白领英语晨读-031 To the Station 人生车站

We're traveling by train.Out the windows, we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at a crossing, of cattle grazing¹ on a distant hillside, of smoke pouring from a power plant, of row upon row of corn ad wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hillsides, of city skylines and village halls.

But uppermost in our minds is the final destination. On a certain day at a certain hour, we will pull into the station. Bands will be playing and flags waving. Once we get there, so many wonderful dreams will come true and the pieces of our lives will fit together like a completed jigsaw² puzzle. How restlessly³ we pace the aisles⁴, damning⁵ the minutes for loitering---waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.

“When we reach the station, that will be it!” we cry. “When I buy a new 450SL Mercedes Benz!” “When I put our last kid through college.” “When I have paid off the mortgage⁶!” “When I get a promotion⁷.”

Sooner or later, we must realize there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly outdistances us.

So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more, cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. The station will come soon enough.

1 grazing   

n. 放牧, 牧草 动词graze的现在分词

参考例句：

• There were cows grazing beside the river. 有些牛在河边吃草。
• Cows were grazing on the marshes. 牛群在湿地上吃草。

2 jigsaw   

n.缕花锯，竖锯，拼图游戏；vt.用竖锯锯，使互相交错搭接

参考例句：

• A jigsaw puzzle can keep me absorbed for hours.一副拼图就能让我沉醉几个小时。
• Tom likes to work on jigsaw puzzles,too.汤姆也喜欢玩拼图游戏。

3 restlessly   

ad.不安定地，不安静地

参考例句：

• The children were squirming restlessly in their seats. 孩子们在位子上心神不定地动来动去。
• Her husband prowled about restlessly. 她的丈夫焦躁不安地来回踱步。

4 aisles   

n. (席位间的)通道, 侧廊

参考例句：

• Aisles were added to the original Saxon building in the Norman period. 在诺曼时期，原来的萨克森风格的建筑物都增添了走廊。
• They walked about the Abbey aisles, and presently sat down. 他们走到大教堂的走廊附近，并且很快就坐了下来。

5 damning   

诅咒

参考例句：

• The poverty in our cities is a damning indictment of modern society. 我们的城市中贫民的苦况是现代社会的一大败象。
• The scandal is damning evidence of the government's contempt for democracy. 这宗丑闻是该政府蔑视民主的不可逃避的罪证。

6 mortgage   

n.抵押，抵押贷款；vt.抵押

参考例句：

• He's having a lot of trouble paying his mortgage every month.他付每月的抵押借款利息有很大的困难。
• The bank refused to accept any mortgage on land.银行拒绝接受任何土地抵押。

7 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。