高中英语 晨读英语美文60篇 14 English Learning素材
English Learning
English language learning is a habit-forming process. Proficiency and the understanding of the structure of the English language, is attained by studying the theory. But the proficiency and the use of English can only come as a result of perfectly formed habits.
No English word, form or combination of these is “known” or “mastered” until we use it automatically, until we can attach it to its mean ing without conscious analysis.
We can hear English as pronounced at a normal speed by native speaker, if we understand a se ntence as it falls from his lips, if we understand it without being conscious of its form or witho ut even realizing, that we are listening to the English language, we “possess” that sentence!
The sentence forms part of the material, which we have gained as the result of a habit----Our understanding of it is “automatic”. We wish to speak, if the English sentence springs to our lips, as soon as we have formulated the thought, if we are unconscious of the words or the form of the words contained in it, if we are unaware of the manner in which we have pieced it together, it is certain that we’ve produced it automatically.
We have produced it as the result of a perfectly formed habit. If, on the other hand, we prepare the sentence in advance; if, as we utter it, we consciously choose the words or the form of the words contained in it; if we built it up by conscious synthesis or by a rapid translation from an equivalent sentence of our native tongue, we do not produce it automatically.
We have not formed the hab it of the sentence or the type of the sentence to which it belongs. We are producing it by means of conscious calculation. Students in general dislike forming new habits and avoid such work as far as possible.
One reason for this is that habit forming often entails monotonous work. Another reason is that the forming of a habit and progress is not at once apparent.
We know, however, that in reality, what we have learnt as the res ult of a habit is not only available at all times, but is also a permanent acquisition.
The fear of monotonous and tedious memorizing work, the realization of the length of time necess ary for each act of memorizing induces the student to invent pretexts for avoiding such work. He decla res that “par rot-work” is not education, that modern educationalists condemn “learning by rote”, that the age of blind repetition is over, and that the age of intelligent understanding has taken its place.
He will t alk of the method of discovery, the factor of interest and will even quote to us, “the law of nature” in defense of his thesis, but we know that in reality these are but so many excuses for his disinclination to form those habits, which can secure him the automatism, which alone will result in sound and prominent progress!。
40篇非常适合晨读的英文美文,
40篇非常适合晨读的英文美文,晨读是一个很好的习惯,可以帮助人们开始新的一天。
以下是40篇非常适合晨读的英文美文,它们涵盖了各种主题和风格,希望能给你带来启发和享受。
1. "The Power of Gratitude" A reflection on the importance of gratitude in our lives.2. "Finding Inner Peace" Exploring different ways to find inner peace amidst the chaos of life.3. "The Beauty of Simplicity" Embracing simplicity and finding joy in the little things.4. "The Art of Letting Go" Learning to let go of things that no longer serve us.5. "Embracing Change" Understanding the inevitability of change and how to adapt to it.6. "The Strength of Vulnerability" Exploring the power of vulnerability and its role in personal growth.7. "The Importance of Self-Care" Discussing the significance of taking care of oneself.8. "The Gift of Forgiveness" Examining the healing power of forgiveness.9. "The Magic of Mindfulness" Exploring the benefits of practicing mindfulness in our daily lives.10. "The Joy of Giving" Reflecting on the happinessthat comes from giving to others.11. "The Art of Resilience" Discussing the ability to bounce back from adversity.12. "The Beauty of Nature" Appreciating the wonders of the natural world.13. "The Wisdom of Aging" Exploring the lessons andinsights that come with age.14. "The Power of Positive Thinking" Discussing the impact of positive thinking on our lives.15. "The Art of Balance" Finding a balance between work, relationships, and personal well-being.16. "The Importance of Friendship" Reflecting on the value of true friendship.17. "The Courage to Follow Your Dreams" Encouraging readers to pursue their passions and dreams.18. "The Healing Power of Music" Exploring the therapeutic effects of music on the mind and body.19. "The Beauty of Imperfection" Embracingimperfections and learning to love ourselves as we are.20. "The Art of Mindful Eating" Discussing the benefits of mindful eating for our overall well-being.21. "The Power of Kindness" Exploring the impact of small acts of kindness on ourselves and others.22. "The Joy of Learning" Reflecting on the pleasure and growth that comes from lifelong learning.23. "The Art of Gratitude Journaling" Discussing the practice of keeping a gratitude journal.24. "The Importance of Boundaries" Understanding the significance of setting healthy boundaries.25. "The Beauty of Silence" Finding solace and peace in moments of silence.26. "The Power of Visualization" Exploring the effectiveness of visualization in achieving goals.27. "The