第一步：逐句逐段双语读
When a tornado touched down in a small town nearby, many families were left completely destroyed. Afterward all the local newspapers carried many human-interest stories featuring some of the families who suffered the hardest.
一场龙卷风袭击了我们家附近的一座小镇之后，许多家庭都损失惨重。所有的当地报纸刊登了许多关于ー些受灾最严重家庭的感人故事。
One Sunday, a particular picture especially touched me. A young woman stood in front of an entirely shattered mobile home, a depressed expression twisting her features. A young boy, seven or eight yearsold, stood at her side, eyes downcast. Clutching (紧握) at her skirt was a tiny girl who stared into thecamera, eyes wide with confusion and fear.
周日那天，一张特别的照片深深地触动了我。照片上，在一座完全被毁坏的移动房前，站着一个少妇，痛苦的表情扭曲了她的面容。在她身旁，站着一个七八岁的小男孩，低垂着双眼。还有一个很小的女孩，拽着少妇的衣裙，用她那充满了慌乱和恐惧的大眼晴直町着相机镜头。
The article that went with the picture gave the clothing sizes of each family member. With growinginterest, I noticed that their sizes closely matched ours. This would be a good opportunity to teach mychildren to help those less fortunate than themselves. I taped the picture of the young family to ourrefrigerator, explaining their difficulty to my seven-year-old twins, Brad and Brett, and to three- year-old Meghan.
在与照片相关的报道中，给出了这个家庭每位成员的衣服尺寸。我注意到他们衣服的尺す与我家的尺寸很接近。这是一个教育我的孩子们的好机会，可以通过这件事让他们学会去帮助那些比自己不幸的人们。我把那个年轻家庭的照片贴在冰箱上，向我那对七岁的双胞胎儿子布兰德和布雷特，以及三岁的小女儿梅格安解释了他们的困境。
" We have so much. And these poor people now have nothing," I said."We'll share what we have withthem." I brought three large boxes down from the room upstairs and placed them on the living room floor. Meghan watched seriously, as the boys and I filled one of the boxes with canned goods and foods. While I sorted through our clothes, I encouraged the boys to go through their toys and donate some of their less favorite things. Meghan watched quietly as the boys piled up discarded toys and games. "I'll help you find something for the little girl when I'm done with this," I said.
“我们拥有这么多东西，而这些可怜的人此刻却一无所有，”我说，“我们应该把自己的东西和他们一起分享。”我从阁楼上拿下来三个大箱子，把它们放在客厅的地板上。当两个儿子和我一起把一些罐装食品，肥皂和其他洗漱用品装进其中一个大箱子时，梅格安脸严肃地望着我们。在我整理衣服的时候，我鼓励儿子们也去整理一下他们的玩具，然后把不太喜欢的捐出来。男孩子们把不要的玩具和游戏堆成一堆，而梅格安只是在一旁静静地看着。“等把这些整理好之后，我来帮你给那个小女孩挑选一些东西。”我对梅格安说。
The boys placed the toys they had chosen to donate into one of the boxes while I filled the third boxwith clothes. Meghan walked up with Lucy, her worn, faded, much-loved rag doll hugged tightly to her chest. She paused in front of the box that held the toys, pressed her round little face into Lucy's flat, painted-on-face, gave her a final kiss, then laid her gently on top of the other toys.
男孩子们把准备捐赠的玩具放进另一个箱子里，最后一个箱子里放我挑出的衣服。这时，梅格安怀里紧紧抱着露西一一那个破旧的、褪色的、她最喜欢的布娃娃一走了过来。在装玩具的那个箱子前停下，把她圆圆的小脸紧紧贴在露西扁扁的娃娃脸上，给了它最后一个亲吻，然后，将它轻轻地放在其他玩具的最上面。
"Oh, Honey," I said."You don't have to give Lucy. You love her so much." Meghan nodded seriously, eyes glistening with held-back tears. '"Lucy makes me happy, Mommy. Maybe she'll make that other little girl happy, too．"“噢，甜心，我说，“你不必把露西捐出来，你是那么喜欢它。梅格安眼里闪着泪光，认真地点了点头，“妈妈，露西让我快乐，也许，她也会给那个小女孩带来快乐的”。
Swallowing hard, I stared at Meghan for a long moment, wondering how I could teach the boys thelesson she had just taught me. For I suddenly realized that anyone can give their cast-offs away. Truegenerosity is giving that which you value most.我长久地注视着梅格空。吃力地咽了口唾液。不知该如何把梅格安对我的教化传递给男孩子们。我突然意识到，任何人都可以把他们弃之不要的东西捐赠给别人，而真正的慷慨却是把你最珍爱的东西给予别人。
Honest benevolence (善行) is a three-year-old offering a valuable, though shabby, doll to a little girlshe doesn't know with the hope that it will bring this child as much pleasure as it brought her. I, who had wanted to teach, had been taught.
