Page 1 of 61 高二年级英语组搜集整理 As a teenager,I felt I was always letting people down. I was rebellious 1 out-side,but I wanted to be liked inside. Once I left home to hitch-hike 2 to California with my friend Penelope. The trip wasn‟t easy,and there were many times I didn‟t feel safe. One situation in particular kept me grateful 3 to still be alive. When I returned home,I was different,not so outwardly sure of myself. I was happy to be home. But then I noticed that Penelope,who was staying with us,was wearing my clothes. And my family seemed to like her better than me. I wondered if I would be missed if I weren‟t there. I told my mom,and she explained that though Penelope was a lovely girl,no one could replace me. I pointed out,“She is more patient and is neater than I have ever been.” My mom said these were wonderful qualities,but I was the only person who could fill my role. She made me realize that even with my faults—and there were many-I was a loved member of the family who couldn‟t be replaced. I became a searcher,wanting to find out who I was and what made me unique 4. My view of myself was changing. I wanted a solid 5 base 6 to start from. I started to resist 7 pressure to act in ways that I didn‟t like any more,and I was delighted 8 by who I really was. I came to feel much more sure that no one can ever take my place. Each of us holds a unique place in the world. You are special,no matter what others say or what you may think. So forget about being replaced. You can‟t be. 1. rebellious 英 [rɪˈbeljəs] 美 [rɪˈbɛljəs] adj. 反叛的; 造反的; 难控制的; 2. hitch-hike 英 ['hɪtʃ'haɪk] 美 ['hɪtʃ'haɪk] n. 免费搭乘他人之车; 3.grateful 英 [ˈgreɪtfl] adj. 感激的,感谢的; 令人愉快的; 宜人的; 4.unique 英 [juˈni:k] 美 [juˈnik] adj. 唯一的,仅有的; 独一无二的,独特的 5. solid 英 [ˈsɒlɪd] 美 [ˈsɑ:lɪd] adj. 固体的; 实心的; 结实的 6. base 英 [beɪs] 美 [bes] n. 基地; 基础; 根据 7. resist 英 [rɪˈzɪst] 美 [rɪˈzɪst] v. 抵抗,抗拒; 忍耐; 反对,抵制 8. delighted 英 [dɪˈlaɪtɪd] 美 [dɪˈlaɪtɪd] adj. 高兴的; 欣喜的; v. 使高兴; 使欣喜 当我还是个 10 几岁的少年的时候,觉得自己总是让人失望。从外表上看,我似乎很叛逆,但是在内心深处,我是如此地渴望被人疼爱。 有一次我离开了家和我的朋友佩内洛普搭便车去了加利福尼亚。这次旅行并不轻松,而且有很多次我感觉不安。有一次的突发状况让我一直庆幸自己还活着。回到家,我发觉自己变了,看 Page 2 of 61 上去不那么自信了。 我很高兴能回到家,但不久我注意到和我们一起的佩内洛普穿着我的衣服,而且我父母看上去更喜欢她,我想知道如果我不在家的话他们是否会想念我。后来,我把我的想法告诉了母亲,她说尽管佩内洛普是个可爱的女孩,但她始终不能取代我,我说:“她比我有耐心而且无论何时看上去她都比我要整洁大方。”母亲说这些都是非常好的优点,但我却是惟一个能扮演好自己角色的人。母亲让我感到尽管我有缺点———似乎还很多———但是,我被家中每一个人爱着,谁也无法取代。 我成了一个探寻者,想要知道自己到底是谁,又是什么让我变得独一无二。我的人生观开始改变。我需要一个坚固的基础来发展,我忍受住压力,不再做自己不喜欢做的事。而且我为真实的我感到高兴。渐渐地我越发肯定自己无可替代。 每个人在这个世界上都占有一个独一无二的位置。无论别人说什么,你自己怎么想,你都是特别的。所以,不要担心自己会被取代,因为你永远是惟一的。 太多的时候,我们总认为光明就在脚下,就在不远的前方,于是忘了去仰望头顶的那片天…… If you put a buzzard 1 in a pen 2) six to eight feet square and entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of ten to twelve feet. Without space to run, as is its habit, it will not even attempt 3) to fly, but remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top. The ordinary bat that flies around at night, who is a remarkable nimble 4) creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is to shuffle 5) about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation 6) from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash. A bumblebee 7) if dropped into an open tumbler 8) will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists 9) in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself. In many ways, there are lots of people like the buzzard, the bat and the bumblebee. They are struggling about with all their problems and frustrations 10) , not realizing that the answer is right there above them. 1.buzzard n. [动]秃鹫 2.pen [pen] n. 围栏,围圈 3.attempt vt. 尝试,企图 4.nimble adj. 敏捷的 5.shuffle v. 拖着脚走,慢吞吞地走 6.elevation n. 高地,海拔 7.bumblebee n. [动]大黄蜂 8.tumbler n. (平底)玻璃杯 9.persist vi. 坚持,持续 10.frustration n. 失败,挫折 如果把一只秃鹫放在一个 6~8 平方英尺的无顶围栏里,这只大鸟尽管会飞,也绝对会成为这栏中之囚。原因是秃鹫从地面起飞前总要先助跑 10~12 英尺的距离。这是它的习惯,如果没有了足够的助跑空间,它甚至不会尝试去飞,只会终身困囿于一个无顶的小囚笼中。 晚上飞来飞去的普通的蝙蝠,本是一种在空中极其敏捷的动物,但却无法在平地上起飞。如果 Page 3 of 61 被放在地板或平坦的地面上,它就只会无助地挪动,毫无疑问这样很痛苦。除非它到了稍高的位置,有了落差,才可以立刻闪电般地起飞。 一只大黄蜂如果掉进了一个敞口平底玻璃杯里,除非有人把它拿出来,否则它就会一直呆在里边直到死去。