學習任何語言都需要大量閱讀。學習英語也需要大量閱讀。為了幫助大家，小編分享了一些英語閱讀素材，歡迎閱讀!
How Long Could You Go Without Complaining
Baseball fans are gearing up for the World Series, but we all know what's the real national pastime: complaining. Could you go without griping about anything for a day? For a week?
棒球迷們正在翹首以待即將到來的世界職業棒球大賽，但我們大家都清楚美國真正的全國性休閒方式是什麼:發牢騷。你能不能一整天都不發一句牢騷?整整一週呢?
A couple of editors at Slate's Double X women's site are trying to go a whole month without complaining. Both Jessica Grose, managing editor, and Hanna Rosin, founding editor, say on the site that they've grown concerned about over-relying on complaints in getting through their juggles Ms. Grose is newly engaged, Ms. Rosin married with three young children. Over the course of their efforts, the two realize how much of their interactions with friends and colleagues are based on the common currency of complaining.
女性網站Slate's Double X的幾個編輯正在嘗試整整一個月都不抱怨。主編傑西卡·格羅斯和創始人兼編輯漢娜·羅森在網站上說，她們越來越擔心自己需要過度依賴訴苦的發洩方式才能渡過難關。傑西卡最近剛剛訂婚，漢娜則是有三個小孩的已婚媽媽。在體味人生酸甜苦辣的過程中，她們倆都意識到，自己與朋友同事之間的很多溝通都是以發牢騷為主的。
Ms. Grose recounts a recent pleasant drive during which she realized she was enjoying a good moment in her life and had nothing to complain about which led to "a twinge of panic" at the very fact of having nothing to complain about. "This shining moment of whine-free living made me realize how much kvetching I do on a daily basis. If I am honest with myself, I would estimate that about 70% of the things that come out of my mouth are gripes. Good-natured，often, but still nonessential and sometimes obnoxious to others."
傑西卡回憶起最近一次愉快的駕車旅途，她發現那是自己人生中一段美好的時光，根本沒什麼可抱怨的——於這一事實，她居然感覺到"一陣恐慌"。她說：“這種無可抱怨的美好時光讓我意識到，自己平時的生活都是在牢騷滿腹中度過的。憑心而論，我估計自己嘴裡說出來的話有70%左右都是在發牢騷。這種抱怨往往沒有惡意，但還是屬於可有可無，有時還會讓別人感到厭煩。”
So Ms. Grose decides to "try to stop complaining entirely about small things and quit excessively complaining about the bigger ones," for a month. She enlists her boss, Ms. Rosin, in the effort to reach a state of more "mindful complaining," as Ms. Rosin terms it.
因此，傑西卡決定在一個月內，“試著完全停止對瑣事的抱怨，並對更重要一些的事情也儘量不去大發牢騷。”她把自己的老闆漢娜也拉進來，以漢娜的話來說，這是為了“互相監督”。
Ms. Rosin relates her own tale of addiction to complaints: After she griped about keeping up with her children's complex schedule of after-school activities, her husband made up a weekly schedule and posted it on the fridge. "I nearly killed rum. Honestly, it was our most dramatic marital fight to date. Why was I angry with him? It took me a few days to figure it out. Because by helping to solve the problem, he had robbed me of my God-given right to complain."
漢娜也談到自己發牢騷上癮的故事：她抱怨自己很難跟得上幾個孩子錯綜複雜的校外興趣活動安排，於是她丈夫做了一張每週活動日程表，貼在冰箱門上。“為這事兒，我差點宰了他。說實話，這是我們結婚來吵得最凶的一次。可我為什麼這麼生氣?過好幾天後我才想明白：因為他幫我解決了問題，但同時也剝奪了我天經地義的發牢騷的權利。”
I certainly join Ms. Grose and Ms. Rosin in spending a fair amount of time complaining, especially at work. As we've written about before, at some workplaces, people end up spending more time kvetching about work than actually working. Most of our gripes there these days center on our new publishing system, which remains a bit buggy after five months of use. But there's some modest enjoyment in commiserating about an experience we're all going through together, and for the most part I'm fortunate not to have truly awful work woes to complain about, my co-workers are talented and conscientious，and the section we produce is something we can be proud of.
和傑西卡與漢娜一樣，我也經常發牢騷，特別是上班的時候。我以前也在文章裡寫到過，在有些辦公場所，人們抱怨工作的時間比真正工作的時間還要多。最近，我們對工作的抱怨大多數都集中在新開發的編輯系統上，因為經過五個月的使用後，系統似乎還有些小問題。不過，在對一種共同經歷發牢騷時，確實有一種隱約的快感;而我算是幸運的，因為基本上沒有真正意義上的工作難題需要抱怨一我的同事們既有才華、人又好，我們共同開發出來的內容板塊也令大家感到自豪。
I have few serious complaints at home, either. We have the usual little squalls, but my wife and I often remark how much we enjoy our children, our friends and each other. I try to look on the bright said most of the time, so I feel like whatever complaining I do isn't a debilitating problem in need of aggressive correction.
我在家也很少真正抱怨什麼。我和妻子有時也拌幾句嘴，但經常的話題是談孩子和朋友們的趣事，以及對彼此的喜愛。大多數時候，我都試著樂觀處事，因此並不覺得自己偶爾發牢騷是一個急需改正的`壞毛病。
How about for you? What are the sources of your biggest complaints? Do you think you complain too much at home or at work, and could you see making a concerted effort over some period of time to cut back? Do you think you could go on a complaint fast?
你的情況如何?抱怨最多的事情是什麼?你覺得自己在家或上班時抱怨過多嗎?能不能在一段時間內有意識地控制自己少發牢騷?能不能把少發牢騷這個“封口令”進行到底?
句型講解：
1. Over the course of their efforts, the two realize how much of their interactions with friends and colleagues are based on the common currency of complaining.
本句是一個複合句。over the course of their efforts介詞短語作狀語。主句是the two realize how...，how引導名詞性從句作realize的賓語。
語法重點：介詞短語作狀語，名詞性從句
2. Ms. Grose recounts a recent pleasant drive during which she realized she was enjoying a good moment in her life and had nothing to complain about which led to "a twinge of panic" at the very fact of having nothing to complain about.
本句是一個複合句，主句是Ms. Grose recounts a recent pleasant drive during。 which引導限制性定語從句，修飾drive，在從句中充當during的賓語。 she was lain about為省略了引導詞的賓語從句。其中which引導定語從句，修飾前面的句子she lain about。
語法重點：定語從句
3. But there's some modest enjoyment in commiserating about an experience we're all going through together, and for the most part I'm fortunate not to have truly awful work woes to complain about, my co-workers are talented and conscientious，and the section we produce is something we can be proud of.
本句是一個複合句。主句由4個並列的句子組成。第一個句子中 we're all going through together為省略了引導詞的定語從句，修飾 experience。第四個句子中we produce和we can be proud of兩個句子為省略了引導詞的定語從句，分別修飾section和something。
語法重點：定語從句
4. I try to look on the bright said most of the time, so I feel like whatever complaining I do isn't a debilitating problem in need of aggressive correction.
本句是一個複合句。主句是I try to look on the bright side…, so引導一個結果狀語從句，在這個狀語從句中又有一個whatever引導名詞性從句作feel like的賓語。 in need of aggressive correction介詞短語作後置定語，修飾problem。
語法重點：名詞性從句，介詞短語作定語