优秀英语六级美文阅读
中国学生主要通过英语课和阅读学习英语。阅读是提高学生外语学习兴趣、积累语言知识、提高学生外语学习能力的重要途径。下面是小编带来的优秀六级英语美文阅读,欢迎阅读!
优秀六级英语美文阅读篇一
Letting Go of Yesterday 让昨日随风
On Saturday, February 12 two thousand, two things happened that changed everything in my life. The first was that on this day my baby sister was married. She was twenty-six this day, and yet to me she was still my baby sister. I suppose that I pictured her as a little girl, and treated her like one in order to hold onto and preserve my own youth. Until I saw her in her wedding dress I still had a vision of her with chubby little cheeks and long, dark-brown pigtails blowing in the wind, perhaps even a permanent smudge of chocolate around her pink lips. I guess it's true that you see only what you want to see. Where did this beautiful woman with the glowing complexion and gentle curves come from?
2000年2月12日,星期六,那天发生的两件事改变了我的此后的生活。第一件是小妹妹那天结婚了。当时她已经26岁了,但对我来说,她还是我的小妹妹。我总是把她看作小女孩,也把她当一个小女孩来对待。我想这是因为我希望通过这种方式来永葆青春。直到看到她身着婚纱的那一刻,浮现在我脑海的还是那个小圆脸蛋,长长的褐色马尾巴在风中摆动的小女孩;也许还有一块巧克力总是粘在她那粉红色的嘴唇上。我想人总是看见自己想看的东西。眼前这位容光焕发、线条优美的女人是谁呢?
I was happy that day, and also sad. Gone were the days of me bossing her around and telling her what she should do with her life. My bossy behavior had earned me the nickname Lucy. If you are a Peanuts fan then you can clearly imagine my behavior as an older sister. To me it wasn't an insult; I rather like the nickname Lucy. I happen to think that Lucy is strong and has incredible self-confidence, although she is a little overbearing at times. I did my best to live up to the standards set forth by this dynamic cartoon character.
那天我既高兴又伤心。过去我对她呼来唤去,告诉她生活应该怎样过的日子已经一去不回了。因为独断蛮横我得到了露西这个外号。如果你也喜欢看《花生》这部动画片,那你一定可以想象我作为一个大姐姐的样子。我不觉得这个外号是一种侮辱,反倒很喜欢它。我有时还想,强大的露西自信得令人难以置信,虽然她有时也让人难以忍受。我努力向这个生气勃勃的卡通形象看齐。
I left the reception to get some air because suddenly I was overcome with grief at the realization that I was no longer a child. I went outside and walked to a nearby playground where there were children playing on the slide, the swings and digging in the dirt. There was a little girl twirling around on a bar, one knee wrapped tightly around the bar and fashioned behind her knee. It was all I could do to sit there and just watch, for I too wanted to get on that bar with her and see if I could still hold the all-time twirling record (ninety-nine times in fifth grade)。 Somewhere inside I knew that I would break my neck, and I was wearing a bridesmaid dress. Not exactly play ground material. And so I sat watching the children play. I'm not sure how long I sat there before my sister came and joined me. We talked about how we are grown up now and shed a few tears for our childhood days gone by. As she wiped a tear from my eye she lovingly said, "you'll always be Lucy to me." We hugged.
我离开了婚礼现场,到外面去呼吸些新鲜空气。我突然伤感不已,因为自己已经不再是个孩子了。我走到外面,来到附近的一个运动场边,小孩子正在那里玩滑梯、荡秋千、玩泥沙。有个小女孩正在一个杠上快速地转动,一条腿紧紧地勾在杠上。而我所能做的只是坐在那里看看,我也想跟她一起玩,看看能否再重现当年自己转圈的最高记录(五年级时一次达到99次)。但我很清楚,这样我可能会扭断脖子。再说我正穿着伴娘服,不适合运动。于是我只好坐在那里看孩子们玩耍。不知过了多久,妹妹来到我身边。我们谈起自己已经长大了,并为逝去的孩童时光流下了泪。她替我擦干眼泪,充满爱意地说:"你永远都是我的露西。" 我们拥抱在了一起。
My cousin Mike walked over and told my sister that it was time to cut the cake. And then he dropped bomb number two on me. "Hey, did you guys hear that Charles Schultz died today?" He said it like it was no big deal. He took my sister's arm and turned to head back for the reception hall. "Coming?" They asked. "In a minute." I replied, and sat back down on the bench, dizzy from what he had just told me.
