By Samuel Smiles
A man may usually be known by the books he reads as well as the company he keeps; for there is a companionship of books as well as of men; and one should always live in the best company, whether it be of books or of men.
A good book may be among the best of friends. It is the same today that it always was, and it will never change. It is the most patient and cheerful of companions. It does not turn its back upon us in times of adversity of distress. It always receives us with the same kindness, amusing and instructing us in youth, and comforting and consoling us in age.
Men often discover their affinity to each other by the love they each have for a book. The book is a truer and higher bond of union. Men can think, feel and sympathize with each other through their favorite author. They live in him together, and he, in them.
A good book is often the best urn of a life enshrining the best that life could think out, for, the world of a man’s life is, for the most part, but the world of his thoughts. Thus the best books are treasuries of good words, the golden thoughts, which, remembered and cherished, become our constant companions and comforters.
Books possess an essence of immortality. They are by far the most lasting products of human effort. Temple and statues decay, but books survive. Time is of no account with great thoughts, which are as fresh today as when they first passed through their authors’ minds ages ago. What was then said and thought still speaks to us as vividly as ever from the printed page.
Books introduce us into the best society; they bring us into the presence of the greatest minds that have ever lived. We hear what they said and did; we see them as if they were really alive; we sympathize with them, enjoy with them, grieve with them; their experience becomes ours, and we feel as if we were in a measure actors with them in the scenes which they describe.
Vocabulary:
· turn one’s back upon sb.: 背棄某人
· in time of… : 處於…時期
· adversity: n. 逆境、患難
· adverse: a. 敵對，不利的
· distress: n. 困難；痛苦、苦惱 ＆ vt. 使痛苦、始苦惱
· amuse ：v. 娛樂、使開心
· console: vt. 安慰、慰問
· affinity: n. 喜愛、吸引力
· sympathize: vi. 同情；看法一致、有同感
· urn: n. 甕 ;此處指寶藏
· enshrine: vt. 置於神櫃內；祀奉；此為”珍藏”
· essence: n. 本質
· immortality: n. 不死、不朽性
· by far + 最高級性容詞: 最最
· vividly: adv. 鮮明地，歷歷在目地
· as + adj./adv. + as ever: 非常地
· grieve : vi. 悲傷 (常與 over 並用) & vt. 使悲傷
· in a / some measure = to a certain degree
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
The Happy Door
By Mildred Cram
Happiness is like a pebble dropped into a pool to set in motion an ever-widening circle of ripples. As Stevenson has said, being happy is a duty.
There is no exact definition of the word happiness. Happy people are happy for all sorts of reasons. The key is not wealth or physical well-being, since we find beggars, invalids and so-called failures who are extremely happy.
Being happy is a sort of unexpected dividend. But staying happy is an accomplishment, a triumph of soul and character. It is not selfish to strive for it. It is, indeed, a duty to ourselves and others.
Being unhappy is like an infectious disease; it causes people to shrink away from the sufferer. He soon finds himself alone, miserable and embittered. There is, however, a cure so simple as to seem, at first glance, ridiculous: If you don’t feel happy, pretend to be!
It works. Before long you will find that instead of repelling people, you attract them. You discover how deeply rewarding it is to be the center of wider and wider circles of good will.
Then the make-believe becomes a reality. You possess the secret of peace of mind, and can forget yourself in being of service to others.
Being happy, once it is realize as a duty and established as a habit, opens doors into unimaginable gardens thronged with grateful friends.
Vocabulary:
· ever-widening: a. 不斷擴張的
· a sort of = a kind of
· invalid : n. 病弱的人 & a. 無效的
· failure: n. 失敗的人事物(C) ；失敗(U)
· dividend: n. 股息(此 引申”好處”)
· accomplishment: n. 成就；才藝
· strive (for N / to V) : (努力爭取/ 努力；奮力)
· strive, strove, striven
· infectious: a. 傳染性的，易傳染的
· be infected with…: 感染
· embittered: a. 難受的
· embitter: vt. 使苦; 使難受
· cure sb of 疾病
· so …as to V = so … that + S+V
· instead of Ving, S+V = rather than V, S+V 非但不…，反而….
· be rewarded with: 被用….來酬謝/獎賞
· in reward for = as a reward for 來酬謝…；作為….的獎賞
· be of service to sb = be of help to sb
· throng: vt.聚集、擠滿 n. 群眾
· be thronged with = be filled with = be crowded with
· a throng of 一群….
Happiness is like a pebble dropped into a pool to set in motion an ever-widening circle of ripples. As Stevenson has said, being happy is a duty.
There is no exact definition of the word happiness. Happy people are happy for all sorts of reasons. The key is not wealth or physical well-being, since we find beggars, invalids and so-called failures who are extremely happy.
Being happy is a sort of unexpected dividend. But staying happy is an accomplishment, a triumph of soul and character. It is not selfish to strive for it. It is, indeed, a duty to ourselves and others.