Art of Mindful Breathing" Discussing the benefits of mindful breathing exercises.28. "The Joy of Volunteering" Reflecting on the fulfillment that comes from helping others.29. "The Importance of Self-Reflection" Understanding the value of introspection and self-analysis.30. "The Beauty of Diversity" Embracing and celebrating the diversity of cultures and perspectives.31. "The Power of Optimism" Discussing the positive impact of having an optimistic mindset.32. "The Art of Effective Communication" Exploring the key elements of effective communication.33. "The Joy of Travel" Reflecting on the enriching experiences that come from traveling.34. "The Importance of Setting Goals" Understanding the significance of setting and working towards goals.35. "The Beauty of Random Acts of Kindness" Exploringthe joy that comes from unexpected acts of kindness.36. "The Power of Self-Reflection" Discussing the transformative effects of self-reflection.37. "The Art of Letting Things Be" Learning to accept and let go of things beyond our control.38. "The Joy of Simple Pleasures" Reflecting on the happiness that can be found in everyday moments.39. "The Importance of Patience" Understanding the value of patience in achieving long-term success.40. "The Beauty of New Beginnings" Embracing the opportunities that come with starting anew.希望这些美文能够为你的晨读提供一些灵感和心灵的滋养。
(完整word)高一英语晨读短文30篇
【每天5分钟】高一英语晨读材料(短文30篇)How long will it be before you find yourself famous?眼球经济时代,速成“明星”究竟能红多久“IN the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” US artist Andy Warhol made this famous statement in 1968. Back then, the only really famous people were pop stars and actors, political figures and warheroes – although things were changing. In just 30 years, his statement seems to have come true.Today there are countless individuals that go in and out of the media spotlight. The most common way thatordinary people today become famous is through reality shows. Both American Idol and Hunan TV’s have produced quite a few instant stars.The most famous person of this type is Scottish singer Susan Boyle, an out-of-work, plain-looking48-year-old who came to international attention when she appeared on the reality TV program Britain’sGotTalent in April 2009.However, Boyle’s success was largely due to a video posted on YouTube. According to the BBC, the video庞大的) 120 million times worldwide” by the end of 2009.had been viewed “a whopping (Indeed, today many people showcase their own videos on YouTube and other sites. “This model mDavis for the Associated Content.easy for an average Joe (路人) to get noticed,” writes JonitaBut 15 minutes is a very short time; most of these instant celebrities fade from view. If others show truetalent or staying power, they may be awarded extra time to prove themselves worthy of media and publicattention.But while Warhol emphasized the short-lived nature of modern fame, he also pointed out that fame is easierto get nowadays. If digital video cameras enable people to become reporters, why shouldn’tthey also become celebrities?Helping outMORE and more migrant workers (外来务工者) are looking for jobs in cities. This has created a problem:the large number of children that are left behind.This winter break, my friends and I visited such a stay-at-home kid.Huang Taizhong is a Junior 2 student at Chengdu No 7 Middle School. His parents got divorced (离婚的)and both moved away to work in other cities. Huang lives with his old grandparents in an apartment with only oldfurniture.Huang was shy at first but became talkative when we helped him with his math and English.At the end of our talk, I gave him many books that were too expensive for his family to afford (支付得起).He just smiled and said: “I really appreciate your help. Don’t worry, and I will study hard!”His words moved me. I hope that our visit brought him joy and helped him face up to the challenges of hislife and studies.Make waves------Jane is not satisfied with Jim's work. She complains a lot.------Don't tell Jim about it. Otherwise it would make waves at work.make waves:制造麻烦或纠纷You can have it all大富翁游戏) money. But never mind –HERE’S $3 million (20 million yuan) in cash. OK, so it’s Monopoly (go on, take it. You can use it to buy Chang’an Avenue in Beijing, or any other street in any other city on Google Maps.That’s right. The online map is now one big Monopoly game board. The new worldwide (全球的) onlineMonopoly game, called Monopoly City Streets, started last month. So many people tried to play that the websitewent down.“We expected an opening rush when we launched (推出) the Monopoly City Streets online game, but thefirst few hours are beyond even our greatest expectations (预期),” a post on the game’s website read.Monopoly City Streets allows users to buy up streets in cities around the world, from New York to London toBeijing. Players can also build all kinds of different buildings on their street. They can also create danger on otherpeople’s streets. The idea is to beat your friends and the world to become the richest property (财产) owner.Monopoly first became popular in the hard economic times of the 1930s, and the new game appears inanother hard period – the present financial crisis (金融危机). As The Christian Science Monitor points out, peoplelike to pretend they can make money in times when they have so little of it in the real world. But you’d better hurry if you want to play the game. People are buying up streets fast, and the game will end in January 2010.How to startThe first step is to go to the website (/game.html). When you get there,契约). Streets thatfind a street you want to buy on the map. Then click (点击) on it and click “buy” on the deed (are purple (紫色的) are owned by the bank and can be bought. Streets that are blue are owned by other playersand may be for sale. You ow n streets that are red. When you click “buy” on the deed it will have you set up a Monopoly City Streets account with 3 million Monopoly dollars.Ban these ads? 