爱华网诵读经典美文,是一种熏陶,也是一种积累,能有效提高学生的文学素养,培养学生的语言能力和写作能力。本文是大学英语四级美文，希望对大家有帮助!
大学英语四级美文：The Stars (Excerpt)
星光(节选)
——Mark Twain
——马克·吐温
We had the sky up there, all speckled with stars, and we used to lay on our backs and look up at them, and discuss about whether they were made or only just happened. Jim allowed they were made, but I allowed they happened. I judged it would have taken too long to make so many. Jim said the moon couldn’t laid them; well, that looked kind of reasonable, so I didn't say nothing against it, because I've seen a frog lay most as many, so of course it could be done. We used to watch the stars that fell, too, and see them streak down. Jim allowed they'd got spoiled and was hove out of the nest.
我们头顶就是天空，布满了闪闪的星星。我们常常躺(在木筏上)，看着夜空中的星星，并且讨论它们是造出来的还是偶然冒出来的。吉姆说他认为星星是造出来的，但我认为星星是偶然冒出来的。我想如果要造那么多星星，得花费相当长的时间。吉姆说月亮可以把它们生出来，而这个说法似乎很有道理，所以我就不再反驳他了，因为我曾见过青蛙一次下的仔儿，也差不多有这么多，所以月亮当然也能下出那么多的星星来。我们还常常看那些掉下来的星星，看着它们划出一道亮光落下去。吉姆认为它们是变坏了，所以才被赶出了自己的窝。
(From The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn)
——选自《哈克贝里•芬历险记》
大学英语四级美文：赢得大师的尊重
When the young American composer Daniel Gregory Mason came to Boston to interview the great pianist and composer Ignacy Jan Paderewski , there was trouble from the start.
年轻的美国作曲家丹尼尔•格里格利•梅森来到波士顿，当他拜见伟大的钢琴家和作曲家伊格纳奇•扬•帕岱莱夫斯基时，一开始就遇到了麻烦。
Because of a misunderstanding Mason was two-and-a-half hours late for his meeting with the great pianist. Mason was waiting in the hotel lobby while Paderewski was upstairs, getting more and more aggravated by Mason’s tardiness. Finally Mason went up to see Paderewski and found him cordial enough, but Paderewski’s wife was cold and standoffish. Mason felt awkward and self-conscious. He complimented Paderewski on his “Variations and Fugue on an Original Theme.” Then he added: “Just so you don’t think that’s empty flattery, I’ll tell you frankly that I do not care so much for some of your early pieces.”
因为一个误会，梅森和这位伟大的钢琴家会面延迟了两个半小时。当梅森在旅馆大厅里傻等时，帕岱莱夫斯基却在楼上房间里为他的拖拉而越来越恼火。最后梅森上楼见到帕岱莱夫斯基，他还是很热情，但他的夫人却冷言冷语。梅森感到尴尬和羞愧。他赞美帕岱莱夫斯基的《原主旋律上的变奏曲和赋格曲》，然后他补充道，“为了不让您觉得这是我的空洞奉承，我得坦诚地告诉您，我不太喜欢您早期的一些乐曲。”
Paderewski’s wife gave Mason a stony look. “What pieces? What do you not care for?”
帕岱莱夫斯基夫人拉下脸来，问他：“什么乐曲?你不喜欢什么乐曲?”
Mason got in deeper. “Well, for example, I do not care so much for the ‘A Minor Concerto’.”
梅森说：“好吧，比如说《a小调协奏曲》，我就不太喜欢。”
Her gaze was unwavering . “The concerto is one of my favorites among my husband’s compositions. I love it more and more.”
她目不转睛地说：“在我丈夫的作品中，这首协奏曲是我最喜欢的曲子之一。我越来越喜欢了。”
Valiantly , Mason complimented Paderewski’s use of French impressionism.
梅森又冒昧地奉承帕帕岱莱夫斯基对法国印象主义的运用如何美妙。
Now Paderewski himself spoke. “I utterly repudiate any debt to French impressionism. I do not believe in the modern French school, because it is not founded in tradition. It is erratic, bizarre, wayward. ”
这次帕岱莱夫斯基自己说话了：“我和法国印象主义一点关系也没有。我不相信法国现代派，因为它没有传统根基，太怪异了，旁门左道，莫名其妙。”
At last Mason ventured to show Paderewski a movement of his new violin sonata. Paderewski shook hands with him about eight times as he read through the sonata, singing the melody and exclaiming “beautiful!” Finally, with his music, Daniel Gregory Mason had won over the master.
