假如给我三天光阴

假如给我三天光阴

　　人的生老病死是有一定的定律的，在最后仅剩的时光里， 我们应该做些什么事才不至于枉费这一生呢?下面是小编节选的经典英文美文：假如给我三天光阴。

　　假如给我三天光阴

　　All of us have read thrilling stories in which the hero had only a limited and specified time to live. Sometimes it was as long as a year, sometimes as short as 24 hours. But always we were interested in discovering just how the doomed hero chose to spend his last days or his last hours. I speak, of course, of free men who have a choice, not condemned criminals whose sphere of activities is strictly delimited.

　　我们都读过震撼人心的故事，故事中的主人公只能再活一段很有限的时光，有时长达一年，有时却短至一日。但我们总是想要知道，注定要离世人的会选择如何度过自己最后的时光。当然，我说的是那些有选择权利的自由人，而不是那些活动范围受到严格限定的死囚。

　　Such stories set us thinking, wondering what we should do under similar circumstances. What events, what experiences, what associations should we crowd into those last hours as mortal beings, what regrets?

　　这样的故事让我们思考，在类似的处境下，我们该做些什么?作为终有一死的人，在临终前的几个小时内我们应该做什么事，经历些什么或做哪些联想?回忆往昔，什么使我们开心快乐?什么又使我们悔恨不已?

　　The same lethargy, I am afraid, characterizes the use of all our faculties and senses. Only the deaf appreciate hearing, only the blind realize the manifold blessings that lie in sight. Particularly does this observation apply to those who have lost sight and hearing in adult life. But those who have never suffered impaimp3ent of sight or hearing seldom make the fullest use of these blessed faculties. Their eyes and ears take in all sights and sounds hazily, without concentration and with little appreciation. It is the same old story of not being grateful for what we have until we lose it, of not being conscious of health until we are ill.

　　我担心同样的冷漠也存在于我们对自己官能和意识的运用上。只有聋子才理解听力的重要，只有盲人才明白视觉的可贵，这尤其适用于那些成年后才失去视力或听力之苦的人很少充分利用这些宝贵的能力。他们的眼睛和耳朵模糊地感受着周围的景物与声音，心不在焉，也无所感激。这正好我们只有在失去后才懂得珍惜一样，我们只有在生病后才意识到健康的可贵。

　　I have often thought it would be a blessing if each human being were stricken blind and deaf for a few days at some time during his early adult life. Darkness would make him more appreciative of sight; silence would teach him the joys of sound.

　　我经常想，如果每个人在年轻的时候都有几天失时失聪，也不失为一件幸事。黑暗将使他更加感激光明，寂静将告诉他声音的美妙。

　　词汇：

　　sometimes [ˈsʌmˌtaɪmz] 有时，间或

　　specified指定的

　　condemned [kənˈdɛmd] 被定罪的;被责难的

　　criminals [ˈkrɪmɪnəl] 刑事上的;犯罪的，罪犯

　　看完今天的内容，大家对时间的概念是不是又清晰了一点呢。在我们有限的生命里一定要好好珍惜每一分每一秒。

　　人生的大石头

　　在我们的面前放了一个瓶子，石块、水还有水，大家会把桌子上的哪样东西先放入瓶子里呢?试想一下哦。

　　接下来，我们就来看看这个实验是怎么做的吧~~

　　One day, an expert in time management was speaking to a group of students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget.

　　一天，时间管理专家为一群学生讲课。他现场做了演示，给学生们留下了一生都难以磨灭的印象。

　　As he stood in front of the group of overachievers he said, "OK, time for a quiz." He pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouth jar and set it on the table in front of him. He also produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?"

　　站在那些高智商高学历的学生前面，他说：“我们来做个小测验”，拿出一个一加仑的广口瓶放在他面前的桌上。随后，他取出一堆拳头大小的石块，仔细地一块放进玻璃瓶。直到石块高出瓶口，再也放不下了，他问道：“瓶子满了?”

　　Everyone in the class yelled, "Yes." The time management expert replied, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. He dumped some gravel in and shook the jar, causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. He then asked the group once more, "Is this jar full?"

　　所有学生应道：“满了!”。时间管理专家反问：“真的?”他伸手从桌下拿出一桶砾石，倒了一些进去，并敲击玻璃瓶壁使砾石填满下面石块的间隙。“现在瓶子满了吗?”他第二次问道。

　　By this time the class was on to him. "Probably not," one of them answered. "Good!" he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?"

　　但这一次学生有些明白了，“可能还没有”，一位学生应道。“很好!”专家说。他伸手从桌下拿出一桶沙子，开始慢慢倒进玻璃瓶。沙子填满了石块和砾石的所有间隙。他又一次问学生：“瓶子满了吗?”

　　No!" the class shouted. Once again he said, "Good." Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?" One eager student raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in it!"

　　“没满!”学生们大声说。他再一次说：“很好!”然后他拿过一壶水倒进玻璃瓶直到水面与瓶口平。抬头看着学生，问道：“这个例子说明什么?”一个心急的学生举手发言：“无论你的时间多少，如果你确实努力，你可以做更多的事情!”

　　"No," the speaker replied, "that's not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is if you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all. What are the 'big rocks' in your life? Time with your loved ones, your education, your dreams, a worthy cause, teaching or mentoring others? Remember to put these big rocks in first or you'll never get them in at all."

　　“不!”时间管理专家说，“那不是它真正的意思，这个例子告诉我们：如果你不是先放大石块，那你就再也不能把它放进瓶子了。那么，什么是你生命中的大石头呢?也许是你的道德感、你的梦想?还有你的---切切记得先去处理这些大石块，否则，一辈子你都不能做!”

　　词汇：

　　management [ˈmænɪdʒmənt] (企业等的)管理，经营;主管

　　illustration [ˌɪləˈstreɪʃən] 插图;图解;说明

　　overachievers ['əuvərə'tʃi:və] 成绩超过预料的学生

　　between [bɪˈtwiːn] 在中间

　　mentoring 顾问指导(方法)

　　虽然这是一个类似于乌鸦喝水的故事，但里面的内容却不得不让人深思：我们学习也是一样，不仅得一点一点地将知识装进大脑，还得精益求精。