你赞同影视作品中植入商业广告吗?YESEmbedded (植入的) ads are acceptable.reasonable for advertisements to appear in films and TV shows. It is an important wayMao Weiying: I think it’sfor the makers to earn money, which supports their investment (投资), and thus produces more good work.Shi Xingjian: Adverts that break up a program or film are frustrating for the audience. Embedded advertising isbetter, since the program is not interrupted. It’s more natural.Ye Xueni: We watch teleplays (电视剧) from beginning to end. Embedded advertisements don’t affect this, as commercial breaks (广告时间) do. And they do make profits for business. Why not just turn a blind eye to them?NOEmbedded advertisements are annoying (烦人的).Wu Luxue: Even if a film or a TV program is good, an embedded advertisement can spoil it. Even worse, someof the ads are not a natural fit for the show. There is nothing in the world more annoying than ads.Wang Xubo:I don’t believe there should be ads in films and TV plays. They are an insult (侮辱) to the art andthey kill interest in the program.Han Danyang: We know why businesses pay to embed ads in programs; for the same reason the producers makethem in the first place –money. Audiences, however, do not watch TV shows and movies for a commercialreason.Head to New York...MANY people think of New York City as an international center for eating. Top chefs (厨师) from aroundthe world set up restaurants there. They hope to find success in a city where people love to eat well and are willingto spend good money to do it.New York is also the perfect city for street food: inexpensive take-away food sold out of carts (手推车) onthe streets and sidewalks (人行道) of the city. New York City is home to people from all over the world, whohave brought their language, culture, and food with them. A diverse (多种多样的) population means that therewill be plenty of food to taste from all over the globe.Street food is attractive (吸引人的) to New Yorkers for many reasons. There are so many different flavors(风味) and styles, all just steps away. The meals are inexpensive. And in a place full of busy, rushing people, ittakes only minutes to get a meal.Street food is the talk of the town after the fifth yearly Vendy Award contest, in September. The VendyAwards give awards for the best street food vendor (商贩), the most popular carts, and the best new vendor of theyear. According to celebrity chef Mario Batali, the Vendys are “the Oscars Academy Awards of food for th New York.” This year, flavorful (美味的) Mexican food of the Country Boys taco truck (专卖墨西哥玉米面卷饼的餐车) won the top award.If you're looking for the best food in New York, step outside the restaurants –the perfect meal may bewaiting on the street.Here's how Dad and I bonded手机短信让我和爸爸之间的代沟消失了。
适合晨读的24篇英语短文(上)
适合晨读的24篇英语短文(上)以下是适合晨读的24篇英语短文:1. "The Benefits of Waking Up Early"- This article discusses the advantages of waking up early, including increased productivity and better mental health.2. "The Power of Positive Thinking"- Exploring how a positive mindset can lead to success and happiness.3. "How to Set Goals and Achieve Them"- Tips for effectively setting goals and techniques to ensure successful achievement.4. "The Importance of Daily Exercise"- Highlighting the benefits of regular exercise for physical and mental well-being.5. "The Art of Mindfulness"- Exploring the practice of mindfulness and its positive impacts on reducing stress and increasing focus.6. "The Benefits of Reading Books"- Discussing the various advantages of reading books, including improved vocabulary and knowledge.7. "How to Manage Time Effectively"- Tips for managing time more efficiently and increasing productivity.8. "The Joy of Helping Others"- Exploring the satisfaction and positive effects of helping others.9. "The Power of Music"- Discussing how music can enhance mood and improve overall well-being.10. "The Importance of Gratitude"- Exploring the benefits of expressing gratitude and ways to incorporate it into daily life.11. "Tips for Better Sleep"- Providing strategies for achieving better quality sleep and improving overall sleep habits.12. "The Benefits of Meditation"- Discussing the positive impacts of regular meditation on mental, emotional, and physical health.13. "The Art of Journaling"- Exploring the benefits of documenting thoughts and experiences through journaling.14. "The Impact of Positive Relationships"- Discussing the importance of positive relationships and their effects on happiness and mental well-being.15. "The Power of a Growth Mindset"- Exploring the mindset of embracing challenges and persevering through failures for personal growth.16. "The