告訴我我的天使的名字。」

「你天使的名字不重要。你只要叫你的天使『媽媽』。」

F. 高分求經典英文文章!

我建議你選林肯的Gettysburg Address（葛底斯堡演說）吧，這是林肯1863年11月18日在葛底斯堡陣亡將士公墓落成儀式上發表的演說，是公認的英語演講的最高典範。
正常語速下來2分多鍾，我曾經脫口而出並在班上模仿演講過，效果很不錯。如果你需要的話，我可以將由我們外教製作的此文錄音發給你。
附上原文
-Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
-Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long enre. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives. That nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
-But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
-It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to - that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve - that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.