英语美文背诵文选40篇.doc

英语美文背诵文选40篇（拓展课）1. The First SnowThe first snow came. How beautiful it was, falling so silently all day long, all night long, on the mountains, on the meadows(草地), on the roofs of the living, on the graves of the dead! All white save the river, that marked its course by a winding（蜿蜒的） black line across the landscape; and the leafless trees, that against the leaden（沉重的） sky now revealed more fully the wonderful beauty and intricacies（错综复杂） of their branches. What silence, too, came with the snow, and what seclusion（隔离）! Every sound was muffled（闷响）, every noise changed to something soft and musical. No more tramping hoofs（徒步行走的脚步声）, no more rattling（慌乱的） wheels! Only the chiming（钟声） of sleigh-bells（雪橇钟）, beating as swift and merrily as the hearts of children. (118 words)From KavanaghBy Henry Wadsworth Longfellow2. The Humming-bird(蜂鸟)Of all animated beings this is the most elegant in form and the most brilliant in colors. The stones and metals polished by our arts are not comparable to this jewel of Nature. She has placed it least in size of the order of birds. "maxime Miranda in minimis." Her masterpiece is this little humming-bird, and upon it she has heaped（堆积） all the gifts which the other birds may only share. Lightness, rapidity, nimbleness（敏捷）, grace, and rich apparel（服装） all belong to this little favorite. The emerald（祖母绿）, the ruby（红宝石）, and the topaz（黄玉） gleam（闪光） upon its dress. It never soils them with the dust of earth, and in its aerial（空中的） life scarcely touches the turf（草皮） an instant. Always in the air, flying from flower to flower, it has their freshness as well as their brightness. It lives upon their nectar（花蜜）, and dwells（居住） only in the climates where they perennially（长期） bloom. (149 words)From Natural HistoryBy George Louise Buffon陈冠商英语背诵文选3. PinesThe pine, placed nearly always among scenes disordered and desolate, bring into them all possible elements of order and precision. Lowland trees may lean to this side and that, though it is but a meadow breeze that bends them or a bank of cowlips from which their trunks lean aslope. But let storm and avalanche(雪崩) do their worst, and let the pine find only a ledge（窗台） of vertical precipice（悬崖） to cling to, it will nevertheless（依旧） grow straight. Thrust（推入） a rod （棒）from its last shoot down the stem（茎）; it shall point to the center of the earth as long as the tree lives. It may be well also for lowland branches to reach hither and thither（到这里到哪里） for what they need, and to take all kinds of irregular shape and extension. But the pine is trained to need nothing and endure everything. It is resolvedly whole, self-contained, desiring nothing but rightness, content with restricted completion. Tall or short, it will be straight.(160 words)From Modern PaintersBy John Ruskin 陈冠商英语背诵文选4. Reading Good BooksDevote some of your leisure, I repeat, to cultivating a love of reading good books. Fortunate indeed are those who contrive(图谋) to make themselves genuine book-lovers. For book lovers have some noteworthy(值得注意的) advantages over other people. They need never know lonely hours so long as they have books around them, and the better the books the more delightful the company. From good books, moreover, they draw much besides entertainment. They gain mental food such as few companions can supply. Even while resting from their labors they are, through the books they read, equipping themselves to perform those labors more efficiently. This albeit(尽管) they may not be deliberately reading to improve their mind. All unconsciously the ideas they derive(源自) from the printed paged are stored up, to be worked over by the imagination for future profit.(135 words)From Self-DevelopmentBy Henry Addington Bruce陈冠商英语背诵文选5. On EtiquetteEtiquette to society is what apparel is to the individual. Without apparel men would go in shameful nudity which would surely lead to the corruption of morals; and without etiquette society would be in a pitiable state and the necessary intercourse between its members would be interfered with by needless offences and troubles. If society were a train, the etiquette would be the rails along which only the train could rumble forth; if society were a state coach, the etiquette would be the wheels and axis on which only the coach could roll forward. The lack of proprieties would make the most intimate friends turns to be the most decided enemies and the friendly or allied countries declare war against each other. We can find many examples in the history of mankind. Therefore I advise you to stand on ceremony before anyone else and to take pains not to do anything against etiquette lest you give offences or make enemies. (160 words)by William Hazlitt陈冠商英语背诵文选6. An Hour Before SunriseAn hour before sunrise in the city there is an air of cold. Solitary desolation（孤独凄凉） about the noiseless streets, which we are accustomed to see thronged（挤满） at other times by