Being unhappy is like an infectious disease; it causes people to shrink away from the sufferer. He soon finds himself alone, miserable and embittered. There is, however, a cure so simple as to seem, at first glance, ridiculous: If you don’t feel happy, pretend to be!
It works. Before long you will find that instead of repelling people, you attract them. You discover how deeply rewarding it is to be the center of wider and wider circles of good will.
Then the make-believe becomes a reality. You possess the secret of peace of mind, and can forget yourself in being of service to others.
Being happy, once it is realize as a duty and established as a habit, opens doors into unimaginable gardens thronged with grateful friends.
Vocabulary:
· ever-widening: a. 不斷擴張的
· a sort of = a kind of
· invalid : n. 病弱的人 & a. 無效的
· failure: n. 失敗的人事物(C) ；失敗(U)
· dividend: n. 股息(此 引申”好處”)
· accomplishment: n. 成就；才藝
· strive (for N / to V) : (努力爭取/ 努力；奮力)
· strive, strove, striven
· infectious: a. 傳染性的，易傳染的
· be infected with…: 感染
· embittered: a. 難受的
· embitter: vt. 使苦; 使難受
· cure sb of 疾病
· so …as to V = so … that + S+V
· instead of Ving, S+V = rather than V, S+V 非但不…，反而….
· be rewarded with: 被用….來酬謝/獎賞
· in reward for = as a reward for 來酬謝…；作為….的獎賞
· be of service to sb = be of help to sb
· throng: vt.聚集、擠滿 n. 群眾
· be thronged with = be filled with = be crowded with
· a throng of 一群….
Advice to a Young Man
By Robert Jones Burdette
Remember, my son, you have to work. Whether you handle a pick or a pen, a wheel-barrow or a set of books, you must work. If you look around, you will see the men who are the most able to live the rest of their life without work are the men who work the hardest. Don’t be afraid of killing yourself with overwork. It is beyond your power to do that on the sunny side of thirty. They die sometimes, but it is because they quit work at six in the evening, and do not go home until two in the morning. It is the interval that kills, my son. The work gives you an appetite for your meals; it lends solidity to your slumbers; it gives you a perfect and grateful appreciation of a holiday.
There are young men who do not work, but the world is not proud of them. It does not know their names, even. Nobody likes them; the great, busy world does not know that they are there. So find out what you want to be and do, and take off your coat and make a dust in the world. The busier you are, the less harm you will be apt to get into, the sweeter will be your sleep, the brighter and happier your holidays, and the better satisfied will the world be with you.
Vocabulary:
· wheel-barrow : 單輪手推車
· It is beyond one’s power to V: 從事….超過某人的能力，某人無能力….
· (be) on the sunny/ shady side of thirty: 不到三十多歲/三十多歲
· appetite: n. 食慾
· solidity: n. 堅硬，穩固
· slumber = sleep
· be apt to V: 易於…，有…傾向
Remember, my son, you have to work. Whether you handle a pick or a pen, a wheel-barrow or a set of books, you must work. If you look around, you will see the men who are the most able to live the rest of their life without work are the men who work the hardest. Don’t be afraid of killing yourself with overwork. It is beyond your power to do that on the sunny side of thirty. They die sometimes, but it is because they quit work at six in the evening, and do not go home until two in the morning. It is the interval that kills, my son. The work gives you an appetite for your meals; it lends solidity to your slumbers; it gives you a perfect and grateful appreciation of a holiday.
There are young men who do not work, but the world is not proud of them. It does not know their names, even. Nobody likes them; the great, busy world does not know that they are there. So find out what you want to be and do, and take off your coat and make a dust in the world. The busier you are, the less harm you will be apt to get into, the sweeter will be your sleep, the brighter and happier your holidays, and the better satisfied will the world be with you.
Vocabulary:
· wheel-barrow : 單輪手推車
· It is beyond one’s power to V: 從事….超過某人的能力，某人無能力….
· (be) on the sunny/ shady side of thirty: 不到三十多歲/三十多歲
· appetite: n. 食慾
· solidity: n. 堅硬，穩固
· slumber = sleep
· be apt to V: 易於…，有…傾向
Research papers for Dummies
· Clarify the goals of a research project
· Knowing the basic parts of a research paper
· Distinguish between different types of research papers
· Understanding the steps involved in writing a research paper
1. Decide what to write about
2. Conduct a survey of source
3. Take notes, round one
4. Create a thesis statement or topic sentence
5. Take notes, round two
6. Prepare to write
7. Write, round one
8. Write, round two
9. Place the finishing touches
· Knowing the basic parts of a research paper
· Distinguish between different types of research papers
· Understanding the steps involved in writing a research paper
1. Decide what to write about
2. Conduct a survey of source
3. Take notes, round one
4. Create a thesis statement or topic sentence
5. Take notes, round two
6. Prepare to write
7. Write, round one
8. Write, round two
9. Place the finishing touches
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)