英語勵(lì)志美文：時(shí)間的價(jià)值 The value of time
"Time," says the proverb, "is money". This means that every moment well-spent may put some money into our pockets.
諺語說：“時(shí)間就是金錢。”這句話的意思是，一時(shí)片刻只要用得有效，都會(huì)讓我們的口袋增添一些錢。
If our time is usefully employed, it will either turn out some useful and important piece of work which will fetch its price in the market, or it will add to our experience and increase our capacities so as to enable us to earn money when the proper opportunity comes. Let those, who think nothing of wasting time, remember this.
如果我們的時(shí)間使用得當(dāng)，就能生產(chǎn)出有用的和重要的產(chǎn)品，在市場(chǎng)上賣得一定的價(jià)錢;或者充實(shí)我們的經(jīng)驗(yàn)，增長(zhǎng)我們的才干，待到適當(dāng)時(shí)機(jī)我們就能掙得金錢。那些對(duì)浪費(fèi)時(shí)間毫不在意的人該記住這一點(diǎn)。
Our life is nothing more than our time. To kill time is therefore a form of suicide. We are shocked when we think of death, and we spare no pains, no trouble, and no expense to preserve life.
再說，我們的生命無非就是我們的時(shí)間，因此浪費(fèi)時(shí)間也就是一種自殺。我們想到死便驚恐不已，因而不惜一切努力、麻煩和費(fèi)用來保全我們的生命。
But we are too often indifferent to the loss of an hour or of a day, forgetting that our life is the sum total of the days and of the hours we live. A day or an hour wasted is therefore so much life forfeited. Our life is a brief span measuring some seventy or eighty years in all.
可是我們對(duì)于損失一個(gè)小時(shí)或一天的時(shí)間無動(dòng)于衷，忘記了我們的生命原本就是我們生活的每一天、每一小時(shí)的總和。因此浪費(fèi)一天或一個(gè)小時(shí)就是喪失一天或一個(gè)小時(shí)的生命。人生短暫，總共不過七八十年。
But nearly one third of this has to be spent in sleep; some years have to be spent over our meals; some in making journeys on land and voyages by sea; some in merry-making; some in watching over the sick-beds of our nearest and dearest relatives.
可是將近三分之一的時(shí)間必須用睡眠;吃飯也得花去好幾年;陸路海上旅游又是幾年;再加上娛樂活動(dòng)的幾年，在病床邊照看至親至愛的幾年。
Now if all these years were to be deducted from the term over which our life extends, we shall find about twenty or thirty years at our disposal for active work. Whoever remembers this can never willingly wastea single moment of his life.
現(xiàn)在如果從我們的壽命中扣除所有這些歲月，我們將會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)。能受我們支配的有效的工作時(shí)間大約僅二三十年而已。誰能記住這一點(diǎn)，誰就不會(huì)心甘情愿地浪費(fèi)他生命的分分秒秒。
All time is precious; but the time of our childhood and of our youth is more precious than any other portion of our existence. For those are the periods when alone we can acquire knowledge and develop our capacities.
所有的時(shí)間都是寶貴的，而我們的童年和青年時(shí)期的光陰比一生中其他階段更為寶貴。因?yàn)橹挥性谶@兩個(gè)階段我們才能獲取知識(shí)，增長(zhǎng)才干。
If we allow these morning hours of life to slip away, we shall never be able to recoup the loss. Just as money laid out at interest doubles and trebles itself in time, so the precious hours of childhood and youth, if properly used, will yield us incalculable advantages.
如果我們讓這些生命的早晨時(shí)光悄悄溜走，這損失永遠(yuǎn)也無法彌補(bǔ)。儲(chǔ)蓄金錢，產(chǎn)生利息，到時(shí)候會(huì)翻兩三倍;同樣，童年和青年時(shí)期的寶貴時(shí)光，如果使用得當(dāng)，必將帶來不可估量的利益。
【主題句】
1. Time is money.
2. To kill time is therefore a form of suicide.
3. The time of our childhood and of our youth is more precious than any other portion of our existence