Benefits of Learning a New Language"- Highlighting the advantages of learning a new language, including improved cognitive abilities and cultural understanding.17. "The Art of Deep Breathing"- Discussing the benefits of deep breathing exercises for stress reduction and relaxation.18. "The Importance of Self-Care"- Exploring the significance of self-care for overall well-being and tips for incorporating it into daily routines.19. "The Benefits of a Healthy Diet"- Highlighting the positive impacts of maintaining a balanced and nutritious diet.20. "The Power of Positive Affirmations"- Discussing the benefits of positive affirmations and how they can improve self-esteem and motivation.21. "The Joy of Travel"- Exploring the benefits of travel on personal growth, cultural awareness, and happiness.22. "The Importance of Hobbies"- Discussing the significance of pursuing hobbies and their positive impacts on mental well-being.23. "The Benefits of Laughing"- Highlighting how laughter can improve mood and overall wellness.24. "The Experience of Mindful Eating"- Discussing the concept of mindful eating and its benefits for overall health and satisfaction.这些英语短文适合晨读,可以帮助提升英语水平,同时也为你的一天带来积极的开始。
高中生晨读英语美文
高中生晨读英语美文高中生晨读英语美文适合高中生晨读练习英文的美文你知道有哪些吗?以下是店铺整理的高中生晨读美文,欢迎参考阅读!高中生晨读英语美文1Beauty of July七月之美By Alice MeynellOne has the leisure of July for perceiving all the differences of the green of leaves. It is no longer a difference in degrees of maturity, for all the trees have darkened to their final tone, and stand in their differences of character and not of mere date. Almost all the green is grave, not sad and not dull. It has a darkened and a daily colour, in majestic but not obvious harmony with dark grey skies, and might look, to inconstant eyes, as prosaic after spring as eleven o'clock looks after the dawn.七月间,人们有余暇观察树叶绿翠的千差万别。
这不再是成熟上的差异,因为所有的树木,或转苍翠,或呈墨绿,色调均已固着定格,从而展现出来的,并非时节上的不同,而是各自品格上的差异。
几乎各种绿色,品味凝重,既不流于悒郁,也不失之沉闷,它具有一种深沉、日常的色泽,与灰暗的苍穹浑然一体,构成庄重却非一眼可见的和谐,故而在游览扫掠的目光看来,可能会有阳春繁景过后的平淡之感。
一如黎明之后十一点的光景。
适合高中生的英语晨读美文
适合高中生的英语晨读美文推荐文章高中英语的美文摘抄热度:有关高中经典英语美文摘抄热度:关于高中生英语美文精选热度:有关高中生英语美文摘抄3篇热度:高中英语优秀作文的阅读热度:词汇是学习英语的基础,是促进语音和语法学习的一把钥匙。
每一段文章,每一篇美文,都是由简单的英文字母组成的。
要想学习更多的英语词汇,就要多阅读经典有营养的英语美文。
下面是店铺带来的适合高中生的英语晨读美文,欢迎阅读!适合高中生的英语晨读美文篇一Genius at Work天才在工作Henry Ford didn’t always pay attention in school. One day ,he and a friend took a watch apart. Angry and upset, the teacher told him both to stay after school. Their punishment was to stay until they had fixed the watch. But the teacher did not know young Ford’s genius. In ten minutes, this mechanical wizard had repaired the watch and was on this way home..Ford was always interested in how things worked. He once plugged up the spout of a teapot and placed it on the fire. Then he waited to see what would happen. The water boiled and, of course, turned to steam. Since the steam had no way to escape, the teapot exploded. The explosion cracked a mirror and broke a window. The young inventor was badly scaldedFord’s year of curiosity and tinkering paid off. He dreamed of a horseless carriage. When he built one, the world of transportation was changed forever.亨利.福特在学校里常常心不在焉。
英语晨读短文带翻译
1. Improved Vocabulary: Reading English texts in the morning exposes you to new words and phrases. This helps to expand your vocabulary and improve your language skills.
4. Take Notes: Jot down new words, phrases, or grammar points that you come across during your morning reading. Review these notes regularly to reinforce your learning.
Tips for Effective Morning Reading
1. Choose Interesting Content: Select reading materials that interest you. This could be a novel, a newspaper, or an online article. When you read something you enjoy, it becomes easier to stay motivated and focused.
3. Language Practice: Reading English in the morning is an excellent way to practice the language. It helps to reinforce grammar rules and sentence structures, leading to better language fluency.
英语晨读背诵美文30篇_英文+翻译
英语背诵美文30篇英文+翻译第一篇:Youth 青春Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple1) knees; it is a matter of will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.Youth means a temperamental2) predominance3) of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting4) our ideals.Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonders, th e unfailing childlike appetite of what’s next and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station: So long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the infinite5), so long are you young.When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism6) and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at 20; but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at 80.[Annotation:]1)supple adj. 柔软的2)temperamental adj. 由气质引起的3)predominance n. 优势4) desert vt. 抛弃5) the Infinite上帝6) cynicism n. 玩世不恭青春青春不是年华,而是心境;青春不是桃面、丹唇、柔膝,而是深沉的意志、恢弘的想象、炙热的感情;青春是生命的深泉在涌动。
英语晨读高中作文
英语晨读高中作文
As a high school student, morning reading in English plays a significant role in my daily routine. It not only enhances my language skills, but also broadens my knowledge and perspectives. In this essay, I will discuss the importance of English morning reading, its benefits, some effective reading strategies, and how it has positively impacted my academic and personal growth.
