Unit 1 Laugh out l oud!
Und erstanding ideas
The Best Medicine
最佳妙方
1 As I approach the hospital wearing my white coat, I l ook just like any other
d octor. That is until I put on my curly rainbow wig, big red nose, and ad d my nam
e badge “Doctor Larry Laugh-Out-Loud”. I walk through the d oors into the waiting area, where there’s a familiar atmosphere o
f bored om and tension. Peopl e sit uncomfortably on plastic chairs, l ookin
g throug
h ol d magazines, all of which have been read hundreds of times previously. Anxious parents d o what they can to comfort nervous and crying children.
当我穿着白大褂走进医院时，我看起来和其他医生没什么两样——直到我戴上卷曲的彩虹色假发和大红鼻子，别上我的名牌“拉里，笑哈哈医生”。我穿过一道道门进入候诊区，这里充斥着常见的厌烦和紧张情绪。人们别扭地坐在塑料椅上，翻阅着那些已经被读过数百遍的旧杂志。焦虑的父母们正尽其所能安抚紧张哭闹的孩子。
2 In the middl e of this particular scene I spot a small girl whose ankl e is twice its normal size. I speak with the on-duty nurse, who tells me that Lara’s parents rushed her to the hospital after she fell off her bicycl e. Since getting here, Lara has spent her time crying in pain. Although it’s the doctors and nurses who will treat her injury, it’s my job to make her feel better.
在这个特别的场景里，我注意到一个小女孩，她的脚踝肿成了原来的两倍。我和值班护士交谈时她告诉我，劳拉从自行车上摔下来，她父母赶紧将她送到医院。自从来到这里，劳拉就因为疼痛而一直大哭。尽管为她治疗伤痛的是医生和护士，但让她的心情变好则是我的工作。
3 Scientific studies show that laughter produces chemicals to make peopl e feel better, which means cl own d octors can be helpful. We are specially trained
cl owns who work as part of a programme known as “hospital cl owning”. I chose this career because of my experience of going to hospital when I was a kid. Although the d octors and nurses did a great job, hospitals weren’t really d esigned for children. I spent much of the time when I was there feeling frightened and more than little bored! Being a cl own d octor means I can help peopl e by entertaining them.
科学研究表明，欢笑能产生使人心情变好的化学物质，这就意味着小丑医生能帮到患者。我们是受过专门培训的小丑，是“医院小丑”项目的成员。我之所以选择这个职业，是因为我自己小时候去医院的经历。尽管当时医生和护士都尽职尽责，但医院实在不是个适合孩子们待的地方。我在那里度过的大部分时间要么觉得害怕，要么感到非常无聊！而成为小丑医生意味着我可以通过娱乐人们的方
4 Visiting hospitals and other health care facilities, we cl own d octors work together with medical professionals. On a typical day, we spend our time cheering up patients, their families, and more often than not, the hospital staff, too! We d o this by d oing magic tricks, singing songs, telling stories and, of course, telling silly jokes. Some children, though, d on’t feel like laughing, especially if they’re in pain. We have to be very sensitive and work cl osely with the d octors and nurses, who keep us updated on each patient.
我们小丑医生和专业医疗人员一起工作，要走访医院和其他的医疗机构。我们一天的工作内容通常是为病人、病人家属，甚至是医院的工作人员带来欢乐！为此，我们会变魔术、唱歌、讲故事，当然还会讲一些滑稽的笑话。不过，有些孩子并不想笑，特别是在他们很疼痛的时候。所以我们必须非常善解人意，并且与医护人员密切合作，他们会为我们提供每个病人的最新情况。
5 And my magic medicine d oes ind eed seem to d o the trick. While the doctor concentrates on examining Lara’s ankl e, I get her attention by doing a magic trick. Although she is cl early still in some pain, her scared and anxious l ook has been replaced—first by a small smile, and then by l oud laughter as I “magically”produce her sock from out of my pocket. Seeing their daughter so much happier has in turn mad e Lara’s parents more relaxed.
而我的灵药似乎确实起作用了。当医生集中精力检查劳拉的脚踝时，我用魔术来吸引劳拉的注意力。尽管她显然仍然有些痛苦，但她恐惧和焦虑的表情已经不见了：先是一个小小的微笑，接着变成了大笑——因为我“魔术般地”从我的口袋里变出了她的一只袜子。看到女儿破涕为笑，劳拉的父母也松了一口气。
6 And as for me? Well, when I take off my wig and my red nose, I’m still wearing a big smile, as I remember all the fun and laughter of the day. While there might be more hospital visits ahead for Lara and others, I hope that cl own d octors help make it a friendlier place to visit. After all, it really is true that “laughter is the best medicine”.
至于我呢？当我摘下假发和红鼻子的时候，我脸上仍然带着大大的微笑，因为我记得这天所有的乐趣和欢笑。也许将来，对于劳拉或者其他人来说，他们还有更多到医院就诊的需要，但我希望，小丑医生能够帮助医院成为一个更温暖友善的就诊场所。毕竟，“欢笑是最佳妙方”，这句话是真的。
Unit 1 Laugh out l oud!
Devel oping id eas
The Importance of Humour
幽默的重要性
years. There is comedy in the texts of Ancient Greece, and medieval writings are fill ed with jokes. While these same jokes might not be as funny to us now as they were then, their authors und erstood that humour could not only entertain but also throw new light on sensitive or emotive issues.
