美国语文第四册 第62期：苏西的作文（01）
Susie Smith came home from school one day, and had no sooner entered the sitting room than she burst into tears.
一天，苏西.史密斯从学校回到家，一进客厅就泪流满面地哭了起来。
"What is the matter, my dear child?" said her mother, drawing her daughter to her side and smiling.
“因为什么事啊，我亲爱的宝贝？”妈妈把女儿拉到身边，微笑着说。
"O mother, matter enough," sobbed Susie. All our class must bring in compositions to-morrow morning, and I never, never can write one.
“哦，妈妈，相当重要的事，”苏西抽泣着，“我们班上的所有学生明天都必须带去一篇作文，而我一直写不出来。
We must write twelve lines at least, and I have written only a few words after trying nearly all the afternoon.
我们要写至少12行，我整个下午只写了几个词。
See what work I have made of it!
您看看我写出来的。
Mrs. Smith took the rumpled, tear-stained paper which Susie held in her hand, and glanced at what she had written.
史密斯夫人接过苏西手里拿着的那张皱巴巴、沾满泪水的纸张，飞快地看了一眼她已经写下的东西。
In a careful hand she had tried to write upon three themes: "Time," "Temperance," and "Industry."
她很认真的试图展开写三个主题：“时间”，“自制”和“勤奋”。
Time is short. We should all improve our time.
时间很短暂。我们应该改善对时间的利用。
Temperance is a very useful thing.
自制是非常有用的事。
We should all be industrious if we wish to do anything in the world.
如果我们想在世界上做成任何事都要勤奋。
These sentences were all she had written.
这些是所有她写下来的句子。
"Now," said Susie, I can't think of another word to say upon any of these subjects,
“现在，”苏西说，“我想不出任何与这些主题相关的其他词语了，
and I know I shall have to go to school without a composition,
我想明天上学我肯定交不了作文了，
for I won't be so mean as to copy one from a book, or to ask you or papa to write one for me.
因为我也不会恶劣到从书上抄一篇，或是让您或爸爸给我写一篇。
"That is right, my dear," said her mother.
“那就对了，我的宝贝，”妈妈说，
You will be far happier with a poor composition, if it is all your own, than with a fine one written by somebody else.
只要是你自己写出的作文，就算稍微差些，你也会感觉比别人给你写一篇快乐得多。
But cheer up.
振作起来。
You have not begun right—you have been trying to write upon subjects that you know nothing about.
你的开头没有写好——你一直在想写些你不了解的主题。
