英語課外閱讀文章

　　讀是人生中最重要的學習方式,閱讀的過程就是建構和發展的過程。下面是小編帶來的，歡迎閱讀!

　　1

　　Stop All The Clocks - W.H. Auden

　　葬禮藍調 - W.H. Auden

　　Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,

　　停止所有的時鐘，切斷電話，

　　Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,

　　給狗一塊濃汁的骨頭，別讓它吠叫，

　　Silence the pianos and with muffled drum Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

　　把琴聲凝住在低沉的鼓聲中，抬出靈慪，讓送葬者進來。

　　Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,

　　讓盤旋的飛機在頭上嗚咽，在天空上潦草的寫著：他已逝去，

　　Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,

　　把黑紗系在信鴿的白頸，

　　Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

　　讓交通警員帶上黑手套。

　　He was my North, my South, my East and West,

　　他是我的南北西東，

　　My working week and my Sunday rest,

　　我的工作日，我的休息日，

　　My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;

　　我的正午，我的夜半，我的話語，我的歌吟;

　　I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

　　還以為愛可以天長地久，我錯了。

　　The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;

　　不再需要星星，把每一顆都摘掉;

　　Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;

　　把月亮包起，掩蓋驕陽;

　　Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.

　　把海水抽乾，把林木掃掉。

　　For nothing now can ever come to any good.

　　因為什麼也不會，再有意味。

　　2

　　Grandpa's Bee

　　祖父的蜜蜂

　　A long time before I was born, my Grandma and Grandpa moved into the house on Beechwood Avenue. They had a young family of 4 little girls. The little girls slept in the attic in a big feather bed. It was cold there on winter night. Grandma put hot bricks under the covers at the foot of the bed to keep the little girls warm.

　　早在我出生以前，爺爺和奶奶搬到比奇烏大道位。他們膝下養有四個小女兒。女孩們睡在閣樓的一張大羽毛床上。那裡冬夜寒冷。奶奶得在床腳下墊熱磚給女兒們取暖。

　　During the Great Depression, work was hard to find, so Grandpa did whatever jobs he could. He dug ditches during the week and on weekend he and Grandma dug a garden lo grow some of their own food.

　　大蕭條時期，工作很難找，爺爺什麼苦工都做。在平時他，挖溝渠，週末和奶奶在花園裡挖挖鋤鋤，種點自己的糧食。

　　The house on Beechwood Avenue had a big front yard with shade trees and fruit trees. In the middle of the yard was a water pump where the four little girls pumped water for cooking, cleaning and watering the garden. On one side of the yard, Grandma and Grandpa planted tomatoes, beans, squash, cucumbers, peppers and strawberries to feed their growing family. They planted roses, lilacs and irises on the other side of the yard, around the statue of the Blessed Mother.

　　比奇烏大道的房子有個大前院，院子裡種著濃蔭遮蔽的大樹和果樹。院中央的是個水泵，小女孩們就在這裡泵水用來做飯、打掃衛生、灌溉花園。奶奶和爺爺在院子的一邊種上番茄、豆子、南瓜、黃瓜、辣椒和草莓，供應這個大家庭的食用。在另一邊，他們圍著聖母的雕像種了玫瑰、丁香和蝴蝶花。

　　Everybody worked to keep the garden growing. All summer long, the family ate food from the garden and enjoyed the beautiful flowers. Grandma put up strawberry jam，tomatoes, beans, peppers, pears and peaches in canning jam. They were good to eat through the long winter.

　　人人都辛勤地耕種花園，使它更加茂盛。整個夏天，我們一家人吃著花園種出的食物，欣賞著花園裡的美麗花朵。奶奶還把做好的草莓醬、番茄、豆子、辣椒、梨子和桃子裝進罐子裡，使它們的美味能保持一整個漫長的冬天。

　　The family grew up, and before too many years had passed, the grandchildren came to visit. Grandma and Grandpa still planted their garden every spring. Everyone still enjoyed the good food from the garden and always took some home.

　　多年過去，孩子們長大，孫子孫女們也來到了世上。奶奶和爺爺仍然每年春天都耕種花園。人人都能分享花園種出的好東西，也總能帶上一些回家裡。

　　Grandchildren grow up, and grandparents grow older. It became harder for Grandma and Grandpa to keep up the garden. So they made it a little smaller. There was still plenty to eat from the garden and lovely flowers to enjoy.