数千年来，幽默一直是人类行为的重要组成部分。古希腊的文字中记载有喜剧，而中世纪的作品中也常常出现笑话。虽然那些笑话对现在的我们来说可能不像当时那么有趣，但是它们的作者明白，幽默不仅娱乐大众，而且可以使人们对敏感问题或有争议的问题产生新的认识。
2 Cl oser to mod ern times, someone who is remembered for his ability to combine humour with more serious messages is American writer, Mark Twain. Twain’s particular styl e of writing is funny and often mischievous. For exampl e, in his classic novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, he famously says, “Writing is easy. All you have to d o is cross out the wrong words.” But he is equally well known for his witty remarks in his everyday interactions with people. For instance, whil e on a l ecturing tour of the United States, Twain went into a barber’s shop to get a haircut and a shave. The barber, not recognising him, asked if he had a ticket to the lecture. When Twain replied that he didn’t, the barber tol d him that if he wanted to go to the event he woul d have to stand, as there were no seats l eft in the theatre. Twain’s response was, “That’s just my luck. I always have to stand when that fellow l ectures!”
到了近现代，美国作家马克·吐温因擅长用幽默的方式表达严肃的内容而著称。吐温独特的写作风格幽默风趣，而且常常带有调侃意味。例如，在他的经典小说《汤姆·索耶历险记》中有一句名言“写作很容易，你要做的就是把错误的单词划掉。”他日常与人交流中的诙谐言论同样出名。比如，有一次在美国做巡回演讲时，马克·吐温走进一家理发店去理发和刮脸。理发师没有认出他来，问他有没有这场演讲的门票，马克·吐温说没有。理发师告诉他，如果他想去听演讲就只能站着了，因为剧院里已经没有座位了。马克·吐温回答说：“真倒霉。只要那个家伙演讲，我总是要站着！”
3 Like Twain, but on the other sid e of the world, Lin Yutang was soon to become famous for his unique brand of humour. A well-known bilingual writer, Lin brought the concept of humour to mod ern Chinese literature. In 1924, he creatively borrowed “youmo” from Ancient Chinese as the translation for the English word “humour”. “Youmo” is still being used in this way today.
和马克·吐温类似，在世界的另一端，林语堂很快也因其独特的幽默风格而闻名。作为著名的双语作家，林语堂将幽默的概念引入了中国现代文学。1924年，他创造性地借用古汉语中的“幽默”作为英文单词“humour”的翻译。今天，“幽默”一词仍在以这种方式被人们使用。
4 Lin’s quick wit helped make him famous as a master of humour. Once, having been invited to dinner at a university, he was put on the spot when the presid ent sud d enly asked him to give a speech. Thinking on his feet, Lin started to
First came a lion. The man whispered something in the lion’s ear, after which the lion shook its head and walked away unhappily. Then along came a tiger. Again, the man whispered in the tiger’s ear. The tiger l ooked shocked and hurried away. “What did you say to my animals?” said the emperor, astonished. “I tol d them they had to make a speech after eating me for dinner.” Lin’s audience roared with laughter. With this little joke, Lin was abl e to make peopl e laugh, whil e gently telling off the presid ent.
林语堂的机智使他成为著名的幽默大师。有一次，他被邀请去一所大学吃晚饭，当校长突然让他做演讲时，他感到很为难。林语堂急中生智，开始讲述一个残忍的罗马皇帝试图把一个人喂给野兽的故事。首先来了一头狮子，那人对狮子耳语了几句，狮子摇了摇头，不高兴地走开了。然后来了一只老虎，那人又对老虎耳语了几句，老虎看起来很震惊，急忙跑开了。“你对我的动物们说了什么？”皇帝惊讶地说道。“我告诉它们，把我作为晚饭吃掉后，它们必须要演讲一番。”林语堂的听众们哄堂大笑。通过这个小笑话，林语堂既能让大家哈哈大笑，同时也委婉地表达了对校长的不满。
5 Both Twain and Lin und erstood that humour isn’t just about laughter, but is a way of life and a tool that can be used to illuminate the worl d. Lin even created an equation to explain this concept: Reality + Dreams + Humour =
Wisd om. Living and working with others can sometimes be complicated, and humour makes this easier. Sharing jokes and laughing together can bring individuals and even communities together. Indeed, some may argue that our need for humour is almost as great as our need for water and air. In the words of Mark Twain, “Humor is mankind’s greatest bl essing”.
马克·吐温和林语堂都明白，幽默不仅仅能带来笑声，它还是一种生活方式，是一种可以用来阐明世界的工具。林语堂甚至还创造了一个公式来解释他的理念：现实+梦想+幽默=智慧。和其他人在一起生活和工作有时候并不是一件容易的事，而幽默可以让事情变得更简单。一起讲笑话、一起欢笑可以使不同的个体甚至是团体凝聚在一起。事实上，有些人甚至会认为我们对幽默的需求几乎与我们对水和空气的需求一样强烈。用马克吐温的话来说：“幽默是人类头等的幸事。”
Unit 2 Onwards and upwards
Und erstanding ideas
We Regret to Inform You...
我们抱歉地通知您……
1 “We regret to inform you...” These are the words that every writer dreads receiving, but words every writer knows well. The response from a publisher comes back and the writer eagerly opens and reads it, their hearts sinking when
and free time to write your life’s work, yet still this is often not enough. Everyone knows that success rarely happens overnight, but perhaps not many know that a l ot of highly successful writers have previously faced rejection.