晨读晚背英语作文模板高中
As a high school student, Ive always been fascinated by the power of language and the way it can shape our thoughts and perceptions. English, being a global language, has always been a subject of interest for me. Ive found that the best way to improve my English skills is through a disciplined routine of morning reading and evening recitation, which I like to call morning read, evening recite.My day usually starts with the soft glow of dawn, and with it, the quiet hum of my alarm clock signaling the start of a new day. I roll out of bed, still rubbing the sleep from my eyes, and make my way to my study desk. There, I have a collection of English books, articles, and poems that Ive carefully selected for my morning reading sessions. The first rays of sunlight filter through the window, casting a warm glow on the pages as I begin to read.Reading in the morning has several benefits. It helps me to wake up my brain and get it ready for the day ahead. The act of reading stimulates my cognitive abilities, improving my focus and comprehension. Moreover, it exposes me to new vocabulary and idiomatic expressions, which I can later incorporate into my own speech and writing.One of my favorite parts of the morning read is the variety of texts I get to explore. From classic literature like To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee to contemporary articles on technology and culture, each piece offers a unique perspective and enriches my understanding of the English language. I also enjoy reading aloud, as it helps me to practice my pronunciation and intonation, making my spoken English more fluent andnatural.As the day progresses, I immerse myself in schoolwork and other activities, but the lessons from my morning reading sessions stay with me. I find myself thinking in English, and when I speak with my friends or teachers, I try to use the new words and phrases Ive learned.When evening falls, I return to my study desk for the second part of my routine: evening recitation. This involves revisiting the texts I read in the morning and memorizing key passages. Recitation is a powerful tool for language acquisition. It helps to reinforce what Ive learned and to internalize the language patterns.Ive noticed that reciting passages from texts Ive already read allows me to recall the content more easily. Its like training my brain to store and retrieve information more efficiently. Additionally, recitation helps me to develop a better understanding of the texts structure and style, which can be useful when Im writing my own essays or reports.For instance, when I recited a passage from 1984 by George Orwell, I not only memorized the words but also began to appreciate the authors use of language to convey complex ideas and emotions. This understanding has since influenced my own writing, helping me to express my thoughts more clearly and effectively.In conclusion, my morning read, evening recite routine has been instrumental in improving my English skills. It has not only enhanced myvocabulary and comprehension but also improved my pronunciation and writing abilities. By dedicating time each day to reading and recitation, Ive found a way to immerse myself in the English language and to continuously grow as a learner. This routine has become an integral part of my life, and I believe its a practice that any student can adopt to enhance their language skills.。
晨读英语美文60篇
Starbucks invades Parisian cafe culture (1)The beauty industry (2)Holiday Headache (2)Arthritis all-clear for high heels (3)Disney World (4)Secrets to a Great Life (5)The 50-Percent Theory of Life (6)The Road to Happiness (7)Six Famous Words (8)Write Your Own Life (8)Starbucks invades Parisian cafe cultureA form of alien civilisation has finally landed in Paris - unfamiliar green and black signs have appeared on the Avenue de L'Opera.It is the first Starbucks cafe to boldly go where no Starbucks has gone before, onto potentially hostile French territory.Its advertising posters on the Champs Elysee announce "Starbucks - a passion pour le cafe".But is the company aware of the risk it is taking by challenging the very birthplace of cafe society?"I think every time we come into a new market we do it with a great sense of respect, a great deal of interest in how that cafe society has developed over time," Bill O'Shea of Starbucks says."We recognise there is a huge history here of cafe society and we have every confidence we can enjoy, augment and join in that passion."And he may be right. Despite some sniffiness in the French press, some younger French are expressing their excitement that they will finally be able to visit the kind of cafe they love to watch on the US TV series Friends.In fact, for some, it is an exotic rarity, far more exciting than the average French cafe.Melissa, aged 18, says she can hardly wait: "I love Starbucks caramel coffee - it's very good and I like the concept that they're opening in Paris. I think Starbucks will be OK for French people."An American tourist is equally excited when she spots the sign - this could be just the thing to help her get over the occasional twinge of homesickness."I love the French cafes, but Starbucks is so popular in the States and it's become part of American culture and now it's come to France, and that's OK," she said.But that is the problem for many French, who do not want France to be just like the rest of the world: with standardised disposal cups of coffee - identical in 7,000 branches around the world - even if they are termed handcrafted beverages.At the traditional cafes, customers worry that the big US coffee house chains could drive out small, family-owned cafes.Others here think they could come round to the idea of Starbucks, though for them it would never replace the corner cafe or the typical Parisian petit noir coffee.The beauty industryThe one American industry unaffeted by the general depression of trade is the beauty industry. American women continue to spend on their faces and bodies as much as they spent before the coming of the slump--about three million pounds a week. These