Susie Smith came home from school one day, and had no sooner entered the sitting room than she burst into tears.
一天,蘇西.史密斯從學(xué)?;氐郊?,一進(jìn)客廳就淚流滿面地哭了起來。
"What is the matter, my dear child?" said her mother, drawing her daughter to her side and smiling.
“因?yàn)槭裁词掳?,我親愛的寶貝?”媽媽把女兒拉到身邊,微笑著說。
"O mother, matter enough," sobbed Susie. All our class must bring in compositions to-morrow morning, and I never, never can write one.
“哦,媽媽,相當(dāng)重要的事,”蘇西抽泣著,“我們班上的所有學(xué)生明天都必須帶去一篇作文,而我一直寫不出來。
We must write twelve lines at least, and I have written only a few words after trying nearly all the afternoon.
我們要寫至少12行,我整個(gè)下午只寫了幾個(gè)詞。
See what work I have made of it!
您看看我寫出來的。
Mrs. Smith took the rumpled, tear-stained paper which Susie held in her hand, and glanced at what she had written.
史密斯夫人接過蘇西手里拿著的那張皺巴巴、沾滿淚水的紙張,飛快地看了一眼她已經(jīng)寫下的東西。
In a careful hand she had tried to write upon three themes: "Time," "Temperance," and "Industry."
她很認(rèn)真的試圖展開寫三個(gè)主題:“時(shí)間”,“自制”和“勤奮”。
Time is short. We should all improve our time.
時(shí)間很短暫。我們應(yīng)該改善對時(shí)間的利用。
Temperance is a very useful thing.
自制是非常有用的事。
We should all be industrious if we wish to do anything in the world.
如果我們想在世界上做成任何事都要勤奮。
These sentences were all she had written.
這些是所有她寫下來的句子。
"Now," said Susie, I can't think of another word to say upon any of these subjects,
“現(xiàn)在,”蘇西說,“我想不出任何與這些主題相關(guān)的其他詞語了,
and I know I shall have to go to school without a composition,
我想明天上學(xué)我肯定交不了作文了,
for I won't be so mean as to copy one from a book, or to ask you or papa to write one for me.
因?yàn)槲乙膊粫?huì)惡劣到從書上抄一篇,或是讓您或爸爸給我寫一篇。
"That is right, my dear," said her mother.
“那就對了,我的寶貝,”媽媽說,
You will be far happier with a poor composition, if it is all your own, than with a fine one written by somebody else.
只要是你自己寫出的作文,就算稍微差些,你也會(huì)感覺比別人給你寫一篇快樂得多。
But cheer up.
振作起來。
You have not begun right—you have been trying to write upon subjects that you know nothing about.
你的開頭沒有寫好——你一直在想寫些你不了解的主題。