“我们抱歉地通知您……”这句话对每个作家而言既害怕又熟悉。出版商给了反馈，作家急切地拆开来读，但读到这最后一句，心随即跌落谷底。你可能已经花费数年时间，放弃了周末和空闲时间去创作你的毕生作品，但这往往还不够。大家都明白，成功不是一蹴而就的；但也许很多人都不知道，许多卓越的作家也都曾被拒稿。
2 Take for exampl e J.K. Rowling. When she received her first rejection l etter, she d ecid ed that it meant she now had something in common with her favourite writers, and stuck it on her kitchen wall. Rowling had spent years surviving on little money, spending all her time writing. When she finally finished her first book, she received comments from publishers al ong the lines of “too difficult for children”, “too l ong”, “Chil dren woul d not be interested in it”. Neverthel ess, she persevered. “I wasn’t going to give up until every singl e publisher turned me
d own, but I often feared that would happen,” sh
e later posted. After a total o
f twelve rejections, one publisher eventually agreed to print 500 copies of her first book, and as we know,Harry Potter became a global success, with over 400 million books sold and translated into more than seventy different languages.
以J. K. 罗琳为例。当她收到第一封拒稿信时，她决定把这看作是自己与喜爱的作家之间有了共同之处，并把这封信贴在厨房的墙上。罗琳过了很多年拮据的生活，她把所有时间都用在写作上。当她终于完成第一本书时，出版商给出的评价却是“对孩子来说太难理解”“太长”“孩子们不会对它感兴趣”等等。尽管如此，她还是坚持了下来。“我不会放弃的，除非所有的出版商都拒绝我。不过我常常担心这真的会发生。”她后来说。在收到12封拒稿信后，终于有一家出版商同意将她的第一本书印刷500册。我们都知道，《哈利·波特》后来在全球大获成功，销量超过4亿册，被翻译成了70多种不同的语言。
3 All too often writers of great works have had to face criticism al ong with rejection. J.D. Salinger started writing short stories in high school, but later struggl ed to get his works published. “We feel that we d on’t know the central character well enough” was the criticism he received on his manuscript for The Catcher in the Rye. Despite rejections from several publishers, J.D. Salinger refused to give up. Even when serving in the US Army during the Second World War, he carried six chapters of The Catcher in the Rye with him and worked on the novel throughout his war service. When it was eventually published, the book became an immediate best-seller and went on to sell millions and millions of copies.
伟大作品的作家也常常在被回绝的同时还要遭受批评。J. D. 塞林格从高中就开始写短篇小说了，但之后他的作品却难以发表。“我们觉得自己无法充分理解主人公。”这是他的《麦田里的守望者》的手稿收到的批评。即使被多家出版商回绝，J. D. 塞林格也从未放弃。甚至在二战期间在美国陆军服役时，他还随身携
修改。最终，这本书一经出版，便立刻成为畅销书，卖出了上千万册。
4 Perhaps the overall prize for perseverance shoul d go to three sisters from Victorian England who dreamt of seeing their words in print. This, however, was a time when women were not encouraged to become writers. As the then Poet Laureate, Robert Southey, wrote to one of them: “Literature cannot be the business of a woman’s life, and it ought not to be.” Neverthel ess, the sisters didn’t stop trying. Their response was to write a book of poems und er mal e names. Even when the book sol d only two copies, the sisters still didn’t give up. They started writing novels, and today Charlotte Bront?’s Jane Eyre, Emily Bront?’s Wuthering Heightsand Anne Bront?’s Agnes Grey are regard ed as classics of worl d literature. In fact, it is within the pages of Jane Eyre that we can find these words: “I honour endurance, perseverance, industry, talent; because these are the means by which men achieve great ends...”
也许坚持不懈的最高荣誉应该颁给来自英国维多利亚时代的三姐妹。她们梦想着看到自己的作品出版。然而，这是一个不鼓励女性成为作家的时代。正如当时的桂冠诗人罗伯特·骚塞在给她们其中一位的信中所说：“文学不可能也不应该成为女人的事业。”尽管如此，三姐妹并没有放弃尝试。她们的应对方式是以男性名字为笔名写了一本诗集。虽然这本诗集只卖出了两册，但她们还是没有放弃，转而开始写小说。如今，夏洛蒂·勃朗特的《简·爱》、艾米莉·勃朗特的《呼啸山庄》和安妮·勃朗特的《艾格妮丝·格雷》被认为是世界文学的经典之作。其实，这正印证了我们在《简·爱》中读到的：“我崇尚忍耐、坚毅、勤奋、天赋；因为只有依靠这些，人们才能实现宏大的目标……”
5 So, it seems that talent alone isn’t enough to guarantee success. While a l ot of hard work and a touch of luck play a part, perseverance is the key. Keep trying and eventually you will read the words “We are d elighted to inform you...”
因此，似乎仅凭天赋不足以保证成功。不懈的努力和一点点运气固然很重要，但坚持不懈才是关键。坚持下去，你终会收到这样的回复：“我们高兴地通知您……”
Unit 2 Onwards and upwards
Devel oping id eas
Three Days to See
假如给我三天光明
1 I have often thought it woul d be a bl essing if each human being were stricken blind and d eaf for a few days at some time during his early adult life. Darkness woul d make him more appreciative of sight; silence would teach him the joys of sound.
一件幸运的事情，因为黑暗会使人更加珍惜视力，静默能教会人享受声音的美妙。
2 Now and then I have tested my seeing friends to discover what they see. Recently, I asked a friend who had just returned from a long walk in the woods what she had observed. “Nothing in particular,” she replied.
我时常询问我那些看得见的朋友们，想了解他们看到了什么。最近，我问一个从林子里散步了许久回来的朋友观察到了什么，她答道：“没什么特别的。”
3 How was it possibl e, I asked myself, to walk for an hour through the woods and see nothing worthy of note? I who cannot see find hundreds of things to interest me through mere touch. If I can get so much pl easure from touch, how much more beauty must be reveal ed by sight? And I have imagined what I should most like to see if I were given the use of my eyes, say for just three days.
