高三英语阅读材料

精选文库高三阅读资料叙事类美文系列The Key of a CarA young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealers showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted. As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box. Curiously, but somewhat disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible, with the young mans name embossed in gold. Angrily, he raised his voice to his father and said, With all your money you give me a Bible? Then stormed out of the house, leaving the Bible.Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and a wonderful family, but realizing his father was very old, he thought perhaps he should go to see him. He had not seen him since that graduation day. Before he could make the arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things.When he arrived at his fathers house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart. He began to search through his fathers important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. As he was reading, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible. It had a tag with the dealers name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words. PAID IN FULL.How many times do we miss blessings because they are not packaged as we expected? I trust you enjoyed this. Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.Four wives in our livesThere was a rich merchant who had 4 wives. He loved the 4th wife the most andadornedher with rich robes and treated her to delicacies. He took great care of her and gave her nothing but the best.He also loved the 3rd wife very much. Hes very proud of her and always wanted to show off her to his friends. However, the merchant is always in great fear that she might run away with some other men.He too, loved his 2nd wife. She is a very considerate person, always patient and in fact is the merchants confidante. Whenever the merchant faced some problems, he always turned to his 2nd wife and she would always help him out and guide him through difficult times.Now, the merchants 1st wife is a very loyal partner and has made great contributions in maintaining his wealth and business as well as taking care of the household. However, the merchant did not love the first wife and although she loved him deeply, he hardly took notice of her.One day, the merchant fell ill. Before long, he knew that he was going to die soon. He thought of his luxurious life and told himself, Now I have 4 wives with me. But when I die, Ill be alone. How lonely Ill be!Thus, he asked the 4th wife, I loved you most, endowed you with the finest clothing and showed great care of you. Now that Im dying, will you follow me and keep me company? No way! replied the 4th wife and she walked away without another word.The answer cut like a sharp knife right into the merchants heart. The sad merchant then asked the 3rd wife, I have loved you so much for all my life. Now that Im dying, will you follow me and keep me company? No! replied the 3rd wife. Life is too good over here! Im going to remarry when you die! The merchants heart sank and turned cold.He then asked the 2nd wife, I always turned to you for help and youve always helped me out. Now I need your help again. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company? Im sorry, I cant help you out this time! replied the 2nd wife. At the very most, I can only send you to your grave. The answer came like a bolt of thunder and the merchant was devastated.Then a voice called out: Ill leave with you. Ill follow you no matter where you go. The merchant looked up and there was his first wife. She was so skinny, almost like she suffered from malnutrition. Greatly grieved, the merchant said, I should have taken much better care of you while I could have!Actually, we all have 4 wives in our life. The 4th wife is our body. No matter how much time and effort we lavish in making it look good, itll leave us when we die. Our 3rd wife is our possessions, status and wealth. When we die, they all go to others. The 2nd wife is our family and friends. No matter how close they had been there for us when were alive, the furthest they can stay by us is up to the grave. The 1st wife is in fact our soul, often neglected in our pursuit of material, wealth and sensual pleasure. Guess what? It is actually the only thing that follows us wherever we go. Perhaps its a good idea to cultivate and strengthen it now rather than to wait until were on our deathbed to lament. Perhaps its a good idea to cultivate and strengthen it now rather than to wait until were on our death bed to lament.Appointment with loveSix minutes to six, said the clock over the international booth in New Yorks Grand Central Station. The tall young Army lieutenant lifted his sunburned face and narrowed his eyes to note the exact time. His heart was pounding with a beat. In six minutes he would see the woman who had filled such a special place in his life for the past 13 months, the woman he had never seen, yet whose written words had sustained him unfailingly.Lieutenant Blandford remembered one day in particular, during the worst of the fighting, when his plane had been caught in the midst of a pack of enemys planes. In one of his letters he had confessed to her that he often felt fear, and only a few days before this battle he had received her answer: “Of course you fearall brave men do. Next time you doubt yourself, I want you to hear my voice reciting to you: yeah, though I walked through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will hear no evil: for you are with me.” He had remembered, and it had renewed his strength.Now he was going to hear her real voice. Four minutes to six.A girl passed close to him, and Lieutenant Blandford was surprised. She was wearing a flower, but it was not the little red rose they had agreed upon. Besides, this girl was only about 18, and Hollis Meynell had told him she was 30. “What of it?” he had answered. “Im 32.” He was 29.His mind went back to that book he had read in the training camp. Of Human Bondage it was; and throughout the book were notes in a womans handwriting. He had never believed that a woman could see into a mans heart so tenderly, so understandingly. Her name was on the book plate: Hollis Meynell. He had got hold a New York City telephone book and found her address. He had written; she had answered. Next day he had been shipped out, but they had gone on writing.For 13 months she had faithfully replied. When his letters did not arrive, she wrote anyway, and now he believed that he loved her and that she loved him.But she had refused all his pleas to send him her photograph. She had explained:” If youre feeling for me as any reality, what I look like wont matter. Suppose Im beautiful. Id always been haunted by the feeling that you had been taking a chance on just that, and that kind of love would disgust me. Suppose Im plain ( and you must admit that this is more likely), then Id always fear that you were only going on writing because you were lonely and had no one else. No, dont ask for my picture. When you come to New York, you shall see me and then you shall make your decision.”One minute to sixhe put hard on a cigarette. Then Lieutenant Blandfords heart leaped.A young woman was coming towards him. Her figure was long and slim; her blond hair lay back in curls over her delicate ears. Her eyes were as blue as flowers, her lips and chin had a gentle firmness. In her pale-green suit, she was like springtime coming alive.He headed toward her, forgetting to notice that she was wearing no rose, and as he moved, a small, provocative smile curved her lips.“Going my way, soldier?” she murmured. He made one step closer to her. Then he saw Hollis Meynell.She was standing almost directly behind the girl, a woman well past 40, her graying hair tucked under a worn hat. She was more than plump; her thick ankled feet were thrust into low-heeled shoes.But she wore a red rose on her rumpled coat. The girl in the green suit was walking quickly. Blandford felt as though he were being split into two, so keen was his desire to follow the girl, yet so deep was his longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned and upheld his own; and there she stood. He could see her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible; her grey eyes had a warm twinkle.Lieutenant Blandford did not hesitate. His fingers gripped the worn copy of Human Bondage which was to identify him to her. This would not be love, but it would be something precious, a friendship that he had been and must ever be gratefulHe squared his shoulders, saluted, and held the book out toward the woman, although even well while he spoke he fell the bitterness of disappointment. “Im John Blandford, and you-you are Miss Meynell. May-may I take you to dinner?”The woman smiled. “I dont know what this is all about, son,” she answered. “That young lady in the green suit; she begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said that if you ask me to go out with you, I should tell you that shes waiting for you in that restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test.”Life inspiringA daughter complained to her father about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know she was going to make it and want to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.Her father, a cook, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In one he placed carrots, in the second he placed eggs, and in the last he placed ground coffee beans. He led them sit and boil, without saying a word.The daughter sucked her teeth and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. In about twenty minutes, he turned off the burners. He fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then he ladled the