英文欣赏：Three Days to See假如给我三天光明
编者按：
有时我想，把每天都当作生命中的最后一天来边，也不失为一个极好的生活法则。这种态度会使人格外重视生命的价值。我们每天都应该以优雅的姿态，充沛的精力，抱着感恩之心来生活。
—-海伦.凯勒
Three Days to See(Excerpts)假如给我三天光明（节选）
All of us have readthrillingstories in which the hero had only a limited and specified time to live. Sometimes it was as long as a year, sometimes as short as 24 hours. But always we were interested in discovering just how thedoomedhero chose to spend his last days or his last hours. I speak, of course, of free men who have a choice, not condemned criminals whose sphere of activities is strictlydelimited.
Such stories set us thinking, wondering what we should do under similar circumstances. What events, what experiences, what associations should we crowd into those last hours as mortal beings? What happiness should we find in reviewing the past, what regrets?
Sometimes I have thought it would be an excellent rule to live each day as if we should die tomorrow. Such an attitude would emphasize sharply the values of life. We should live each day with gentleness, vigor and akeennessof appreciation which are often lost when time stretches before us in the constantpanoramaof more days and months and years to come. There are those, of course, who would adopt the Epicurean motto of “Eat, drink, and be merry”. But most people would be chastened by the certainty ofimpendingdeath.
In stories the doomed hero is usually saved at the last minute by some stroke of fortune, but almost always his sense of values is changed. He becomes more appreciative of the meaning of life and its permanent spiritual values. It has often been noted that those who live, or have lived, in the shadow of death bring a mellow sweetness to everything they do.
Most of us, however, take life for granted. We know that one day we must die, but usually we picture that day as far in the future. When we are inbuoyanthealth, death is all but unimaginable. We seldom think of it. The days stretch out in an endless vista. So we go about our petty tasks, hardly aware of our listless attitude toward life.
The samelethargy, I am afraid, characterizes the use of all our faculties and senses. Only the deaf appreciate hearing, only the blind realize themanifoldblessings that lie in sight. Particularly does this observation apply to those who have lost sight and hearing in adult life. But those who have never suffered impairment of sight or hearing seldom make the fullest use of these blessed faculties. Their eyes and ears take in all sights and soundshazily, without concentration and with little appreciation. It is the same old story of not being grateful for what we have until we lose it, of not being conscious of health until we are ill.
I have often thought it would be a blessing if each human being were stricken blind and deaf for a few days at some time during his early adult life. Darkness would make him more appreciative of sight; silence would teach him the joys of sound.
读完这篇哲理短文，你有什么感受呢？欢迎在下面的留言框内说出你的想法，也欢迎您给我们的栏目提出宝贵的意见和建议。
假如给我三天光明（节选）
我们都读过震撼人心的故事，故事中的主人公只能再活一段很有限的时光，有时长达一年，有时却短至一日。但我们总是想要知道，注定要离世人的会选择如何度过自己最后的时光。当然，我说的是那些有选择权利的自由人，而不是那些活动范围受到严格限定的死囚。
这样的故事让我们思考，在类似的处境下，我们该做些什么？作为终有一死的人，在临终前的几个小时内我们应该做什么事，经历些什么或做哪些联想？回忆往昔，什么使我们开心快乐？什么又使我们悔恨不已？
有时我想，把每天都当作生命中的最后一天来边，也不失为一个极好的生活法则。这种态度会使人格外重视生命的价值。我们每天都应该以优雅的姿态，充沛的精力，抱着感恩之心来生活。但当时间以无休止的日，月和年在我们面前流逝时，我们却常常没有了这种感觉。当然，也有人奉行“吃，喝，享受”的享乐主义信条，但绝大多数人还是会受到即将到来的死亡的惩罚。
在故事中，将死的主人公通常都在最后一刻因突降的幸运而获救，但他的价值观通常都会改变，他变得更加理解生命的意义及其永恒的精神价值。我们常常注意到，那些生活在或曾经生活在死亡阴影下的人无论做什么都会感到幸福。
然而，我们中的大多数人都把生命看成是理所当然的。我们知道有一天我们必将面对死亡，但总认为那一天还在遥远的将来。当我们身强体健之时，死亡简直不可想象，我们很少考虑到它。日子多得好像没有尽头。因此我们一味忙于琐事，几乎意识不到我们对待生活的冷漠态度。
我担心同样的冷漠也存在于我们对自己官能和意识的运用上。只有聋子才理解听力的重要，只有盲人才明白视觉的可贵，这尤其适用于那些成年后才失去视力或听力之苦的人很少充分利用这些宝贵的能力。他们的眼睛和耳朵模糊地感受着周围的景物与声音，心不在焉，也无所感激。这正好我们只有在失去后才懂得珍惜一样，我们只有在生病后才意识到健康的可贵。
我经常想，如果每个人在年轻的时候都有几天失时失聪，也不失为一件幸事。黑暗将使他更加感激光明，寂静将告诉他声音的美妙。
读完这篇哲理短文，你有什么感受呢？欢迎在下面的留言框内说出你的想法，也欢迎您给我们的栏目提出宝贵的意见和建议。
1.thrilling adj.毛骨悚然的; 惊心动魄的, 使人感动的; 使人激动的; 使人发抖的
例句：
It was a real thrill to meet the Queen.
能见到女王的确是令人兴奋的事.
2.doomed 命定的
例句：
Any attempts to bring under the mass movement for civil rights are doomed to failure.
任何镇压民权群众运动的企图都是注定要失败的。
3.delimit v. 定界限,划界
例句：
The first chapter delimits her area of research.
第一章阐明了她的研究领域.
4.keenness n. 锐利,尖锐,敏感
例句：
The general's speech infused keenness into the men.
将军的演讲给人们注入了激情。
5.panorama adj. 全景的,全貌的 n. 全景
例句：
From the summit there is a superb panorama of the alps.
从峰巅俯瞰，阿尔卑斯山壮丽的景色尽收眼底。
6.impending adj. 逼迫的,迫切的,悬空的
例句：
Hurricane is impending.
台风就要来了。
7.buoyant adj. 有浮力的,心情愉快的
例句：
In a buoyant mood.
轻松的心情
8.lethargy n. 昏睡,瞌睡,无力气
例句：
She suffers from bouts of lethargy and depression.
她一阵阵无精打彩、情绪低落.
9.manifold n. 复印本,多种 adj. 多种的,有许多部份的,多方面的
例句：
The uses of this machine are manifold.
这台机器有多种用途。
10.hazily adv.朦胧地, 模糊地
例句：
We saw the distant hills hazily.
我们朦朦胧胧地看见远处的小山。
1.What events, what experiences, what associations should we crowd into those last hours as mortal beings? What happiness should we find in reviewing the past, what regrets?
【参考译文】作为终有一死的人，在临终前的几个小时内我们应该做什么事，经历些什么或做哪些联想？回忆往昔，什么使我们开心快乐？什么又使我们悔恨不已？
【结构解析】“association”这里的意思是“联想”，“what regrets”相当于“What regrets should we find in reviewing the past”。
2.We should live each day with gentleness, vigor and a keenness of appreciation which are often lost when time stretches before us in the constant panorama of more days and months and years to come.
【参考译文】我们每天都应该以优雅的姿态，充沛的精力，抱着感恩之心来生活。但当时间以无休止的日，月和年在我们面前流逝时，我们却常常没有了这种感觉。
【结构解析】句中的“which”指“gentleness, vigor and a keenness of appreciation ”，"which"引导的定语从句修饰这三个名词，“stretch”这里的意思是“流逝”。
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