推荐背诵、用处多多哦~
Once upon a time, a very strong woodcutter applied for a job offered by atimber merchant and he got it. The pay was really good and so were the working conditions. For these reasons, the woodcutter was determined to do his best.
从前，一位非常强壮的伐木工在一家木材商找到了一份伐木的工作。这工作的薪酬和工作条件都非常不错。于是，伐木工决心把工作做到最好。
His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he was supposed to work. The first day, the woodcutter brought 18 trees back to the boss, which he all had cut down himself.
入职后，老板给了这位伐木工一把斧头，并带他看了将要工作的地方。工作的第一天，这位伐木工就给老板带回了18棵树，而且这18棵树都是他自己砍伐的。
“Congratulations,” the boss said. “Go on that way!” Very motivated by the words of his boss, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he could only bring back 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder, but he could only bring 10 trees back. Day after day he was bringing less and less trees.
“干得不错，”老板说，“就这样继续努力！”得到老板的肯定，伐木工第二天的工作更来劲了，不过他却只带回了15棵树。第三天，他工作得更加努力，却只带回了10棵树。日复一日，他带回来的树越来越少。
“I must be losing my strength”, the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on. “When was the last time you sharpened your axe?” the boss asked. “Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut down trees…”
伐木工心想：“我肯定是力气越来越小了”。于是，他去找老板道歉，解释说他自己也不明白怎么回事。“你最后一次磨斧头是什么时候？”老板问道。“磨斧头？我没有时间磨斧头。我一直在忙着努力砍树......”
Our lives are like this. We sometimes get so busy that we don’t take time to sharpen the “axe”. In today’s world, it seems that everyone is busier than ever, but less happy than ever.
这样的场景也同样会出现在我们的日常生活中。我们有时会非常忙碌，以至于我们不愿不花费时间去“磨斧头”。当今世界，似乎每个人都比以前更加忙碌，日子过得却不像以前那样快乐。
Why is that? Could it be that we have forgotten how to stay“sharp”? There’s nothing wrong with activity and hard work. But we should not get so busy that we neglect the truly important things in life, like developing ourpersonal life, spending more time to our family, taking time to read etc.
为什么会这样？难道是我们忘记了如何“让斧头保持锋利”？我们为了生活而奔波忙碌并没有什么不对。但，我们不应该忙到忽视我们生活中真正重要的事情，比如：过好我们自己的小日子、发展志趣、多花些时间陪伴家人、花时间读读书等等。
We all need time to relax, to think and meditate, to learn and grow. If we don’t take the time to sharpen the “axe”, we will become dulllike the axe of the woodcutter.
我们每个人都需要时间去放松、思考、学习和成长。如果我们不花时间去“磨斧头”，我们就会像伐木工的斧头一样变得效率低下。
<词汇解析>
Eagerness (noun)英 ['iːgənəs]
渴望；热心
Woodcutter (noun)
英 ['wʊdkʌtə] 美 ['wʊdkʌtɚ] 樵夫；
Timber merchant (noun) 木商
The pay (noun/expression) 薪酬
Working conditions (noun)
工作环境；劳动条件
Was determined to
(verb, from: to be determined to do something)
下定决心要
Axe (noun)
英 [æks] 斧
Was supposed to
(verb, from: to be supposed to do something or be something)
应该；被期望
Cut down (phrasal verb)
削减；砍倒；
Motivated
(verb, from: to motivate) ['motɪvetɪd]
使产生动机；激发…的积极性
Day after day (expression)
日复一日
Apologized
(verb, from: to apologize) [ə'plɔlədʒaizd]
道歉
Sharpened
(verb, from: to sharpen) ['ʃa:pənd]
磨尖
Sharp
(adj.) 英 [ʃɑːp] 美 [ʃɑrp]
急剧的；锋利的；
Neglect (verb)
英 [nɪ'glekt] 美 [nɪ'glɛkt]
疏忽，忽视；忽略
Personal life (noun)
个人生活；私人生活
Meditate (verb)
英 ['medɪteɪt] 美 ['mɛdɪtet]
考虑；计划；企图
Dull (adj.) 英 [dʌl] 美 [dʌl]
钝的；迟钝的；无趣的；呆滞的；阴暗的
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