facts and figures are 'official', and can be accepted as being substantially true.The modern cult of beauty is not exclusively a function of wealth. If it were, then the personal appearance industries would have been as hit by the trade depression as any other business. But, as we have seen, they have not are retrenching on other things than their faces.Women, it is obvious, are freer than in the past. Freer not only to perform the generally unenviable social functions hithero reserved to the male, but also freer to exercise the more pleasing, feminine privilege of being attractive. The fortunes are made justly by face-cream manufacturers and beauty-specialists, by the sellers of rubber reducing-belts and massage machines, by the patentees of hair-lotions and the authors of books on the culture of the abdomen.It is a success in so far as more women retain their youthful appearance to a greater age than in the past. The Portrait of the Artist's Mother will come to be almost indisinguishable, at future picture shows, from the Portrai of the Artist's Daughter. The success is part due to skin foods and injections of paraffin-wax, facial surgery, mud baths, and paint, and in part due to impoved health. So for some people, the campaign for more beauty is also a compaign for more health. Beauty that is merely the artificial shadow of these symptoms of heslth is intrinsically of poorer quality than the genuine article. Still, it is a sufficiently good imitation to be sometimes mistakable for the real thing. Every middle-in-come preson can afford the cosmetic apparatus and more knowledge of the way in which real herlth can be achieved is being universally aced upon. When that happy moment comes, will every woman be beautiful-as beautiful, at any rate, as the natural shape of her features? The answer is apparent: No,for real beauty is as much an affair of the inner as of the outer self.Holiday HeadacheAll I wanted was a cozy log cabin in the state of Maine, somewhere deep in the woods, to hang out under the stars. It was to be my first vacation with my boyfriend, and I wanted it to be perfect.So rather than waste money on a guidebook that was bound to be outdated before it appeared on the shelves of my local bookstore, I decided to search online. Little did I know that when I typed the words “Maine log cabin rental〞at altavista , I was stepping into 48 hours of Internet hell. Forget dinner, forget work, forget sleep. I was glued to my computer for hours clicking from one listing to another to find the perfect hideaway.I was wrong. The first site that I tried, cyberrentals , grouped rentals by region but had no map to tell me where such romantic-sounding, places as Seal Cove or Owl’s Head were. So I had to log on to mapblast to locate each one, then return to slogging through site, vacationspot , let me find 50 cabins and cottages right off, but most of the rentals turned out to be closed for the winter.I learned only after reading a lot of fine print. One day and hundreds of listings later, I was ready to throw my computer out the window. For every 10 vacation spots I looked into, I found maybe one that sounded good and more often than not, it was booked, too far away, or outrageously priced. Searching on line was really giving me a finally decided to put our log-cabin Web dreams on hold and search the old-fashioned way at a bookstore. I bought a paperback book called America’s Favorite Inns, B&Bs, and Small Hotels. I was relieved to see that each city was neatly pinpointed on a detailed map, and most had good descriptions to help me figure out where in Maine we should go in the first place.Then I found it: an old inn on the southern coast of Maine that rented us one of its best rooms for $100 a night. Guess what? It didn’t have a Website. I took my chances based on a good review, a great location and a bargain price. It wasn’t a log cabin, and it was far from the woods, but there were lace curtains, a hardwood floor and a quilt on the bed. With the ocean outside our window and a fireplace in the room, my holiday was just as cozy as I dreamed it would be.Arthritis all-clear for high heelsFears that wearing high-heeled shoes could lead to knee arthritis are unfounded,say researchers.But being overweight,smoking,and having a previous knee injury does increase the risk,the team from Oxford Brookes Universtity found.They looked at more than 100 women aged between 50 and 70 waiting for knee surgery, and found that choice of shoes was not a factorThe study was published in the Journal of Epidemilology and public health.More than 2% of the population aged over 55 suffers extreme pain as a result of osteoarthrits of the knee.The condition is twice as common in 65-year-old women as it is in men of the same age.Women's and men's knees are not biologically different, so the reserachers wanted to find out why twice as many women as men develop osteoarthritis in the joint.Some researchers have speculated tha high-heeled shoes maybe to blame.The women in the study were quizzed on details of their height and weight when they left school, between 36 and 40 and between 51 and 55.They were asked about injuries, their jobs, smoking and use of contraceptive hormones.Howere, while many of these factors were linked to an increased risk over the years was not.The researchers wrote:"Most of the women had been exposed to high heeled shoes over the years-nevertheless, a consistent finding was a reduced risk of osteoarthritis of the knee.There was an even more pronounced link between regular dancing in three-inch heels and a reduced risk of knee problems.The researchers described this finding as "surprising", but said that they would not expect a larger-scale study to overturn their findings.Disney WorldDisney World, Florida, is the biggest amusement resort in the world. It covers 24.4 thousand acres, and is twice the size of Manhattan. It was opened on October 1 1971, five years after Walt Disney’s death, and it is a larger, slightly more ambitious version of Disneyland near Los Angeles.Foreigners tend to associate Walt Disney