英语短篇文章

　　Outside the Bible, these six words are the most famousin all the literature of the world. They were spokenby Hamlet when he was thinking aloud, and they are themost famous words in Shakespeare because Hamlet wasspeaking not only for himself but also for everythinking man and woman. To be or not to be, to live ornot to live, to live richly and abundantly andeagerly, or to live dully and meanly and scarcely. Aphilosopher once wanted to know whether he was aliveor not, which is a good question for everyone to putto himself occasionally. He answered it by saying: I think, therefore am. But the best definition of existence ever saw did another philosopher who said: To be is to bein relations. If this true, then the more relations a living thing has, the more it is alive. Tolive abundantly means simply to increase the range and intensity of our relations.Unfortunately we are so constituted that we get to love our routine. But apart from our regularoccupation how much are we alive? If you are interest-ed only in your regular occupation, youare alive only to that extent. So far as other things are concerned--poetry and prose, music,pictures, sports, unselfish friendships, politics, international affairs--you are dead.

　　Contrariwise, it is true that every time you acquire a new interest--even more, a newaccomplishment--you increase your power of life. No one who is deeply interested in a largevariety of subjects can remain unhappy; the real pessimist is the person who has lostinterest.

　　Bacon said that a man dies as often as he loses a friend. But we gain new life by contacts, newfriends. What is supremely true of living objects is only less true of ideas, which are alsoalive. Where your thoughts are, there will your live be also. If your thoughts are confined onlyto your business, only to your physical welfare, only to the narrow circle of the town in whichyou live, then you live in a narrow cir-conscribed life. But if you are interested in what isgoing on in China, then you are living in China~ if youre interested in the characters of agood novel, then you are living with those highly interesting people, if you listen intently tofine music, you are away from your immediate surroundings and living in a world of passion andimagination.

　　To be or not to be--to live intensely and richly, merely to exist, that depends on ourselves.Let widen and intensify our relations. While we live, let live!

　　You cannot change the laws of physics ... but could physics actually enable us to travel through time?

　　It might sound crazy, but according to Einsteins theories, theres no logical reason why time travel isnt possible.

　　Time travel is clearly a trickier proposition than space travel,though. And prior to Einstein, it would have been deemed utterly impossible！ Thats because the old idea about time was that it was like a cosmic metronome keeping a regular and constant beat throughout the universe. And it was thought to move in one direction only .

　　However, what physicists now know is that time is rather more flexible than the old Clockwork Universe ideas they had it. And it was Albert Einstein who set the cat among the pigeons.

　　Einsteins theories about time and space were revolutionary. He became a celebrity--and not just in scientific circles. Its only since he published his theories that scientists have been able to demonstrate that space and time really behave the way he said they did.

　　In 1971, after Einsteins death, two scientists were able to carry out a crucial experiment. They used two atomic clocks, synchronized them, and placed one on a plane, while the other stayed in the same location on Earth. The plane then flew around the world for 80 hours. According to Einsteins theory, the clock on the plane would be expected to have lost time, due to being in motion over 80 hours compared to the clock on the ground. When they brought the clocks together and made a comparison, the clock on the plane was indeed a few nanoseconds slower than the other clock. The experiment was replicated in 1996 with advanced technology, and it was proved again--with an even bigger time difference this time. Which proves that not only is time warp-able , but Einstein was arguably the greatest thinker the world has ever seen.

　　If it were possible, however, it would present some pretty knotty paradoxes... For example, what if someone or something traveled back in time and changed the ensuing future? And have you heard the one about the time traveller who dots back and forward in time and by means of various medical technologies is able to be his own father AND mother?! And besides, if time travel is possible, where are all the people from the future--surely theyd want to come and meet us poor stranded 21st century beings?

　　Then is over; this is now. The less time and effort you put into looking at the past, the more you will have for living and experiencing this day. You will also find that letting go of the past will give you a deeper sense of strength. Instead of allowing past mistakes and worries to drain your energies, you will have a renewed energy to live your life to the fullest and enjoy it more.

　　Being content with yourself and optimistic about your future is not difficult. Whatever is in the past is over; learn from it and move on. When you are self-motivated enough to do this, you will see that moving ahead is the best definition of living life.

　　With that said, what can you do now? Sure it is easy for me to tell you to forget the past, yet it is a whole different practice to actually do it. Life is a complex set of events much of which of course is real, yet a large amount is just your view of what really happened.

　　That must be the story of innumerable couples， and the pattern of life it offers has a homely grace.

　　It reminds you of a placid rivulet，meandering smoothly through green pastures and shaded by pleasant trees， till at last it falls into the vast sea; but the sea is so calm， so silent， so indifferent， that you are troubled suddenlyby a vague uneasiness.