最近在出版商的游说下，我拍了一些照片。他提醒我，我已经很久没给他新照片了，我不能总使用同样的姿势。我不喜欢拍照的过程，当我看到最近一次痛苦经历的结果后，就更不喜欢这些照片了。我把新照片和25年前的一张照片比较之后，想到我要以现在的面貌面对公众时，我的女性虚荣心开始遭受剧痛。我的第一个直觉就是“修饰”一下这些照片，虽然我从不修饰自己的脸或头发，因为我一直认为女人这么做，除了骗自己之外谁也骗不了。但当我深思过之后，我明白这其中蕴含着一个更重要的原则。
四分之一世纪的生活在女人脸上除了留下一些皱纹及不受欢迎的皱痕之外，还有更多的东西。在这段漫长的时间里，她已经饱尝痛苦与欢乐、开心与伤心以及生生死死。她经历了生存与斗争、失败与成功，曾经失去又重获信心。因此，有过这些经历，她应该比年轻时更明智、高雅、耐心和宽容。她的幽默感应该成熟起来了，视野应该被拓宽，同情心也应该加深了。而所有的这一切都会在她的面貌上表现出来。如果她试图抹去这些岁月的痕迹，同时也是在冒摧毁经验与性格印痕的危险。
我知道自己比25年前更有经验了，也希望我比以前更有个性，所以我按照原样发布了我的照片。
1. I do not_________the process of being photographed, and when I saw the_________of this latest ordeal, I enjoyed these_________less. I compared the new photograph with one that had been taken 25 years , and my feminine vanity suffered an acute pang at the thought of being presented to the public_________I am today.
2. In that length of_________she has become intimately acquainted with pain and pleasure, joy and , life and death. She has struggled and survived, failed and . She has lost and regained faith. And, as a , she should be wiser, gentler, more patient and more tolerant than she was when she was .
1. 一个人一旦过了40岁就应该对自己的长相负责。
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2. 四分之一世纪的生活在女人脸上除了留下一些皱纹及不受欢迎的皱痕之外，还有更多的东西。
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3. 她应该比年轻时更明智、高雅、耐心和宽容。
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1. I compared the new photograph with one that had been taken 25 years ago...
compare with：与……相比较
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2. ... she runs the risk of destroying...
run the risk of：冒……的危险；冒……的风险
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放飞心灵
Free to Soar
佚名 / Anonymous
One windy spring day, I observed young people having fun using the wind to fly their kites. Multicolored creations of varying shapes and sizes filled the skies like beautiful birds darting and dancing. As the strong winds gusted against the kites, a string kept them in check.
Instead of blowing away with the wind, they arose against it to achieve great heights. They shook and pulled, but the restraining string and the cumbersome tail kept them in tow, facing upward and against the wind. As the kites struggled and trembled against the string, they seemed to say, “Let me go! Let me go! I want to be free!” They soared beautifully even as they fought the restriction of the string. Finally, one of the kites succeeded in breaking loose . “Free at last,” it seemed to say. “Free to fly with the wind.”
Yet freedom from restraint simply put it at the mercy of an unsympathetic breeze. It fluttered ungracefully to the ground and landed in a tangled mass of weeds and string against a dead bush. “Free at last”, free to lie powerless in the dirt, to be blown helplessly along the ground, and to lodge lifeless against the first obstruction.
How much like kites we sometimes are. Heaven gives us adversity and restrictions, rules to follow from which we can grow and gain strength. Restraint is a necessary counterpart to the winds of opposition. Some of us tug at the rules so hard that we never soar to reach the heights we might have obtained. We keep part of the commandment and never rise high enough to get our tails off the ground.
Let us each rise to the great heights, recognizing that some of the restraints that we may chafe under are actually the steadying force that helps us ascend and achieve.
一个春风拂面的日子，一群年轻人正在放风筝。天空中满是各种颜色、形状和大小的风筝，犹如穿梭飞舞着的漂亮鸟儿。强劲有力的风吹着风筝，牵引线控制着它们。
风筝并不是随风而去，而是迎风飘往高处。狂风使它们摇晃着、拉扯着，但牵引线和笨重的尾翼让它们始终处于控制之中。它们挣扎着、抖动着，似乎在说：“放开我！放开我！我要自由！”就是在与牵引线抗争之时，它们也依然优雅地飞翔着。终于，其中一只风筝成功地挣脱了线的束缚，它好像在说：“终于自由了，终于可以随风自由飞翔了。”
然而，没有束缚的自由让它完全处于风的无情摆布之下。它笨拙地坠落到地面，落在一堆乱草之中，线也缠在一丛枯死的灌木上了。“终于自由了”——自由到无力地躺在泥土中，自由到无助地任由风吹得满地跑，自由到撞到第一个障碍物就搁浅，毫无生气可言。
有时候，我们与风筝是多么相似啊！上天让我们经历逆境，体验束缚，并定下规则约束我们，让我们从中成长起来，获得人生所需的力量。逆风而行时，束缚是不可或缺的。有些人强硬地抵制这些规则，那就永远也飞不到本可以达到的高度。只遵从部分规则，我们绝不可能飞得很高。
每个人都飞到高处吧，同时也要认识到——某些令人恼怒的约束，实际上是帮助我们攀升、飞跃和达到目标的强大力量。
断了线的风筝终将落在地上。有些约束，有些规则，正是支持我们攀升、飞跃和腾达的强大力量。
1. As the_________ struggled and trembled against the string, they_________ to say, “Let me go! Let me go! I want to be_________!” They soared beautifully even as they fought the restriction of the string._________, one of the kites succeeded_________ breaking loose.
2. How much_________ kites we sometimes are. Heaven gives us adversity and restrictions, rules to_________ from which we can_________ and gain strength. Restraint is a necessary counterpart to the winds of opposition. Some of us tug at the rules so hard that we never soar to_________ the heights we might have obtained.
1. 天空中满是各种颜色、形状和大小的风筝，犹如穿梭飞舞着的漂亮鸟儿。
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2. 风筝并不是随风而去，而是迎风飘往高处。
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3. 某些令人恼怒的约束，实际上是帮助我们攀升、飞跃和达到目标的强大力量。