书城外语用耳朵听最优美的讲演
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第57章 智慧人生(4)

Remembering that I"ll be dead soon is the most important tool I"ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. BBecause almost everything—all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure—these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.You are already naked.There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas.I didn"t even know what a pancreas was.The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months.My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor"s code for prepare to die.It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you"d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months.CIt means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family.It means to say your goodbyes.

难点重点,一目了然!

长难句解析Sentence Structures

AIf you live each day as if it was your last, someday you"II most certainly be right.

如果把每一天都当做生命的最后一天,总有一天你会如愿以偿。

as if 似乎,好像。这是一句as if 引导的状语从句。

BBecause almost everything—all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure—these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.

因为几乎所有一切,包括所有外在的需求,所有骄傲,所有对困窘和失败的恐惧,在面对死亡时都将消失殆尽,只留下真正重要的东西。

fall away表示消失。例如:In a crisis, old prejudices fall away and everyone works together.在危急关头,大家就能摒弃前嫌,同心协力。

CIt means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family.

那意味着把每件事情都安排好,让你的家人会尽可能轻松的生活。

button up 顺利完成。例如:The deal should be buttoned up by tomorrow.这笔生意应于明天顺利成交。

106.Facing Death(2)面对死亡(2)

Track 106. MP3

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总词汇量:0309词汇

每篇好演讲都有灵魂!

今日关键语导读Today"s Key Points

斯蒂夫·乔布斯经历了九死一生,死亡让他有了很深的感触。活着最主要是跟着自己的感觉和直觉走,要有勇气。不要把时间浪费在重复他人生活上。这也许是生活的真谛吧。

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I lived with that diagnosis all day.Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor.I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery.I had the surgery and I"m fine now.

This was the closest I"ve been to facing death, and I hope it"s the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don"t want to die to get there.And yet death is the destination we all share.No one has ever escaped it.And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life.AIt is Life"s change agent.BIt clears out the old to make way for the new.CRight now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away.Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don"t waste it living someone else"s life. Don"t be trapped by dogma—which is living with the results of other people"s thinking.Don"t let the noise of others"opinions drown out your own inner voice.And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.They somehow already know what you truly want to become.Everything else is secondary.

难点重点,一目了然!

长难句解析Sentence Structures

AIt is Life"s change agent.

因为死亡推进生命的变迁。

agent表示动因。

BIt clears out the old to make way for the new.

它将旧的清除以便给新的让路。

make way for 为……开路,让路。

CRight now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away.

你们现在是新的,但是从现在开始不久以后,你们将会逐渐变成旧的然后被送离人生舞台。?

clear away 移走……以空出空间。例如:You should clear away the dishes right now.你应该马上收走碟子。

107.The Road to Success成功之路

Track 107. MP3

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总词汇量:0399词汇

每篇好演讲都有灵魂!

今日关键语导读Today"s Key Points

成功的首要条件和最大秘诀就是:把你的精力、思想和资本全集中在你正从事的事业上。一旦开始从事某种职业,就要下决心在其领域内闯出一片天地来;要迈向顶峰!要做就做你梦想中的国王!

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好英文娓娓动听Words and Expressions

It is well that young men should begin at the beginning and occupy the most subordinate positions.Many of the leading businessmen of Pittsburgh had a serious responsibility thrust upon them at the very threshold of their career.They were introduced to the broom, and spent the first hours of their business lives sweeping out the office.I notice we have janitors and janitresses now in offices, and our young men unfortunately miss that salutary branch of business education.ABut if by chance the professional sweeper is absent any morning, the boy who has the genius of the future partner in him will not hesitate to try his hand at the broom.It does not hurt the newest comer to sweep out the office if necessary.I was one of those sweepers myself.

And here is the prime condition of success, the great secret:concentrate your energy, thought, and capital exclusively upon the business in which you are engaged. Having begun in one line, resolve to fight it out on that line, to lead in it, adopt every improvement, have the best machinery, and know the most about it.