我们必须重新学会独处，不要用永不停歇的音乐和漫不经心的聊天来充斥所有的空闲时间，而要培植孤独，让梦之花绽放。我们不能忍受寂静，仅仅只是想填满那个空白，因为，寂静包含了思考，如果我们思考，则必须面对自己。
让我们向探索者学习吧！然后发现他们尚未发现和拥有的东西：平和的心境，温和的性格，冷静的灵魂和平淡的快乐。要懂得如何去理解和热爱他人，对他人有价值，必须先了解自己，珍爱自己。要找到属于自己的道路，就必须从了解自我开始。
实战提升篇
核心单词
solo [5sEulEu] adj. 单独的
instinctively [in5stiNktFuEl] adv. (出于)本能地；凭直觉
coin [kCin] n. 硬币，钱币 v. 铸造(货币)
ironically [ai5rCnikli] adv. 说反话地；讽刺地
intimacy [5intimEsi] n. 熟悉；亲密；亲近
active [5Aktiv] adj. 活跃的；活泼的
vacuum [5vAkjuEm] n. 真空；空白，空虚
实用句型
Nonetheless，we persist in the conviction that a solitary existence is the harshest penalty life can mete out.
然而，我们坚持认为，独居是最残酷的生活方式。
①句中that 引导的定语从句用来修饰conviction。
②persist in坚持不懈，执着，类似的表达还有persist with继续努力，坚持不懈等固定搭配。
翻译行不行
1.水是由氢和氧组成的。（consists of）
2.善恶自有报，只争迟与早。(mete out)
3.香港被认为是以贸易和金融著称的城市。 (be viewed as)
第一章 Life Is Do-it-yourself Project
·Erma Bombeck·
An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer of his plans to leave the house-building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife，enjoying his extended family. He would miss the paycheck，but he needed to retire. They could get by.
The employer was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes，but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.
When the carpenter finished his work and the employer came to inspect the house and handed the front-door key to the carpenter.“This is your house，”he said，“my gift to you.”
What a shock！ What a shame！ If he had only known he was building his own house，he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well.
So it is with us. We build our lives in a distracted way，reacting rather than acting，willing to put up less than the best. At important points we do not give the job our best effort. Then with a shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house we have built. If we had realized，we would have done it differently.
Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think about your house. Each day you hammer a nail，place a board，or erect a wall. Build wisely. It is the only life you will ever build. Even if you live it for only one day more，that day deserves to be lived graciously and with dignity. The plaque on the wall says，“Life is a do-it-yourself project.”Who could say it more clearly？ Your life tomorrow will be the result of your attitudes and the choices you make today.
生活是一项为自己打造的工程
埃尔马·邦贝克
一位上了年纪的木匠做好了退休的准备。他告诉老板他准备离开建筑行业，与老伴和儿孙们一起共享天伦之乐，过一种更悠然自得的生活。虽然他因此而少了份薪水，但他想退休了。至于日子嘛，还可以凑合着过。
眼看这位优秀的木工就要离去，老板很遗憾。他问木工可否帮忙再建一所房子。木工答应了，可明眼人一眼就看得出来，此时他做事心不在焉，做出的活儿技艺粗糙，用的料也没那么讲究了。他就这样为自己的建筑生涯画上了句号，真是令人遗憾。
房子建好后，老板过来看房并交给木工一把前门钥匙，说：“这房子归你了，这是我送给你的礼物。”
多么令人吃惊，多么令人羞愧啊！假如他知道这房子是为自己造的，他会做得大不一样。现在他不得不住在自己建造的那所粗制滥造的房子里了。
我们又何尝不是如此呢？我们心浮气躁地打造生活，不是主动工作而是被动应付，能省事就省事，关键的时候也没尽心尽力。蓦然回首，才瞠目结舌地发现自己正住在自己建造的那所房子中，自食其果。早知如此，何必当初！
就当你自己是那位木工吧。就当你在为自己建房，每天要钉钉、铺板、砌墙。如果你能这么想，那么你就用心地去建，而且你的生活也只能这样建造。哪怕你在房子里只生活一天，这一天也应该活得优雅而有尊严。墙上的铭匾写道：“生活是一项为自己打造的工程。”还有什么比这更清楚的呢？明日的生活之果，孕育自你今天的态度和抉择之树上。
实战提升篇
核心单词
retire [ri5taiEd] v. 退休；退役
leisurely [5leVEli] adj. 从容不迫的，悠闲的
inferior [in5fiEriE] adj. 低等的；下级的；低于
dignity [5di^niti] n. 尊严；庄严
plaque [plB：k] n. 铭牌；徽章
实用句型
If we had realized，we would have done it differently.
早知如此，何必当初。
①这里是虚拟语气的if + had done形式，表示与现在事实相反的假设。
②differently不同地，类似的由形容词+ly构成的副词还有pleasantly愉快地；slowly缓慢地；carefully仔细地；suddenly意外地等。
翻译行不行
1.下岗后，他经常借酒消愁。（resort to）
2.他们及时赶上了公共汽车。（in time）
3.请看这张地图。（look at）
第一章 J.K.Rowling，Author of Harry Potter
· Steven ·
Like that of her own character，Harry Potter，J.K. Rowling’s life has the luster of a fairy tale. Divorced，living on public assistance in a tiny Edinburgh flat with her infant daughter，Rowling wrote Harry Potter and the Sorcerers’Stone at a table in a cafe during her daughter’s naps — and it was Harry Potter that rescued her.
Joanne Kathleen Rowling entered the world in Chipping Sodbury General Hospital in Bristol，England，a fitting beginning for someone who would later enjoy making up strange names for people，places and games played on flying broomsticks. Her younger sister Di was born just under two years later.
Rowling remembers that she always wanted to write and that the first story she actually wrote down，when she was five or six，was a story about a rabbit called Rabbit. Many of her favorite memories center around reading—hearing The Wind in the Willows read aloud by her father when she had the measles，enjoying the fantastic adventure stories of E. Nesbit，reveling in the magical world of C. S. Lewis’s Narnia，and her favorite story of all，The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge.