推薦背誦、用處多多哦~

Once upon a time, a very strong?woodcutter?applied for a job offered by atimber merchant?and he got it.?The pay?was really good and so were the?working conditions. For these reasons, the woodcutter?was determined to?do his best.

從前，一位非常強壯的伐木工在一家木材商找到了一份伐木的工作。這工作的薪酬和工作條件都非常不錯。于是，伐木工決心把工作做到最好。

His boss gave him an?axe?and showed him the area where he?was supposed to?work. The first day, the woodcutter brought 18 trees back to the boss, which he all had?cut down?himself.

入職后，老板給了這位伐木工一把斧頭，并帶他看了將要工作的地方。工作的第一天，這位伐木工就給老板帶回了18棵樹，而且這18棵樹都是他自己砍伐的。

“Congratulations,” the boss said. “Go on that way!” Very motivated by the words of his boss, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he could only bring back 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder, but he could only bring 10 trees back.?Day after day?he was bringing less and less trees.

“干得不錯，”老板說，“就這樣繼續(xù)努力！”得到老板的肯定，伐木工第二天的工作更來勁了，不過他卻只帶回了15棵樹。第三天，他工作得更加努力，卻只帶回了10棵樹。日復一日，他帶回來的樹越來越少。

“I must be losing my strength”, the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and?apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on. “When was the last time you sharpened your axe?” the boss asked. “Sharpen? I had no time to?sharpen?my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut down trees…”

伐木工心想：“我肯定是力氣越來越小了”。于是，他去找老板道歉，解釋說他自己也不明白怎么回事?！澳阕詈笠淮文ジ^是什么時候？”老板問道?！澳ジ^？我沒有時間磨斧頭。我一直在忙著努力砍樹......”

Our lives are like this. We sometimes get so busy that we don’t take time to sharpen the “axe”. In today’s world, it seems that everyone is busier than ever, but less happy than ever.?

這樣的場景也同樣會出現在我們的日常生活中。我們有時會非常忙碌，以至于我們不愿不花費時間去“磨斧頭”。當今世界，似乎每個人都比以前更加忙碌，日子過得卻不像以前那樣快樂。

Why is that? Could it be that we have forgotten how to stay“sharp”? There’s nothing wrong with activity and hard work. But we should not get so busy that we?neglect?the truly important things in life, like developing ourpersonal life, spending more time to our family, taking time to read etc.

為什么會這樣？難道是我們忘記了如何“讓斧頭保持鋒利”？我們?yōu)榱松疃疾β挡]有什么不對。但，我們不應該忙到忽視我們生活中真正重要的事情，比如：過好我們自己的小日子、發(fā)展志趣、多花些時間陪伴家人、花時間讀讀書等等。

We all need time to relax, to think and?meditate, to learn and grow. If we don’t take the time to sharpen the “axe”, we will become?dulllike the axe of the woodcutter.

我們每個人都需要時間去放松、思考、學習和成長。如果我們不花時間去“磨斧頭”，我們就會像伐木工的斧頭一樣變得效率低下。

<詞匯解析>

Eagerness?(noun)英 ['i?g?n?s]

渴望；熱心

Woodcutter?(noun)

英 ['w?dk?t?] ?美 ['w?dk?t?] 樵夫；

Timber merchant?(noun) 木商

The pay?(noun/expression) 薪酬

Working conditions?(noun)

工作環(huán)境；勞動條件

Was determined to?

(verb, from: to be determined to do something)?

下定決心要

Axe?(noun)

英 [?ks] ?斧

Was supposed to?

(verb, from: to be supposed to do something or be something)?

應該；被期望

Cut down?(phrasal verb)

?削減；砍倒；

Motivated

?(verb, from: to motivate) ['mot?vet?d]?

使產生動機；激發(fā)…的積極性

Day after day?(expression)

日復一日

Apologized?

(verb, from: to apologize) [?'pl?l?d?aizd]?

道歉

Sharpened

?(verb, from: to sharpen) ['?a:p?nd]?

磨尖

Sharp?

(adj.) 英 [?ɑ?p] ?美 [?ɑrp] ?

急劇的；鋒利的；

Neglect?(verb)

英 [n?'glekt] ?美 [n?'gl?kt]?

疏忽，忽視；忽略

Personal life?(noun)

個人生活；私人生活

Meditate?(verb)

英 ['med?te?t] ?美 ['m?d?tet]?

考慮；計劃；企圖

Dull?(adj.) 英 [d?l] ?美 [d?l]

鈍的；遲鈍的；無趣的；呆滯的；陰暗的