我问自己，在林子里散步一小时之久却没有看到任何值得注意的东西，这怎么可能呢？我一个看不见的人，仅仅通过触觉，就能发现成百上千件引起我兴趣的东西。如果仅仅通过触觉就能得到如此多的快乐，那么视觉能展现多少美好的事物啊。我想象过，如果我能被恩赐恢复视觉，哪怕只有三天，我最希望看到什么。
4 On the first day, I shoul d want to see the peopl e whose kindness and gentleness and companionship have mad e my life worth living. I d on not know what it is to see into the heart of a friend through that “wind ow of the soul”, the eye. I can only “see” through my fingertips the outline of a face. I should like to see the books which have been read to me, and which I have reveal ed to me the
d eepest channels of human lif
e and the human spirit. In the afternoon I should take a l ong walk in the woods and intoxicate my eyes on the beauties o
f the worl d of nature. That night, I shoul d not be abl e to sl eep.
第一天，我想见几个人，他们用善良、温柔和陪伴让我觉得我有活下去的意义。我不知道通过“心灵的窗户”——眼睛来了解一个朋友是怎样一种体验。因为我只能通过我的指尖“看见”朋友的面部轮廓。我还要看书，那些别人读给我的书，那些为我揭示了人生和人类精神的深刻奥秘的书。到了下午，我要在树林中散步，让我的目光陶醉在大自然世界的美景中。这个夜晚，我夜不能寐。
5 On my second day, I shoul d like to see the pageant of man’s progress, and I shoul d go to the museums. I should try to probe into the soul of man through his art. The things I knew through touch I should now see. The evening of my second day I should spend at a theater or at the movies.
第二天，我想看人类发展的奇观，我要去博物馆。我要通过人类的艺术探究人类的灵魂。那些之前通过触摸知晓的事物，我现在要亲眼看一看。而这一天的傍晚，我要在剧院或电影院度过。
6 The foll owing morning, I should again greet the dawn, anxious to discover new d elights, new revelations of beauty. Today I shall spend in the workaday worl d,
第三天清晨，我将再次迎接黎明，热切地去探索更多愉悦，发现更多美好。这天我将在平凡的世界里度过，在为生活奔波的人们常去的地方度过。
7 At midnight permanent night woul d cl ose in on me again. Only when darkness had again d escend ed upon me should I realize how much I had l eft unseen.
午夜，永恒的黑暗将再次把我笼罩。唯有在黑暗再次来袭时，我才意识到我还有那么多事情没有看到。
8 I who am blind can give one hint to those who see: Use your eyes as if tomorrow you would be stricken blind. And the same method can be applied to the other senses. Hear the music of voices, the song of a bird, the mighty strains of an orchestra, as if you woul d be stricken d eaf tomorrow. Touch each object you want to touch as if tomorrow your tactile sense woul d fail. Smell the perfume of
fl owers, taste with relish each morsel, as if tomorrow you coul d never smell and taste again. But of all the senses, I am sure that sight must be the most d elightful.
我，一个盲人，可以给那些看得见的人一个忠告：要像明天就要惨遭失明之痛一样去使用你的眼睛。同样的方法也能用于其他感官：要像明天就要惨遭失聪之痛一样，去仔细聆听音乐的旋律、鸟儿的歌唱、交响乐的震撼音符；要像明天就会触觉衰退一样，去触摸你想摸的每件物品；要像明天就会丧失嗅觉和味觉一样，去闻鲜花的芬香，品尝美味佳肴。但是，在所有的感觉中，我相信，视觉一定是最令人愉快的。
(Excerpts from “Three Days to See” by Hel en Keller)
(节选自海伦·凯勒的《假如给我三天光明》)
Unit 3 Faster, higher, stronger
Und erstanding ideas
THE ROAD TO SUCCESS
成功之路
1 Near the small town of Grottoes, Virginia, a narrow dirt road goes from the house of Stephen Curry’s grandfather to the woods nearby. A far cry from the bright lights and shiny courts of the National Basketball Association (NBA), it was along this road that Stephen’s grandfather built a simpl e basket by attaching a piece of plastic to a telephone pol e.
在弗吉尼亚州格罗托斯小镇附近，一条狭窄的土路从斯蒂芬·库里的祖父家延伸至附近的树林。这与美国男子职业篮球联赛(NBA)赛场上明亮的灯光和闪亮的球场相去甚远。正是在这条路上，斯蒂芬的祖父把一块塑料贴到电线杆上，建了一个简易篮筐。
2 Like his father, basketball star Dell Curry, Stephen spent many childhood hours playing on this mud dy basketball court. He probably didn’t realise it at the time, but it was where he l earnt to be creative and fl exibl e as a player. You see, with every shot, the weak plastic backboard gave way. The bumps and rocks that lined the road und er the basket caused the ball to bounce in all directions. Knowing where the ball woul d go wasn’t easy. He had to adjust his own playing styl e as a result. Shooting with great accuracy was another thing he l earnt. Only shots perfectly aimed at its centre went into the heavy, thick basket. In this way, practising day in and day out helped Stephen sharpen his skills.
与父亲戴尔·库里这位篮球明星一样，斯蒂芬在这个泥泞的篮球场上度过了许多童年时光。尽管当时他可能并没有意识到，但就是在这里，他学会了如何成为一名有创造力、能够灵活变通的篮球运动员。你看，每次投篮，不牢固的塑料篮板都摇摇欲坠。篮筐下的小路凹凸不平，布满了石块，篮球也因此弹向四面八方。能够判断出球反弹的方向并不容易，因此斯蒂芬必须调整自己的打球方式。他在这里学到的另一项技能是精准的投篮技术。只有完美地瞄准中心，篮球才能进入厚重的篮筐。如此日复一日地练习，斯蒂芬的篮球技术变得炉火纯青。
3 Despite his father’s successful career, Stephen was thought by many peopl e, including his high school teammates and coaches, to be too short, too thin and too weak to foll ow in his father’s footsteps. But Stephen carried on. Playing basketball was his dream. He woul d not give up. He finally end ed up playing coll ege ball at a small, little-known school, Davidson Coll ege, not too far from where he lived. His creativity and perseverance mad e him Davidson’s star player.
尽管父亲的职业生涯很成功，但是很多人，包括斯蒂芬的高中队友和教练，都认为他太矮太瘦弱，无法延续他父亲的荣耀。但斯蒂芬还是坚持了下来。打篮球是他的梦想，他绝不会放弃。终于，斯蒂芬在规模不大且鲜为人知的戴维森学院成为了一名大学篮球赛的球员，这所学院离他家不算远。斯蒂芬凭借自己的创造性和毅力成为了戴维森学院的明星球员。
4 Selected for the NBA in 2009, Stephen joined the Gol d en State Warriors. He performed beyond everyone’s expectations with his accurate shooting and continuous efforts. In 2015, Stephen won his first NBA championship, and he l ed the Warriors to their first championship since 1975.
2009年，斯蒂芬入选NBA，加入了金州勇士队。凭借精准的投篮和不懈的努力，他的表现令人刮目相看。2015年，斯蒂芬赢得了他的第一个NBA总冠军，这也是他带领勇士队获得的自1975年以来的第一个冠军。
5 After receiving the Most Valuabl e Player award for two years in row, Stephen explained his phil osophy, “I never really set out to change the game... What I wanted to d o was just be myself... I know it inspires a l ot of the next generation, a lot of people who l ove the game of basketball to value the skill of it, value the fact that you can work every singl e day to get better. You’ve got to be
abl e to put in the time and the work. That’s how I got here. That’s how I continue
Curry is living proof that what other people think of you d oes not have to influence what you become. Through self-belief, hard work, perseverance and some help from an ol d hoop, he has shown that anything is possibl e.
在连续两年获得“最有价值球员”奖后，斯蒂芬阐释了他的人生观：“我从未真正想过改变比赛……我只想做我自己……我知道这激励着很多后辈、很多热爱篮球比赛的人，让他们认识到技术的重要性，认识到你可以通过每天的不断努力而变得更好。你必须肯花时间和精力。这是我走到今天的方法，也是我每一天都能更进一步的原因。”斯蒂芬·库里激励着所有人去相信自己，他也生动地证明了别人对你的看法并不一定会影响你成为什么人。通过自信、勤奋、毅力，以及一只旧篮筐的帮助，他向人们证明了一切皆有可能
Unit 3 Faster, higher, stronger
Devel oping id eas
The Return of the Champions
冠军归来
1 “The atmosphere here at Rio d e Janeiro is electric! If China wins this point, they will walk out of the stadium with an Olympic gol d medal. Zhang Changning serves. Over the net, Popovic dives for the ball. She only just reaches it... and it’s sent straight back to her by the Chinese spiker Hui Ruoqi. Popovic can’t get the ball back this time... and that’s it! It’s over! It’s gol d for China! Look how the crowd has gone wild. You can see the joy and prid e on the faces of the Chinese fans. And there we see the Chinese players embracing, with tears of happiness in their eyes... It’s a dream come true for China! The Chinese women’s volleyball team is Olympic champion once again!”
“这里是里约热内卢，现场气氛紧张而热烈！如果中国队拿下这一分，她们将赢得这枚奥运金牌。张常宁发球。球过网，波波维奇倒地接球，险险救起……中国队主攻惠若琪将球扣回，波波维奇这次没能接住……得分！比赛结束！中国队获得了金牌！看，观众沸腾了，中国球迷的脸上洋溢着喜悦和骄傲。我们看到中国队的队员们眼含幸福的热泪，相拥在一起……中国人实现了梦想！中国女排重回奥运之巅！”
2 The Chinese women’s voll eyball team holds a very special place in the nation’s heart. In the 1980s, the team burst onto the international voll eyball scene with several major worl d titl es, and an amazing three-set victory over the United States in the final of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. They became national heroes overnight. There was gold once more at Athens in 2004. But winning gol d in Rio paints the most vivid portrait of the team’s competitive spirit.
中国女排在中国人心中的地位非比寻常。20世纪80年代，中国女排赢得了
队，在国际排坛大放异彩。一夜之间，中国女排成为国民英雄。到了2004年雅典奥运会，女将们再一次斩获金牌。但是，对于女排的拼搏精神最生动的写照，却是这次在里约的夺冠之路。
3 In Rio, the Chinese women’s voll eyball team need ed all of its fighting spirit after it was assigned to the “group of d eath”, where it faced several strong opponents in the group stage matches. Despite reaching the quarter-finals as the fourth team in the group, with just two wins in preliminary matches, they were not going to give up. Every singl e member of the team gave their all to the fight, including Hui Ruoqi who had had heart surgery l ess than five months previously.
在里约奥运会上，中国女排被分配到了“死亡之组”，因此她们必须拼尽全力，对抗小组赛中遇到的强大对手。虽然预赛中仅赢了两场，到四分之一决赛时还是小组第四，但她们从未想过放弃。每一个队员都全力以赴投入比赛，包括赛前不到五个月刚做完心脏手术的惠若琪。
4 Their perseverance paid off with an epic comeback against the d efending champion Brazil in the quarter-finals. Next, the Chinese team d efeated the Netherlands in the semi-final matches, having l ost to them in the preliminaries. At last, showing a strong will and the steeliest nerves, they played a cl ose match against Serbia to seize gol d in the final.