with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and with his other famous cartoon characters, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.There is very little that could be called vulgar in Disney World. It attracts people of most tastes and most income groups, and people of all ages, from toddlers to grandpas. There are two expensive hotels, a golf course, forest trails for horseback riding and rivers for canoeing. But the central attraction of the resort is the Magic Kingdom.Between the huge parking lots and the Magic Kingdom lies a broad artificial lake. In the distance rise the towers of Cinderella’s Castle. Even getting to the Magic Kingdom is quite an adventure. You have a choice of transportation. You can either cross the lake on a replica of a Mississippi paddlewheeler, or you can glide around the shore in a streamlined monorail train.When you reach the terminal, you walk straight into a little square which faces Main Street. Main Street is late 19th century. There are modern shops inside the buildings, but all the facades are of the period. There are hanging baskets full of red and white flowers, andthere is no traffic except a horse-drawn streetcar and an ancient double-decker bus. Yet as you walk through the Magic Kingdom, you are actually walking on top of a network of underground roads. This is how the shops, restaurants and all other material needs of the Magic Kingdom are invisibly supplied.Secrets to a Great LifeA great life doesn’t happen by accident. A great life is the resu lt of allocating your time, energy, thoughts, and hard work towards what you want your life to setting yourself up for stress and failure, and start setting up your life to support success and ease.A great life is the result of using the 24/7 you get in a creative and thoughtful way, instead of just what comes next. Customize these “secrets〞to fit your own needs and style, and start creating your own great life today!1. S—Simplify.A great life is the result of simplifying your life. When you focus on simplifying your life, you free up energy and time for the work that you enjoy and the purpose for which you are here. In order to create a great life, you will have to make room for it in yours first.2. E—Effort.A great life is the result of your best effort. Creating a great life requires that you make some adjustments. It means looking for new ways to spend your energy that coincide with your particular definition of a great life. Life will reward your best effort.3. C—Create Priorities.A great life i s the result of creating priorities. It’s easy to spend your days just responding to the next thing that gets your attention, instead of intentionally using the time, energy and money you have in a way that’s important to you. Make sure you are honoring yo ur priorities.4. R—Reserves.A great life is the result of having reserves—reserves of things, time, space, energy, money. With reserves, you acquire far more than you need. Reserves are important because they reduce the fear of consequences, and that allows you to make decisions based on what you really want instead of what the fear decides for you.5. E—Eliminate distractions.A great life is the result of eliminating distractions. Look around at someone’s life you admire. What do they do that you would like to incorporate into your own life? Ask them how they did it. Find ways to free up your mental energy for things that are more important to you.6. T—Thoughts.A great life is the result of controlling your thoughts so that you accept and allow for the possibility that it actually can happen to you! Your belief in the outcome will directly dictate how successful you are. Motivated people have specific goals and look for ways to achieve them.7. S—Start.A great life is the result of starting. There’s the old saying everyone’s familiar with “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step〞. There’s no better time to start than today.Don’t wait for a raise, or until the kids get older, or the weather is better. It’s what you do TODAY that will make a difference in your life tomorrow.The 50-Percent Theory of LifeI believe in the 50-percent theory. Half the time things are better than normal; the other half, they are worse. I believe life is a pendulum swing. It takes time and experience to understand what normal is, and that gives me the perspective to deal with the surprises of the future.Let’s benchmark the parameters: Yes, I will die. I’ve dealt with the deaths of both parents, a best friend, a beloved boss and cherished pets. Some of these deaths have been violent, before my eyes, or slow and agonizing. Bad stuff, and it belongs at the bottom of the scale. Then there are those high points: romance and marriage to the right person; having a child and doing those Dad things like coaching my son’s baseball team, paddling around the creek in the boat while he’s swimming with the dogs, discovering his compassion so deep it manifests even in his kindness to snails, his imagination so vivid he builds a spaceship from a scattered pile of Legos.But there is a vast meadow of life in the middle, where the bad and the good flip-flop acrobatically. This is what convinces me to believe in the50-percent spring I planted corn too early in a bottomland so flood-prone that neighbors laughed. I felt chagrined at the wasted effort. Summer turned brutal—the worst heat wave and drought in my lifetime. The air-conditioner died, the well went dry, the marriage ended, the job lost, the money gone. I was living lyrics from a country tune—music I disliked. Only a surging Kansas City Royals team, bound for their first World Series, buoyed my back on that horrible summer, I soon understood that all succeeding good things merely offset the bad. Worse than normal wouldn’t last long. I am owed and savor the peaceful and happy times. They reinvigorate me for the next nasty surprise and offer assurance that I can thrive.The 50 percent theory even helps me see hope beyond my Royals’ recent slump, a field of struggling rookies sown so that some year soon we can reap an October harvest. Oh, yeah, the