语言是人类最重要的思维和交流工具,学习和掌握外语逐渐成为国民必备的素质之一。而英语作为全球使用面最广的一门语言,具有更重要的意义。下面是小编带来的四级英语短篇美文，欢迎阅读!

四级英语短篇美文篇一

画饼充饥Relieving hunger with a picture of cakes

Once in the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280), the duke of the Wei.

三国时代魏国的皇帝曹睿，准备选拔一个有才能的人到朝廷来做官。

Cao Rui, planed to select a very capable man to work for him. He said to his ministers: 'When choosing a talented person, always beware of one with a false reputation. A false reputation is just like a picture of a cake; it can' t ease hunger.'

曹睿对他的大臣说：“选择人才，不能光找有虚名的人。虚名好像是画的一块饼，只能看，不能解决肚子饥饿的问题啊!”

moral：Later, this idiom came to be used to mean comforting oneself with unrealistic thoughts, without solving practical problems.

英语小短文寓意：后来人们就用“画饼充饥”这个成语比喻用空想安慰自己，不能解决实际问题。

四级英语短篇美文篇二

食品与健康Food and Health

The food we eat seems to have profound effects on our health.

我们所吃的食物似乎对我们的健康有深远的影响。

Although science has made enormous steps in making food more fit to eat, it has, at the same time, made many foods unfit to eat.

尽管科学上已取得许多进展，使食物更适合我们食用，但与此同时它也使许多食物不宜食用了。

Some research has shown that perhaps eighty percent of all human illnesses are related to diet and forty percent of cancer is related to the diet as well, especially cancer of the colon. Different cultures are more prone to contract certain illnesses because of the food that is characteristic in these cultures. That food is related to illness is not a new discovery.

一些研究已经表明，人类大概有80%的疾病与饮食有关，40%的癌症，特别是结肠癌，也与饮食有关。 不同的文化会使人们更易患某些疾病，这是由这些文化的人们喜好的食物所致。 食物与疾病 有关并不是新发现。

In 1945, government researchers realized that nitrates and nitrites, commonly used to preserve color in meats, and other food additives, caused cancer. Yet, these carcinogenic additives remain in our food, and it becomes more difficult all the time to know which things in the packaging labels of processed food are helpful or harmful. The additives which we eat are not all so direct. Farmers often give penicillin to beef and poultry, and because of this, penicillin has been found in the milk of treated cows. Sometimes similar drugs are administered to animals not for medicinal purposes, but for financial reasons. The farmers are simply trying to fatten the animals in order to obtain a higher price on the market. Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has tried repeatedly to control these procedures, the practices continue.

1945 年，政府部门的科研工作者了解到，被广泛用于肉类以保持肉类 色泽的硝酸盐、亚硝酸盐和其他的添加剂可诱发癌症。 可是这些致癌物质依然存在于我们的食物之中。与此同时，要想知道加工食品标签上的哪些成分对健康有利，哪些成分对健康不利，变得更加困难了。我们吃到的这些添加物并非都是如此直接的。农民常给牛和家 禽注射青霉素，因而在受过注射的牛所产牛奶里发现青霉素。有时让家禽服用这类药物并 非是为了治病，而是为了经济上的缘故。农民们只是想使家畜长得更肥壮可以上市场上卖 到好价钱。虽然食物和药品管理局已一再设法控制这种情况的发生，但是这种行为仍在继 续。

四级英语短篇美文篇三

郑人买鞋A man of Zheng buys shoes

In the State of Zheng. There was a man who wanted to go into town to buy a pair of new shoes.

郑国，有个人想去城里买一双新鞋子。

Before leaving home, he measured his foot with a piece of straw for size. After he arrived at the town and entered a shoe shop, he put his hand into his pocket only to find that in his haste he had left the measurement at home. Thereupon, he turned round and started for home. But when he rushed back to the shoeshop with the measurement, the shop had closed. As a result, he had suanwenw.com busied himself for nothing.

他离家前先用一根稻草量了自己的脚，把他当作尺码。他到了城里，走进鞋店，伸手摸口袋，从发现因为急着赶路，把尺码忘在家里了。于是，他转身就往家里跑。可是等他拿着尺码赶回鞋店的时候，店已经关门了。结果，他白忙了一阵子，还是没有买到鞋子。

Later, someone asked him:” Were you buying shoes for yourself or for others? ”

后来，有人问他：“你是给自己买鞋，还是给别人买鞋?”

He answered:” For myself.”

他回答说：“是给我自己。

Someone else asked him:” Don’t you have your feet on yourself? You need only to Try on shoes with your feet to get the right size. Why did you go back home to fetch the measurement? “

别人又问他：“脚不是长在你自己身上吗?英语小短文只要用你的脚去试试鞋子的大小，不就可以了吗?为什么还要回家去拿尺码呢?“

The man of Zheng insisted:” I would rather trust the measurement than my own feet.”

那个郑国人坚持说：“我宁愿相信尺码，也不相信自己的脚。“