在四分之一决赛对抗卫冕冠军巴西队时，中国队的顽强毅力得到了回报，她们惊人地赢得了东山再起的机会。接着，中国队在半决赛中战胜了在预赛中曾惜败过的荷兰队。决赛时，虽然与塞尔维亚队比分胶着，但凭借着强大的决心和钢铁般的意志力，中国队最终勇夺桂冠。
5 But fighting spirit al one was not enough to guarantee victory. Strong team spirit also contributed greatly to their success. Cooperation between team members is essential. If each individual d oes her job and works well with others, then the end goal can be achieved. In fact, strong team spirit is more important than the skills of individual players. Zhu Ting, named Most Valuabl e Player at the Rio Olympics, also id entified this as the special ingredient in the team’s success: “Teamwork is the key to China’s victory. Thanks to my teammates’ hard efforts, I had the opportunity to show my spiking skill.”
但是仅凭拼搏精神远不足以锁定胜局。强大的团队精神也是中国女排成功的一大因素。团队成员之间的合作至关重要。只有每一名队员都能完成各自的任务，并与队友合作无间，才能实现最终目标。其实，强大的团队精神比队员的个人能力更重要。里约奥运会“最有价值球员”奖项得主朱婷，也认为这是团队获胜的诀窍：“团队合作是中国队获胜的关键。多亏了队友们的努力拼搏，才给了我展现扣球技术的机会。”
6 Together, the Chinese women’s voll eyball team has fought their way through ups and d owns. Led by well-known Chinese voll eyball player and coach Lang Ping, they have continued to aim high. Lang is only too aware that as soon as
new challenges ahead. In this way, the team begins its journey to the next Olympics.
在这条曲折起伏的道路上，中国女排共同奋力前行。在知名的前中国女排运动员和现任中国女排总教练郎平的带领下，队员们不断力争上游。郎平很清楚，只要走下了领奖台，她们这支队伍就得重新出发，严阵以待，迎接新的挑战。中国女排的下一段奥运旅程就这样开始了。
Unit 4 Meeting the muse
Und erstanding ideas
What inspires you?
你的灵感从哪儿来？
Every artist’s wish is to create something that expresses an id ea. But where d o artists get their id eas from? Who or what inspires them? Here we find out more about the influences behind the successes of three very different artists.
每位艺术家都希望创作出能表达自己理念的作品。但艺术家们的这些理念从何而来？是谁，抑或是什么启发了他们？下面，我们进一步发掘了三位截然不同的艺术家成功背后的因素。
Fl orentijn Hofman, visual artist
弗洛伦泰因·霍夫曼，视觉艺术家
1 Fl orentijn Hofman is a Dutch artist, whose large sculptures are on display
all over the worl d. One way for him to find inspiration is turning to his chil dren’s toys. These objects have given him id eas for his animal sculptures, such as the famousRubber Duck. A more recent work of his is the huge Fl oating Fish, which was set among the beautiful landscape of Wuzhen West Scenic Zone.
弗洛伦泰因·霍夫曼是一位荷兰艺术家，他创作的大型雕塑在世界各地进行展出。他的孩子们的玩具是他的一个灵感来源。霍夫曼从这些玩具身上得到启发，从而创作出动物形状的雕塑，比如著名的“大黄鸭”。他最近的新作是一条巨大的“浮鱼”，位于风景宜人的乌镇西栅景区内。
2 Hofman’s inspiration for Fl oating Fish came from Chinese folk tales passed
d own through th
e generations. He was particularly interested in the ol d story about a fish jumping through the “Dragon Gate”. This story came to life for Hofman when he visited Wuzhen and saw how peopl e lived there.
霍夫曼表示，“浮鱼”的灵感源自世代相传的中国民间故事。他对“鲤鱼跃龙门”的古老故事尤其感兴趣。当他游览乌镇，看到当地居民的生活时，这个故事立马生动地浮现于他的脑海中。
3 “During the walk and my stay here in the town, I saw the fish being fed by
id ea for Fl oating Fish in motion.
“我住在镇上期间，当我散步的时候，看到人们在喂鱼。墙上还有鱼形的浮雕。”这些画面让霍夫曼渐渐浮现创作“浮鱼”的念头。
Tan Dun, composer
谭盾，作曲家
4 “There is no territory in the worl d of music.” These are the words of Chinese composer Tan Dun. He is most wid ely known for composing music for the filmCrouching Tiger, Hid d en Dragon and the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
“音乐的世界没有边界。”中国作曲家谭盾如是说。这位著名的作曲家曾为电影《卧虎藏龙》配乐，并为2008年北京奥运会创作音乐。
5 To listen to Tan’s music is to experience a mix of Chinese musical traditions and Western influences. Since his first opera,Nine Songs, Tan Dun has been using a combination of Chinese music and sounds from all over the worl d to tell stories. As Tan once said, Chinese music shoul d carry “universal expression” of the human spirit so as to be recognised by the whole worl d.
欣赏谭盾的音乐，就是在感受中国音乐传统和西方影响的交融。从他的第一部歌剧《九歌》开始，谭盾一直在用中国音乐和来自世界各地的乐音讲述故事。他曾说过，中国音乐要承载人文精神的“共同理念”，才能被世界认可。
Yang Liping, dancer
杨丽萍，舞蹈家
6 Yang Liping’s passion is dancing. After winning a national competition in 1986 with her Spirit of the Peacock dance, she has been known as the “Peacock Princess”. The inspiration for her famous dances has come from the time she spent in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province.
