英语名篇诵读 健康

Health

健康

H. Martin(H. 马丁)

It is a common saying that we do not fully¹ value a thing until we lose it. We often value the

love and worth of a friend when he has been taken from us by death, more than when he was with

us in the flesh ; it is only when we have left school or college that we understand the greatness

of our opportunity of education, which has gone for ever; and it is the sick and the ailing² who

realize the value of good health. When we are young and strong, we cannot imagine what it is to

be weak and ailing. We are so used to vigorous health that we take it for granted. The organs of

our body work so smoothly³ that we scarcely know we have lungs and liver, heart and stomach.

But when any of these gets upset and gives us pain and sickness, we learn by bitter experience

what an unspeakable blessing⁴ it is to be well.

It is therefore wise and necessary to learn in time, before we have lost our health, that it can

be kept only by knowing and observing the laws of health. Nature's laws cannot be ignored with

impunity⁵ . In the long run they will avenge⁶ themselves on us if we forget them, even if they do

not do so at once. At first we may not feel the result of excesses and unhealthy habits; but we

certainly shall some day. “The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly small.”

Many a man who in middle age finds himself a confirmed invalid⁷ has to curse the follies⁸ of his

youth; but his remorse⁹ is vain, for Nature never forgives breaches¹⁰ of the laws of health.

Loss of health makes us miserable¹¹, and a burden to ourselves and our friends. It cripples

our efforts, so that we cannot accomplish many of the good and great things we might have

done. It spoils our life. What must we do to keep our health?

We must be moderate in eating and drinking, and wise in the choice of plain, wholesome¹²

simple food. Gluttony has killed thousands, and strong drink tens of thousands. We must, when

young, get plenty of sleep, which is “nature's sweet restorer ”, and not try to burn the candle at

both ends. We must live as much as possible in the open air and keep our rooms well ventilated

. We must get sufficient and regular physical exercise, and keep our bodies clean. And we must

avoid bad habits and secret sins as we avoid the devil, and keep our thoughts pure. Our ideal must

be the sound mind in the sound body.

常言道，我们总是在失去了一样东西的时候，才意识到它的珍贵。我们常常珍惜一位

被死亡攫走的朋友的爱和价值，而他在世时我们都不以为然；只有当我们离开校门时，才

会理解我们接受教育的机会多么重要，而这种机会不会再有了；只有被病痛折磨的人才意

识到健康的价值。年富力强时，想象不到体弱多病是什么滋味，认为身强体壮是理所当然

的。我们身体的各个器官良好地运转，我们简直不知道自己有肺有肝，有心有胃。但是当

这些之中有一个出了问题，使我们感到痛苦时，我们通过痛苦的体验才知道身体健康是无

法言表的福分。

所以，在我们失去健康之前，要及时明白，只有懂得并遵守健康的规律才能保持良好

的健康，这很明智，也很必要。无视自然规律必将受到惩罚。从长远看，如果我们忘了自

然规律，自然规律就会向我们报复，即使不是立刻就报复。起初，我们也许感觉不到饮食

无度和不健康习惯的不良后果，但终有一天我们必将感觉到。“天网恢恢，疏而不漏。”许

多长期徜徉病榻的中年人只能诅咒自己年轻时的愚蠢，但他的悔恨是徒劳的，因为大自然

从不宽恕违背健康规律的人。

失去健康使我们痛苦，使我们成为家人和朋友的负担。失去健康使我们做事心有余而

力不足，难以完成我们本可以完成的许多非常伟大的事情。失去健康使我们的生活质量降

低。那么，我们该怎么做来保持健康呢？

我们必须饮食有度，明智地选择平常而有益健康的食物。暴饮暴食夺去了成千上万人

的生命，酗酒致使几十万人丧命。年轻时，我们应该保证充足的睡眠，它是“甜美的天然恢

复剂”，而不要迟睡熬夜。我们要多到户外去，呼吸新鲜空气，并使我们的房间通风良好。

我们要有足够而有规律的体育锻炼，使身体保持清洁。我们要像回避恶魔般避免坏习惯和

内心的邪恶，保持心灵和思想的纯洁。我们的理想必须是身强体壮，心理健康。

1 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

2 ailing   

v.生病

参考例句：

• They discussed the problems ailing the steel industry. 他们讨论了困扰钢铁工业的问题。
• She looked after her ailing father. 她照顾有病的父亲。

3 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

4 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

5 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。

6 avenge   

v.为...复仇，为...报仇

参考例句：

• He swore to avenge himself on the mafia.他发誓说要向黑手党报仇。
• He will avenge the people on their oppressor.他将为人民向压迫者报仇。

7 invalid   

n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的

参考例句：

• He will visit an invalid.他将要去看望一个病人。
• A passport that is out of date is invalid.护照过期是无效的。

8 follies   

罪恶，时事讽刺剧； 愚蠢，蠢笨，愚蠢的行为、思想或做法( folly的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He has given up youthful follies. 他不再做年轻人的荒唐事了。
• The writings of Swift mocked the follies of his age. 斯威夫特的作品嘲弄了他那个时代的愚人。

9 remorse   

n.痛恨，悔恨，自责

参考例句：

• She had no remorse about what she had said.她对所说的话不后悔。
• He has shown no remorse for his actions.他对自己的行为没有任何悔恨之意。

10 breaches   

破坏( breach的名词复数 )； 破裂； 缺口； 违背

参考例句：

• He imposed heavy penalties for breaches of oath or pledges. 他对违反誓言和保证的行为给予严厉的惩罚。
• This renders all breaches of morality before marriage very uncommon. 这样一来，婚前败坏道德的事就少见了。

11 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

12 wholesome   

adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的

参考例句：

• In actual fact the things I like doing are mostly wholesome.实际上我喜欢做的事大都是有助于增进身体健康的。
• It is not wholesome to eat without washing your hands.不洗手吃饭是不卫生的。