赖大师的精选---我的挚爱(父辈箴言)

第四弹  父辈箴言                                      
                             Advice to a Young Man

                                            Rohert Jones Burdette

    Remember, my son, you have to work. Whether you handle a pick
or a pen, a wheel-barrow of a set of books. If you look around, you
will wee the men who are the most able to live the rest of their days
without work are the men who work the hardest. Don’t be afraid
of killing¹ yourself with overwork. It is beyond your power to do that
on the sunny side of thirty. They die sometimes, but it is because
they quit work at six in the evening, and do not go home until two
in the morning. It is the interval² that kills, my son. The work gives you
an appetite for your meals; it lends solidity to your slumber³; it gives
you a perfect and grateful appreciation⁴ of a holiday.

    There are young men who do not work, but the world is not
proud of them. It does not know their names, even. Nobody likes
them; the great, busy world does not know that they are there.
So find out what you want to be and do, and take off your coat
and make a dust in the world. The busier you are, the less harm
you will be apt⁵ to get into, the sweeter will be your sleep, the
brighter and happier your holidays, and the better satisfied will the
world be with you.

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 interval   

n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息

参考例句：

• The interval between the two trees measures 40 feet.这两棵树的间隔是40英尺。
• There was a long interval before he anwsered the telephone.隔了好久他才回了电话。

3 slumber   

n.睡眠，沉睡状态

参考例句：

• All the people in the hotels were wrapped in deep slumber.住在各旅馆里的人都已进入梦乡。
• Don't wake him from his slumber because he needs the rest.不要把他从睡眠中唤醒，因为他需要休息。

4 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

5 apt   

adj.易于，有...倾向，恰当的，聪明的

参考例句：

• Beginners are too apt to make mistakes in grammar.初学者极易犯语法错误。
• He is the most apt of all pupils.他是所有学生中最聪明的一个。