表弟迈克走过来告诉妹妹该切蛋糕了。接着他给我扔下了第二颗炸弹。"嘿,你们知道查尔斯。舒尔兹今天去世了吗?"他说得很轻松,然后挽着妹妹的手臂向婚礼现场走去。"来吗?"他们问道。"等会儿,"我回答说,又在椅子上坐了下来,他刚刚告诉我的消息让我眩晕。
Dead? How could Charles Schultz be dead? He was my creator! And though I have never met the man personally, he has always been like an invisible father to me. He did, after all, fashion a famous character after me. I lost so many things on this day. Innocence slipped away from me like a thief in the night: come and gone before I could do anything about it, taking with it all the treasures that I held most valuable in my heart. I felt myself grow up, all in one moment. Reality rushed in around me like a hurricane tide. There was nowhere to run to. All I could do was sit there and watch it destroy and reshape what had existed only a moment before. I was no longer a child. I was no longer Lucy who knew what was best for everyone else. I saw, for the first time, what I really was-a thirty-year old woman with a husband of my own, and soon, a child of my own.
去世了?查尔斯。舒尔兹怎么可能会去世呢?是他创造了我!虽然我从来没和他见过面,但对于我来说,他一直都像是一位看不见的父亲一样。他毕竟为我创造了一个有名的角色。就在那一天,我失去了那么多东西,童真就像一个在夜里行窃的小偷一样,无声无息地溜走了:在我还来不及做点什么的时候就已经走了,带走了我心底深处最宝贵的财富。就在那一刻,我意识到自己已经长大了。现实像暴风浪一样向我袭来。我无处可逃。我只能坐在那里,看着它把刚刚还存在的东西毁掉,接着又重塑。我不再是个孩子。我不再是知道那个神通广大的露西了。我第一次意识到真正的我——一个有自己的丈夫,很快会有我们的孩子的三十岁的女人。
I allowed the tide to carry my sadness out with it. Take it out to sea, for it serves no purpose in my life. I stood up from the bench; a little taller than I was when I sat down. I turned and headed back to the hall, hoping I didn't miss the cutting of the cake. It was the day my sister grew wings of her own and left the nest. It was the day that Lucy died, and I was born.
我任由巨浪带走我的悲伤,送到大海中去。因为它对于我的生命来说再没什么意义了。我从椅子上站了起来,比我坐着时高了一些。我转身向婚礼现场走去,希望没错过切蛋糕的场面。今天是妹妹展翅出巢一天,也是露西死去,我得到新生的一天。
优秀六级英语美文阅读篇二
Is romance private or public
Boys: Our romance is private. Why does she always want to share with others? This throws us off balance and makes us feel rather confused.
Scene: What a coincidence! Today is Xiao Li's and Xiao Fang's birthday. Early in the morning, Xiao Li's boyfriend comes to school with 11 roses and a birthday card for her. The whole class rocks with exultation and laughter. Although they are common gifts, Xiao Li is envied greatly by everybody in the classroom, especially Xiao Fang—she is upset all day. After school, when Xiao Fang finally goes home, she sees her stupid boyfriend waiting for her at the door with a bunch of roses……
Offscreen voice: Girls think that romance needs an audience. When given publicly, even the most common presents are invaluable.
An expensive garment or several bargains?
Boys: Girls are crazy about shopping. They are always complaining that they don't have any decent clothes. Why don't they spend the same amount of money on an expensive but decent garment instead of several bargains from the stalls? The very thought of accompanying girls shopping really drives us crazy.
Scene: Two young lovers are shopping. The boy soon picks one for himself, but the girl keeps looking but fails to reach a decision. Later, at the girl's strong urging, they rush to a clothing market. With 1,000 yuan, she buys two scarves, two jackets, a dress, two pants and a pair of shoes.
