Happiness doesn’t need a list
幸福不需要列单子
A man and his girlfriend were married. It was a large celebration.
All of their friends and family came to see the lovely ceremony and to partake of thefestivities and celebrations. All had wonderful time.
The bride was gorgeous in her white wedding gown and the groom was very dashing in his black tuxedo. Everyone could tell that the love they had for each other was true.
A few months later, the wife came to the husband with a proposal, “I read in a magazine, a while ago, about how we can strengthen our marriage. Each of us will write a list of the things that we find a bit annoying with the other person. Then, we can talk about how we can fix them together and make our lives happier together.”
The husband agreed. So each of them went to a separate room in the house and thought of the things that annoyed them about the other. They thought about this question for the rest of the day and wrote down what they came up with.
The next morning, at the breakfast table, they decided that they would go over their lists.
“I’ll start,” offered the wife. She took out her list. It had many items on it. Enough tofill 3 pages, in fact. As she started reading the list of the little annoyances, she noticed that tears were starting to appear in her husband’s eyes.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing,” the husband replied. “Keep reading your list.”
The wife continued to read until she had read all three pages to her husband. She neatly placed her list on the table and folded her hands over the top of it.
“Now, you read your list and then we’ll talk about the things on both of our lists,”, she said happily.
Quietly the husband stated, “I don’t have anything on my list. I think that you are perfectthe way that you are. I don’t want you to change anything for me. You are lovely and wonderful and I wouldn’t want to try and change anything about you.”
The wife, touched by his honesty and the depth of his love for her and his acceptance of her, turned her head and wept.
In life, there are enough times when we are disappointed, depressed and annoyed. We don’t really have to go looking for them. We have a wonderful world that is full of beauty, light andpromise. Why waste time in this world looking for the sad, disappointing or annoying when we can look around us, and see the wondrous things before us?
译文
一个男人和他的女朋友喜结连理，举行了一场盛大庆典。
所有的亲朋好友都来亲眼目睹这场迷人的典礼，同喜同贺，大家都非常开心。
新娘一袭雪白婚纱，光彩找人；新娘一身黑色礼服，英气逼人。大家都能看出来，他们彼此真心相爱。
几个月后，妻子向丈夫提出了一个建议：“我刚才在杂志上看到一篇文章，说的是我们如何巩固我们的婚姻。我们各自列出使对方有点生气的事情，然后可以商量一下看如何一起解决，这会使我们的生活更加幸福。”
丈夫表示同意。于是，他们各自到自己的房间里想使对方生气的事情。那天剩下的时间，他们都在想这个问题，并把想起来的事情写了下来。
第二天早上吃早饭时，他们决定仔细看一下对方写的。
“我先来吧，”妻子主动说道。她拿出自己列的单子，上面确实写了满满3页。她开始念丈夫那些小毛病时，注意到丈夫的眼里涌出了泪水。
“怎么了？”她问道。
“没什么，”丈夫答道。“继续念你的单子吧。”
妻子接着念，直到向丈夫念完3张纸后，才把单子整齐地放在桌子上，双手交叉放在上面。
“现在，你念你的单子吧。你念完之后，我们来谈谈双方单子上列的那些事情，”妻子开心地说道。
丈夫平静地说：“我在单子上什么也没有写。我认为你现在非常完美。我不想让你为我改变什么。你可爱迷人，我不想设法改变你所有的一切。”
丈夫的诚实、深爱和容忍感动了她。她转过头，哭了起来。
生活中很多时候，我们都会感到失望、沮丧和苦恼。我们不必较真儿去寻找它们。我们拥有一个充满美丽、光明和希望的奇妙世界。我们环顾四周，就可以看到这些奇妙事情，为什么要把时间浪费在寻找伤心、失望和苦恼上呢？
拓展训练
A man and his girlfriend got married. Everyone could tell that the love they had for each other was true.
A few months later, the wife came to the husband with a proposal, “I read in a magazine about how we can 36 our marriage. Each of us will write a list of the things that we find a bit 37 with the other. Then, we can talk about how we can 38 them together and make our lives happier together.”
The husband 39 . So each of them went to a(n) 40 room and thought about the things that annoyed them about the other for the rest of the day.
The next morning, at the breakfast table, they decided that they would go over their 41 .
“ I’ll start,” offered the wife. She 42 her list. It had many items on it, enough to fill 3 pages. After the wife had read all three pages to her husband, 43 the husband seated, “I don’t have anything on my list. I think that you are perfect the 44 that you are. I don’t want you to 45 anything for me.”
The wife, touched by his honesty by his depth of his love for her and his 46 of her, turned her head and wept.
In life, there are enough times when we are disappointed, depressed and annoyed. We don’t reall y have to go 47 for them. We have a wonderful world that is full of beauty, light and promise. Why waste time seeking the bad, disappointing or annoying when we can look around us, and see the wonderful things before us?
【小题1】A. enrich B. strengthen C. lengthen D. deepen
【小题2】A. annoying B. surprising C. satisfying D. inspiring
【小题3】A. fix B. do C. find D. set
【小题4】A. smiled B. refused C. agreed D. hesitated
【小题5】A. spare B. separate C. empty D. special
【小题6】A. dishes B. magazines C. lives D. lists
【小题7】A. put away B. handed in C. took out D. wrote down
【小题8】A. disappointedly B. unluckily C. bitterly D. quietly
【小题9】A. Appearance B. way C. situation D. position
【小题10】A. change B. accept C. decide D. drop
【小题11】A. advice B. warning C. acceptance D. pride
【小题12】A. leaving B. waiting C. asking D. Looking
答案 BAACB DCDBA CD