几年以前，我收到了来自怀俄明杰克森霍尔的一位朋友寄来的一张明信片, 他写道"我正在尽情地滑雪！" 我想他的意思是，他正在娴熟地、愉快地、平静地且自信地滑雪。但我滑雪时却总是胆战心惊。虽然我从不幻想自己能那样滑雪, 我的确向往尽情的生活。我相信多少世代以来，那些生活成功的人们都掌握了尽情生活的这五个秘诀。
　　
　　Several years ago I received a post card from a friend in Jackson Hole, Wyo., who wrote, " I am skiing with abandon!" I wondered what he meant, for when I ski it is always with trepidation. I believe he meant he was skiing skillfully, joyfully, peacefully and confidently. Although I have no hopes of ever skiing that way, I do dream of living with abandon. I believe that men and women through the ages who have led successful lives have captured these five secrets of living life to the fullest.
　　
　　
　　1.Have a self you respect. This means having a deep sense of responsibility for your thoughts and actions. It means keeping your word, and being faithful to self, family and work. It means believing in what you do and working hard. It means setting your own internal standards, and not comparing yourself to others. It's not a question of being better than someone else; respect and integrity demand that you be better than you thought you could be.
　　
　　Winston Churchill exemplified integrity an respect in the face of opposition. During his last year in office, he attended an official ceremony. Several rows behind him two gentlemen began whispering. "That's Winston Churchill." "They say he is getting senile." "They say he should step aside and leave the running of the nation to more dynamic and capable men." When the ceremony was over, Churchill turned to the men and said, "Gentlemen, they also say he is deaf!"
　　
　　Churchill knew that one secret to a self you can respect is to choose a course of action based on what is right, not expedient, and not waver from it ... (全文...)

我属于不擅长说"不"的那类人，一次揽太多活儿，花太多时间做自己原本不想做的事情。我常对自己说："好吧，既然已经在这些事情上花费了太多时间，那就一直做下去。"而有一天，我的一位朋友对我说："在我读一本书读到第500页时发现不喜欢它，我没有接着读完，而是把它扔在一边，这时我才发现自己真正成熟了。"……

I'm one of those people who's terrible at saying no. I take on too many projects at once, and spend too much of my time doing things I'd rather not be. I get stuff done, but it's not always the best I can do, or the best way I can spend my time.

That's why my newest goal, both as a professional and a person, is to be a quitter.

Being a quitter isn't being someone who gives up, who doesn't see important things through to the end. I aspire to be the opposite of those things, and think we all should. The quitter I want to be is someone who gets out when there's no value to be added, or when that value comes at the expense of something more important.

(全文...)

When the bank teller counted the money in her drawer, she came up ten dollars short. 当银行出纳数她抽屉里的钱的时候，她发现少了十美元。

come up 发生
I expect something to come up soon.
我预料很快就要出事的。

teller.(银行）出纳员
short;adj,短少的

---讲解者： wenong   查看更多详解》》》

The company president has a local tailor make all her suits to order.
这位公司的总裁有一位当地的裁缝专门为她做套装。

have sb do sth是省略了to的动词不定式，固定搭配，就像let sb (to) do sth.这样。

make sth  to order 专门生产、定做

---讲解者：cjxd01t wenong 查看更多详解》》》

(全文...)

All day long I had been very busy; picking up trash, cleaning bathrooms and scrubbing floors. My grown children were coming home for the weekend. I went grocery shopping and prepared for a barbecue supper, complete with ribs and chicken. I wanted everything to be perfect.
　　　　
　　Suddenly, it dawned on me that I was dog-tired. I simply couldn't work as long as I could when I was younger. "I've got to rest for a minute," I told my husband, Roy, as I collapsed into my favorite rocking chair. Music was playing, my dog and cat were chasing each other and the telephone rang.
　　　　
　　A scripture from Psalm 46 popped into my mind. "Be still, and know that I am God." I realized that I hadn't spent much time in prayer that day. Was I too busy to even utter a simple word of thanks to God? Suddenly, the thought of my beautiful patio came to mind. I can be quiet out there, I thought. I longed for a few minutes alone with God.
　　　　
　　Roy and I had invested a great deal of time and work in the patio that spring. The flowers and hanging baskets were breathtaking. It was definitely a heavenly place of rest and tranquility. If I can't be still with God in that environment, I can't be still with Him anywhere, I thought. While Roy was talking on the telephone, I slipped out the backdoor and sat down on my favorite patio chair. I closed my eyes and began to pray, counting my many blessings.
　　　　
　　A bird flew by me, chirping and singing. It interrupted my thoughts. It landed on the bird feeder and began eating dinner as I watched. After a few minutes it flew away, singing another song.
　　　　
　　I closed my eyes again. A gust of wind blew, which caused my wind chimes to dance. They made a joyful sound, but again I lost my concentration on God. I squirmed and wiggled in my chair. I looked up toward the blue sky and saw the clouds moving slowly toward the horizon. The wind died down. My wind chimes finally became quiet.
　　　　
　　Again, I bowed in prayer. "Honk, honk," I heard. I almost jumped out of my skin. A neighbor was driving down the street. He waved at me and smiled. I waved back, happy that he cared. I quickly tried once again to settle down, repeating the familiar verse in my mind. Be still and know that I am God.
(全文...)