Offscreen voice: When girls say that they don't have any decent clothes, they don't mean they want to buy something expensive. Instead, they want something new. For them, new clothes are always good. They feel rather excited when they can buy a lot of new clothes with just a little money.
Do girls want an escort?
Boys: We boys live in a world where everyone says exactly what he thinks, while girls' quality of reserve is exasperating. When it is late at night, I ask my girlfriend whether she wants me to accompany her home. She always says no. However, one time her “best roommate” called me to complain that my girlfriend really wanted me to do so, despite her saying no. So, the next time I gallantly volunteered to escort her home. But she didn't seem impressed, although it was very inconvenient for me and I didn't get home until midnight.
Scene: 10 p.m., two lovers are walking on the street. As the boy starts to board a bus, the girl's face turns sullen. Noticing this, he loses no time in stopping a taxi, “Let's take a taxi and I'll escort you home.” Strangely, the girl answers: “If you escort me home, you'll have to return by taxi yourself. Altogether, that will cost you almost 100 yuan, which is really a waste of money.”
Offscreen voice: Girls are very independent and don't need escorts anymore. However, they are flattered when you gallantly offer to serve as their escorts. It is a wise choice to give them 100 yuan and suggest they take a taxi home, even though they may finally choose to go by bus in order to save the money for something else.
优秀六级英语美文阅读篇三
From Homeless to Harvard
From Place to Place
On a sunny morning June 1998, twenty-one-year-old Lauralee Summer waited for the start of her graduation ceremony at Harvard University nervously, praying that this time her mother would not be late as usual. However her mother didn't show up even after the ceremony ended. Holding her certificate, she couldn't help recalling those disappointing moments: unable to catch bus on time, late for dinner and so on. Suddenly, she heard someone calling her name. She turned around and found her mother standing behind her, beaming with smile.
That Lauralee Summer's mother loves her is not in question, never has been. But the mother was unable to do what most children take for granted in Lauralee's childhood: set a schedule, make sure she went to school, get meals on the table, and make a stable home. For much of Summer's childhood, mother and daughter moved from shelter to welfare hotel to temporary room to a relative's house. By the time she was 12, they had already moved 12 times.
A Fresh Start
In 1989, they headed east. Summer says her mother told her that Boston “had good schools and was rich with cultural history.” Thus began a stay at shelters, welfare hotels, and rented rooms throughout the Boston area. For the first time in her life, there were rules, regular meals, and order. There Lauralee enrolled in Quincy High School. Lauralee would take her second-hand skateboard all over Quincy: It was free transportation. To give her room to do homework, her mother slept on the couch for the next four years.
Thanks to her teacher, Charles Maclaughlin, Lauralee made decent grades, joined the boys' wrestling team and found a place at Harvard. She wasn't the top student in her high school class (twentieth in a class of 300), and her SATs weren't perfect (1,450 out of 1,600)。
But her admissions essay set her apart from the multitudes of privileged Harvard kids. “I wrote about my mom mostly, and a little about being homeless,” she says. “I wrote about wanting to help other homeless kids.” “She's special, and someday she'll do something incredible; I really believe that,” says Maclaughlin, “Her mother gave her things that are priceless—a lot of love, and a love of reading.”
For a long time, she felt more comfortable around homeless people than her classmates. “I was with all these students who came from stable families,” she says. “They were brilliant and driven. I thought, I am going to be washed out.” She was on scholarship and grants, working two jobs to pay the bills. Books were too expensive, so Lauralee borrowed them from the library or photocopied chapters.
On Parents' Weekend, Summer's mother took the train, hauling her belongings in several bags through Harvard Square. “From the moment I met her at the T station, where she emerged laden down with her bags and layers of clothes, I knew that my Parents' Weekend would be different from anyone else's,” writes Lauralee. While the other students were dining or shopping with parents, her mum left because she had to check in at the shelter by 6:30 pm.
Forgive and Understand
Toward both her parents, Summer shows an extraordinary ability not only to forgive but to understand. “I wanted to know where the other half of my genes came from,” she says. “Meeting my dad was like being reborn at 19. I can imagine what a hard time he went through when he divorced.” She wrote him a letter when she was a sophomore in college. Her father wrote back right away, and the two have become close. Both father and daughter were surprised at the depth of feeling they discovered for each other, and what they have in common; both are athletic, driven and emotional. He came to her Harvard graduation and made a 14-day cross-country trip with her when she moved to Berkeley.
