高中英语值得背诵的英语文章（1）

1. The First Snow
The first snow came. How beautiful it was, falling so silently all day long, all night long, on the mountains, on the meadows, on the roofs of the living, on the graves of the dead! All with save the river, that marked its course by a winding black line across the landscape; and the leafless trees, that against the leaden sky now revealed more fully the wonderful beauty and intricacies of their branches. What silence, too, came with the snow, and what seclusion! Every sound was muffled, every noise changed to something soft and musical. No more tramping hoofs, no more rattling wheels! Only the chiming of sleigh-bells, beating as swift and merrily as the hearts of children.
初雪： 初雪飘临。多么美啊！它整日整夜那么静静地飘着，落在山岭上，落在草地上，落在世人的屋顶上，落在死才的坟墓上！在一片白茫茫之中，只有河流在美丽的画面上划出一道曲曲弯弯的黑线；还有那叶儿落净的树木，映衬着铅灰色的天空，此刻更显得枝丫交错，姿态万千。初雪飘落时，是何等的宁谧，何等的幽静！一切声响都趋沉寂，一切噪音都化作柔和的音乐。再也听不见马蹄得得，再也听不见车轮辚辚！唯有雪橇的铃铛，奏和谐的乐声，那明快欢乐的节拍犹如孩子们心房的搏动。
(1) the living:活着的人；the dead:死去的人。形容词（有时是分词）前面加上定冠词 the 表示具有某一特性的一类人。
(2) all white=All was white, 省略句
(3) save：除……以外，介词
(4) marked its course：标示出它所经过的路线
(5) against the leaden sky：在铅灰色天空的衬托下。
(6) intricacies：这里指树枝的缠结交错。
(7) was muffled：（声音）被压抑而变得低沉
(8) beating…as the hearts of children=beating…as the hearts of children beat,默这个被省略的 beat确作"（心脏的）搏动"解，前面那个 beating别指铃儿的碰击。
2. The Humming-bird
Of all animated beings this is the most elegant in form and the most brilliant in colors. The stones and metals polished by our arts are not comparable to this jewel of Nature. She has placed it least in size of the order of birds, "maxime Miranda in minimis.". Her masterpiece is this little humming-bird, and upon it she has heaped all the gifts which the other birds may only share. Lightness, rapidity, nimbleness, grace, and rich apparel all belong to this little favorite. The emerald, the ruby, and the topaz gleam upon its dress. It never soils them with the dust of earth, and in its aerial life scarcely touches the turf an instant. Always in the air, flying from flower to flower, it has their freshness as well as their brightness. It lives upon their nectar, and dwells only in the climates where they perennially bloom.
蜂鸟 在一切生物中，要算蜂鸟体型最优美、颜色最鲜艳。经过工艺加工和各种宝石和金属是无法跟这个大自然的珍宝媲美的。大自然按照鸟类的大小把它列为最小号，真是"最小的绝妙珍品"。这咱小蜂鸟是大自然的杰作。大自然把其他鸟类只能分其中一部分的种种天赋全部慷慨地给了它。这个小宠儿具有轻盈、敏捷、灵活、优雅以及羽毛绚丽等一切妙外。那翠绿的、艳红的、嫩黄色的羽毛闪闪发光。蜂鸟从不让它的羽毛沾染尘土，它生活在天空中，一刻也不碰在草皮。它总是在空中飞翔，从花丛飞向花丛；它象花一样的新鲜，又象花一样的艳丽。蜂鸟靠花蜜为生，它只生活在四季鲜花盛开的地带。
(1) are not comparable to ：比不上……的。
(2) this jewel of Nature：这个大自然的珍宝。这里作者把美丽无比的蜂鸟比作大自然中的一颗天然珍宝。
(3) she ：指Nature
(4) in size of ：按……大小
(5) the order of birds：鸟类
(6) maxime Miranda in minimis：拉丁语 maxime解作"最大"， Miranda 解作"值得称羡的东西"， minimis 解作"最小"。
(7) upon it she has heaped all the gifts…：大自然赋予蜂鸟……的一切资质。
(8) rich apparel ：原义为色彩鲜艳的衣服，这里借喻蜂鸟绚丽的羽毛。
(9) emerald：原义绿宝石，这里指翠绿色。
(10) ruby：原义红宝石，这里指艳红色。
11) topaz：原义黄玉，这里指嫩黄色。
(12) dress：这里借喻蜂鸟的羽毛。
3. Pines
The pine, placed nearly always among scenes disordered and desolate, brings into them all possible elements of order and precision. Lowland trees may lean to this side and that, though it is but a meadow breeze that bends them, or a bank of cowslips from which their trunks lean aslope. But let storm and avalanche do their worst, and let the pine find only a ledge of vertical precipice to cling to, it will nevertheless grow straight. Thrust a rod from its last shoot down the stem; it shall point to the center of the earth as long as the tree lives. It may be well also for what they need, and to take all kinds of irregular shape and extension. But the pine is trained to need nothing and endure everything. I is resolvedly whole, self-contained, desiring nothing but rightness, content with resrticted completion. Tall or short, it will be straight.
