如果说学英语好比盖房子，那么词汇就是那砌房子的砖。虽然那一块块的小“砖头”都很不起眼，但它们却是整栋房屋的基础，少了它们，房屋是不能成形的。
Fifteen Minutes a Day
If your vocabulary is limited，your chances of success are limited. This discovery has been made in the word laboratories of the world.
That one of the easiest and quickest ways to get ahead is by consciously building up your knowledge of words①. The vocabulary of the average person almost stops growing by the middle twenties. And that from then on it is necessary to have an intelligent plan if progress is to be made. No haphazard hit-or-miss methods will do.
The extent of your vocabulary indicates the degree of your intelligence. Your brain power will increase as you learn to know more words. A command of English will not only improve the processes of your mind. It will give you assurance; build your self-confidence; lend color to your personality; increase your popularity. Your words are your personality. Your vocabulary is you. Your words are all that we, your friends, have to know and judge you by. You have no other medium for telling us your thoughts ― for convincing us, persuading us, giving us orders.
Words are explosive. Phrases are packed with TNT.A simple word can destroy a friendship, land a large order. The proper phrases in the mouths of clerks have quadrupled the sales of a department store.
Words can also change the direction of your life. They have often raised a man from mediocrity to success. If you consciously increase your vocabulary you will unconsciously raise yourself to a more important station in life, and the new and higher position you have won will, in turn, give you a better opportunity for further enriching your vocabulary. It is a beautiful and successful cycle.
Just spare fifteen minutes a day for memorizing words, and I will guarantee, at the end of three month, that your words and your reading and your conversation and your life will all have a new and deeper meaning for you. For words can make you great!
[330 words]
行文点评
引出主题，给出观点，说理论证。文章第一段引用了一项科学发现来说明词汇量对成功的重要性，由此引出了文章所要谈论的话题——词汇。第二段作者提醒大家要有意识地去扩大词汇量。第三段说明对词汇的把握程度能反映我们的智力水平。第四、五两段阐述词汇的威力。最后一段作者提出建议，照应标题。
文章的语言颇具特色，赋予“词汇”新鲜的活力。例如，在第三段中的描写“Words are explosive. Phrases are packed with TNT.A simple word can destroy a friendship, land a large order.”这样就使文章显得十分生动形象。
好文妙译
每天只需15分钟
如果你的词汇量不大，你成功的机会也就不多。这一发现是从世界各地的语言实验室得来的。
最简洁和最迅速的改进方法之一就是有意识地扩大你的词汇知识。普通人的词汇量到了二十五、六岁左右就几乎停止增长了。从那以后要想继续增加词汇量必须有一个合理的计划。随意安排的、漫无目的计划是不起作用的。
你对词汇的把握程度反映了你的智力水平。当你通过学习掌握了更多词汇的时候，你大脑的思维能力也会增强。掌握英语不仅可以改进你的思维方式，它还给你信心，令你自信，带给你鲜明的个性，使你更受欢迎。你的用词反映了你的个性。所谓词如其人。作为你的朋友，我们大家都是从你的言辞中来了解、评价你的。除此以外，你无法用别的什么方法来告诉我们你的想法——无法使我们信服，无法劝说我们，无法给我们下指令。
词汇是火药，词组则满载炸药。词组中则充斥着火药。一个简简单单的词可以摧垮一份友谊，也可以促成一笔大订单。售货员言辞得体的话可以使商场的销售额翻两番。
词汇也能改变你生活的方向。它们常常使一个平庸之辈迈向成功。如果你在有意识地增加着你的词汇量，你将在不知不觉中爬到一个更显要的位置上，得到这个新的、更高的职位以后，反过来，你又会有更好的机会进一步丰富你的词汇量。这是一个诱人的、带给人成功的循环过程。
每天抽出15分钟来记单词就行!我可以保证，三个月后，你的词汇、你的阅读能力、你的谈话技巧，乃至你的生活都将会达到一个更新和更高的程度。因为词汇能使你卓而不凡!
词汇斟酌
haphazard a. 偶然的, 随便的
hit-or-miss a. 无计划的, 无目的的
TNT n. 黄色炸药
quadruple vt. 使成四倍
enrich vt. 使充实;使丰富;增进…的营养(滋味)
mediocrity n. 平常, 平庸之才
佳句临摹
①【注释】get ahead 取得进展;获得成功
【临摹】He is getting ahead in his job.他的工作在取得进展。佳句临摹
思如泉涌
Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn. 无知并不可耻，可耻的是不肯学习。
Action is the proper fruit of knowledge. 行动是知识之佳果。
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