晨读英语美文：Suppose Someone Gave You a Pen
Suppose someone gave you a pen — a sealed, solid-colored pen. You couldn’t see how much ink it had. It might run dry after the first few tentative words or last just long enough to create a masterpiece (or several) that would last forever and make a difference in the scheme of things. You don’t know before you begin. Under the rules of the game, you really never know. You have to take a chance!
Actually, no rule of the game states you must do anything. Instead of picking up and using the pen, you could leave it on a shelf or in a drawer where it will dry up, unused. But if you do decide to use it, what would you do with it? How would you play the game? Would you plan and plan before you ever wrote a word? Would your plans be so extensive that you never even got to the writing? Or would you take the pen in hand, plunge right in and just do it, struggling to keep up with the twists and turns of the torrents of words that take you where they take you? Would you write cautiously and carefully, as if the pen might run dry the next moment, or would you pretend or believe (or pretend to believe) that the pen will write forever and proceed accordingly?
And of what would you write: Of love? Hate? Fun? Misery? Life? Death? Nothing? Everything? Would you write to please just yourself? Or others? Or yourself by writing for others? Would your strokes be tremblingly timid or brilliantly bold? Fancy with a flourish or plain? Would you even write? Once you have the pen, no rule says you have to write. Would you sketch? Scribble? Doodle or draw? Would you stay in or on the lines, or see no lines at all, even if they were there? Or are they?
There’s a lot to think about here, isn’t there?
Now, suppose someone gave you a life…
假如有人送你一支笔，一支不可拆卸的单色钢笔。
看不出里面究竟有多少墨水。或许在你试探性地写上几个字后它就会枯干，或许足够用来创作一部影响深远的不朽巨著(或是几部)。而这些，在动笔前，都是无法得知的。 在这个游戏规则下，你真的永远不会预知结果。你只能去碰运气！
事实上，这个游戏里没有规则指定你必须要做什幺。相反，你甚至可以根本不去动用这支笔，把它扔在书架上或是抽屉里让它的墨水干枯。 但是，如果你决定要用它的话，那么你会用它来做什幺呢？你将怎幺来进行这个游戏呢？你会不写一个字，老是计划来计划去吗？你会不会由于计划过于宏大而来不及动笔呢？或者你只是手里拿着笔，一头扎进去写，不停地写，艰难地随着文字汹涌的浪涛而随波逐流？ 你会小心谨慎的写字，好象这支笔在下一个时刻就可能会干枯；还是装做或相信这支笔能够永远写下去而信手写来呢？
你又会用笔写下些什么呢：爱？恨？喜？悲？生？死？虚无？万物？你写作只是为了愉己？还是为了悦人？抑或是借替人书写而愉己？你的落笔会是颤抖胆怯的，还是鲜明果敢的？你的想象会是丰富的还是贫乏的？甚或你根本没有落笔？这是因为，你拿到笔以后，没有哪条规则说你必须写作。也许你要画素描，乱写一气？信笔涂鸦？画画？你会保持写在线内还是线上，还是根本看不到线，即使有线在那里？嗯，真的有线吗？
这里面有许多东西值得考虑，不是吗？
现在，假如有人给予你一支生命的笔……
Masterpiece: a work of art such as a painting, film/movie, book, etc. that is an excellent, or the best, example of the artist’s work 代表作； 杰作；名著 noun
The museum houses several of his Cubist masterpieces.
博物馆收藏了他的几件立体派杰作。
Her work is a masterpiece of(= an excellent example of)simplicity.
她的作品是朴实的典范。
Extensive: covering a large area; great in amount 广阔的；广大的；大量的
The house has extensive grounds.
这栋房子有宽敞的庭院。
The fire caused extensive damage.
火灾造成了巨大的损失。
She suffered extensive injuries in the accident.
她在事故中受了重伤。
Extensive repair work is being carried out.
大规模的修缮工作正在进行。
an extensive range of wines
各种各样的葡萄酒
Cautiously: 小心地,谨慎地
She cautiously closed the door.
她小心翼翼地关上门。
Torrent: a large amount of water moving very quickly 急流；激流；湍流；洪流
After the winter rains, the stream becomes a raging torrent.
冬雨过后，溪流湍急。
The rain was coming down in torrents.
大雨如注。
Bold: of shape, colour, lines, etc. 形状、颜色、线条等 that can be easily seen; having a strong clear appearance 明显的；轮廓突出的
the bold outline of a mountain against the sky
天空映衬下的山的清晰轮廓
She paints with bold strokes of the brush.
她的绘画笔锋遒劲。
Take a chance:冒险,碰运气
We will take a chance with the weather and go for a picnic. 我们将怀着天气可能会好的侥幸心情去野餐。
Dry up: of rivers, lakes, etc. 河流、湖泊等 to become completely dry 干涸
During the drought the river dried up.
干旱期间，河流都干涸了.
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