它永远不知道可以从杯口逃出,只坚持试图从杯底的四壁寻找出路。它会在根本不存在出口的地方寻找出路,直到彻底毁了自己。 其实在很多方面,很多人也像秃鹫、蝙蝠和大黄蜂一样,使尽浑身解数试图解决问题、克服挫折,却没有意识到解决之道就在正上方。 Both my parents came from towns in Mexico. I was born in El Paso, Texas, and when I was four, my family moved to a housing project in East Los Angeles. Even though we struggled to make ends meet, my parents stressed 1) to me and my four brothers and sisters how fortunate we were to live in a great country with limitless opportunities. They imbued 2) in us the concepts of family, faith and patriotism. I got my first real job when I was ten. My dad, Benjamin, injured his back working in a cardboard-box factory and was retrained as a hairstylist. He rented space in a little mall and gave his shop the fancy name of Mr. Ben's Coiffure 3) . The owner of the shopping center gave Dad a discount on his rent for cleaning the parking lot three nights a week, which meant getting up at 3 a.m. To pick up trash, Dad used a little machine that looked like a lawn mower. Mom and I emptied garbage cans and picked up litter 4) by hand. It took two to three hours to clean the lot. I'd sleep in the car on the way home. I did this for two years, but the lessons I learned have lasted a lifetime. I acquired 5) discipline and a strong work ethic 6) , and learned at an early age the importance of balancing life's competing interests 7) — in my case 8) , school, homework and a job. This really helped during my senior year of high school, when I worked 40 hours a week flipping 9) burgers at a fast-food joint 10) while taking a full load of percolate courses. The hard work paid off 11) . I attended 12) the U.S. Military Academy and went on to receive graduate degrees in law and business from Harvard. Later, I joined a big Los Angeles law firm and was elected to the California state assembly. In these jobs and in everything else I've done, I have never forgotten those days in the parking lot. The experience taught me that there is dignity 13) in all work and that if people are working to provide for themselves and their families that is something we should honor. Vocabulary 1.stress [stres] v. 强调,着重 2.imbue v. 灌输,深深影响 3.coiffure n. 发式 4.litter n. 废弃物,被胡乱扔掉的东西(尤指废纸等杂物) 5.acquire vt. 获得,学到 6.work ethic: 职业道德 7.interest n. 利益,利害关系 8.in one's case: 就某人的情况而言 9.flip vt. 使翻转 10.joint n. 连接,结合,本文中指连锁店 11.pay off: 得到好结果,取得成功 12.attend vt. 上(大学等) 13.dignity n. 尊贵,高贵 Page 4 of 61 我的父母都来自墨西哥的小镇。我出生于得克萨斯州的埃尔帕索城。我四岁时,全家搬到了东洛杉矶的一处低收入住宅区。 尽管我们当时要做到收支平衡都很困难,但父母仍对我和四个兄弟姐妹强调说,能在这样一个充满无限机遇的国家里落户,我们是多么幸运啊!他们给我们灌输了家庭、信仰以及爱国主义的观念。 十岁的时候,我得到了人生第一份真正的工作。我的爸爸本杰明在纸箱厂工作时背部受了伤。经过再培训,他成了一名发型师。他在一个规模不大的商业区租下了一个摊位,并给他的店取了个奇妙的名字:“本先生的发型”。 商业中心的老板在租金上给爸爸打了个折扣,但条件是每周打扫三次停车场,这意味着凌晨三点就要起床干活。爸爸用一个看起来像除草机的小机器来收捡垃圾,而我和妈妈则要清空垃圾桶并用手拾捡散落的垃圾。打扫这个停车场要用两到三个小时。我总是在回家时的车里就睡着了。 这份工作我干了两年,但从中学到的东西却让我受用终生。我学会了自律,建立了很强的职业道德。从小我就懂得了平衡生活中各种利益冲突的重要性——对我而言,就是上学、作业和工作。这在我高二那年真是很有用处。那时,我在一家快餐连锁店制作汉堡包,每周工作四十个小时,同时还肩负着沉重的大学预科课程的学习任务。 辛勤的工作终见回报。我考入了美国军事学院,接着又获得了哈佛大学的法律和商业硕士学位。后来,我进入洛杉矶一家著名的律师事务所并被选为加州议会参议员。在做这些工作和其他所有事情的过程中,我从未忘记过在停车场辛勤工作的那些日子。那段经历使我懂得工作无贵贱, 靠自食其力来供养自己和家人就值得人们敬佩。 Forty-three years seems like a long time to remember the name of a mere 1) acquaintance. I have forgotten the name of an old lady, who was a customer on the paper route in my home town when I was a twelve-year-old boy. Yet it dwells 2) in my memory that she taught me a lesson in forgiveness that I shall never forget. On a winter afternoon, a friend and I were throwing stones onto the slanted 3) roof of the old lady's house from a spot near her backyard. The object of our play was to observe how the stones changed to missiles 4) as they rolled to the roof's edge and shot out into the yard like comets 5) falling from the sky. I found myself a perfectly smooth rock and threw it out. The stone was too smooth, however, so it slipped from my hand as I let it go and headed straight not for the roof but for a small window on the old lady's back porch 6) . At the sound of fractured ...