佚名/Anonymous
"We are reading the first verse of the first chapter of a book whose pages are infinite……"
I do not know who wrote these words, but I have always liked them as a reminder that the future can be anything we want to make it. We can take the mysterious, hazy future and carve out of it anything that we can imagine, just as a sculptor carves a statue from a shapeless stone.
We are all in the position of the farmer. If we plant a good seed, we reap a good harvest. If our seed is poor and full of weeds, we reap a useless crop. If we plant nothing at all, we harvest nothing at all.
I want the future to be better than the past. I don't want it contaminated by the mistakes and errors with which history is filled. We should all be concerned about the future because that is where we will spend the remainder of our lives.
The past is gone and static. Nothing we can do will change it. The future is before us and dynamic. Everything we do will affect it. Each day brings with it new frontiers, in our homes and in our businesses, if we will only recognize them. We are just at the beginning of the progress in every field of human endeavor.
“我們正在閱讀一本書的首章首節，這本書的頁數沒有止境……”
雖不知道這段文字出自誰手，但我一直把它作為我的座右銘，它警醒著我——未來掌控在自己手中。我們可以把神秘莫測的未來想象成任何模樣，如同雕刻家可以把不規則的石頭刻成任何雕像一樣。
人人都是農夫，撒播優良的種子，我們就會獲得豐收；反之，種子劣質，地裏雜草叢生，收成自然不好。沒有耕耘，就沒有收獲。
我希望未來比昨天更美好，我不願那些充斥於曆史的過失與錯誤把未來玷汙。我們將在未來中度過餘生，所以，我們都應關注未來。
對於寂然不動、已消逝的往昔，我們無能為力。但未來就在我們眼前，生機勃勃。我們可以通過自己的行為去構築它。如果我們獨具慧眼，那麽，不論在生活中，還是事業上，我們每天都會有新發現。在人類的各個探索領域，一切才剛剛開始。
W 詞匯筆記
hazy[?heizi:]adj.有薄霧的；模糊的；不清楚的
例 Generally, it will be rather hazy today, with some hill fog.
總體說來，因為有山霧，今天的天氣會比較陰沉。
sculptor[?sk?lpt?]n.雕刻家；雕塑家
例 He is one of Britain's best-known sculptors.
他是英國最有名的雕塑家之一。
reap[ri?p]v.收割莊稼；收獲；取得成果；收獲
例 As a man sows, so he shall reap.
種瓜得瓜，種豆得豆。
contaminate[k?n?t?mineit]v.把……弄髒；汙染；腐蝕（人的思想或品德）
例 They are contaminating the minds of our young people with
these subversive ideas.
他們這些顛覆作亂的思想是對我們年輕人的精神汙染。
S 小試身手
我們正在閱讀一本書的首章首節，這本書的頁數沒有止境……
譯___________________________________________
我們將在未來中度過餘生，所以，我們都應關注未來。
譯___________________________________________
在人類的各個探索領域，一切才剛剛開始。
譯___________________________________________
P 短語家族
We can take the mysterious, hazy future and carve out of it anything that we can imagine……
carve out：雕刻出……；用勞動創造出……
造___________________________________________
We should all be concerned about the future because that is where we will spend the remainder of our lives.
concern about：關係；關心；關注；所關心的是
造___________________________________________