精美英文欣赏:Today I Begin a New Life今天，我开始新

Today I begin a new life.

And I make a solemn oath to myself that nothing will retard¹ my new life's growth. I will lose not a day from these readings for that day cannot be retrieved³ nor can I substitute another for it. I must not , I will not, break this habit of daily reading from these scrolls⁵ and, in truth, the few moments spent each day on this new habit are but a small price to pay for the happiness and success that will be mine.

As I read and re-read the words in the scrolls to follow, never will I allow the brevity of each scroll⁴ nor the simplicity⁶ of its words to cause me to treat the scroll's message lightly. Thousands of grapes are pressed to fill one jar with wine, and the grapeskin and pulp⁷ are tossed to the birds. So it is with these grapes of wisdom from the ages. Much has been filtered and tossed to the wind.Only the pure truth lies distilled⁸ in the words to come. I will drink as instructed and spill not a drop. And the seed of success I will swallow.

Today my old skin has become as dust. I will walk tall among men and they will know me not , for today I am a new man, with a new life.
今天，我天始新的生活．

我郑重地发誓，绝不让任何事情妨碍我新生命的成长。在阅读这些读物的时候，我绝不浪费一天的时间，因为时光一去不返，失去的日子是无法弥补的。我也绝不打破每天阅读的习惯。事实上，每天在这些新习惯上花费少许时间，相对于可能获得的愉乐与成功而言，只是微不足道的代价。

当我阅读书卷中的字句时，绝不能因为文字的精炼而忽视内容的深沉。一瓶葡萄美酒需要千百颗果子酿制而成，果皮和渣子抛给小鸟。葡萄的智慧代代相传，有些被过滤，有些被淘汰，随风飘逝。只有纯正的真理才是永恒的。它们就精炼在我要阅读的文字中。我要依照指示，绝不浪费，饮下成功的种子。

今天，我的老茧化为尘埃。我在人群中昂首阔步，不会有人认出我来，因为我不再是过去的自己、我已拥有新的生命。
1.oath       n. 誓言,誓约

例句：

Repeat the oath after me. 
请跟着我宣誓。

2.retard    v. 妨碍,迟延,迟缓

例句：

Cold weather retards⁹ the growth of the crops. 
寒冷的天气妨碍了庄稼生长。

3.retrieve²   [ri'tri:v]   v. 取回,恢复,补偿

例句：

The company is fighting to retrieve its market share. 
这个公司正在为恢复其市场份额（占有率）而奋斗。

4.brevity   ['breviti]     n. 短暂,简短

例句：

Brevity is the soul of wit. 
简洁是智慧的精华。

5.distill   [di'stil]    v. 蒸馏,滴下

例句：

Water can be made pure by distilling¹⁰ it. 
水可以通过蒸馏而提纯。
 

1 retard   

n.阻止，延迟；vt.妨碍，延迟，使减速

参考例句：

• Lack of sunlight will retard the growth of most plants.缺乏阳光会妨碍大多数植物的生长。
• Continuing violence will retard negotiations over the country's future.持续不断的暴力活动会阻碍关系到国家未来的谈判的进行。

2 retrieve   

vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索

参考例句：

• He was determined to retrieve his honor.他决心恢复名誉。
• The men were trying to retrieve weapons left when the army abandoned the island.士兵们正试图找回军队从该岛撤退时留下的武器。

3 retrieved   

v.取回( retrieve的过去式和过去分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息）

参考例句：

• Yesterday I retrieved the bag I left in the train. 昨天我取回了遗留在火车上的包。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He reached over and retrieved his jacket from the back seat. 他伸手从后座上取回了自己的夹克。 来自辞典例句

4 scroll   

n.卷轴，纸卷；(石刻上的)漩涡

参考例句：

• As I opened the scroll,a panorama of the Yellow River unfolded.我打开卷轴时，黄河的景象展现在眼前。
• He was presented with a scroll commemorating his achievements.他被授予一幅卷轴，以表彰其所做出的成就。

5 scrolls   

n.（常用于录写正式文件的）纸卷( scroll的名词复数 )；卷轴；涡卷形（装饰）；卷形花纹v.（电脑屏幕上）从上到下移动（资料等），卷页( scroll的第三人称单数 )；（似卷轴般）卷起；（像展开卷轴般地）将文字显示于屏幕

参考例句：

• Either turn it off or only pick up selected stuff like wands, rings and scrolls. 把他关掉然后只捡你需要的物品，像是魔杖(wand)，戒指(rings)和滚动条(scrolls)。 来自互联网
• Ancient scrolls were found in caves by the Dead Sea. 死海旁边的山洞里发现了古代的卷轴。 来自辞典例句

6 simplicity   

n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯

参考例句：

• She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。
• The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。

7 pulp   

n.果肉，纸浆；v.化成纸浆，除去...果肉，制成纸浆

参考例句：

• The pulp of this watermelon is too spongy.这西瓜瓤儿太肉了。
• The company manufactures pulp and paper products.这个公司制造纸浆和纸产品。

8 distilled   

adj.由蒸馏得来的v.蒸馏( distil的过去式和过去分词 )；从…提取精华

参考例句：

• The televised interview was distilled from 16 hours of film. 那次电视采访是从16个小时的影片中选出的精华。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Gasoline is distilled from crude oil. 汽油是从原油中提炼出来的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 retards   

使减速( retard的第三人称单数 )； 妨碍； 阻止； 推迟

参考例句：

• Cold weather retards the growth of the crops. 寒冷的天气妨碍作物的生长。
• Lack of science and education retards social progress. 缺乏科学和教育会妨碍社会进步。

10 distilling   

n.蒸馏（作用）v.蒸馏( distil的过去式和过去分词 )( distilled的过去分词 )；从…提取精华

参考例句：

• Water can be made pure by distilling it. 水经蒸馏可变得纯净。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• More ammonium sulphate solution is being recovered in the process of distilling oil shale. 在提炼油页岩的过程中回收的硫酸铵液比过去多了。 来自《简明英汉词典》