whitefun220

The world cannot live by words. Confucius and plato said the best that mortal man can say; and it had probably been said centuries before their time. From Jefferson to Franklin Roosevelt, with Longfellow, Emerson and his Boston set in between, their words have echoed in America and left us the thinly veneered savages we are. Jesus preached very eloquently that as two blacks do not make a white we had better give up punishment and revenge; but our criminal codes are none the less so barbarous that the most merciful of their implements are the electric chair and the guillotine.

Our Bibles, Korans, Vedas, Talmuds and their like are full of the wisest words; but we print them cheek by jowl with the crudest tribal idolatries; and it is on the idolatries that we act and teach our children, using the rest only to pretend we are civilized.

Ignorance, ignorance, ignorance, everywhere; that is what is wrong with us, and defeat our good intentions every time.

What we need is not verbal wisdom; for we are stuffed with it, but knowledge of the world we are livin-in. The uneducated are those who have least to unlearn. When they are all thoroughly schooled our ruin will be complete.

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived... Let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb nail..." --Thoreau

Every so often I feel the urge to thumb through Thoreau's Walden. I do it to make sure that I am keeping my mental feet on the ground in the general confusion that grips the world today.

Of course, there are other reasons for reading Walden, but an occasional does of Henry David Thoreau's ax-like logic as applied to the problem of living is a tonic that helps me no little in these bewildering days. The lines above have always struck me with extra force. They are some of the first I underscored in my now well-worn copy of Thoreau's masterpiece.

"The road is always better than the inn."--Cervantes

These words by the great Spanish writer, Cervantes, mean a way of living. In my younger days I often aimed too hard to reach some goal, finish some job. "When this is done," I'd say, "I shall find satisfaction and reward."

But later I came to realize that each achievement, like each inn, is only a point along the road. The real goodness of living comes with the journey itself, with the striving and desire to keep moving. Now I find that I can look back on my eighty-four years with pleasure and, what is even more important to me, that I can still look to the future with hope and desire. I have learned to take each inn along the way with a traveler's stride --not as a stopping point, but a starting point for some new and better endeavor.

Several years ago I had occasion to help a couple of my friends to make contact with Alcoholics Anonymous. In the process I was exposed to the teaching and philosophy of this movement. Though I am not eligible for membership myself, I have since carried in my billfold a little folder entitled "Just for today", which was issued by the local branch of Alcoholics Anonymous. I believe it holds a message for everybody, everywhere, and everyday. My copy is dog-eared and nearly worn out, but here is what these "Words to Live By" say:

Just for today, I will try to live through this day only and not tackle my whole life problem at once. I can do something for twelve hours that would appall me if I felt that I had to keep it up for a lifetime.

Just for today, I will be happy. This assumes to be ture what Abraham Lincoln said, that "most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be."

Just for today, I will try to strengthen my mind. I will study. I will learn something useful. I will not be a mental loafer. I will read something that requires effort, thought and concentration.

Just for today, I will adjust myself to what is, and not try to adjust everything to my own desires. I will take my "luck" as it comes, and fit myself to it.

You need to support your ideas with facts and figures.

By and large, the pupils are well-behaved.
'By and large' 的意思和 'in general' 相似，表示大體上。
不能用'By and by'

I'm sick and tired of studying grammar!

I never read the instruction manual. I learned how to use the computer by trial and error.

You really remind me of someone I used to know.

How can you fire me, after I've devoted my life to this company?

The professor said that, despite the growing environmental crisis, there is hope for the future.

Detective Smith specialises in murder cases.
不是on

Dr. Hughes made great contributions to the field of microbiology.

摘自小笨霖英語筆記本

I am so terrible. I keep skipping my classes. 我很糟糕, 常常在蹺課.

Sick and tired of something 可以視之為一個片語, 所以並沒有 sick (生病) 的意思在裏面! 例如販賣機老是吃錢, 你也可以說 I am sick and tired of this vending machine. 還有一句話也很有趣, I am so sick and tired of being sick and tired. 就是說你對於老是感到厭煩已經感到十分厭煩了, 我想這是很多都市人共同的心聲吧.