a busy, eager crowd, and over the quiet, closely shut buildings which throughout the day are swarming(蜂拥) with life. The drunken, the dissipated（放荡的）, and the criminal have disappeared; the more sober（清醒的） and orderly part of the population have not yet awakened to the labors of the day, and the stillness（寂静） of death is over the streets; its very hue（色调） seems to be imparted（传授） to them, cold and lifeless as they look in the gray, somber（阴沉昏暗的） light of daybreak. A partially opened bedroom window here and there bespeaks(表明) the heat of the weather and the uneasy slumbers(睡眠) of its occupant(住户); and the dim scanty(微弱的) flicker(闪烁) of a light through the blinds of yonder(那边) windows denotes(表示) the chamber(房间) of watching and sickness. Save for that sad light, the streets present no signs of life, nor the houses of habitation. (166 words)From BozBy Charles Dickens陈冠商英语背诵文选7. The Importance of Scientific ExperimentsThe rise of modern science may perhaps be considered to date as far as the time of Roger Bacon, the wonderful monk and philosopher of Oxford, who lived between the years 1214 and 1292. He was probable the first in the middle ages to assert that we must learn science by observing and experimenting on the things around us, and he himself made many remarkable discoveries. Galileo, however who lived more than 300 years later (1564 to 1642), was the greatest of several great men, who in Italy, France, Germany or England, began by degrees to show how many important truths could be discovered by well-directed observation. Before the time of Galileo, learned men believed that large bodies fall more rapidly towards the earth than small ones, because Aristotle said so. But Galileo, going to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, let fall two unequal stones, and proved to some friends, whom he had brought there to see his experiment, that Aristotle was in error. It is Galileo's sprit of going direct to Nature, and verifying our opinions and theories by experiment, that has led to all the great discoveries of modern science.(196 words)From Logic By William Stanley Jevons陈冠商英语背诵文选8. A Little GirlSitting on a grassy grave, beneath one of the windows of the church, was a little girl. With her head bent back she was gazing up at the sky and singing, while one of her little hands was pointing to a tiny cloud that hovered（徘徊） like a golden feather above her head. The sun, which had suddenly become very bright, shining on her glossy（光滑） hair, gave it a metallic luster（光泽）, and it was difficult to say what was the color, dark bronze or black. So completely absorbed was she in watching the cloud to which her strange song or incantation（咒语） and went towards her. Over her head, high up in the blue, a lark （百灵）that was soaring towards the same gauzy（淡淡的） could was singing, as if in rivalry. As I slowly approached the child, I could see by her forehead, which in the sunshine seemed like a globe of pearl, and especially by her complexion（面色）, that she uncommonly lovely.(159 words)陈冠商英语背诵文选9. Choosing an OccupationHodeslea, Eastbourne,November 5, 1892Dear Sir,I am very sorry that the pressure of other occupations has prevented me form sending an earlier reply to your letter.In my opinion a man's first duty is to find a way of supporting himself, thereby relieving other people of the necessity of supporting him. Moreover, the learning to so work of practical value in the world, in an exact and careful manner, is of itself, a very important education the effects of which make themselves felt in all other pursuits. The habit of doing that which you do not dare about when you would much rather be doing something else, is invaluable. It would have saved me a frightful waste of time if I had ever had it drilled into me in youth.Success in any scientific career requires an unusual equipment of capacity, industry, and energy. If you possess that equipment, you will find leisure enough after your daily commercial work is over, to make an opening in the scientific ranks for yourself. If you do not, you had better stick to commerce. Nothing is less to be desired than the fate of a young man who, as the Scotch proverb says, in 'trying to make a spoon spoils a horn," and becomes a mere hanger-on in literature or in science, when he might have been a useful and a valuable member of Society in other occupations.I think that your father ought to see this letter. (244 words)Yours faithfullyT.H. HuxleyFrom Life and Letters of Thomas Henry HuxleyBy Leonard Huxley陈冠商英语背诵文选10. An Important Aspect of College LifeIt is perfectly possible to organize the life of our colleges in such a way that students and teachers alike will take part in it; in such a way that a perfectly natural daily intercourse will be established between them; and it is only by such an organization that they can be given real vitality as places of serious training, be made communities in