　　孫子孫女們長大了，爺爺、奶奶年邁古稀。維護花園花去他們更多的精力，所以他們縮小了些花園的面積。但裡面種出來的食物還足夠吃，花朵也還招人喜愛。

　　Then one summer when Grandpa was eighty-nine years old, all he could do was watch from his lawn chair as the vegetables grew and the roses bloomed. Summer slowly faded, and Grandpa died before it was time to bring in the harvest.

　　等到爺爺八十九歲的那個夏天，他只能坐在草地的椅子上，看蔬菜長大，玫瑰開花。夏日漸漸消逝，爺爺在豐收前就去世了。

　　It was a lonely winter for Grandma She sat near the window, looking out at the yard and wondering if she could plant the garden in the spring. It would be hard to care for it by herself. When spring came, she planted only a little garden.

　　對奶奶來說，這是個寂寞的冬天。她坐在窗邊，望著外邊的院子，考慮著來年春天還能不能耕種花園。只靠她自己來打理太難了些。當春天來到時，她只稍微種了一點。

　　One sunny day in the early summer, Grandma heard a commotion in the front yard and looked out the window to see a frightening sight a gigantic swarm of bees filled the air between two tall trees. There was thousands of bees in the air, so many that the swarm reached the tree-lops! The buzzing sound was tremendous. Grandma watched as the bees made their way into a hole up in one of the trees. Before long, every one of those bees had disappeared into its new home.

　　初夏的一天，陽光燦爛，奶奶聽到前院傳來一陣騷動聲，她看出窗外，看到可怕的一幕。兩棵大樹上滿滿綴著大團的蜜鋒。空中還飛舞著成千上萬只，多不勝數的蜂群一直排到樹梢上!嗡嗡聲不絕於耳。奶奶看見這些蜜蜂先後鑽進一棵樹上高高的樹洞中。很快，所有的蜜蜂都搬進新家，消失了。

　　Grandma wondered what in the world she could do. Should she hire someone to get rid of bees? That would cost more than she could afford. She decided to wait and think it over.

　　奶奶不禁發愁起來。她是否該請人清走這些蜜蜂呢?但是她，根本支付不起費用。於是她決定等一等，再想想辦法。

　　During the next few days, the bees were busy making. their own business. Grandma could always see a few bees buzzing in and out around the opening high in the tree. Before long, she decided the bees won't bother anyone, so she went about her business and didn't give them any other thought.

　　隨後幾天，蜜蜂忙碌個不停。奶奶總能看到有一些蜂兒從高高的樹洞裡嗡嗡地飛進飛出。不久，她看出蜜蜂並無妨礙，於是自顧自地幹活，不再理會它們。

　　That summer, Grandma's little garden grew and grew. The neighbors would stop to admire the huge crop of vegetables and puzzle over their own gardens weren't doing well. No matter, because Grandma had enough give some away. Of course, everyone who came to visit was treated to a meal of good things from the garden.

　　那年夏天，奶奶的小花國碩採累累。鄰居們都駐足羨慕裡面生長出豐盛的蔬菜，納悶怎麼自己花園的長勢就沒有這麼喜人。沒關係，因為奶奶有好多可以送人。登門來訪的人當然都有花園裡的美味來招待。

　　One day, Grandma's brother Frank visited from Arizona. As Grandma made Frank a delicious lunch of squash pan cakes and home made apple sauce, she told him the story about the swarm of bees.

　　一天，奶奶的弟弟法蘭克從亞利桑那州前來拜訪。奶奶給他做了一頓香噴噴的午飯，有南瓜餅，有自制的蘋果醬，她還把蜜蜂的故事告訴了法蘭克。

　　Frank said, "in Arizona, the farmers often hired beekeepers to set up beehives near their fields. The bees pollinated the crops and helped them to grow."

　　法蘭克說在亞利桑那，農夫們常常僱請養緣人在農田附近搭蜂箱。蜜蜂校粉有助於莊稼成長。

　　That was when Grandma realized at her bees had helped with her garden all summer.

　　"奶奶才意識到，原來是這些蜜鋒在夏季助成了花園的豐收。"

　　"So that's why my little garden had such a big crop! " she exclaimed. From that time on, Grandma always believed that since Grandpa couldn't be there to help her that summer, he had sent the bees to take his place and make Grandma's little garden grow and grow...

