有趣而幽默的故事总是能吸引人的注意力，唤起人们的学习兴趣，兴趣是学习得以真正发生的基本条件，故事集知识性、趣味性、 文化性和思想性于一体，所以通过读故事也可以达到学习的目的。下面是细致的小编有缘人为家人们收集整理的英语故事短文精选6篇。
With the development of science and technology, change has penetrated into every aspect of our daily life. To illustrate that, I’d like to make a comparison of these two seemingly insignificant things: milkman and mailman, whose differences indicate our changing way of living with the times.
Home milk delivery has almost gone extinct in China now, also gone with it are the milkmen, who once delivered bottled fresh milk door-to-door. On the other hand, mailman’s business or the courier service has thrived as online shopping gains popularity. However, in retrospect, I find something has been lost in this transition, something Shakespeare called as “the milk of human kindness”。
When I was a kid, milk wasn’t for sale everywhere. For the families who need it, they depended on the milkmen to take it from the local dairy farms to their houses. In our neighborhood, there was such a milkman, whose arrival was much anticipated by the children and always brought us laughter and joy. He knew the name of every kid and could easily see through our tricks. If we didn’t behave, he would side with our parents and threaten to rob us of the nutritious drink. The entire neighborhood was acquainted with him; saw him as a member of the community just like the many residents or street vendors. There was a bond between all of us for it was not only the commodities that been transacted, but also a sense of caring and dependability. And that small box fixed onto our door, other than being a drop-off point for milk; it was a communication junction between the people as we took the initiative to reach out to others.
Fast forward to today, milk is ubiquitous with no dedicated delivery system. But the convenience level of our live has gone up a notch. Almost everything is for sale online, which spares us all the travelling and talking. With a few ready clicks, shopping is done. The rest is left for those speed delivery companies. Usually it’s a grumpy mailman, who reaches us through cell phone, urging everyone to pick up their parcels as soon as possible. And the minute the receipt is signed, we rush back to unpack while the courier dashes to the next destination. There is barely a conversation carried out, nor do we feel the need to talk to such a stranger, who changes from time to time frequently. It seems that people are always in a hurry now, though we have more conveniences, still we run short of time to stop and stare, to speak and share.
Call me an old-timer, but I think the personal touch represented by the milkman is what has been missing in the modern society. William Wordsworth once wrote that “Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers.” Modern technology may have multiplied our possessions or gave us more conveniences, but we run the risk of reducing our values if we lay waste our power of interpersonal relationships.
Honorable judges, ladies and gentlemen,
The fairytale of Aladdin has always been my childhood favorite. I was mesmerized by how Aladdin used his three magic wishes. As a small girl, I dreamed of having the magic wishes to go wherever I wanted to go and see whatever I wanted to see. As you can probably guess, I haven’t found my genie in the lamp yet, however, I have found something just as exciting and it has made marvelous changes in not only my life, but the lives of all human-beings. It is called technology.
I still remember how my father told me about his childhood back in those days when China was not as open and developed as it is now. Children would run for kilometers to school, make toys with wood by themselves, and the biggest dream of a child was holding two jars of sugar, one white, the other brown in each arm and having the choice of eating whichever he wanted. Just look at what we have now. Magnificent technological advancement has opened up a whole new world to us.
However, just as our lives become more convenient, problems arise from this new life style. We seem to be caged in the modern technology; we are thinking alike as a result of using the same search engine, we are getting lazy as most of our work can be done by machines, and we are alienating people around us for we are more comfortable talking on phones and typing in front of a computer.
If I was given the chance to make my magic wishes now, I would wish we could go back in time and live for three days without advanced technology. I wonder what we would do in those three days. Here is what I imagine:
On the first day, people would be feeling so uncomfortable with the new situation that they would probably be confused and just not know what to do. The world would be in a mess for the whole day.
On the second day, as life goes on, people would have to find alternative ways to deal with their daily rituals: students would have to go to libraries for information they wanted instead of searching on Google; boys would have to express their affection to girls in person instead of sending an annoying txt message; and the young people of today would have the chance to experience the childhood of their parents. On this particular day, we could recover all we had lost in the modern world.
Then comes the third day. After the previous two days, we would gradually come to realize that we should have paid more attention to our studies and work as we actually have so much creativity and potential within ourselves. We would also realize that we should have spent more time with a friend, a parent or a child as we do love them, but we don’t really understand them due to the lack of personal communication. We shouldn’t have been so dependent on modern technology as it wasn’t invented to confine us, but to inspire us. This last day would be spent in sparks of new ideas and sweet moments with our loved ones.
Maybe some would argue that it is just my imagination, and that magic would never work in our world. True, but magic can always work in our hearts, helping us understand that we, instead of the machine, are the masters of the world. The key is to treasure our human initiative and connections, to see the world with our own eyes, explore the unknown with our minds and treat others with our hearts. Just like Aladdin didn’t choose to use magic to gain a happy life, we can make our choice, too. And when we do, we will live, as in the fairy tales, happily ever after. Thank you.
How well are we in tune with the rhythm of life? In our busy day to day existence, we don’t often stop to ask ourselves this question. At least I don’t. And it wasn’t until I joined a competitive sporting event that I learned a most important lesson – we must place our mind in harmony with the natural order of things to be successful.
Let me tell you what happened.
I decided to take part in an International Marathon in my hometown last year. Being an ambitious person, I hoped to finish it within 5 hours, accompanied by my friend with whom I had trained.
The big day finally arrived. "Ready.。.set.。.bang" And we were off.
