书是我们的好朋友，时刻陪伴着我们;书也是我们的好老师，能教给我们很多知识。它忠诚，耐心，充满智慧，是我们生活中必不可少的一部分。
Companionship of Books
A man may usually be known by the books he reads as well as by the company he keeps: for there is a companionship of books as well as of men①; and one should always live in the best company, whether it be of books or of men.
A good book may be among the best of friends. It is the same today that it always was, and it will never change. It is the most patient and cheerful of companions. It does not turn its back upon us in times of trouble or distress.It always receives us with the same kindness, amusing and instructing us in youth, and comforting us in age.
Books possess an extract having the fundamental properties of immortality. They are by far the most lasting products of human effort. Temples and statues decay, but books survive. Time is of no account with great thoughts, which are as fresh today as when they first passed through their author’s minds ages ago. The only effect of time has been to sift out the bad products: for nothing in literature can long survive but what is really good.
Books introduce us into the best society: they bring us into the presence of the greatest minds that have ever lived. We hear what they said and did: we see them as if they were really alive; we sympathize with them, enjoy with them, hurt with them; their experience becomes ours, and we feel as if we were, in a measure, actors with them in the scenes which they describe.
The great and good do not die even in this world. Embalmed in books, their spirits walk abroad. The book is a living voice. It is an intellect to which one still listens. Hence we ever remain under the influence of the great men of old. The great intellects of the world are as much alive now as they were ages ago.
[334 words]
行文点评
本文是苏格兰作家塞谬尔·斯迈尔斯(Samuel Smiles)的作品。短文以小品文(essay)的形式写成。小品文形式是法国作家蒙田(Montaigne)创立的，注重抒发作者的思想感受。文章语言凝练，其中不乏经典名句，各段首句均为每段的主题句，简短精悍，易于背诵。
文章层层深入，结构清晰。文中首段首句直接点题。从第二段起直至文章的结尾紧扣主题逐步论述。第二段把一本好书比作the best of friends，紧接着在第三段指出记录伟人思想的书籍能流芳百世。第四段又把书籍喻为引导者，它将我们与伟人联系在一起。接着这个话题，最后一段进一步解释：书是一种充满生气的声音，能将伟人的精神传播四方。
阅读时还须体会作者用多变的句式和长短句交替 (alternation of long sentences and short sentences)的方式表达思想的手法。
好文妙译
书友
要了解一个人，只要知道他读什么书即可，正好比“见其友，知其人”。因为书像人一样可以成为好伙伴。任何人都会选择最好的伙伴，不管这个伙伴是书或是人。
一本好书或许是最好的朋友之一。它每天始终如一，永不变心，且它是最有耐心、最令人愉悦的朋友。在我们遇到困难或情绪低落时，它不会背弃我们。它总是以一贯的温和态度对待我们。在我们年轻时它教导我们，给我们带来欢乐;在我们已近日暮残年时，它安慰我们，使我们倍受关怀。
书籍之精髓永垂不朽。迄今为止，书是人类努力写成的最持久耐用的作品。寺庙和雕像会被腐蚀破坏，但书却永远存在。伟大的思想不会随时间的流逝而褪色，许多年前作者头脑中掠过的思想在今天依然鲜活。时间的惟一作用是淘汰劣质书籍，因为只有真正好的文学著作才能流芳百世。
书籍引导我们进入最高的境界，它将我们带到历史上的那些伟大人物的面前。我们听其言，见其行，仿佛他们仍活于世上。我们对他们的遭遇表示同情，我们与他们悲喜与共，他们的经历成了我们的财富。我们感觉好像在某种程度上自己成了他们所描绘的舞台中的某个角色。
即使在当今世界，伟人也永不磨灭。他们的事迹记入史册，他们的精神传于四方。书是一种充满生气的声音，是人们仍能听得见的智慧。因此，我们仍然受着历代伟人的影响，他们在今天仍像以前一样活跃在世界大舞台上。
词汇斟酌
distress n.苦痛
fundamental a.基本的，根本的，基础的
immortality n.不朽
decay v.腐朽
sift sth out 筛分(某物)
sympathize vi.①同情，怜悯②体谅，赞同
embalm v.使不朽
intellect n.①智力，理解力②才智非凡的人
佳句临摹
①【注释】as well as 也，还，而且
【临摹】She is a talented musician as well as being a photographer.她不但是摄影家还是个天才的音乐家。
思如泉涌
Books and friends should be few but good. 书籍和朋友都要少而精。
Books are like little boats, by them we can swim in the wide ocean of knowledge. 书籍就像一艘艘小船，载着我们畅游于广阔的知识海洋当中。
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