corn crop? For that one blistering summer, the ground moisture was just right, planting early allowed pollination before heat withered the tops, and the lack of rain spared the standing corn from floods. That winter my crib overflowed with corn—fat, healthythree-to-a-stalk ears filled with kernels from heel to tip—while my neighbors’ fields yielded only brown, empty husks.Although plantings past may have fallen below the 50-percent expectation, and they probably will again in the future, I am still sustained by the crop that flourishes during the drought.The Road to HappinessIt is a commonplace among moralists that you cannot get happiness by pursuing it. This is only true if you pursue it unwisely. Gamblers at Monte Carlo are pursuing money, and most of them lose it instead, but there are other ways of pursuing money, which often succeed. So it is with happiness. If you pursue it by means of drink, you are forgetting the hangover.Epicurus pursued it by living only in congenial society and eating only dry bread, supplemented by a little cheese on feast days. His method proved successful in his case, but he was a valetudinarian, and most people would need something more vigorous.For most people, the pursuit of happiness, unless supplemented in various ways, is too abstract and theoretical to be adequate as a personal rule of life. But I think that whatever personal rule of life you may choose it should not, except in rare and heroic cases, be incompatible with you look around at the men and women whom you can call happy, will see that they all have certain things in common. The most important of these things is an activity which at most gradually builds up something that you are glad to see coming into existence.Women who take an instinctive pleasure in their children can get this kind of satisfaction out of bringing up a family. Artists and authors and men of science get happiness in this way if their own work seems good to them. But there are many humbler forms of the same kind of pleasure. Many men who spend their working life in the city devote their weekends to voluntary and unremunerated toil in their gardens, and when the spring comes, they experience all the joys of having created beauty.The whole subject of happiness has, in my opinion, been treated too solemnly. It had been thought that man cannot be happy without a theory of life or a religion. Perhaps those who have been rendered unhappy by a bad theory may need a better theory to help them to recover, just as you may need a tonic when you have been ill. But when things are normal a man should be healthy ]without a tonic and happy without a theory. It is the simple things that really matter.If a man delights in his wife and children, has success in work, and finds pleasure in the alternation of day and night, spring and autumn, he will be happy whatever his philosophy may be. If, on the other hand, he finds his wife fateful, his children’s noise unendurable, and the office a nightmare; if in the daytime he longs for night, and at night sighs for the light of day, then what he needs is not a new philosophy but a new regimen—a different diet, or more exercise, or what not.Man is an animal, and his happiness depends on his physiology more than he likes to think. This is a humble conclusion, but I cannot make myself disbelieve it. Unhappy businessmen, I am would increase their happiness more by walking six miles every day than by any conceivable change of philosophy.Six Famous Words“To be or not to be.〞Outside the Bible, these six words are the most famous in all the literature of the world. They were spoken by Hamlet when he was thinking aloud, and they are the most famous words in Shakespearebecause Hamlet was speaking not only for himself but also for every thinking man and woman.To be or not to be, to live or not to live, to live richly and abundantly and eagerly, or to live dully and meanly and scarcely. A philosopher once wanted to know whether he was alive or not, which is a good question for everyone to put to himself occasionally. He answered it by saying: “I think, therefore I am.〞But the best definition of existence I ever saw was one written by another philosopher who said: “To be is to be in relations.〞If this is true, then the more relations a living thing has, the more it is alive.To live abundantly means simply to increase the range and intensity of our relations. Unfortunately we are so constituted that we get to love our routine. But apart from our regular occupation how much are we alive? If you are interested only in your regular occupation, you are alive only to that extent. So far as other things are concerned—poetry and prose, music, pictures, sports, unselfish friendships, politics, international affairs—you are dead. Contrariwise, it is true that every time you acquire a new interest—even more, a new accomplishment—you increase your power of life.No one who is deeply interested in a large variety of subjects can remain unhappy, the real pessimist is the person who has lost interest. Bacon said that a man dies as often as he loses a friend. But we gain new life by contacts and new friends.What is supremely true of living objects is only less true of ideas, which are also alive. Where your thoughts are, there will your life be also. If your thoughts are confined only to your business, only to your physical welfare, only to the narrow circle of the town in which you live, then you live in a narrow-circled life. But if you are interested in what is going on in China, then you are living in China—if you’re inter ested in the characters of a good novel, then you are living with those highly interesting people, if you listen intently to fine music, you are away from your immediate surroundings and living in a world of passion and imagination.To be or not to be—to live intensely and richly, merely to exist, that depends on ourselves. Let widen and intensify our relations. While we live, let live!Write Your Own LifeSuppose 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 tocreate 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…。