杨丽萍热爱舞蹈。1986年，她凭借《雀之灵》在全国舞蹈大赛上折桂。此后，她成为了家喻户晓的“孔雀公主”。她许多著名舞蹈作品的灵感都来源于她在云南西双版纳度过的一段时光。
7 “I feel very grateful for the years in Xishuangbanna,” says Yang. “It gave me
a chance to go d eeper into the lives of various ethnic groups... Our ethnic groups, especially the Dai peopl e, admire the peacock. They think the peacock represents the beauty of nature. I especially like the dance styl e of the Dai peopl e and it gives me l ots of inspiration. My dance comes from their traditional belief and aims to bring out the Dai women’s beauty.”
杨丽萍说：“我很感激在西双版纳的那些年，它让我有机会深入到各个民族的生活里面……我们的少数民族，特别是傣族人民，特别喜爱孔雀。他们认为孔雀展现了自然之美。我特别喜欢傣族人的舞蹈风格，这给了我很多灵感。我的舞蹈源自他们的传统信仰，同时也致力于展现傣族女性的美。”
Unit 4 Meeting the muse
Devel oping id eas
ART&TECHNOLOGY
艺术与科技
1 Think “art”. What comes to your mind? Is it Greek or Roman sculptures in the Louvre, or Chinese paintings in the Palace Museum? Or maybe, just maybe, it’s a dancing pattern of lights?
说到“艺术”，你想到了什么？是卢浮宫里希腊或罗马的雕塑？抑或是故宫博物院里中国的名画？又也许，仅仅是也许，是一片舞动的光影？
2 The artworks by American artist Janet Echelman look like col ourful floating cl ouds when they are lit up at night. Visitors to one of her artworks in Vancouver coul d not only enjoy l ooking at it, they could also interact with it—literally. They did this by using their phones to change its col ours and patterns. Exhibits such as these are certainly new and exciting, but are they really art?
美国艺术家珍妮特·艾克曼创作了一系列艺术品，晚上将其点亮时，它们就像七彩浮云。其中在温哥华展出的那一件，人们不仅可以欣赏，甚至可以与之互动。人们可以通过操作自己的手机改变它的颜色和图案。像这样的展览品无疑是新潮的激动人心之作，但它们真的可以算是艺术吗？
3 Whatever your opinion, peopl e have been expressing their thoughts and
id eas through art for thousands of years. To d o this, they have used a variety of tools and technol ogies. Yet Michelangelo and others have been labell ed as “artists”rather than “technicians”. This means that art and technol ogy have always been seen as two very separate things.
无论你的看法如何，数千年来人们一直通过艺术表达自己的思想和理念。为此，人们使用了各种各样的工具和技术。然而，米开朗基罗等人一直被称为“艺术家”而非“技巧大师”。这就意味着艺术和科技一直被看作两个截然不同的领域。
4 Today, however, technol ogical advances have led to a combination of art and technol ogy. As a result, the art worl d is changing greatly. Now art is more accessibl e to us than ever before. Take for exampl e one of China’s most famous paintings from the Song Dynasty,Al ong the River During the Qingming Festival. As this artwork is rarely on display, peopl e have sometimes queued up to six hours for a chance to see it. Once in front of the painting, they only have limited time to spend taking in its five metres of scenes along the Bian River in Bianjing. Thanks
to technol ogy however, millions more peopl e have been abl e to experience a digital version of this painting. Three-dimensional (3D) animation means that viewers can see the characters move around and interact with their surroundings. They can also watch as the different scenes change from daylight into nighttime.
然而如今，科技的进步使得艺术与科技结合。因此，艺术世界正发生着巨大
名画之一《清明上河图》，因其极少被展出，人们有时要排队等上六个小时才有机会一睹其容。即使面对画卷，由于这幅画卷长达五米，人们也只有有限的时间来欣赏画面上汴京汴河沿岸的景色。然而，在科技的帮助下，已经有数百万人得以观摩这幅画作的数字化版本了。利用3D动画技术，观赏者可以看到画中的人物四处走动并与周围事物互动。他们甚至还可以看到从白天到夜晚画中不同场景的变化。
5 The art-tech combination is also changing our concepts of “art” and the “artist”. Not only can we interact with art, but also take part in its creation. With new technol ogical tools at our fingertips, more and more peopl e are expl oring their creative sid es. The result has been exciting new art forms, such as digital paintings and vid eos.
艺术与科技的结合同样改变着我们对“艺术”和“艺术家”这两个概念的理解。我们不仅可以与艺术作品互动，还可以参与艺术作品的创作。通过触手可及的新兴科技工具，越来越多的人开始发掘自己创新的一面，数字绘画、视频等激动人心的新型艺术形式应运而生。
6 However, the increase in the amount and variety of art produced has also raised questions over its overall quality. Can a vid eo of someone slicing a tomato played in sl ow motion really be called “art”?
然而，艺术作品在数量和种类上的增加同时带来了整体质量上的问题。将一个人切西红柿的视频慢动作播放，真的可以被称作“艺术”吗?
7 Similarly, such d evel opments are making the line between art and technol ogy l ess distinct. Can someone unfamiliar with traditional artists’ tools really call themselves an “artist”? And is the artist the creator of the art itself, or the maker of the technol ogy behind it? A recent project used technol ogy and data in the same way that Rembrandt used his paints and brushes. The end result, printed in 3D, was a new “Rembrandt painting” created 347 years after the artist’s d eath. These advances are perhaps bringing us cl oser to a time when computers rather than humans create art.
