版高考英语 Passage 25 Sow an Action, Reap a Habit双语美文集锦素材2页

Passage 25 Sow an Action, Reap a Habit Our character, basically, is a composite of our habits. “Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny, ” the maxim goes. Habits are powerful factors in our lives. Because they are consistent, often unconscious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character and produce our effectiveness or ineffectiveness. As Horace Mann, the great educator, once said, “Habits are like a cable. We weave a strand of it everyday and soon it cannot be broken. ” I personally do not agree with the last part of his expression. I know habits can be learned and unlearned. But I also know it isn’t a quick fix. It involves a process and a tremendous commitment. Those of us who watched the lunar voyage of Apollo 11 were transfixed as we saw the first men walk on the moon and return to the earth. But to get there, those astronauts literally had to break out of the tremendous gravity pull of the earth. More energy was spent in the first few minutes of lift-off, in the first few miles of travel, than was used over the next several days to travel half a million miles. Habits, too, have tremendous gravity pull—more than most people realize or would admit. Breaking deeply embedded habitual tendencies such as procrastination, impatience, criticalness, or selfishness that violate basic principles of human effectiveness involves more than a little willpower and a few minor changes in our lives. “Lift off” takes a tremendous effort, but once we break out of the gravity pull, our freedom takes on a whole new dimension. Like any natural force, gravity pull can work with us or against us. The gravity pull of some of our habits may currently be keeping us from going where we want to go. But it is also gravity pull that keeps our world together, that keeps the planets in their orbits and our universe in order. It is a powerful force, and if we use it effectively, we can use the gravity pull of habit to create the cohesiveness and order necessary to establish effectiveness in our lives. 卓越仅仅是个习惯 人的性格基本上是由习惯组成的。正如一句格言：思想决定行动，行动决定习惯，习惯决定性格，性格决定命运。 习惯对我们的生活有很大的影响，因为它是一贯的。 在不知不觉中， 经年累月地影响着我们的性格，左右着我们的成败。 美国著名教育家霍拉斯曼曾说：“习惯就仿佛是一条缆绳，我们每天为它缠上一股新索，不用多久就会变得牢不可破。”这句话的后半段我不敢苟同，我相信习惯可以养成，也可以打破，但绝不是一蹴而就，而是需要长期的努力和无比的毅力。 宇航员搭乘阿波罗11号太空船，首次登陆月球的刹那的确令人叹为观止。但宇航员得先摆脱地球强大的引力，才能飞往月球。因此在刚起飞的几分钟，也就是整个任务一开始的几英里之内，是最艰难的时刻，所耗的力量往往超越往后的几十万英里。 习惯也是一样，它也具有极大的引力，只是许多人不加注意或不肯承认罢了。想要革除诸如因循苟且，缺乏耐心，吹毛求疵或自私自利等违背人类效率基本原则的不良习性，若是缺乏意志力，不能大刀阔斧地改革，便难以实现目标。“起飞”需要极大的努力，然而一旦脱离重力的牵绊，我们便可享受前所未有的自由。 习惯的引力就如同自然界所有的力量一般，可能危害我们，也可以为我们所用，关键看我们如何运用。习惯或许一时有碍于达到目标，但也有积极的一面。宇宙万物各循轨道运行，彼此保持一定的秩序，毕竟也都有赖于引力的作用。所以只要我们善于运用习惯的庞大引力，就能使生活有重心，有秩序，有效率。