5. 3. 美文背诵.doc

Learn to Be PatientWhen someone disagree with you or offends you, dont lose your temper. Why? It is of no use to do so. You ought to be patient and keep calm lest you should quarrel with him. You must know that patience is not cowardice, but a virtue. I hope that everybody practices it.In addition, patience will also bring us success. When you meet with difficulties in your work, it is no use losing heart. You must keep on fighting until the final victory belongs to you.My View on Modern LifeSome people think that life at present is better than that in the past. They think that now we are living a life that our ancestors could never have dreamed of. For instance, convenient foods from markets have simplified cooking. Electric appliances at home have taken the drudgery out of housework. Now inventions have helped to make our work more and more sufficient and less tiring. Development in medicine has helped to make people live longer and healthier. It seems as if we were living in paradise. Other people, however, believe that life in the past is better than that at present. They argue that in the highly competitive society people have to work even harder and learn much more in order to adapt to the fast pace of modern life.Moreover, people have to be sophisticated to deal with any complicated matters in life and work. Development in industry has caused lots of pollution. New inventions have put many people out of work.In my opinion, life always has its problems. There are problems now which people didnt have to face in the past, and there were also problems in the past which people dont have to confront today. Life is full of happiness if we should be optimistic. We should smile through everything whether it is happiness or misery. This is the right attitude towards life.AttitudeThe longer I live, the more I realize how attitude affects my life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think, say, or do. It is more important than appearance, talent, or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, or a home. The great thing is that we have a choice every day about what attitude we will have that day. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. The only thing we can do is to change the one thing we have control over, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so is it with you. We are in charge of our attitudes.What Is HappinessHappiness means different things to different people. For example, some people believe that if they have lots of money, they will be happy. They believe that if they are wealthy, they will be able to do anything they want, which means happiness. On the other hand, some people believe that holding a high position in the government is happiness. In this way, you have not only money, but also many other things which cant be bought by money.However, other people believe that having lots of money is neither happiness nor holding a high position in the government. These people value their beliefs, or their intelligence, or their health. They think these can make them happy.For me, happiness is closely tied to my studies, my work and my family. When I made GRE at progress in my studies, when I made contributions to the society through my work, when all the members in my family live in harmony, sharing good and sad times, I was happy. Although the definition of happiness depends on each individual, my wealth of happiness is in my studies, my work, and my family.Our PraiseEveryone wants to be appreciated and praised by others for what they do and what they say. For instance, children want to be praised by their parents. Students want to be praised by their teachers. Employees want to be praised by their employers. It seems that praise is like sunlight to us; we cant flower or grow without it.But it is a pity that while most of us are only too ready to blow the cold wind of harsh criticism on others, we are somehow reluctant to give people around us the warm sunshine of praise. For example, most mothers are always not satisfied with the progress their children made at school.Most teachers always drown their students, compositions in critical red ink, instead of commenting favorably on them. Most employers are always critical about what their employees have done instead of giving encouragement to them. Products may be great. So, lets be alert to the small excellence around s and comment on them. We will not only bring joy into other peoples lives, but also, very often, add happiness to our own.Never Tell a LieNever think you will never be detected, when you want to tell a lie. The chances are, sooner or later, your lie will be found out and it will then expose you to shame.Telling a lie is morally wrong. Besides, there are many disadvantages lying in the way of a liar. First, he has to have a good memory, lest he contradicts at one time what he said in another. Second, he is always annoyed by his conscience, because he is in constant fear that his falsehood may be found out. Third, a liar is never trusted and respected by others. The result may be that his words, even when he speaks the truth, are not believed. Forth and the last, once a person has told a lie, he cannot help telling another in order to conceal the first, and then a third and a fourth, until lying becomes a habit. After that, he may say something untrue even when he wishes to tell the truth. The disadvantages resulting from telling a lie are too many to be listed. The above are just some of the obvious ones. If you want to be free from these annoyances, if you want to be a trustworthy person, never tell a lie.How to Get Rid of Bad HabitsBad habits start growing on almost every one of us without being noticed. Once we realize the bad habits or once they are pointed out to us, it is a wise decision that we get rid of them immediately. But