At first, we kept a rapid pace and ran nonstop. At this pace, we finished the first 20 kilometers in 2 hours and I thought running a marathon was a piece of cake. Then my running mate began to slow down. I urged him to keep running at the same pace but he said no, he wanted to conserve his energy. I felt I had partnered with the wrong person, therefore, I sprinted on and left him behind in the dust.
A few kilometers later, I began to understand his strategy as my pace slowed to a jog then a walk. After that I was incapable of moving another step. I was humiliated as more and more people ran passed me. More than once I thought "Maybe I should quit." I started to doubt my ability to finish this race.
At this moment, my running mate caught up with me and slapped me on the back. “Follow me,” he shouted. He had balanced his marathon pace and was encouraged me to do the same. For the rest of this grueling contest, we walked, jogged, ran a few miles, and walked again. Slowly, painfully but hopefully this time, we established the most suitable pace within the natural flow of our physical capabilities.
Eventually we accomplished our first Marathon of 42 kilometers in 4 and half hours. I asked myself, what did this marathon mean to me? My Marathon experience became an influential metaphor for my life about how we must learn to pace ourselves in everything, by being in tune with the rhythm of life.
Like the tide that ebbs and flows, we must listen to advice but make our own decisions. Like the show at dawn and dusk, we must learn to balance pride and modesty. And from the way the wind can both shout and whisper, we must learn when to be strong and when to be gentle, for everything moves in its own rhythm and its own yin and yang elements. It is the interaction of these complementary extremes that produces harmony, as Laozi said, extremes meet. Since the marathon, this notion of two opposite forces working together has been my running partner, so to speak. Yin and yang exist everywhere, constantly interacting, and never existing in an absolute condition.
Ladies and Gentlemen, life is like running a marathon, let us discover, define and develop a natural rhythm of life, in order to achieve both harmony and success.
Thank you for listening.
The Hippo and I
A hippo lives in the zoo. I like him very much. I often go to see him. He often thinks of me, too. Today is Sunday. It is fine day. I go to see him again. After I leave the zoo, he follows me to my house. I give him lettuce, cabbages, bananas, apples and other food. He eats them up. When I sing songs, he stays in the pool. He is as quite as a rabbit.
In the evening, he jumps onto my bed with me. My mum tells him to go home. He has to pack his bag and go back to the zoo. My mum lets me see him every week.
Lion was awakened from sleep by a Mouse running over his face. Rising up in anger, he caught him and was about to kill him, when the Mouse piteously
entreated, saying：“If you would only spare my life, I would be sure to repay your kindness.” The Lion laughed and let him go.
It happened shortly after this that the Lion was caught by some hunters, who bound him by strong ropes to the ground. The Mouse, recognizing his roar,
came up, and gnawed the rope with his teeth, and setting him free, exclaimed：“You ridiculed the idea of my ever being able to help you, not expecting to
receive from me any repayment of your favour; but now you know that it is possible for even a Mouse to confer benefits on a Lion.”
Sports brings us together
Sports are more than competitions. To me, they mean growth under the care of others. I learned this the hard way.
I used to be very shy and often felt lonely. Although I did well in all the academic subjects, I was afraid of physical education. My classmates often laughed at me.
“Look at that girl,” they said. “Her feet don’t leave the ground when she runs!”
Their words embarrassed me. Moreover, whenever the teacher organized some competitive games, no one in the class liked to have me as their partner or team member. As a result, I often ended up looking at others enjoy their games.
Things would go on like that if not for a sports meet in my high school. By mistake, my name was put on the list of those who would compete in the women’s 1500 meters race. By the time people found the mistake, it was too late to change.
My desk-mate was a natural athlete. She said to me, “I couldn’t run that race in your place, because I’ve signed up for three items already.” Other athletic girls of the class said the same.
I was utterly dumbfounded. 1500 meters! Running against the best runners from other classes! And in front of students of the entire school! It would be the worst nightmare I’d ever have!
“You still have time to catch up because there is still one month before the sports meet,” they all said this to me, including my teacher.
My desk-mate patted me on the shoulder, “Cool! You will run for our class! And we will do training together.” Yes, this is not just for myself, but for my class too, I said to myself. But still, 1500 meters to me was like Mount Everest to a beginning climber. I had no idea even how to start my preparation.
Fortunately, my desk-mate gave me a hand. Every afternoon after class, several of us ran together. When the fear of being laughed at struck me, I saw others running right beside me. They gave me strengths. While we were running, some others would stand by the tracks cheering for us.
One month certainly couldn’t make me a good runner. But when I was standing behind the start line, I no longer felt lonely or afraid. I saw my classmates standing by the tracks waving at me as if about to run beside me.
With the shot of the starting gun, I dashed out and ran as fast as I could, as if it were a 200-meter race. Soon I was out of breath and slowed down. Other runners passed me one by one, and gradually I had no idea how many of them were still behind me. My legs were getting heavier and heavier, and I might fall down at any moment. However, I suddenly heard my classmates chanting my name. My desk-mate even ran along the tracks beside me and cheered for me at the same time, just like the month-long training we did together.
As expected, I was almost the last to cross the finish line. Immediately, my classmates held my arms and urged me to walk on my feet and not to sit down. I was surrounded, with all kinds of drinks handed to me. I felt a kind of warmth I had never felt before. Even though I was almost the last to finish the race, I was full of confidence that I would improve in the future.
That sports meet was an unforgettable experience. The memory of my classmates cheering for me, holding my arms and handing me drinks stays fresh on my mind. Sports are no longer about winning or losing. They give me a lot of confidence, both confidence in my fellow students and confidence in my own potential. I am no longer lonely, no longer afraid. Sports have brought me close to my classmates and helped us grow together.
Now, I participate in the sports meet every year. Even if I am not competing, I would help my classmates with their practice, just like the way my desk-mate and others ran with me.