时间:2019-02-18 作者:英语课 分类:英语美文


英语课

    The builder


An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely 1 life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by. 
The employer was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career. 
When the carpenter finished his work and the employer came to inspect the house and handed the front-door key to the carpenter. "This is your house," he said, "my gift to you." 
What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well. 
So it is with us. We build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting 2, willing to put up less than the best. At important points we do not give the job our best effort. Then with a shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house we have built. If we had realized, we would have done it differently. 
Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think about your house. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect 3 a wall. Build wisely. It is the only life you will ever build. Even if you live it for only one day more, that day deserves to be lived graciously and with dignity. The plaque 4 on the wall says, "Life is a do-it-yourself project." Who could say it more clearly? Your life tomorrow will be the result of your attitudes and the choices you make today. 
  中文:
  一位上了年纪的木匠作好了退休的准备。他告诉老板他准备离开建筑行业,与老伴和儿孙们一起共享天伦之乐,过一种更悠闲自得的生活。虽然他因此而少了份薪水,但他想退休了。至于日子嘛,还可以凑合着过。
  眼看这位优秀的木工就要离去,老板很遗憾。他问木工可否帮忙再建一所房子。木工答应了,可明眼人一眼就看得出来,此时他做事心不在焉,做出的活儿技艺粗糙,用的料也没那么讲究了。他就这样为自己的建筑生涯划上了句号,真是令人遗憾。
  房子建好后,老板过来看新房并交给木工一把前门钥匙,说:“这房子归你了,我送给你的礼物。”
  多么让人吃惊,多么让人羞愧啊!假如他知道在为自己造房,他会做得大不一样。现在他不得不住在自己建造的那所粗制滥造的房子里了。
  我们又何尝不是如此呢?我们心浮气躁地打造生活,不是主动工作而是被动应付,能省事就省事。关键的时候也没尽心尽力。蓦然回首,才瞠目结舌地发现自己正住在自己建造的那所房子中,自食苦果。早知如此,何必当初。
  就当你自己就是那位木工吧。就当你为自己建房,每天要钉钉、铺板、砌墙。那么,你就该用心地去建。你的生活只能这样建造。哪怕你只在房子里多生活一天,这一天也应该活得优雅、有尊严。墙上的铭匾写道:“生活正如一项为自己打造的工程。”还有什么比这更清楚的呢?明日的生活之果,孕育于你今天的态度和抉择之树上。 

adj.悠闲的;从容的,慢慢的
  • We walked in a leisurely manner,looking in all the windows.我们慢悠悠地走着,看遍所有的橱窗。
  • He had a leisurely breakfast and drove cheerfully to work.他从容的吃了早餐,高兴的开车去工作。
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
n./v.树立,建立,使竖立;adj.直立的,垂直的
  • She held her head erect and her back straight.她昂着头,把背挺得笔直。
  • Soldiers are trained to stand erect.士兵们训练站得笔直。
n.饰板,匾,(医)血小板
  • There is a commemorative plaque to the artist in the village hall.村公所里有一块纪念该艺术家的牌匾。
  • Some Latin words were engraved on the plaque. 牌匾上刻着些拉丁文。
标签: 生活
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Abelmoschus esculentus Moench.
air field equation
alligator apple
anomaly of geopotential difference
anti-Stokes scattering
anticreasing
autocephalies
averroe
balance of electromyography
be able to breed an entirely new variety
berbische cotton
biceps brachii
bittersweet chocolates
block rock mass
buttonholers
Camellia candida
cash security
Ceriops tagal
Chloroflexi
chromiumcopper
competing goods
composition factor
compressed digital video
coordain
copper pipe
daddy long legs
dc electric drive
deflecting force
dictionary fix utility
diversion airfield
down dog
dykema
electronic reading
electroslag remelting process
endocurietherapy
endocythere bielii
extra-large-size bearing
feed-function
file list box
frequency control
Giarmata
Habenaria stenopetala
Harnage shale
have the gapes
hideless
homosubtypic
human genome projects
Hydroclintonite
hyperpolarize
hypocentral
Ilex brachyphylla
Impression Die Forging
individualized
insiderisms
interference strut
iwogumoa montivaga
Jaipur Hāt
Karubwe
kick-boxer
lazzo
leakage ullage
leave someone cool
line transmission frequency spectrum
Lizard Point
llanpowell
lubricating oil drain system
macropanax undulatum (wall.) seem.
marching 1's and 0's test
meireles
metallic accentuated
Minkowski inequality
musculus obliquus externus
Nijgaon
operating deficit
powered axle
precollege
profile gasket
proton stripping
qingzao jiufei decoction
qualifying licensing examination
randalls
rattlingly
rouge box
ryng
Satsuma ware
sea-born debris collecting ship
selecting priority
selinker
Sherifian
single rotary cutter
spangled
splintery
stationary core
survival guilt
tangelo tree
that depends
the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
tropaeolum peregrinums
two-by-two taxiing
unboils
wayside telephone system