最后，梅森斗胆地拿出了自己写的小提琴奏鸣曲的一个乐章，让帕岱莱夫斯基过目。帕岱莱夫斯基看奏鸣曲时，一边哼唱着，一边叫着：“太棒了!”这过程中居然和梅森握了八次手。丹尼尔•格里格利•梅森终于凭着他的音乐，赢得了大师的尊重。
大学英语四级美文：无论梦想大小,坚定就能走到
I have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch. He has let me use his house toput on fund-raising events. The last time I was there he introduced me by saying: “I want to tellyou a story. It all goes back to a story about a young man who was the son of an itineranthorse trainer who would go from stable to stable, race track to race track, farm to farm andranch to ranch, training horses. As a result, the boy’s high school career was continuallyinterrupted. When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted tobe and do when he grew up.
我有一个朋友叫蒙蒂•罗伯茨，他拥有一座养马场。他让我用他的房子作为举办筹集基金活动的地点。上次我在他那儿时，他跟我说：“我想给你讲一个故事。这要追溯到一个年轻人身上发生的故事，他是一位巡回驯马师的儿子，他的驯马师父亲从马厩到赛马场，从农庄到牧场，负责训练那里的马匹。结果，这个男孩的中学生涯就不断地被中断。当他成为一名高年级学生的时候，老师要求他写一篇文章，内容有关他长大后想成为什么人以及想做些什么。
“That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of someday owning a horse ranch.He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch,showing the location of all the buildings, the stables and the track. Then he drew a detailedfloor plan for a 4,000-square-foot house that would sit on a 200-acre dream ranch.
“那天夜里，他写了长达七页的文章，描述了自己将来有一天能拥有一座养马场的目标。他极其详细地介绍了自己的这个梦想，甚至还画出了一幅200英亩牧场的示意图，在上面标出所有建筑、马厩和跑道的具体位置。然后他又画了一幅面积达4,000平方英尺的房屋平面图，这栋房子会坐落在200英亩的梦想牧场上。
“He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the next day he handed it in to histeacher. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F with anote that read, ‘See me after class.’
“他在这个项目上投入了很多心血，第二天，他把文章交给了老师。两天后，他收到了自己的文章。在第一页上，有一个大大的红色F，并带有一条批注：‘课后来见我。’
“The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked, ‘Why did I receive anF?’ The teacher said, ‘This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. You have nomoney. You come from an itinerant family. You have no resources . Owning a horse ranchrequires a lot of money. You have to buy the land. You have to pay for the original breedingstock and later you’ll have to pay large stud fees . There’s no way you could ever do it.’ Thenthe teacher added, ‘If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will reconsideryour grade.’
“这个怀揣梦想的男孩课后去见那位老师，他问：‘为什么我得了一个F?’老师回答说：‘对于像你这样的小男孩来说，这是一个不切实际的梦想。你没钱。你出身于一个居无定所的家庭。你也没什么才智谋略。要拥有一座养马场需要很多钱。你得买地。你还得为原有的种畜付钱，之后，你将要支付大笔的种马费。你是永远也无法做到的。’随后，老师又补充道：‘如果你针对一个更为实际的目标重写这篇文章的话，我会重新考虑你的成绩的。’
“The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked his father what he shoulddo. His father said, ‘Look, son, you have to make up your own mind on this. However, I think itis a very important decision for you.’ Finally, after a week, the boy turned in the same paper,making no changes at all. He stated, ‘You can keep the F and I’ll keep my dream.’ ”
“这个男孩回家苦苦思索了很久，他问自己的父亲他该做些什么。父亲回答说：‘哎，儿子，你必须要在这件事上自己下定决心。不过，我认为这对你来说是一个非常重要的决定。’最终，男孩在一周后交上了同样一篇文章，他根本没做任何更改。他表明：‘你可以保留这个F，而我将继续怀有我的这个梦想。’”
Monty then turned to the assembled group and said, “I tell you this story because you aresitting in my 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of my 200-acre horse ranch. I still havethat school paper framed over the fireplace.” He added, “The best part of the story is that twoyears ago that same schoolteacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week. Whenthe teacher was leaving, he said, ‘Look, Monty, I can tell you this now. When I was yourteacher, I was something of a dream stealer. During those years I stole a lot of kids’ dreams.Fortunately you had enough gumption not to give up on yours.’ ”
然后，蒙蒂转向聚集的人群说：“我告诉你们这个故事，是因为你们目前正坐在我4,000平方英尺的房子里，它就坐落在我这200英亩的养马场中心。我依然留着那份学校论文，把它装在镜框里，挂在壁炉的上方。”他补充道：“这个故事里最精彩的部分是，就在两年前，同一位老师带着30个孩子在我的牧场上露营了一周的时间。当那位老师离开时，他说：‘喂，蒙蒂，我现在可以对你说这些了，当我做你老师的时候，我其实有点儿像一个偷梦人。在那些岁月里，我偷走了很多孩子的梦想。但幸运的是，你有足够的魄力，没有放弃自己的梦想。’”
“Don’t let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what,” Monty at lastconcluded.
“不要让任何人偷走你的梦想。无论怎样都要跟随你自己的心，”蒙蒂最后总结道。