　　所以我的鬥小、花園才有了大豐收!從那時開始，奶奶便相信是因為爺爺那年夏天沒能親自幫她，才派了蜜給到這裡，讓奶奶的小花園欣欣向榮。

　　3

　　Love is the Best Legacy

　　最好的遺產是愛

　　As a young man, Al was a skilled artist, a potter. He had a wife and two fine sons. One night, his oldest son developed a severe stomachache. Thinking it was only some common intestinal disorder, neither Al nor his wife took the condition very seriously. But the malady was actually acute appendicitis and the boy died suddenly that night.

　　年輕時， Al就已經是一個技藝精湛的陶藝藝術家了。他有了妻子和兩個健壯的兒子。但是一天夜裡，他大兒子肚子疼得厲害，他想這也只不過是普通的腸道疾病，就沒太在意，他妻子也是這樣認為。然而那種病卻是急性闌尾炎，這個男孩那天夜裡就這麼死了。

　　Knowing the death could have been prevented if he had only realized the seriousness of the situation, Al's emotional health deleriorated under the enormous burden of his guilt. To make matters worse his wife left him a short time later, leaving him alone with his six-year-old younger son. The hurt and pain of the two situations were more than Al could handle, and he turned to alcohol to help him cope. In lime Al became an alcoholic.

　　如果他那時意識到情況的嚴重性，孩子的死本來是可以避免的，一想到這些 Al內心就無比愧疚，情緒也一天比一天糟糕。更糟的是，不久他的妻子拋棄了他，把他們6歲的小兒子留給了他。喪子之痛加上妾離之苦讓Al無法喘息，他開始斟酒來麻痺自己，最後他成了一個名副其實的酒鬼。

　　As the alcoholism progressed, Al began to lose everything he possessed-his home, his land, his art objects, everything. Eventually Al died alone in a San Francisco motel room.

　　就這樣喝酒度日，Al慢慢地失去了他所擁有的一切——房子，土地，藝術作品等等，最後孤獨地在舊金山的一個汽車旅館裡死去。

　　When I heard of Al' s death, I reacted with the same disdain the world shows for one who ends his life with nothing material to show for it. "What a complete failure! " I thought. "What a totally wasted life! "

　　當我聽說 Al的死訊時，我的反應和世人一樣，都視他沒有留下什麼財產。"多失敗啊!" 我思索著完全沒有意義的一生。 "

　　As time went by, I began to reevaluate my earlier harsh judgment. You see, I knew Al's now adult son, Ernie. He is one of the kindest, most caring, most loving men I have ever known. I watched Ernie with his children and saw the free flow of love between them. I knew that kindness and caring had lo come from somewhere.

　　隨著時間的流逝，我開始重新審視從前我對Al刻薄的評價。你們知道，我認識Al已成年的兒子，Ernie。他是我認識的最善良、懂得關心人、最有愛心的男人了。每每看著他和他的孩子們，我都能感覺到他們之間愛的自然流動。我意識到這種善良和關心一定有所淵源。

　　I hadn't heard Ernie talk much about his father. It is so hard to defend an alcoholic. One day I worked up my courage to ask him. "I'm really puzzled by something," I said. "I know your father was basically the only one to raise you. What on earth did he do that you became such a special person?"

　　Ernie很少提及他的父親，畢竟他就是想為父親辯駁也很難。一天，我鼓起勇氣問了他有些事情讓我很疑惑我說道，"我知道事實上可以說是你父親一個人撫養你成人，但是他是怎樣把你培養成這麼特別的一個人呢?"

　　Ernie sat quietly and reflected for a few moments. Then he said, "From my earliest memories as a child until I left home at 18, Al came into my room every night, gave me a kiss and said, 'I love you, son.

　　Ernie坐在那裡沉思了一會，說道從我還是孩子時最早的回憶到 18歲離開家， Al每天晚上都會來到我的房閉，吻我一下然後對我說:‘我愛你，兒子’"。

　　Tears came to my eyes as I realized what a fool I had been to judge Al as a failure. He had not left any material possessions behind. But he had been a kind loving father, and he left behind one of the finest, most giving men I have ever known.

　　聽到這些，我抑制不住自己，眼淚湧出來了，我認識到自己是多麼的愚蠢，居然認為Al是個失敗的人。他確實沒留下什麼物質遺產，但是他曾經是一個很有愛心的父親，是我認識的最好的、最有愛心的人。