The excited children got ready for the trip to the zoo in no time.
这些激动的孩子非常迅速的做好了去动物园玩的准备。

get ready for sth: 做好....的准备

They got ready for going abroad next month.
他们已作好下个月出国的准备．
Tom and Susan got ready for their marrige ceremoni.
汤姆和苏珊已为他们的婚礼作好了准备．

in no time: 马上, 立即, 很快, 迅速
The match will start in no time.
这场比赛将马上开始．
It is going to rain in no time.
马上就要下雨了．

....get ready for... in no time: ...为马上...作好准备(很有用的句型)

The doctors should get ready for the treatment of acute patients in no time.医生们应该作好迅速地处置急诊病人的准备。

---讲解者： lydiebleu   查看更多详解》》》

Even though angry demonstrators shouted during his speech, the politician didn't miss a beat.
尽管生气的示别其它的短袖，单件掺着洗衣粉放在红色小塑料桶浸泡，现在应该把它们一起收进屋里，虽然还带点潮。提上裤子，光着上身威者在他的演讲中大声嚷嚷，这位政治家还是没有停下来。

This sentence isn't from an oral talk but a formal article. In general, this kind of sentence is not commonly used in daily life.
miss a beat 停止

even though :尽管， ... (全文...)

I don't want to spend any more minutes in here than necessary.  
我不想在这再浪费时间了。

want to do sth.  想做什么，

any more 更，在，大多用在否定句中

例：She doesn't live here any more.
她已不在这里住了.

I don't want to associate myself with them any more.
我不愿再和他们交往了。

---讲解者： 夏日晴语   查看更多详解》》》

That at this stage, every second is critical.  眼下每一秒都至关重要。

短语：

at this stage,眼前，当下
The scheme does not permit of any changes at this stage.
critical;�定性的，关键性的;
We are at a critical time.
我们正处在危急时刻。 

---讲解者：wenong 查看更多详解》》》

(全文...)

就在这对70多岁的老夫妇离婚的当晚，丈夫手握没有拨通给她的电话永远离开了她。尽管很悲伤，老夫人仍不得不亲自动手清理他的遗物。当老夫人认真细致地翻着一个抽屉时，她发现了一张保险单。保险日期从他们结婚之日起算起，毫无疑问，保险受益人是她。在这个文件夹里，还有一份她丈夫亲手写的遗嘱，里面写道……
　　
　　One fine day, an old couple around the age of 70, walks into a lawyer's office. Apparently, they are there to file a divorce. Lawyer was very puzzled, after having a chat with them, he got their story.
　　
　　This couple had been quarreling all their 40 over years of marriage nothing ever seems to go right.
　　
　　They hang on because of their children, afraid that it might affect their up-bringing. Now, all their children have already grown up, have their own family, there's nothing else the old couple have to worry about, all they wanted is to lead their own life free from all these years of unhappiness from their marriage, so both agree on a divorce.
　　
　　
　　Lawyer was having a hard time trying to get the papers done, because he felt that after 40 years of marriage at the age of 70, he couldn't understand why the old couple would still wants a divorce.
　　
　　While they were signing the papers, the wife told the husband. "I really love you, but I really can't carry on anymore, I'm sorry."
　　
　　"It's OK, I understand." said the husband. Looking at this, the lawyer suggested a dinner together, just three of them, wife thought, why not, since they are still going be friends.
　　
　 ... (全文...)