篇一：A Better Tomorrow
People often wonder why historians go to so much trouble to Pserve millions of books, documents and records.
Why do we have libraries? What good are these documents and history books? Why do we record and save the actions of men, the negotiations1 of government officials and the events during wars?
We do it because, sometimes, the voice of experience can cause us to stop, look and listen. Sometimes, past records, when understood in the right way, can help us decide what to do and what not to do. If we are ever to create lasting peace, we must seek its origins in human experience and in the records of human history.
From the stories of courage and devotion of men and women, we create the inspirations of youth. History records the suffering, the self-denial2, the devotion, and the heroic deeds of people in the past. These records can help us when we are confused and when we really need peace.
The main purpose of history is to create a better world. History gives a warning to those who promote war, and inspiration to those who seek peace.
In short, history helps us learn. Yesterday’s records can keep us from repeating yesterday’s mistakes. And from the pieces of mosaic4 assembled5 by historians come the great murals6 which rePsent the progress of mankind.
翻译：一个更好的明天
人们常常心存疑虑,为什么历史学家要费尽周折地保存数以万计的书籍、文献和记录。
我们为什么要有图书馆呢？这些文献和史书有何用处呢? 我们为什么要记载并保存人类的行为、政府官员的谈判和战争中的事件呢？
我们这么做的原因在于有时候经验之音能促使我们停步、观察和倾听。也因为有时候过去的记载经过正确地诠释,能帮助我们决定何事可为、何事不可为。如果我们想要创造永久的和平,我们就必须从人类的经验以及人类历史的记载中去探索其渊源。
从体现男性和女性勇敢和奉献精神的故事之中,我们获得了青春的启示。英语短文历史记载着人类的一切苦难、克己、忠诚和英勇的事迹。这些记载在我们困惑和渴望和平时能对我们有所帮助。
历史的主要目的是创造一个更加美好的世界。历史对那些力主战争的人给以警告,给予那些寻求和平的人以启示。
简而言之,历史帮助我们学习。昨日的记载可以使我们避免重蹈覆辙。这些历史学家们创作的像马赛克一样色彩缤纷的历史片断汇聚成了代表人类进步的伟大壁画。
篇二：If You Could Choose
If you could choose what kind of world to live in, what kind of world would you choose? If you could decide what would happen tomorrow, with what kinds of things would you fill it?
If you had the power to decide what types of opportunities would come your way, what opportunities would you select? If you knew that your experiences would match your expectations, what would your expectations be?
In fact, you do have the power to choose your own way. You do have the ability to decide what kinds of events, experiences, opportunities and circumstances come your way.
The world you experience is the world that your dreams, your thoughts, your expectations and your actions most closely resonate. The world you see and live in is the world you most sincerely expect to see.
The universe is filled with endless possibilities, and those possibilities keep growing with every minute. The way you live determines which of those possibilities will come into your life.
With your thoughts, your actions, your values, your dreams and expectations, you choose what kind of world you live in. The way you live is closely mirrored in the world you see.
翻译：如果你可以选择
如果你可以选择在什么样的世界里生活,那么你将会选择怎样的世界呢？如果你可以决定明日之事,你将会怎样充实它呢？
倘若你有力量决定自己的机遇,你会怎样选择呢？倘若你知道你的经历会如你所愿,那么你会如何期待呢？
事实上,你有能力选择你要走的路。是你自己决定你将要做的事、英语短文你将获得的经历、你将得到的机会和你将置身其中的环境。
你体验的这个世界和你的梦想、思维、期待甚至行为产生共鸣。你看到的世界和你时下生活的这个世界就是你真心期待见到的世界。
这个宇宙充满了无限的可能,这些可能每一分钟都在增加。你的生活方式决定了何种可能性会来到你的世界。
你所选择生活的世界取决于你的想法,你的作为,你秉持的价值理念,你的梦想还有对未来的期待。你有什么样的世界观就会有什么样的生活方式。
篇三：A Little Bit More
Today is an excellent day for small improvements. Whatever is working for you, find a way to improve it just a little. There’s no need to make a huge change, just a small one, something you can do right now.
If you called just one additional customer each day, over the course of the next month you would talk to about 20 new people. If you learned just one more new word each day, in the next year you would increase your vocabulary by more than 300 words.
Small improvements can add up over time into big accomplishments. Look around you. Consider the work you do each day. Think about how you could do it just a little bit better.
In a marathon race, each step the winner takes is just a little bit longer and a little bit faster than each stride taken by the 100th place finisher. Yet over the course of the race, that small difference adds up in a big way.
Do just a little bit more today, and tomorrow too, and each day after that. Anyone can make just a small improvement, and that can make a big, big difference.
