人生中的大石头-优秀英文短文阅读(适合大学四六级水平)
武汉警官学院-财政部财政科学研究所
人生中的大石头
这个石头，并不是指我们要在生活中去捡些看的到的石头，
而是
，教我们，要像往瓶子里放石头一样，要有先后的顺序，
有些事情是必须先要完成的，否则，以后当你想
起来时，你
都没有机会去重新完成了。
Oneday,anexpertintimemana
gementwas
speakingtoagroupofstudentsand,todrive
home
apoint,usedanillustrationthosestudentswill
neverforget.
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。
Ashestoodinfrontofthegroupofo
verachievers
hesaid,OK,edoutaone-
gallon,wid
e-mouthjarandsetitonthetablein
frontofhim.
Healsoproducedaboutadozenfist-sizedrocksand< br>carefullyplacedthem,oneatatime,intothejar.
W henthejarwasfilledtothetopandnomore
rockswouldf itinside,heasked,Isthisjarfull?
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？ ”
Everyoneintheclassyelled,e
managementexper treplied,Really?Hereached
underthetableandpulle doutabucketofgravel.
Hedumpedsomegravelinandsho okthejar,
causingpiecesofgraveltoworkthemselves down
intothespacesbetweenthebigrocks.
Hethen askedthegrouponcemore,Isthisjarfull?
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。
lyn
ot,
!hed
underthetableandbroughtoutabucketof
sand.
Hestarteddumpingthesandinthejaranditwent<
br>intoallofthespacesleftbetweentherocksand
reh
easkedthequestion,Is
thisjarfull?
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!ainhesaid,Good.
Thenhegrabbedapitcherofw
aterandbeganto
helookedattheclassandasked,W
hatisthepoint
ofthisillustration?Oneeagerstuden
traisedhis
handandsaid,Thepointis,nomatterhowfu
llyour
scheduleis,ifyoutryreallyhardyoucanalway
s
fitsomemorethingsinit!
“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,thespeakerreplied,
truththisillustra
tionteachesusisifyoudontput
thebigrocksinfirst,
youllnevergettheminatall.
Whatarethebigrocksiny
ourlife?Timewithyour
lovedones,youreduca
tion,yourdreams,aworthy
cause,teachingormentori
ngothers?Rememberto
putthesebigrocksinfirstoryo
ullnevergetthem
inatall.
“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！”
MyForeverValentine
Thetr
aditionalholidaysinourhousewhenIwasa
childweres
penttimingelaboratemealsaround
ertriedtomakeple
asant
chitchatandeatasmuchashecouldduring
st
mashefoundtimetohaveacup
ortwoofholidaycheerand
dohisholly-shapedbow
idn'ttrulyshineuntilValent
ine's
Day.
Idon'tknowwhetheritwasbecausework
atthe
officeslowedduringFebruaryorbecausethe
entine'sDaywas
thetimemyfatherchosetosh
owhisloveforthe
eyearsI
fondly2thoughtofhima
smy“ValentineMan.”
Myfirstrecollection3ofthemag
ic4hecouldbring
toValentine'eral
daysIhadbee
ncuttingoutvalentinesformy
uswastodecoratea“mai
lbox
”andputitonourdeskforotherstogiveus
xan
ditscontentsusheredin5a
succession6ofbitterswee
t7memoriesofmyentrance
intoaworldofpopularity8c
ontestsmarkedbythe
numberofcardsreceived,thetea
singabout
boyfriendsgirlfriendsandthetendercare
Igave
tothecardfromthecutestboyinclass.
That
morningatthebreakfasttableIfoundacard
d
wass
igned“Love,Dad”,andthegiftwasaring
withasmallpi
eceofredglasstorepresentmy
birthstone9,slittled
ifference
betweenredglassandrubiestoachi
ldofsix,and
Irememberwearingthatringwithapridet
hatall
thecardsintheworldcouldnotsurpass11.
AsIgrewolder,thegiftsgavewaytoheartshaped
boxes
filledwithmyfavoritechocolatesandalways
include
daspecialcardsigned“Love,Dad”.In
thoseyearsmy“t
hank-yous”becamemoreofa
dsseemedless
importa
nt,andItookforgrantedthevalentine
stthedaysofhavinga“mailbox”onmydesk,Ihadplacedmy
hopesan
ddreamsinreceivingcardsandgiftsfrom
“significan
tothers”,and“Love,Dad”just
didn'tseemquiteenoug
h.
Ifmyfatherknewthenthathehadbeenreplaced,
nsedany
disappointmentovervalentinesthatdidn'ta
rrive
forme,hejusttriedthatmuchhardertocreatea<
br>positiveatmosphere,givingmeanextrahugand
doi
ngwhathecouldtomakemydayalittle
brighter
.
Mymailboxeventuallyhadaruraladdress,andthe
jobofhanddeliveringcandyandcardswas
nten
ye
arswasmyfather'spackagelate--norwasiton
theVale
ntine'sDayeightyearsagowhenIreached
intothemail
boxtofindacardaddressedtomein
mymother'shandwri
ting.
Itwasthekindofcardthatcomesinan
inexpe
nsiveassortment14boxsoldbyachildgoing
door-to-d
oortotrytoearnmoneyforaschool
hekindofcardthaty
ouusedto
getfromagrandmotheroranagingauntor,int
his
case,hekindofcardthat
putalumpinyourthro
atandtearsinyoureyes
becauseyouknewthepersonnol
ongerwasableto
cardthat
signaled15thiswouldb
ethelastyoureceivefrom
him.
Thecardha
daphotographoftulips16onthe
outside,andontheins
idemymotherhadprinted
“HappyValentine'sDay”.Ben
eathit,scrawled17
inbarelylegible18handwriting,
was“Love,Dad”
.
Hisfinalcardremainsonmybulle
tinboardtoday.
It'sareminderofhowspecialfathers
canbeand
howimportantithadbeentomeovertheyearst
o
knowthatIhadafatherwhocontinuedatradition
oflovewithagenerosityofspirit,simpleactsof
unde
rstandingandanabilitytoexpresshappiness
overthe
peopleinhislife.
Thosethingsneverdie,nordoesthe
memoryofa
manwhoneverstoppedbeingmyvalentine
Remark:
蝶形领结
adv.充满感情地，深情地
ection
n.回忆
.魅力，魔力，施魔法
t.(与in搭配)展示，预报…的来到
n.(前后相
接的)一系列sion
sweetadj.又苦又乐的
rityn.得人心，声望
to
nen.诞生石(象征出生月份表示吉祥的宝
石，从1月至12月通常分别为，石榴石、紫晶、血纹绿宝
石、
金刚石、绿宝石、珍珠、红宝石、缠丝玛瑙、蓝宝石、蛋白
石、黄玉、绿松石)
.
红宝石，红宝石制品
svt.胜过
ctoryadj.敷衍的
tevt
.交付，托付
mentn.分类
vt.表明，标志着
.[植]郁金香
vi.涂
写
eadj.清楚的