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如何度过一天24小时(1)
添加时间:2024-06-18 17:05:02 浏览次数: 作者:未知
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  • I

    THE DAILY MIRACLE

    "Yes, he's one of those men that don't know how to manage. Good situation. Regular income. Quite enough for luxuries as well as needs. Not really extravagant1. And yet the fellow's always in difficulties. Somehow he gets nothing out of his money. Excellent flat—half empty! Always looks as if he'd had the brokers2 in. New suit—old hat! Magnificent necktie—baggy trousers! Asks you to dinner: cut glass—bad mutton, or Turkish coffee—cracked cup! He can't understand it. Explanation simply is that he fritters his income away. Wish I had the half of it! I'd show him—"

    So we have most of us criticised, at one time or another, in our superior way.

    We are nearly all chancellors3 of the exchequer4: it is the pride of the moment. Newspapers are full of articles explaining how to live on such-and-such a sum, and these articles provoke a correspondence whose violence proves the interest they excite. Recently, in a daily organ, a battle raged round the question whether a woman can exist nicely in the country on L85 a year. I have seen an essay, "How to live on eight shillings a week." But I have never seen an essay, "How to live on twenty-four hours a day." Yet it has been said that time is money. That proverb understates the case. Time is a great deal more than money. If you have time you can obtain money—usually. But though you have the wealth of a cloak-room attendant at the Carlton Hotel, you cannot buy yourself a minute more time than I have, or the cat by the fire has.

    Philosophers have explained space. They have not explained time. It is the inexplicable5 raw material of everything. With it, all is possible; without it, nothing. The supply of time is truly a daily miracle, an affair genuinely astonishing when one examines it. You wake up in the morning, and lo! your purse is magically filled with twenty-four hours of the unmanufactured tissue of the universe of your life! It is yours. It is the most precious of possessions. A highly singular commodity, showered upon you in a manner as singular as the commodity itself!

    For remark! No one can take it from you. It is unstealable. And no one receives either more or less than you receive.

    Talk about an ideal democracy! In the realm of time there is no aristocracy of wealth, and no aristocracy of intellect. Genius is never rewarded by even an extra hour a day. And there is no punishment. Waste your infinitely6 precious commodity as much as you will, and the supply will never be withheld7 from you. No mysterious power will say:—"This man is a fool, if not a knave8. He does not deserve time; he shall be cut off at the meter." It is more certain than consols, and payment of income is not affected9 by Sundays. Moreover, you cannot draw on the future. Impossible to get into debt! You can only waste the passing moment. You cannot waste to-morrow; it is kept for you. You cannot waste the next hour; it is kept for you.

    I said the affair was a miracle. Is it not?

    You have to live on this twenty-four hours of daily time. Out of it you have to spin health, pleasure, money, content, respect, and the evolution of your immortal10 soul. Its right use, its most effective use, is a matter of the highest urgency and of the most thrilling actuality. All depends on that. Your happiness—the elusive11 prize that you are all clutching for, my friends!—depends on that. Strange that the newspapers, so enterprising and up-to-date as they are, are not full of "How to live on a given income of time," instead of "How to live on a given income of money"! Money is far commoner than time. When one reflects, one perceives that money is just about the commonest thing there is. It encumbers12 the earth in gross heaps.

    If one can't contrive13 to live on a certain income of money, one earns a little more—or steals it, or advertises for it. One doesn't necessarily muddle14 one's life because one can't quite manage on a thousand pounds a year; one braces15 the muscles and makes it guineas, and balances the budget. But if one cannot arrange that an income of twenty-four hours a day shall exactly cover all proper items of expenditure16, one does muddle one's life definitely. The supply of time, though gloriously regular, is cruelly restricted.

    Which of us lives on twenty-four hours a day? And when I say "lives," I do not mean exists, nor "muddles17 through." Which of us is free from that uneasy feeling that the "great spending departments" of his daily life are not managed as they ought to be? Which of us is quite sure that his fine suit is not surmounted18 by a shameful19 hat, or that in attending to the crockery he has forgotten the quality of the food? Which of us is not saying to himself—which of us has not been saying to himself all his life: "I shall alter that when I have a little more time"?

    We never shall have any more time. We have, and we have always had, all the time there is. It is the realisation of this profound and neglected truth (which, by the way, I have not discovered) that has led me to the minute practical examination of daily time-expenditure.