That movie was a turn-off.
那部電影真是讓我倒盡胃口.
Turn-off 就是讓你倒胃口的東西, 而 turn-on 則是你非常喜歡的東西. 例如你說 She is a turn-off. 就表示說你對她是一點興趣都沒有. 要是 She is a turn-on, 那就表示你對她蠻有興趣的. 此外, turn-on 跟 turn-off 也可以當成一種個人喜好上的標準, 比如說徵友吧, 你說, 我不想要低於 160 cm 的, 則低於 160 就是你的 turn-off, 也等於 What's not. 如果說我喜歡住在美國的, 那 "住在美國" 就是你的 turn-on. 另也有人說把 turn-on 說成 What's hot. 把 turn off 說成 What's not. 大家可以看情況自行運用.
Turn on 當成動詞的時候也非常普遍, 例如你可以說, The movie totally turns me off. 或是 she turns me off.

The pilot informed the passengers that the plane was about to land.
I have to admit that I'm terrible at maths.
不能用'tell' 是不及物动词，后面不能直接跟宾语。
不能用'warn' 因为 'require' 是不及物动词，后面不能直接跟宾语。
不能用'inform' 是及物动词，需要接宾语(名词或代词)。
The bank robber threatened to start shooting unless his demands were met.
When the journalists asked about her new marriage, she insisted that she was very happy.
The police accused him of robbery. 告訴
He denied that he had been involved in any crimes.
I can recite this poem without looking at it. I know it by heart.

文／吳凱琳 2007年8月 Cheers雜誌

和陌生人第一次見面時，要如何在一開始談話的幾分鐘內，了解這個人？如何和對方拉近距離？如何找到對方喜愛的話題？如何讓對方願意開口？

這都得依靠細心而入微的觀察力，談到這裡就不能不提最近聲名大噪的喬‧納瓦羅（Joe Navarro）。

他曾經擔任美國聯邦調查局幹員長達25年時間，是反間諜情報小組的身體語言行為分析專家，如今退休後成為美國知名的撲克牌教練。贏得牌局的關鍵就是掌握70—30法則，「其中70％來自於閱人能力，賭博技巧僅佔30％。」

去年年底他出版了《牌桌上的閱人術》（Read'Em and Reap）新書，借重他在擔任探員期間測謊犯罪人士所練就的觀察力，教導玩家如何透過眼神、肢體動作的觀察，看透對方的心思，在牌桌上給予對方致命一擊。

轉錄自小笨霖英語筆記本

The movie is terrific!
這部電影太棒了!

Terrific 在字典裏查到有「恐怖、可怕」的意思, 可是在美國幾乎沒有人用這個字來當作可怕的意思, 基本上, 它就是「太棒了!」的意思. 這個字的等級大概跟 wonderful 差不多. 例如看完電影後別人問你, "Do you like it?" (你喜歡這部電影嗎?) 你就可以回答說, "Yes. That movie was terrific!" (是的, 這部電影太棒了!) 再舉一個例子, 有一次我去美國著名的 Six Flag 遊樂園 (Amusement Park) 搭乘惡名昭彰的自由落體 (Free Fall). 當我們安全降落後, 後面的老美問他兒子, "What did you think?" (你覺得如何?) 那個小鬼就說了, "Terrific!" (太棒了!)

還有另一個單字 fabulous 不論在意思上和用法上跟 terrific 都十分地接近, 都是用來形容「非常棒的」. 例如你看到你的好友今天氣色極佳, 不妨跟他說聲, "You look terrific today!" 或是 "You look fabulous today!" (你今天看來很棒!)

2004年7月26日傍晚，美國民主黨全國代表大會在波士頓正式開幕。大會會場所在地——波士頓富裏特中心一直是NBA老牌勁旅波士頓凱爾特人隊的主場，現在成為了歡樂的海洋，成為了全美民主黨人2004年總統大選的誓師會場，4353名民主黨政要會聚一堂，正式提名克裏和愛德華茲為民主黨總統和副總統候選人，發動“倒布”總攻。當晚最精彩的一幕，是前總統克林頓和夫人希拉蕊的壓軸演講。 克林頓眼光銳利、思維流暢，演講內容環環相扣、一氣呵成,，許多人被深深打動,克林頓的此次登臺，真的是讓人從心眼裏覺得，他天生就是一個“政治人物”。

Bill Clinton's address
at 2004 Democratic National Convention

President Bill Clinton:

Thank you. I am honored to share the podium with my Senator, though I think I should be introducing her. I’m proud of her and so grateful to the people of New York that the best public servant in our family is still on the job and grateful to all of you, especially my friends from Arkansas, for the chance you gave us to serve our country in the White House.

