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编者引言：生命，应如烟花般绚烂夺目，如怒放的鲜花般芬芳...

Giving Life Meaning

Have you thought about what you want people to say about you after you’re gone? Can you hear the voice saying, “He was a great man.” Or “She really will be missed.” What else do they say?

One of the strangest phenomena of life is to engage in a work that will last long after death. Isn’t that a lot like investing all your money so that future generations can bare interest on it? Perhaps, yet if you look deep in your own heart, you’ll find something drives you to make this kind of contribution---something drives every human being to find a purpose that lives on after death.

Do you hope to memorialize your name? Have a name that is whispered with reverent awe? Do you hope to have your face carved upon 50 ft of granite rock? Is the answer really that simple? Is the purpose of lifetime contribution an ego-driven desire for a mortal being to have an immortal name or is it something more?

A child alive today will die tomorrow. A baby that had the potential to be the next Einstein will die from complication is at birth. The circumstances of life are not set in stone.

We are not all meant to live life through to old age. We’ve grown to perceive life as a full cycle with a certain number of years in between. If all of those years aren’t lived out, it's a tragedy. A tragedy because a human’s potential was never realized. A tragedy because a spark was snuffed out before it ever became a flame.

By virtue of inhabiting a body we accept these risks. We expose our mortal flesh to the laws of the physical environment around us. The trade off isn’t so bad when you think about it. The problem comes when we construct mortal fantasies of what life should be like. When life doesn’t conform to our fantasy we grow upset, frustrated, or depressed.

We are alive; let us live. We have the ability to experience; let us experience. We have the ability to learn; let us learn. The meaning of life can be grasped in a moment. A moment so brief it often evades our perception.

What meaning stands behind the dramatic unfolding of life? What single truth can we grasp and hang onto for dear life when all other truths around us seem to fade with time?

These moments are strung together in a series we call events. These events are strung together in a series we call life. When we seize the moment and bend it according to our will, a will driven by the spirit deep inside us, then we have discovered the meaning of life, a meaning for us that shall go on long after we depart this Earth.

参考译文

给生命以意义

你有没有想过，你希望人们在你死后怎样评论你？你能否听到这样的说，“他是个伟大的人”或“人们的确会怀念她”，他们还会说些什么？

人生最奇异的现象之一就是，你从事的事业在你死后仍将长久存在。这和你用所的钱进行投资以便后人能从中获益不是如出一辙吗？也许，如果你审视自己的内心深处，你就会发现促使你做出这种贡献的驱动力-一种驱使每个人寻找在自己死后仍能继续存在的事业的驱动力。

你希望自己的名字被人记住吗？你希望别人提起你的名字时心怀敬畏吗？你希望自己的面容被雕刻在50英尺高的花岗岩上吗？答案真的那么简单吗？难道终有一死的人贡献一生自我鞭策的欲望就是想要获得不朽名声的？抑或是其他更伟大的事物？

今天活着的孩子明天就会死去。一个有可能成为下一个爱因斯坦的婴儿会死于出生并发症。生命的情形并不是固定不变的。我们并没有注定都要活到老年。我们已经认识到，生命是一个周期，其时间长度是特定的。如果这些时间没有被充分利用，那就是个悲剧，因为人的潜能还未实现，因为火花还没形成火焰就被补灭。

由于附着于肉体之身，所以我们就得接受这些风险。我们使易朽的肉体服从周围物理环境的法则。你仔细想一想就会发现，这种交易并不是那么糟糕。当我们幻想生命应该如何时，问题就来了。当生命和我们的幻想不一致时，我们就变得烦恼，无奈或沮丧。

我们活着，那我们就要活得精彩；我们有能力体验，那我们就要体验人生甘苦；我们有能力学习，那我们就要在学海徜徉。生命的意义可以在一瞬间抓住-一个经常被我们忽略的短暂瞬间。

当生命戏剧般地一幕幕拉开时，其中隐含的意义是什么？当我们周围所有其他都似乎随着时间而消逝时，我们能够掌握哪个真理并依靠它来生活呢？

这些瞬间串联在一起，我们称之为事件。这些事件串联系在一起，
我们称之为生活。当我们抓住那个瞬间并按照我们的意志来改变它-这意志受到我们内心深处的精神的驱使，我们就发现了生命的意义-这意义将在我们离开地球之后长久存在。

词汇释义

1.phenomena n. 现象

例句：
He finally find out the method for apply his theory to phenomena.
他终于发现了他的理论运用在某种特殊现象的方法。

2.memorialize v. 纪念

例句：
Record or memorialize lastingly with a monument.
为永远地缅怀某人而立一块碑。

3.reverent adj. 恭敬的,虔诚的

例句：
He gave reverent attention to the teacher.
他恭敬地听老师讲课。

4.granite n. 花岗石

例句：
The valley ended in a perpendicular rim of granite.
那山谷的尽头是花岗石的断崖.

5.immortal adj. 不朽的 n. 不朽的人物

例句：
He left behind an immortal example to all posterity.
他给后世留下了不朽的典范。

6.complication n.错杂， 纠纷 【医】并发症， 并发病

例句：
Bed sores are a common complication in cases of paralysis.
食欲不振是瘫痪的并发症。

7.snuff vt. 剪烛花, 掐灭, 扼杀, 消灭, 用鼻吸, 嗅出, 闻出

例句：
Her goal was to snuff out all political opposition to her empress ambitions.
她的目的是要消除一切不利于她实现发女皇宏图的政治对抗。

8.mortal adj. 人世间的,致命的,终有一死的 n. 凡人

例句：
Man is mortal.
人都是会死的。

语法讲解

1.you’ll find something drives you to make this kind of contribution---something drives every human being to find a purpose that lives on after death.

【参考译文】你就会发现促使你做出这种贡献的驱动力-一种驱使每个人寻找在自己死后仍能继续存在的事业的驱动力。
【结构解析】句中的"drives you ...after death"修饰something, 其中的“something drives human being...after death”修饰"contribution"。

2.Is the purpose of lifetime contribution an ego-driven desire for a mortal being to have an immortal name or is it something more?

【参考译文】难道终有一死的人贡献一生自我鞭策的欲望就是想要获得不朽名声的？抑或是其他更伟大的事物？
【结构解析】句子的主语是"the purpose",谓语是“is”,宾语是“ to have an immortal name or is it something more”。

3.By virtue of inhabiting a body we accept these risks.

【参考译文】由于附着于肉体之身，所以我们就得接受这些风险。
【结构解析】这是个因果句，因是“By virtue of inhabiting a body ”，果是“we accept these risk”。