精美英文欣赏:学会休息

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一张一弛乃文武之道，工作固然重要，而适当的休息更重要。若一味工作而不放松自己，就会失去生活的乐趣，工作也会失去本身的意义。

Busy 忙

Once upon a time a very strong woodcutter asked for a job in a timber merchant, and he got it. The pay was really good and so were the work conditions. For that reason, the woodcutter was determined¹ to do his best.

His boss gave him an axe² and showed him the area where he was supposed to work.

The first day, the woodcutter brought 18 trees.

"Congratulations," the boss said. "Go on that way!"

Very motivated by the boss's words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he could only bring 15 trees. The third he tried even harder, but he could only bring 10 trees. Day after day he was bringing less and less trees.

"I must be losing my strength," the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on.

"When was the last time you sharpened your axe?" the boss asked.

"Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees..."

忙

从前，有一个健壮的伐木工人到木材商那里找工作。他得到了一份工作，报酬非常高，而且工作条件也非常好。因此，伐木工决心要尽最大努力工作。

老板给了他一把斧头，并带他看了他的工作地点。

第一天，伐木工带回了18棵树。

“祝贺你！”老板说：“就这么干，继续！”

老板的话给了伐木工极大的鼓舞。第二天，他更加努力地干活，但却只带回了15棵树。第三天，他干得更起劲儿了，但是只带回了10棵树。日复一日，他带回的树越来越少。

伐木工想：“我一定是力量不够了。”他找到老板，怀着歉意说自己也不知道是怎么了。

老板问道：“你上一次是在什么时候磨的斧子？”

“磨斧子？我没有时候磨斧子。我一直忙着砍树呢。。。”

1 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

2 axe   

n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减

参考例句：

• Be careful with that sharp axe.那把斧子很锋利，你要当心。
• The edge of this axe has turned.这把斧子卷了刃了。