英文佳作欣赏：Never Too Late

 　　Never Too Late

　　The first day of school our professor introduced a little old lady to us.

　　"Why are you in college at such a young age?" I asked later. She jokingly replied, " I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, have a couple of children, and then retire and travel."

　　"No seriously," I asked. I was curious what may have motivatedher to be taking on this challenge¹ at her age. "I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one!" she told me.

　　We became instant² friends. Every day for the next three months we would leave class together and tolk nonstop. I was always listening to this "time machine" as she shared her wisdom³ and experience with me.

　　At the end of the semester⁴ we invited Rose to make a speech to our football team. I'll never forget what she taught us. As she began to deliverher prepared speech, she dropped her note card on the floor. A little embarrassed⁵ she simply said, "I'm sorry. This whiskey is killing⁶ me! I'll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know." As we laughed she cleared her throat and began:" We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor⁷ every day. You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and don't even know it! There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive⁸ thing, you will turn twenty years old. Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take any talentor ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding⁹ the opportunity in change. Have no regrets. The elderly¹⁰ usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets."

　　At the year's end Rose finished the college degree. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeral¹¹ to honorthe wonderful woman who taught by example that it's never too late to be all you can possibly be.

1 challenge   

n.挑战；v.向...挑战

参考例句：

• The job doesn't really challenge him.这项工作不能真正地考验他。
• She looked at me with challenge.她带着挑战的目光看着我。

2 instant   

adj.紧迫的；立即的；本月的；已配制好的时刻；瞬息，霎时

参考例句：

• If you don't leave this instant,I will scream.你要是不马上离开，我就喊了。
• It all happened in an instant.这一切都发生在一刹那间。

3 wisdom   

n.智慧，明智的行为，学识，名言，贤人

参考例句：

• Experience is the mother of wisdom.经验为智慧之母。
• Ancient Greece was a fountain of wisdom and philosophy.古希腊是智慧和哲学的发源地。

4 semester   

n.一学期，半学年，六个月的时间

参考例句：

• A student will probably attend four or five courses during each semester.每个学生一学期可能要修四五门课程。
• I had an especially rough time during my first semester.我第一个学期的日子难受极了。

5 embarrassed   

adj.尴尬的，不好意思的

参考例句：

• He was very embarrassed to hear people speak so highly of him.他听见别人这样夸他,感到很难为情。
• He is somewhat embarrassed.他稍微有点窘迫。

6 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。

7 humor   

n.(humour)幽默，诙谐

参考例句：

• He is distinguished for his sense of humor.他以其幽默感著称。
• American humor is founded largely on hyperbole.美式幽默主要以夸张为基础。

8 productive   

adj.能生产的，有生产价值的，多产的

参考例句：

• We had a productive meeting that solved some problems.我们开了一个富有成效的会议，解决了一些问题。
• Science and technology are part of the productive forces.科学技术是生产力。

9 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。

10 elderly   

adj.年老的；年龄相当大的

参考例句：

• He is getting elderly.他逐渐变老了。
• The elderly man is quite energetic.这位上了年纪的老人仍精力充沛。

11 funeral   

n.丧葬，葬礼；adj.丧葬的，出殡的

参考例句：

• Her bright clothes were not appropriate for a funeral.她那身鲜艳的衣服不适合参加葬礼。
• A funeral is a somber occasion.葬礼是个忧郁的场合。