翻译：再多一点点
今天就是你可以做改进的极好的一天。无论你在做什么,找一个方法去做一点点的改进。不用做太大的改变,只要一点点??你现在可以做到的一点点。
如果你每天多给一个顾客打电话的话,一个月下来你会发现你又多认识了差不多二十个人。如果每天多学会一个新词,过一年,你的词汇量将会增加300多个。
小小的改进能够逐步积累成大的成就。观察你的周围。思考你每天所做的工作。英语短文想一下你怎么能做得更好一点。
在马拉松比赛中,冠军的每一步都只比第一百名的选手的步伐大一点点、快一点点。英语短文但是在比赛过程中,那些小小的不同积累成了巨大的区别。
今天、明天、今后的每一天尽力做更多一点点。任何人都能做一点小小的改进,但那小小的改进将会起到非常大、非常大的作用。
篇四：Thoughts and Actions
Some people go through life standing at the excuse counter.
They say they’d like to do this or that, but then they offer all the excuses in the world for why they can’t do whatever it is. No matter what the excuses are, the only thing that is usually limiting them is their own self-perception.
If I’ve learned anything, I’ve learned that a person ?any person ?may do anything they set their mind on doing. The things you need are willingness to work for what you want, patience to learn what you need to know and, most important of all, belief in yourself. You only need a seed, and then your faith in yourself will grow with you as you move forward.
If your self-perception is that you can’t accomplish something because you’re not smart enough, then take the time to learn what you need to know, and then your self-perception will change.
If your self-perception is that you can’t accomplish something because you never finish anything you start, then go and finish something and change your self- perception.
If your self-perception is that you’re too lazy, too busy, too unworthy, too unfocused, too dePssed, or too dependent on others to accomplish great things, then you’re right. You are that because you believe you are, but in fact, you can change that! Life is change, and the past doesn’t equal the future. Your reality today is the result of your past beliefs and actions. Change your beliefs and actions, and you will change your future. Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right. You are what you think.
Think about that the next time you need an excuse.
翻译：思想与行动
有些人的一生都在借口中度过。
他们总是说喜欢这喜欢那,只是随之给出各种理由来解释他为什么没能去做。但无论是什么借口,唯一能限制他们行为的通常只是他们的自我认知。
如果说我确实明白了一些事情,那就是了解了一个人,任何一个人,几乎可以做成任何事情,只要他们下决心去做。你需要的只是为梦想而奋斗的意愿、为学习必要知识的耐心,但是最重要的是你的自信。你只需播下一粒梦想的种子,你的信念将会随着你一起成长。
如果你自认为是因不够聪明而不能完成某件事情,那么就花些时间去学习所需要的知识,这样,你的自我认知就会改变。
如果你自认为你不能完成某件事情常常是因为半途而废,那么就去做完它,将这种自我认知彻底改变。
如果你自认为是因太懒惰、太忙、太卑微、太不专心、太消沉、太依赖别人而不能做成大事,那么你是对的。英语短文你确实是这样,因为你自己就是这样认为的。但事实上你能够改变。生活无时无刻不在变化,过去不等于未来。你的现在正是你过去所想所做的必然结果。改变你的信念和行动,成就你的将来。如果你认为你能或不能做什么,那么你是对的,因为正是你的思想造就了你。
下次你找什么借口的时候,仔细思量一番。
篇五：We’re Just Beginning
“We are reading the first verse of the first chapter of a book whose pages are infinite…”
I do not know who wrote those words, but I have always liked them as a reminder that the future can be anything we want to make it. We can take the mysterious, hazy future and carve out of it anything that we can imagine, just as a sculptor carves a statue from a shapeless stone.
We are all in the position of the farmer. If we plant a good seed, we reap a good harvest. If our seed is poor and full of weeds, we reap a useless crop. If we plant nothing at all, we harvest nothing at all.
I want the future to be better than the past. I don’t want it contaminated by the mistakes and errors with which history is filled. We should all be concerned about the future because that is where we will spend the remainder of our lives.
The past is gone and static. Nothing we can do will change it. The future is before us and dynamic. Everything we do will affect it. Each day brings with it new frontiers, in our homes and in our business, if we only recognize them. We are just at the beginning of the progress in every field of human endeavor.
翻译：一切刚刚开始
“我们正在读一本书的第一章第一行，这本书的页数是无限的……”
我不知道是谁写的，可我很喜欢这句话，它提醒我们未来是由自己创造的。我们可以把神秘、不可知的未来塑造成我们想象中的任何模样，犹如雕刻家将未成形的石头刻成雕像。
我们每个人都像是农夫。洒下良种将有丰收，播下劣种或生满野草便将毁去收成。没有耕耘则会一无所获。
我希望未来比过去更加美好，希望未来不会沾染历史的错误与过失。我们都应举目向前，因我们的余生要用未来书写。
往昔已逝，静如止水；我们无法再作改变。而前方的未来正生机勃勃；我们所做的每一件事都将会影响着它。只要我们认识到这些，无论是在家中还是在工作上，每天我们的面前都会展现出新的天地。在人类致力开拓的每一片领域上，我们正站在进步的起跑点。
