看人不能只看外外表，因为外表美是暂时的，一个人的内在﹑个性﹑修养﹑素质﹑底蕴与能力比外表更重要。朋友相交，贵在知心！
John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his Army uniform, and studied the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central Station. He looked for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn’t, the girl with the rose.
His interest in her had begun thirteen months before in a Florida library. Taking a book off the shelf he found himself intrigued[1], not with the words of the book, but with the notes penciled in the margin. The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and insightful mind. In the front of the book, he discovered the previous owner’s name, Miss Hollis Maynell.
With time and effort he located her address. She lived in New York City. He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to correspond. The next day he was shipped overseas for service in World War II. During the next year and one month the two grew to know each other through the mail. Each letter was a seed falling on a fertile heart. A romance was budding[2]. Blanchard requested a photograph, but she refused. She felt that if he really cared, it wouldn’t matter what she looked like. Then she said in her letter, “When you come to New York, you shall see me and then you shall make your own decision.”
When the day finally came for him to return from Europe, they scheduled their first meeting —7:00 PM at the Grand Central Station in New York. “You’ll recognize me,” she wrote, “by the red rose I’ll be wearing on my lapel[3].” So at 7:00 he was in the station looking for a girl whose heart he loved, but whose face he’d never seen.
Suddenly a young woman was coming toward Mr. Blanchard, her figure long and slim. Her blonde hair lay back in curls from her delicate ears; her eyes were blue as flowers. Her lips and chin had a gentle firmness, and in her pale green suit she was like springtime come alive. I started toward her, entirely forgetting to notice that she was not wearing a rose. As Blanchard moved, a small, provocative[4] smile curved her lips. “Going my way, sailor?” she murmured. Almost uncontrollably John Blanchard made one step closer to her, and then I saw Hollis Maynell. She was standing almost directly behind the girl. A woman well past 40, she had graying hair tucked[5] under a worn hat. She was more than plump[6], her thick-ankled feet thrust into low-heeled shoes. The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away.
[1] intrigue [ ] v. 引起…的兴趣
[2] bud [ ] v. 萌芽
[3] lapel [ ] n. （西服上衣延及胸前的）翻领
[4] provocative [ ] adj. 挑逗的
[5] tuck [ ] v. 塞
[6] plump [ ] adj. 丰满的
约翰·布兰查德从长椅上站起来，整理了一下军装，然后留心观察着在格兰德中央车站进进出出的每一位旅客。他在寻找一个姑娘，他了解她的心，却不熟悉她的面容，这个姑娘身上佩戴着一朵玫瑰。
他对她产生兴趣始于十三个月之前，那是在佛罗里达州的一个图书馆里，当他从书架上取下一本书时，立刻就被吸引住了，但不是被书的内容，而是被用铅笔写在书的空白处的批语。那柔婉的笔迹反映出一个深思熟虑的灵魂与一个见解深刻的头脑。在卷首，他发现了书的前一位主人的名字：荷利斯·梅内尔小姐。
费了一番功夫，他打听到了她的住址，她住在纽约。他给她写了一封信，向她做了自我介绍，然后邀请她与自己通信。第二天，他为服兵役远渡重洋，去参加第二次世界大战。在接下来的一年零一个月中，他们两个人通过书信互相了解。每一封信都如同播入心田的一颗种子，浪漫的爱情萌芽了，布兰查德想要姑娘的一张照片，但她拒绝了，她觉得如果他真的在乎她，不论她长得什么样都没有关系。然后，她在信中写道：“当你来到纽约时你会见到我，那时你可以做一个决定。”
当他从欧洲回来的日子终于到来时，他们约定了见面的日子——下午七点，在纽约的格兰德中央车站。她在信中写道：“你可以通过我佩在领口上的红玫瑰认出我来。”于是，七点一到，他就开始在车站寻找那位他深爱着其心灵，但却未见过其容貌的姑娘。
忽然，一位年轻姑娘向布兰查德走来，她身材修长而苗条，卷曲的金发垂在她俏丽的耳后；她的眼睛是深蓝色的，像花朵一样；她的嘴唇与下颌透露出一股温柔的决断；她穿一身浅绿色的套裙，仿佛春天来到一般。他注视着她，完全忘记了去看一眼她是否佩戴着玫瑰。当布兰查德移动脚步时，一个浅浅的﹑挑逗般的微笑浮现在她的嘴角：“跟我走吗,水手?”她轻声说道。就在布兰查德不由自主地向她走近一步时，他看到了荷利斯·梅内尔，她就站在那个姑娘的后面。那是一位年过四旬的女人，灰白的头发压在一顶破帽子底下，体态臃肿，髁骨粗大的双脚塞在一双矮跟鞋中。穿绿色套裙的姑娘很快走开了。
以上为文章摘要，更多精彩内容请见2009年3月份《英语广场》杂志。