經(jīng)典篇章

古往今來，英語寶庫中涌現(xiàn)出大批經(jīng)典佳作，如林肯的《葛底斯堡演說》(The Gettysburg Address)，?？思{的諾貝爾獎演說(Banquet Speech)，海倫?凱勒的《給我三天光明》(Three Days to See)。這些文章在文字的運用上技法高超，在思想內(nèi)涵上寓意深刻，讀來字字珠璣，文字優(yōu)美，啟迪心智，含義雋永(full of exquisite words and truth， satisfying the mind， appealing to the heart)。這樣的文章如不能熟讀成誦，則無法融會貫通。背誦一定數(shù)量的經(jīng)典名篇既有助于提高自己遣詞造句的能力，也有助于加強自己表達思想的深度。下面的一篇短文是英國哲學家羅素(Bertrand Russell)自傳的序言部分，題為What I Have Lived For(我的人生追求)，概述了作者一生追求的三種理想，文章在語言和思想兩個方面都堪稱經(jīng)典，值得背誦。

What I Have Lived For

Three passions， simple but overwhelmingly strong， have governed my life： the longing for love， the search for knowledge， and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions， like great winds， have blown me hither and thither， in a wayward course， over a deep ocean of anguish， reaching to the very verge of despair.

I have sought love， first， because it brings ecstasy ― ecstasy so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of life for a few hours of this joy. I have sought it， next， because it relieves loneliness ― that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of the world into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss. I have sought it， finally， because in the union of love I have seen， in a mystic miniature， the prefiguring vision of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined. This is what I sought， and though it might seem too good for human life， this is what ― at last ― I have found.

With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine. And I have tried to apprehend the Pythagorean power by which number holds sway above the flux. A little of this， but not much， I have achieved.

Love and knowledge， so far as they were possible， led upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. Children in famine， victims tortured by oppressors， helpless old people ― a hated burden to their sons， and the whole world of loneliness， poverty， and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate the evil， but I can't， and I too suffer.