to get rid of a bad habit is not as easy as a thing as we sometimes think. Here is how:To get rid of a bad habit, it is important that we fist get to know how harmful the habit really is. Take the habit of smoking as an example. Obviously, smoking is harmful to ones health. It can result in lung cancer and heart attack. Besides, smoking is a waste of money. A heavy smoker spends almost as much money a day as he pays for his own meals. So if he can realize the danger and the waste, it is likely that he may stop smoking at once. To get rid of a bad habit, it is essential that we also have a strong will. Lets again take the habit of smoking for example. Many smokers pick up the habit again soon after they give it up. A lot of them cannot tell how many times they have attempted to give up smoking and how many times they have failed to do so. Therefore, it is impossible to get rid of any bad habit if we change our minds constantly. Although it is not so easy to get rid of a bad habit, many people have succeeded in doing so, setting us good models. We should learn from these models and go out of our way to do away with our bad habits, whatever it takes.On HabitsHabits, whether good or bad, are generally acquired. When a person does a certain thing once and again, he is impelled by some unseen force to do the same thing repeatedly; thus a habit is formed. Once a habit is formed, it is difficult, and sometimes impossible, to shake it off. It is therefore very important that we should take great care in the formation of habits. Some bad habits formed in childhood may remain lifetime. Older persons also from bad habits, and in some cases they are ruined by these bad habits.There are good habits which, when formed in early life, are great blessings. Many successful people declare that they owe much of their success and prosperity to the formation of such good habits as punctuality, honesty, and perseverance in early life.Such habits as rudeness, laziness, stealing and slandering are bad habits. If we want to be useful to society, we ought to keep away from all these vices, and strive to acquire those habits that are proven to be good for ourselves and others.On punctualityPunctuality means observing regular or appointed time. A man who gets up at six oclock every morning is punctual. A man who has promised to call on a friend at five oclock in the afternoon and actually does so at that hour is also punctualPunctuality is a good habit, and unpunctuality is, of course, a bad one. A few minutes delay may not be a serious matter. But it may have bad results. Getting up five minutes later than usual may upset the plan of the day. Calling on a friend five minutes later than the appointed time may cause him some unexpected trouble. Moreover, habitual unpunctuality leads to indolence and even failure in life. One delay after another makes a man be unable to exert him. It also proves him to be untrustworthy.Those who are unpunctual should try their best to get rid of their bad habits. In doing this, they should avoid making any kind of exception. They should never say to themselves: A few minutes delay does not matter much this time. I shall never be unpunctual again. Those who think in this way will find excuses for delay from time to time, and will at last give up the attempt to cultivate the good habit.On Self-esteemSelf-esteem, also called self-respect, is the respect we have for ourselves, for our belief in our ability and in the value of what we do. Self-esteem makes us independent in our thoughts and actions. It makes us feel confident that we can do things well and maybe even better the next time. It is an important quality we must have if we want to achieve success in whatever we do. The degree of self-esteem varies from person to person. People with high self-esteem believe that they can finish whatever they have started. For example, they are active in class and can express their ideas clearly. They are the people who are likely to succeed in their lives. Those with middling self-esteem are like those with high self-esteem, but they are not so sure of their own value.Those with low self-esteem, however, have many problems. They are sad most of the time. They are afraid to stat activities. They feel that no one loves them. They cannot express their ideas properly. In discussions, they listen but do not talk because they are afraid that they may say something wrong and may be laughed at. They are the people who need attention the most. So in order to get more self-esteem to live a successful life, we must firstly realize its importance. We should also seize every chance to practice gaining more self-esteem. We hope that we would have enough self-esteem so that we may have more chances to succeed in this competitive world. In the mean time, we should help those with low self-esteem to have more self-respect and confidence in whatever they do.The Power of HumorPeople like to be considered humorous, but few of us actually have the sense of humor we hope we have. Some people, on the other hand, may wonder why we should bother to be humorous. These people, I am afraid, do not know the power of humor.A sense of humor can help you become a successful speaker. We can notice that there is no great speaker in the world who is not humorous. One of two humorous remarks can make the audience laugh, making your lecture an enjoyable one. A sense of humor can help you win a lot of friends. If you are humorous, you will always attract a lot of people around you.A sense of humor can help to ease the tension between people. When people are about to quarrel, a humorous remark leading to laughter can help settle the problem.There are many ways to learn how to be humorous. Being together with someone who is humorous is one way. Reading some books which contain humor or humorous stories