解放军文职招聘考试Struggle for Freedom

 Struggle for Freedom

It is not possible for me to express all that I feel of appreciation

for what has been said and given to me.

I accept, for myself, with the conviction of having received

far beyond what I have been able to give in my books.

I can only hope that the many books which I have yet to write

will be in some measure a worthier acknowledgment than I can make tonight.

And, indeed, I can accept only in the same spirit

in which I think this gift was originally given

—that it is a prize not so much for what has been done, as for the future.

Whatever I write in the future must, I think,

be always benefited and strengthened when I remember this day.

I accept,too, for my country,the United States of America.

We are a people still young and we know that we have not yet come to the fullest of our powers.

This award, given to an American, strengthens not only one,

but the whole body of American writers,

who are encouraged and heartened by such generous recognition.

And I should like to say, too, that in my country

it is important that this award has been given to a woman.

You who have already so recognized your own Selma Lagerlof,

and have long recognized women in other fields,

cannot perhaps wholly understand what it means in many countries

that it is a woman who stands here at this moment.

But I speak not only for writers and for women, but for all Americans,

for we all share in this.

I should not be truly myself if I did not, in my own wholly unofficial way,

speak also of the people of China,whose life has for so many years been my life also,

whose life,indeed, must always be a part of my life.

The minds of my own country and China, my foster country, are alike in many ways,

but above all, alike in our common love of freedom.

And today more than ever, this is true,

now when China's whole being is engaged in the greatest of all the struggles,

the struggle for freedom.

I have never admired China more than I do now,

when I see her uniting as she has never before,

against the enemy who threatens her freedom.

With this determination for freedom,

which is in so profound a sense the essential quality of her nature,

I know that she is unconquerable.

Freedom—it is today more than ever the most precious human possession.

We—Sweden and the United States—we have it still.

My country is young—but it greets you with a peculiar fellowship,

you whose earth is ancient and free.

Passage 16. Passing on Small Change

The pharmacist handed me my prescription,apologized for the wait,

and explained that his register had already closed.

He asked if I would mind using the register at the front of the store.

I told him not to worry and walked up front,

where one person was in line ahead of me,

a little girl no more than seven, with a bottle of medicine on the counter.

She clenched a little green and white striped coin purse closely to her chest.

The purse reminded me of the days when, as a child,

I played dress-up in my grandma’s closet.

I’d march around the house in oversized clothes,

drenched in costume jewelry and hats and scarves,

talking “grownup talk” to anyone who would listen.

I remembered the thrill one day when I gave a pretend dollar to someone,

and he handed back some real coins for me to put into my special purse.

“Keep the change!”he told me with a wink.

Now the clerk rang up the little girl’s medicine,

while she shakily pulled out a coupon, a dollar bill and some coins.

I watched her blush as she tried to count her money,

and I could see right away that she was about a dollar short.

With a quick wink to the clerk,

I slipped a dollar bill onto the counter and signaled the clerk to ring up the sale.

The child scooped her uncounted change into her coin purse,

grabbed her package and scurried out the door.

As I headed to my car, I felt a tug on my shirt.

There was the girl, looking up at me with her big brown eyes.

She gave me a grin, wrapped her arms around my legs for a long moment

then stretched out her little hand.

It was full of coins.“Thank you,” She whispered.

“That’s okay,” I answered.

I flashed her a smile and winked,“Keep the change!”