“I learned to look at the world in different ways and still find joy,” when she talks about her life. “Honestly, I think my life has been so lucky in so many ways.”
女儿当自强——走进哈佛的穷孩子
四处飘零
1998年6月,一个阳光明媚的早晨,21岁萝拉莉。萨默忐忑不安地等待着哈佛大学毕业典礼的开始。她在祈祷着,希望母亲这次不会像往常一样迟到。然而直到典礼结束,她的母亲还是没有出现。手里拿着毕业证书,她不由回想起过去那些令人失望的片刻:不能按时赶上公共汽车,晚餐迟到等等。突然,她听到有人喊她的名字。转过身去,发现母亲就站在她后面,笑逐颜开。
她妈妈一直都很爱她,这是毋庸置疑的。但是,小时候,妈妈却无法给予她大多数孩子理应得到的那种待遇——生活有规律,可以上学,三餐无忧,有一个稳定的家。童年时代,母女俩居无定所,从收容所到福利旅馆,到临时住所,到亲戚家,搬来迁去。到她十二岁时,她们就已经搬了十二次家了。
新的开始
1989年,她们向东迁移。萨默说妈妈告诉她,波士顿有很多好学校,有丰富的文化底蕴。于是,她们便住在波士顿地区,栖身于收容所、福利旅馆,或租房。她的生活第一次有了规律,按时吃饭,一切井然有序了。在那里,萝拉莉进了昆西高中,她总是踏着她的二手滑板在校园内穿梭:那可是一种免费的交通工具。在随后的四年里,为了把房间腾出来给她做作业,她妈妈一直睡长沙发。
幸亏有她的老师查尔斯。麦克拉弗林的帮助,萝拉莉取得了不错的成绩,加入了男子摔跤队,并在哈佛找到了一席之地。高中时,她的成绩并不拔尖(300名学生中,她排在第20位),SAT测试成绩也不是很理想(在1600名考生中名列1450)。
可是,她的入学作文使她从众多哈佛学子中脱颖而出。“我在作文中写的主要是我妈妈,而对于流浪生活只是轻描淡写,”她说,“我还提到想帮助其他无家可归的孩子。”“她与众不同,总有一天会干出一番事业来。这一点我是坚信不移的,”麦克拉弗林说,“她妈妈给予了她无限的爱,培养了她对阅读的热忱——这些都是无价之宝。”
在很长一段时间里,她觉得与无家可归的人在一起要比跟同学相处更舒心。“我身边的同学都有一个稳定的家庭,”她说,“他们个个才华横溢,都有一种紧迫感。我觉得自己就要被淘汰了。”她获得了奖学金和助学金,并且打两份工来支付学费。书本太贵,她就从图书馆借阅,或复印其中的一些章节。
每到“双亲周”,萨默的母亲就搭火车过来,拖着装在几个袋子中的全部家当穿过哈佛广场。“当我在月台看到她时,她躬着腰,背着几个袋子和层打层的衣服。从那一刻起,我就知道我的'双亲周'肯定会跟其他同学有所不同,”萝拉莉这样写道。当其他学生跟父母一起吃饭、购物时,她妈妈走了,因为她必须在下午6:30之前到收容所报到。
宽恕与理解
对于父母,萨默不仅表现出一种超乎寻常的宽容,而且格外的善解人意。“我想知道我的另一半基因是从哪儿来的,”她说,“在19岁时,我见到了爸爸,仿佛得到了重生。我能想象得到在离婚时,他也很痛苦。”大二时,她给父亲写了一封信。而父亲也马上给她回了信,父女俩的距离就这样拉近了。他们俩都很惊讶:彼此之间感情是如此之深,并且有许多共同点——热爱运动,有紧迫感,情感丰富。哈佛毕业典礼那天,她父亲也来了。搬到伯克利后,她还和父亲一起去进行了一次长达14天的越野游。
“我学会了从不同角度去看待这个世界,并从中找到了快乐,”当谈及人生时,她这样说道,“坦诚地说,从多方面来讲,我都是个幸运儿。”