is another. But the most important way is that we should try to be optimistic about our life at present and, moreover, our life in the future.How to Use Our BrainHuman brain is the most complex and intelligent mechanism in the world. It is the major factor that distinguishes man from animals. With our brain we get to know the world and make a good use of the world to our benefit.Our brain is a product of constant use through millions of years. Other things can be used up, but used properly; our brain can never be exhausted. In fact, the more we use it, the more capable and efficient it will become. Excessive uses of the brain, however, will cause a lot of problems. So it is useful to know how to use our brain wisely.First, handwork or physical labor is good exercise as well as rest for our brain. Doing handwork and brainwork alternatively can help develop both our brain and hands. Secondly, we should avoid doing brainwork for long hours on end. The brain, though 3%of the body weight, when at work, consumes 20% of the oxygen carried by 16% of the blood in circulation. A long period of brainwork may cause, through lack of bodily activity, show blood circulation and inadequate oxygen supply to the brain, resulting in inefficiency and possible damage to the brain.The Man Who Had PlentyOnce there was a family that was not rich and not poor. They lived in Ohio in a small country house. One night they all sat down for dinner, and there was a knock at the door. The father went to the door and opened it.There stood an old man in rags, with old pants and missing buttons. He was carrying a basket full of vegetables. He asked the family if they wanted to buy some vegetables from him. They quickly did because they wanted him to leave.Then the man brought vegetables to the family every week. They soon found out that he had cataracts on his eyes and was almost blind. But he was so friendly that they learned to look forward to his visits and started to enjoy his company.One day as he was delivering the vegetables, he said, I had the greatest blessing yesterday! I found a basket of clothes outside my house that someone had left for me. The family knew that he needed clothes, and said, How wonderful! The old man said, The most wonderful part is that I found a family that really needed the clothes.Go OutingLast weekend we went to the countryside to have a picnic. We bought some cakes with us for lunch. We left quite early before there was too much traffic. After almost two hours we came to a nice place. It was near a river, with some large trees beside it. So we parked our bicycles under the trees and went for a swim. It was a very hot day and the water was very refreshing. After having a swim, we had lunch in the cool shade under the trees. Then we went for a walk.We saw some beautiful birds and butterflies. After walking for about an hour we returned to our bicycles and began to ride home. We got home very late and terribly exhausted. But we enjoyed it very much, for it was one of our most interesting weekends outings.A Jam-packed IslandParosThe Greek island of Paros is vast and mountainous; its dotted with white buildings; and all of it is surrounded by clear water rolling gently against its shore.This is Greece, which means even here, among the bronzed beauties and beach parties, there is history that dates back a few millenniums. Paros itself is said to have been founded by St. Helen, Emperor Constantines mother, on her pilgrimage to the Holy Land, which is proved by the beautiful and massive Cathedral of Ekatontapiliani (Church of 100 Doors) two blocks far away, which was built in A. D. 327.Its actually only 99 doorsthey never found the last on, said an elderly Greek man I had stopped to ask for directions. He told me stories about his native island as he helped me to the giant church himself.The main reason people visit Paros is the beaches. The Aegean Sea beats gently along the sandy shore. The most popular are Golden Beach, on the eastern coast that is known for great windsurfing, and the nearby Pounda Beach, called Music Beach for its music, dance parties and spring atmosphere. After a glorious day of doing nothing much at all, I joined my fellow tourists on the ferry back to Paros. With the sun setting over the Aegean Sea, I watched tiny rowboats disappear behind a huge ship pulling into port.How to Deal with StressStress is a state of being upset that happens when we are under pressure. Both our feelings and our bodies get upset. We can even get emotionally and physically sick if we have too much stress for too long.Stress can come at us from every direction. For instance, it can come from fights with other people. It can come when we have too many things to do them. It can also come when we do not have enough money to pay for what we want.Since stress can make us sick, we have to learn how to deal with it. There are good ways and bad ways to do so. We should deal with stress in good ways, of course. Good ways to cut down on stress including changing our lifestyles.For example, we can learn either to get along with people or to stay away from them. We can decide what to do now, what to later, and what to leave off doing forever. We can also figure our how to get money or we can cut down on what we want.We should not deal with stress in bad ways because bad ways to cut down on stress just lead to more troubles, for example, skipping out and leaving our work undone, blaming our problems on someone else, stealing or cheating.How to Reduce StressAs the pace of modern life continues to quicken, many people are in the habit of rushing through life. Some admit that stress seems to be one the increase all the time. A certain degree of stress is beneficial to us, but too much stress is certainly harmful, and sometimes may even harmful to our health and physique. So it i