which youngsters will come fully to realize how interesting intellectual work is, how vital, how important, how closely associated with all modern achievement-only by such an organization that study can be made to seem part of life itself. Lectures often seem very formal and empty things; recitations generally proved very dull and unrewarding. It is in conversation and natural intercourse with scholars chiefly that you find how lively knowledge is, how it ties into everything that is interesting and important, how intimate a part it is of every thing that is interesting and important, how intimate a part it is of everything that is "practical" and connected with the world. Men are not always made thoughtful by books; but they are generally made thoughtful by association with men who think. (195 words)By Woodrow Wilson陈冠商英语背诵文选11. Night (1)Night has fallen over the country. Through the trees rises the red moon, and the stars are scarcely seen. In the vast shadow of night the coolness and the dews descend. I sit at the open window to enjoy them; and hear only the voice of the summer wind. Like black hulks, the shadows of the great trees ride at anchor on the billowy sea of grass. I cannot see the red and blue flowers, but I know that they are there. Far away in the meadow gleams the silver Charles. The tramp of horses' hoofs sounds from the wooden bridge. Then all is still save the continuous wind or the sound of the neighboring sea. The village clock strikes; and I feel that I am not alone. (128 words)陈冠商英语背诵文选12. Night (2)How different it is in the city! It is late, and the crowd is gone. You step out upon the balcony, and lie in the very bosom of the cool, dewy night as if you folded her garments about you. Beneath lies the public walk with trees, like a fathomless, black gulf, into whose silent beloved spirit clasped in its embrace. The lamps are still burning up and down the long street. People go by with grotesque shadows, now foreshortened, and now lengthening away into the darkness and vanishing, while a new one springs up behind the walker, and seems to pass him revolving like the sail of a windmill. The iron gates of the park shut with a jangling clang. There are footsteps and loud voices; -a tumult; -a drunken brawl; -an alarm of fire; -then silence again. And now at length the city is asleep, and we can see the night. The belated moon looks over the roofs, and finds no one to welcome her. The moonlight is broken. It lies here and there in the squares, and the opening of the streets-angular like blocks of white marble. (195 words)(323 words)By Nathanial Hawthorne陈冠商英语背诵文选13. An October Sunrise (1)I was up the next morning before the October sunrise, and away through the wild and the woodland. The rising of the sun was noble in the cold and warmth of it; peeping down the spread of light, he raised his shoulder heavily over the edge of gray mountain and wavering length of upland. Beneath his gaze the dew-fogs dipped and crept to the hollow places, then stole away in line and column, holding skirts and cling subtly at the sheltering corners where rock hung over grass-land, while the brave lines of the hills came forth, one beyond other gliding.The woods arose in folds, like drapery of awakened mountains, stately with a depth of awe, and memory of the tempests. Autumn's mellow hand was upon them, as they owned already, touched with gold and red and olive, and their joy towards the sun was less to a bridegroom than a father. (152 words)陈冠商英语背诵文选14. An October Sunrise (2)Yet before the floating impress of the woods could clear itself, suddenly the gladsome light leaped over hill and valley, casting amber, blue, and purple, and a tint of rich red rose, according to the scene they lit on, and the curtain flung around; yet all alike dispelling fear and the coven hoof of darkness, all on the wings of hope advancing, and proclaiming, "God is here!" Then life and joy sprang reassured from every crouching hollow; every flower and bud and bird had a fluttering sense of them, and all the flashing of God's gaze merged into soft beneficence.So, perhaps, shall break upon us that eternal morning, when crag and chasm shall be no more, neither hill and valley, nor great unvintaged ocean; when glory shall not scare happiness, neither happiness envy glory; but all things shall arise, and shine in the light of the Father's countenance, because itself is risen. (153 words)(305 words)By Richard D. Blackmore陈冠商英语背诵文选15. Of Studies (1)Studies serve for delight, for ornamental, and for ability. Their chief use for delight, in privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgment and disposition of business. For expert men can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one; but the general counsels, and the plots and marshalling of affairs, come best from those that are learned. To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for