The Worth of Life
生命的价值
A well-known speaker started his speech by holding up a ﹩20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, “Who would like this ﹩20 bill?”
Hands started going up. He said, “I am going to give this ﹩20 to one of you—but first, let me do this.”
He proceeded to crumple the 20-dollar note up, “Who still wants it?” Still the hands were up in the air.
“Well,” he replied, “What if I do this?” he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. “Now, who still wants it?”
Still hands went into the air.
“My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth ﹩20 .”
“Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless; but no matter what happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. Dirty or clean, crumpled or finelycreased, you are still priceless to those who love you.”
“The worth of our lives comes, not in what we do or who we know, but by WHO YOU ARE.”
“You are special—don’t ever forget it.”
译文
一位著名的演说家举起一张20美元的钞票开始了演讲。他在一个200人的房间里问道：“谁想要这20美元的钞票？”
人们的手都举了起来。他说：“我准备把这张钞票给你们其中一个人，但首先让我这样做。”
他接着把20美元的钞票揉了揉，举了起来，然后问道：“谁还想要？”那些手仍然举向了空中。
“好，”他回答说。“如果我这样做会怎么样？”他把钞票扔在地上，开始用使劲在地板上踩。随后，他拾起钞票，现在钞票又皱又脏。“现在，谁还想要？”
那些手仍然举向空中。
“我的朋友们，你们都已经学到了非常宝贵的一课。无论我对这钱做了什么，你们都仍然想要它，因为它没有降低价值。它仍然是20美元。
“我们生命中会多次遇到挫折、坎坷，并让我们做出的决定和周围的环境逼到卑微的境地。我们感到自己似乎毫无价值，但无论发生什么和将会发生什么，你都永远不会失去自己的价值；无论是肮脏还是干净，无论是被揉成一团还是整齐折叠，对爱你的人来看，你都极其珍贵。
“我们的价值不在于我们做什么、认识谁，而在于你是谁。
“你与众不同—永远别忘记这一点。”
拓展训练
One day a famous speaker gave a speech to a crowd of people. H e held up a 1 bill. He asked, “Who would like this $20 bill?” Hands were 2 . Then he said, “I am going to give this $20 to one of you, but first let me do this.” He began to crumple（弄皱）the 3 . He then asked the audience, “ 4 still wants it?” Still the hands went 5 in the air.
“What 6 I do this?”He asked, and he 7 it on the ground, and started to step on it. He 8 it up. Now the bill was 9 and crumpled.“Now who still wants it?”Still the hands went up.
“My friends,” He continued, “You have all 10 a good lesson. No matter 11 I did to the money, you still wanted it because the bill did not lose its 12 . It was still worth $20. Many times in our 13 , we are dropped, crumpled, and stepped on, because we sometimes 14 wrong decisions, or we may 15 with something we do not 16 .When that happens, we feel depressed and think we are 17 . But in fact no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. The worth of our life come s not 18 what we do or whom we know, but in who we are! Don’t forget ‘the worth of a thing does not depend on its outside 19 , but on its inner value.’ This is the 20 of life.”
【小题1】. A. 20 dollar B. 20-dollar C.20 dollars D. 20-dollars
【小题2】. A. held B. put C. raised D. risen
【小题3】. A. bill B. ground C. money D. finger
【小题4】.A. Nobody B. Somebody C. Anybody D. You
【小题5】. A. above B. up C. below D. down
【小题6】 A. if B. can C. should D. whether
【小题7】. A. take B. dropped C. fell D. put
【小题8】 A. showed B. lifted C. put D. picked
【小题9】. A. good B. clean C. large D. dirty
【小题10】. A. gave B. taken C. had D. learned
【小题11】. A. what B. how C. that D. why
【 小题12】 A. effect B. price C. value D．part
【小题13】. A. studies B. lives C. fields D. work
【小题14】. A. do B. take C. give D. make
【小题15】. A. talk B. deal C. meet D. get
【小题16】. A. like B. hope C. wish D. expect
【小题17】. A. poor B. weak C. worthless D. careless
【小题18】. A. from B. at C. about D. in
【小题19】. A. looks B. face C. beauty D. image
【小题20】. A. story B. hope C. truth D. saying
答案BCACB ABDDD ACBDC DCAAC