英语美文：呵护你的梦想

 　　当梦想遭到现实的撞击时，总会发出凄美的破碎声。心灵被梦想的碎片刺痛，散落的碎片上还残留着斑斓的颜色。然而，心灵的疼痛却有着催人成长的力量。梦想的幻灭，是因为它没有得到精心的照料。去呵护你的梦想吧!勇敢地站在舞台中央，跳一曲快乐的人生芭蕾。

　　My dream ended when I was born. Although I never knew it then, I just held on to something that would never come to pass. Dreams really do exist. But in the morning when you wake up, they are remembered just as a dream. That is what happened to me.

　　I always have the dream to dance like a beautiful ballerina twirling around and around and hearing people applaud¹ for me. When I was young, I would twirling around and around in the fields of wildflowers that grew in my backyard². For hours I would dance as if people were watching me. I would dance so fast that I would forget where I was, until I would hear sounds that reminded me of where I really was. I thought that if I twirled faster everything would disappear and I would wake up in a new place. Reality woke me up when I heard a voice saying, "I don't know why you bother trying to dance. Ballerinas are pretty, slender³ little girls. Besides, you don't have the talent to even be a ballerina." I remember how those words paralyzed⁴ every feeling in my body. I feel to the ground and wept⁵ for hours.

　　We lived in the country by a nearby lake and I would sometimes go there to hide. My parents were never home anyway and I did not like to be at home where I could hear the walls talking of pain. When they were home, my mother just yelled⁶ and criticized⁷ because nothing was ever perfect in her life. She dreamed of a different life but ended up living in a country far away from the city where she believed her dreams would have come true.

　　I enjoyed hanging out by the water. I would sit there for hours and stare at my reflection⁸. There I was, looked nothing like a pretty ballerina dancer. Reflections⁹ don't lie. Once the waves would come, my reflection was gone. Washed away just like my dream to dance. I sat there staring at the water, hoping that my reflection would reappear and be different.

　　As I grew older, I began to realize that the reason my dream was even born in the first place, was because it was something that was inside of me. The dream I had was never nurtured¹⁰ and cared for, so it slowly died. It's not that I wanted it to die, but I allowed it to die the day I started listening to the words, "You can't do it." When I finally woke up from many years of dreaming, I realized that you can't settle¹¹ for dancing in the wildflowers, you have to move on to the platform. I still go to the lake sometimes and sit there. Looking at my reflection is different now too. When I was young, I looked at how others saw me, now that I am older and wiser; I look at how God sees me.

1 applaud   

vt.鼓掌欢迎，赞同；vi.鼓掌欢迎，欢呼

参考例句：

• The pupils that had been watching started to applaud.一直在一旁观看的小学生们开始鼓起掌来。
• Please don't applaud until everyone has performed.请在每个人表演完毕后再鼓掌。

2 backyard   

n.后院，后庭

参考例句：

• I parked the car in the backyard.我把汽车停在后院。
• The residents didn't want a new factory in their backyard.居民不希望在他们住地附近建新工厂。

3 slender   

adj.苗条的，修长的；微薄的，微弱的

参考例句：

• Everybody of us admired her slender figure.我们人人都羡慕她的苗条身材。
• The girl was pretty and slender.那姑娘长得美丽苗条。

4 paralyzed   

adj.瘫痪的

参考例句：

• He is paralyzed as the result of a would-be assassin's bullet years ago. 几年前有人对他行刺未遂，但子弹使他瘫痪了。
• But the very imminence of the emergency paralyzed his invention. Good! 常言说得好，急中生智，可汤姆这回却束手无策，对，就这么办。

5 wept   

（通常因悲伤）哭泣( weep的过去式和过去分词 )； 流泪； 悲哀； 哀悼

参考例句：

• She was unable to keep back her tears, and wept freely. 她抑制不住泪水，痛痛快快地哭了起来。
• She wept bitter tears over the loss of her lover. 她为失去了恋人而哭泣。

6 yelled   

v.叫喊，号叫，叫着说( yell的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He yelled at the other driver. 他冲着另一位司机大叫。
• The lost man yelled, hoping someone in the woods would hear him. 迷路的人大声喊着，希望林子里的人会听见。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 criticized   

vt.批评(criticize的过去式)v.评论，批评( criticize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The decision was criticized by environmental groups. 这个决定受到了环保团体的批评。
• The movie has been criticized for apparently legitimizing violence. 这部电影因明显地美化暴力而受到了指责。

8 reflection   

n.映象，倒影；反射；反映；非议；深思

参考例句：

• The reflection of the sun on the glass wall was blinding.玻璃墙上反射的太阳光令人目眩。
• One can see the reflection of the tower in the water.塔的影子倒映在水中。

9 reflections   

反映( reflection的名词复数 )； （关于某课题的）思考； （声、光、热等的）反射； 映像

参考例句：

• Her eyebrows had the aspect of hills in spring, and her eyes -- reflections of an autumn stream. 眉似青山，眼如秋水
• Since there are four reflections, the exiting image will be right-handed. 因为共有四次反射，出射的像将是右手座标系。

10 nurtured   

养育( nurture的过去式和过去分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• She is looking fondly at the plants he had nurtured. 她深情地看着他培育的植物。
• Any latter-day Einstein would still be spotted and nurtured. 任何一个未来的爱因斯坦都会被发现并受到培养。

11 settle   

vi.安家；定居；停留；vt.使定居；安排；解决

参考例句：

• I have to settle my affairs before leaving here.离开这儿以前，我得把一些私人的事情安排妥当。
• She has decided how she should settle the matter.她已做出决定如何来了解这件事。