松树： 松树几乎总是长在凌乱荒凉地地方，但它却把周围的景色点缀得井井有条，蔚然可观。低地上的树木会东倒西歪，虽说使它们弓腰曲背的，不过是草地上吹过的一阵阵微风；或者，它们的躯干歪到一边，不过时由于一排野樱草的影响。可是，尽管风暴和寻崩姿意摧残，尽管松树所能依附的只是陡壁上一块凸出的岩石，它依然长得笔挺。从它初发的嫩枝旁沿茎插一根笔直的杆子，只要这树活着，杆子将一直指着地的中心。低地上的树，可能为了获得它们所需要的东西，枝桠四下仲延，形成各种不规则的形状，任意扩张。然而松树却饱经锻炼，什么也不需要，什么都能忍受。它坚定完整，独立成长，除了长得挺拔正直，别无所求，虽受限制而依然完美，它便感到满足。不管是高是矮，它总是长得笔直
(1) a bank of cowslips ：一排野樱草。它与上文中的a meadow breeze 是并列成分。
(2) from which their trunks lean aslope：树干由于野樱草的影响而倾斜。
(3) let...do their worst：让……恣意肆虐。
(4) Thrust a rod...as long as the tree lives：这个句子的意思是：松树活着永远长得笔直，象插在一旁的杆子一样的直。松树如果长弯了，就会把插一旁的杆子推歪而不能笔直地指着地心了。 it shall point to... shall用于第三人称时表示说话者的意向。这里作“应该”解。
(5) reach hither and thither：向个方向伸展。 hither and thither=here and there.
4. Reading Good Books
Devote some of your leisure, I repeat, to cultivating a love of reading good books. Fortunate indeed are those who contrive to make themselves genuine book-lovers. For book- lovers have some noteworthy advantages over other people. They need never know lonely hours so long as they have books around them, and the better the books the more delightful the company. From good books, moreover, they draw much besides entertainment. They gain mental food such as few companions can supply. Even while resting from their labors they are, through the books they read, equipping themselves to perform those labors more efficiently. This albeit they may not be deliberately reading to improve their mind. All unconsciously the ideas they derive from the printed pages are stored up, to be worked over by the imagination for their future profit.
阅读好书：
再说一遍，把你的一部分空闲时光用来培养阅读好书的爱好吧。那些设法把自己培养成为真正爱好读书的人，确实是幸运的。因为爱读书的人比之别人有着明显的好处。只要手头有书，他们就从来不知寂寞。书越好，读来越是津津有味。他们从好书中不但得到乐趣，而且受到很多教益。他们从中获得的那种精神食粮，从其他地方是很难得到的。即使是在工作休息时，通过读书，他们的工作效率也能更加提高，尽管他们未必有意识地想到读书是为了提高才智。在钱然不知不觉中，他们从书中吸取的知识积累起来，经过想想象力的加工，对将来大有用处。
(1) the better the books the more delightful the company:书越好，与书作伴就越快活。
(2) They gain mental food such as few companions can supply: 他们得到的那种精神食粮是没有什么同栏能提供的。此处such as相当于 such mental food as
(3) This: 指上句；albeit: 连词，含义是 although it be(尽管，虽然)，用于书面语。
(4) the printed pages:书本。
(5) to be worked over:以便加以研究。
5. Night In The Open World
Night is a dead and monotonous period under a roof; but in the open world it passes lightly, with its stars and dews and perfumes, and the hours are marked by changes in the face of Nature. What seems a kind of temporal death to people choked between walls and curtains is only a light and living slumber to the man who sleeps afield. All night long he can hear Nature breathing deeply and freely; even as she takes her rest she turns and smiles; and there is one stirring hour, unknown to those who dwell in houses, when a wakeful influence goes abroad over the sleeping hemisphere, and all the outdoor world are on their feet. It is then that the cock first crows, not this time to announce tile dawn, but like a cheerful watchman speeding the course of night. Cat- fie awake on the meadows; sheep break their fast on dewy hill-sides, and change to a new lair among the ferns; and houseless men, who have lain down with the fowls, open their dim eyes and behold the beauty of the night.
露天世界的夜晚： 在室内，夜是死气沉沉，单调乏味的时刻。但是在露天世界里，有星星，有露珠，还有芬芳的香气，黑夜轻快地流逝，而大自然的面貌却在夜里时刻变化着。禁锢在室内和帘后的人们觉得夜似乎是短暂的死亡，而露宿野外的人却觉得夜只是一场充满生机的微睡。他整夜能听见大自然深沉的、自由自在的呼吸。大自然即使在休息时也在转动和微笑。当沉睡着的半球出现韪醒迹象的时候，室外的万物都起来丁，那种忙碌的时刻是居住在室内的人所不知道的。雄鸡最先啼鸣，这时不是报晓，而是象欢乐的更夫在催黑夜快走。草地上牛群醒来；露珠晶莹的山坡上羊群在进早餐，并且在羊齿植物丛中改换新的羊窝；与禽鸟共眠的无家可归的人们睁开了惺松的双眼，观赏美丽的夜色。
罗拍特路易斯．斯蒂文柬
(1)under a roof： 在屋顶下，指在室内。
(2) in the open world： 在露天世界，指在室外(野外)。
(3) What seems…walls and curtains： 主语从句，其中 choked between…为分词短语，修饰the people。
(4)she： 指Nature。
(5)all the outdoor world are on their feet： all the outdoor world指室外的万物，所以动词用are，代词用their；(be) on one's feet：站起来。
(6)break their fast：开斋，吃早饭。