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    1 extravagant [ɪkˈstrævəgənt] M7zya   第7级
    adj.奢侈的;过分的;(言行等)放肆的
    参考例句:
    • They tried to please him with fulsome compliments and extravagant gifts. 他们想用溢美之词和奢华的礼品来取悦他。
    • He is extravagant in behaviour. 他行为放肆。
    2 brokers [ˈbrəʊkəz] 75d889d756f7fbea24ad402e01a65b20   第7级
    n.(股票、外币等)经纪人( broker的名词复数 );中间人;代理商;(订合同的)中人v.做掮客(或中人等)( broker的第三人称单数 );作为权力经纪人进行谈判;以中间人等身份安排…
    参考例句:
    • The firm in question was Alsbery & Co., whiskey brokers. 那家公司叫阿尔斯伯里公司,经销威士忌。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
    • From time to time a telephone would ring in the brokers' offices. 那两排经纪人房间里不时响着叮令的电话。 来自子夜部分
    3 chancellors [ˈtʃɑ:nsələz] 3ae5f6dabb179ecfb3ec7138cd6e21ca   第7级
    大臣( chancellor的名词复数 ); (某些美国大学的)校长; (德国或奥地利的)总理; (英国大学的)名誉校长
    参考例句:
    • The opposition leader spoke against the chancellors' proposals and mincemeat of them. 反对派领导人反对大臣们的建议,并将他们驳得体无完肤。
    • Chancellors and defence secretaries are supposed to keep such disputes private. 各部大臣和国防大臣本应该私下进行这种争论。
    4 exchequer [ɪksˈtʃekə(r)] VnxxT   第12级
    n.财政部;国库
    参考例句:
    • In Britain the Chancellor of the Exchequer deals with taxes and government spending. 英国的财政大臣负责税务和政府的开支。
    • This resulted in a considerable loss to the exchequer. 这使国库遭受了重大损失。
    5 inexplicable [ˌɪnɪkˈsplɪkəbl] tbCzf   第10级
    adj.无法解释的,难理解的
    参考例句:
    • It is now inexplicable how that development was misinterpreted. 当时对这一事态发展的错误理解究竟是怎么产生的,现在已经无法说清楚了。
    • There are many things which are inexplicable by science. 有很多事科学还无法解释。
    6 infinitely [ˈɪnfɪnətli] 0qhz2I   第7级
    adv.无限地,无穷地
    参考例句:
    • There is an infinitely bright future ahead of us. 我们有无限光明的前途。
    • The universe is infinitely large. 宇宙是无限大的。
    7 withheld [wɪθ'held] f9d7381abd94e53d1fbd8a4e53915ec8   第7级
    withhold过去式及过去分词
    参考例句:
    • I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后,我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    • There was no school play because the principal withheld his consent. 由于校长没同意,学校里没有举行比赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    8 knave [neɪv] oxsy2   第11级
    n.流氓;(纸牌中的)杰克
    参考例句:
    • Better be a fool than a knave. 宁做傻瓜,不做无赖。
    • Once a knave, ever a knave. 一次成无赖,永远是无赖。
    9 affected [əˈfektɪd] TzUzg0   第9级
    adj.不自然的,假装的
    参考例句:
    • She showed an affected interest in our subject. 她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
    • His manners are affected. 他的态度不自然。
    10 immortal [ɪˈmɔ:tl] 7kOyr   第7级
    adj.不朽的;永生的,不死的;神的
    参考例句:
    • The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal. 野生可可树实际上是不会死的。
    • The heroes of the people are immortal! 人民英雄永垂不朽!
    11 elusive [iˈlu:sɪv] d8vyH   第9级
    adj.难以表达(捉摸)的;令人困惑的;逃避的
    参考例句:
    • Try to catch the elusive charm of the original in translation. 翻译时设法把握住原文中难以捉摸的风韵。
    • Interpol have searched all the corners of the earth for the elusive hijackers. 国际刑警组织已在世界各地搜查在逃的飞机劫持者。
    12 encumbers [enˈkʌmbəz] ecc1f5ac56a905b548e96687b9de0d1e   第9级
    v.妨碍,阻碍,拖累( encumber的第三人称单数 )
    参考例句:
    13 contrive [kənˈtraɪv] GpqzY   第7级
    vt.谋划,策划;设法做到;设计,想出
    参考例句:
    • Can you contrive to be here a little earlier? 你能不能早一点来?
    • How could you contrive to make such a mess of things? 你怎么把事情弄得一团糟呢?
    14 muddle [ˈmʌdl] d6ezF   第10级
    n.困惑,混浊状态;vt.使混乱,使糊涂,使惊呆;vi.胡乱应付,混乱
    参考例句:
    • Everything in the room was in a muddle. 房间里每一件东西都是乱七八糟的。
    • Don't work in a rush and get into a muddle. 克服忙乱现象。
    15 braces [b'reɪsɪz] ca4b7fc327bd02465aeaf6e4ce63bfcd   第7级
    n.吊带,背带;托架( brace的名词复数 );箍子;括弧;(儿童)牙箍v.支住( brace的第三人称单数 );撑牢;使自己站稳;振作起来
    参考例句:
    • The table is shaky because the braces are loose. 这张桌子摇摇晃晃,因为支架全松了。
    • You don't need braces if you're wearing a belt! 要系腰带,就用不着吊带了。
    16 expenditure [ɪkˈspendɪtʃə(r)] XPbzM   第7级
    n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出;使用,消耗
    参考例句:
    • The entry of all expenditure is necessary. 有必要把一切开支入账。
    • The monthly expenditure of our family is four hundred dollars altogether. 我们一家的开销每月共计四百元。
    17 muddles [ˈmʌdlz] 5016b2db86ad5279faf07c19b6318b49   第10级
    v.弄乱,弄糟( muddle的第三人称单数 );使糊涂;对付,混日子
    参考例句:
    • Translation muddles model concepts, which leads to destructive refactoring of code. 这些转换混淆了模型的概念,可能导致重构代码时的失败。 来自互联网
    • A glass of whisky soon muddles him. 一杯威士忌很快就会把他醉得迷迷糊糊。 来自互联网
    18 surmounted [sɚ'maʊnt] 74f42bdb73dca8afb25058870043665a   第10级
    战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 ); 克服(困难); 居于…之上; 在…顶上
    参考例句:
    • She was well aware of the difficulties that had to be surmounted. 她很清楚必须克服哪些困难。
    • I think most of these obstacles can be surmounted. 我认为这些障碍大多数都是可以克服的。
    19 shameful [ˈʃeɪmfl] DzzwR   第8级
    adj.可耻的,不道德的
    参考例句:
    • It is very shameful of him to show off. 他向人炫耀自己,真不害臊。
    • We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers. 我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

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