轉錄自李開發的個人空間

1863年，離今天還不到150年的美國歷史中，卻在一個叫葛底斯堡的不知名的小地方發生了一場戰役。這場戰役因為林肯發表了不到兩分鐘的演說，而成為舉世聞名的地方；更因為被孫中山加以引用和發揮，對中國歷史或說現代史，產生重大影響。這不能不說是個很有趣的事情。
　　（中文演講詞）
　　林肯在葛底斯堡戰場的演說
　　八十七年前，我們的先輩們在這個大陸上創立了一個新國家，它孕育于自由之中，奉行一切人生來平等的原則。
　　現在我們正從事一場偉大的內戰，以考驗這個國家，或者說以考驗任何一個孕育于自由而奉行上述原則的國家是否能夠長久存在下去。
　　我們在這場戰爭中的一個偉大戰場上集會。烈士們為使這個國家能夠生存下去而獻出了自己的生命，我們在此集會是為了把這個戰場的一部分奉獻給他們作為最後安息之所。我們這樣做是完全應該而且非常恰當的。
　　但是，從更廣泛的意義上來說，這塊土地我們不能夠奉獻，我們不能夠聖化，我們不能夠神化。曾經在這裏戰鬥過的勇士們，活著的和去世的，已經把這塊土地神聖化了，這遠不是我們微薄的力量所能增減的。全世界將很少注意到，也不會長期地記起我們今天在這裏所說的話，但全世界永遠不會忘記勇士們在這裏做過的事。勿寧說，倒是我們這些還活著的人，應該在這裏把自己奉獻于勇士們已經如此崇高地向前推進但尚未完成的事業。倒是我們應該在這裏把自己奉獻於仍然留在我們面前的偉大任務，以便使我們從這些光榮的死者身上汲取更多的奉獻精神，來完成他們已經完全徹底為之獻身的事業；以便使我們在這裏下定最大的決心，不讓這些死者們白白犧牲；以便使國家在上帝福佑下得到自由的新生，並且使這個民有、民治、民享的政府永世長存。
Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

反問八條

親愛的安德烈：
我今天去買了一個新手機。在櫃檯邊，售貨員小伙子問我「您在找什麼樣的手機」，你知道我的答覆嗎？
我說，「什麼複雜功能都不要，只要字大的。」
他想都不想，熟練地拿出一個三星牌的往檯上一擱，說，「這個字最大！」

很顯然，提出「字大」要求的人，不少。

你的一組反問，真把我嚇到了。這些問題，都是一般人不會問的問題，怕冒犯了對方。

By ANNE RAVER
Published: September 20, 2007 NY.TIMES
WE filled the church and the house with her favorite fall flowers: sunflowers in many shades of gold, pale yellow, orange, red and burgundy; zinnias in bright yellow, orange, deep red, salmon-pink, white and pale green.

We sang “For the Beauty of the Earth” and read “The Peace of Wild Things” by Wendell Berry. Part of the poem reads:

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

素材：地瓜一斤，砂糖3/4杯，鹽少許。
1.地瓜切滾刀塊，油炸至筷子可戳穿撈起瀝油。
2.用鍋中剩下的少許油加入砂糖，再加入少許水濕潤糖後開始煮，攪拌使不焦，小文火，使糖漿能滴入水中呈現突起圓珠狀即可。
3.地瓜上灑少許鹽下糖鍋拌炒，地瓜沾好糖後起鍋。
4.裝地瓜的盤子上要先抹少許油。
5.吃法：可準備一碗冷水，地瓜拔絲後浸地瓜使糖絲不亂黏再吃，也可不浸。

希望有一天能做看看。

By CATHY HORYN
Published: September 10, 2007 The New York Times

Just before the start of Ralph Lauren’s 40th anniversary show, as guests like Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly and the actors Robert DeNiro and Dustin Hoffman took their seats, there was music from “My Fair Lady.”

A tug of Broadway, and then the show began, the music shifting to a faster contemporary beat as the first model stepped out in a white silk gown with a frilly black-edged hem and a wide black straw hat. Masculine coats, satin jodhpurs, trim vests and long polka-dot skirts with romantic white blouses seemed to animate the racecourse painting in the background.

The show, on Saturday night in the Central Park Conservancy, was a vigorous display of Mr. Lauren’s imagination and wit, from the veiled bowlers and snow-white riding boots tipped in black to the long ruffled dresses in pastel garden prints, and the only location that might have better served his purposes than the park would have been Fifth Avenue itself. The clothes, while far from being costumes, had the pomp of an aristocratic parade.

Mr. Lauren could have gone in any number of design directions to mark his 40th anniversary. To Newport, the American West, the Adirondacks. Instead he chose New York, reflecting its energy and sophistication with crisp tailoring, a black leather coat banded in taxi-bright yellow, and a silver chain-beaded gown as cosmopolitan as the Chrysler building.