一个三岁的孩子把她最珍爱的布娃娃，尽管它又破又旧，送给一个陌生的小女孩，希望能给她带去同样的快乐，这才是真正的仁爱。而我，本来想教育孩子们，结果却从梅格安那儿受到了教育。
The boys had watched, open-mouthed, as their baby sister placed her favorite doll in the box. Without a word, Brad rose and went to his room. He came back carrying one of his favorite action figures. He hesitated briefly, clutching the toy, then looked over at Meghan and placed it in the box next to Lucy.
看着小妹妹把她最喜欢的洋娃娃放进箱子里，男孩子们惊讶地张大了嘴巴。布兰德什么也没说，起身走进他的房间，拿出他最喜欢的动作人偶。他紧紧地抓着玩具，稍稍犹豫了一下，然后看了看梅格安，把它放在箱子里，放在露西的旁边。
A slow smile spread across Brett's face. Then he jumped up, eyes twinkling as he ran to fetch someof his prized Matchbox cars.Astonished, I realized that the boys had also recognized what little Meghan's gesture meant. Swallowing back tears, I pulled all three of them into my arms.
布雷特的脸上慢慢露出了笑容，他跳起来，眼晴闪闪发光，跑回房间拿来了几个他曾得过奖的宝贝火柴盒汽车。我惊讶地意识到，儿子们也领悟到了小梅格安举动的意义。我强忍着泪水，我把他们三个搂入怀中。
Taking the cue from my little one, I removed my old jacket from the box of clothes. I replaced it with the new hunter green jacket that I had found on sale last week. I hoped the young woman in the picture would love it as much as I did.
在小女儿的影响下，我把我那件袖口已经磨损的旧棕褐色夹克从衣服箱子里取出来，然后把我上星期刚买的那件绿色夹克放了进去。我希望照片上的那个少妇会像我一样喜欢它。
It's easy to give that which we don't want any more, but harder to let go of things we cherish, isn't it? However, the true spirit of giving is to give with your heart.
把你不再想要的东东捐出去很容易，但如果是你珍惜的东东捐出去的话就难得多。然而，发自内心的捐赠才是捐款的灵魂（即：真正的慷慨仁爱来自内心）。
第二步：独立自主英文读
When a tornado touched down in a small town nearby, many families were left completely destroyed. Afterward all the local newspapers carried many human-interest stories featuring some of the families who suffered the hardest. One Sunday, a particular picture especially touched me. A young woman stood in front of an entirely shattered mobile home, a depressed expression twisting her features. A young boy, seven or eight yearsold, stood at her side, eyes downcast. Clutching (紧握) at her skirt was a tiny girl who stared into thecamera, eyes wide with confusion and fear. The article that went with the picture gave the clothing sizes of each family member. With growinginterest, I noticed that their sizes closely matched ours. This would be a good opportunity to teach mychildren to help those less fortunate than themselves. I taped the picture of the young family to ourrefrigerator, explaining their difficulty to my seven-year-old twins, Brad and Brett, and to three- year-old Meghan. " We have so much. And these poor people now have nothing," I said."We'll share what we have withthem."
I brought three large boxes down from the room upstairs and placed them on the living room floor. Meghan watched seriously, as the boys and I filled one of the boxes with canned goods and foods. While I sorted through our clothes, I encouraged the boys to go through their toys and donate some of their less favorite things. Meghan watched quietly as the boys piled up discarded toys and games."I'll help you find something for the little girl when I'm done with this," I said.
The boys placed the toys they had chosen to donate into one of the boxes while I filled the third boxwith clothes. Meghan walked up with Lucy, her worn, faded, much-loved rag doll hugged tightly to her chest. She paused in front of the box that held the toys, pressed her round little face into Lucy's flat, painted-on-face, gave her a final kiss, then laid her gently on top of the other toys.
"Oh, Honey," I said."You don't have to give Lucy. You love her so much."Meghan nodded seriously, eyes glistening with held-back tears. '"Lucy makes me happy, Mommy. Maybe she'll make that other little girl happy, too．"
Swallowing hard, I stared at Meghan for a long moment, wondering how I could teach the boys thelesson she had just taught me. For I suddenly realized that anyone can give their cast-offs away. Truegenerosity is giving that which you value most.Honest benevolence (善行) is a three-year-old offering a valuable, though shabby, doll to a little girlshe doesn't know with the hope that it will bring this child as much pleasure as it brought her. I, who had wanted to teach, had been taught. The boys had watched, open-mouthed, as their baby sister placed her favorite doll in the box. Without a word, Brad rose and went to his room. He came back carrying one of his favorite action figures. He hesitated briefly, clutching the toy, then looked over at Meghan and placed it in the box next to Lucy. A slow smile spread across Brett's face. Then he jumped up, eyes twinkling as he ran to fetch someof his prized Matchbox cars. Astonished, I realized that the boys had also recognized what little Meghan's gesture meant. Swallowing back tears, I pulled all three of them into my arms.Taking the cue from my little one, I removed my old jacket from the box of clothes. I replaced it with the new hunter green jacket that I had found on sale last week. I hoped the young woman in the picture would love it as much as I did.It's easy to give that which we don't want any more, but harder to let go of things we cherish, isn't it? However, the true spirit of giving is to give with your heart.