同样，这种发展也使得艺术与科技的界限越来越模糊。那些并不熟悉传统艺术工具的人真的可以自诩为“艺术家”吗？艺术家到底是艺术本身的创造者，还是艺术背后技术的创造者？最近有一个项目用科技手段和数据还原了伦勃朗的绘画方式。最终，通过3D打印技术，在这位艺术家去世347年后，一幅全新的“伦勃朗画作”诞生了。也许，这些先进的技术正带领我们走进一个由电脑而非人类创造艺术的时代。
8 Where technol ogy will take art next is anyone’s guess. But one thing is for sure—with so many artists expl oring new possibilities, we can d efinitely expect the unexpected.
科技将会推动艺术发展至何种地步，我们不得而知。但唯一确定的是：随着众多艺术家探索全新的可能性，我们一定可以期待意外的惊喜。
Unit 5 Revealing nature
Und erstanding ideas
A Journey of Discovery
发现之旅
1 The captain of the ship, the Beagl e, wanted someone who would “profit by the opportunity of visiting distant countries yet little known”. The person who answered the call was not the captain’s first choice. It was a young man who had l eft medical school without completing his d egree. What’s more, he had recently received a letter from his father predicting that he woul d be “a disgrace to yourself and all your family”. Despite all this, his adventures on this ship woul d l ead to one of the most important scientific discoveries of all time.
贝格尔号的船长想要招募这样一名船员，这名船员将能“借此机会访问遥远而鲜为人知的国家并从中受益”。然而来应聘的人并不是船长心中的理想人选。这个年轻人从医学院肄业，并且在他刚收到父亲的来信，信中预言他将会成为“自己和全家人的耻辱”。尽管如此，他的这次乘船探险之旅将带来有史以来最重要的一项科学发现。
2 The young man in question, Charl es Darwin, was a geol ogist and naturalist, fascinated by rocks, plants and animals. He left England on the ship, the Beagl e, in 1831. The journey gave him the chance to study various living things in their natural environments. After Darwin had spent some time in South America, his room on the ship was crowd ed with samples of the plants and animals he had coll ected. As he studied these, he asked himself the question: how did different species come to exist?
我们提到的这个年轻人就是地质学家和博物学家查尔斯·达尔文，他对岩石和动植物有着浓厚的兴趣。1831年，他搭乘贝格尔号从英格兰启程。这次旅程给了他研究自然环境中各种生物的契机。在南美洲度过一段时间后，他的船舱里堆满了收集到的动植物样本。当他研究
这些样本时，他产生了疑问：这些不同的物种是如何产生的?
3 At that time, peopl e believed that all species had appeared on Earth at the same time, and had not changed since. But Darwin began to think differently. He noticed that some species of animals were very similar to each other. Maybe animals evolved as they adapted to their changing environments? It was just an id ea, but enough to inspire Darwin to l ook for more evid ence.
当时，人们认为所有的物种都是同时出现在地球上的，并从此再无变化。但达尔文开始有了不同的想法。他注意到，有些不同物种的动物彼此间很相似。也许动物为了适应不断变化的环境会逐渐进化？虽然这只是一个设想，但足够激励达尔文去寻求更多证据。
variety of new species, but it was the birds that interested him the most. Darwin noticed that there was a difference between the finches on each of the islands. It seemed their beaks had evolved according to what food was availabl e on that particular island.
1835年，当贝格尔号抵达加拉帕戈斯群岛时，达尔文发现了各种各样的新物种，但最令他感兴趣的是鸟类。达尔文注意到，在群岛中的每一个小岛上，雀鸟之间有所不同。它们的喙似乎是根据所在岛屿上可觅得的食物进化而来的。
5 Darwin suspected that the finches had evolved from a common ancestor, which had arrived on the islands a long time before. Over time, it had sl owly evolved into many new species. And that was the answer to how new species of plants and animals came to exist: they evolved from earlier ancestors.
达尔文猜想这些雀鸟是由共同的祖先进化而来的。很久以前，雀鸟的祖先来到这片群岛，随着时间的推移，慢慢进化成许多新的种类。于是，关于动植物的新种类是如何产生的这个问题就有了答案：它们是从早期的祖先进化而来的。
6 It was a completely new id ea—a theory of evolution. Darwin explained this theory in his book,On the Origin of Species. It was not published until 1859 and immediately caused a storm. Many peopl e refused to believe that living things, including humans, had evolved from l ower forms of life. They were shocked. But Darwin’s scientific studies were so convincing that more and more peopl e started to believe his theory.
这是一个全新的观点——进化论。达尔文在他的《物种起源》一书中解释了这一理论。这本书直到1859年才出版，出版后立即引起轰动。很多人拒绝相信包括人类在内的所有生命都是从更低级的生命形式进化而来的。他们对此感到震惊。然而达尔文的科学研究很有说服力，越来越多的人开始接受他的理论。
7 Today,On the Origin of Species is regard ed as one of the most important works ever written. It has changed id eas about life on Earth forever. And it all began with the journey on the Beagl e.
如今，《物种起源》被认为是迄今为止最重要的著作之一。它彻底地改变了人类对于地球上生命的认识。而这一切都开始于贝格尔号的探索之旅。
Unit 5 Revealing nature
Devel oping id eas
The Secret Language of Plants
植物密语
1 Talking plants have l ong been a thing of myths and l egends. Many cultures have stories of talking trees that give advice as well as warnings to peopl e.
And in some mod ern stories, such as the film Avatar, trees can communicate with animals and peopl e.
会说话的植物一直是神话传说中的一大元素。在许多种文化中流传下来的故事里，会说话的树给予人们忠告和警示。据说亚历山大大帝和马可·波罗曾在印度见过一棵会说话的树。在一些现代故事，例如电影《阿凡达》中，树可以与人类和动物沟通交流。
2 With us l ong believing that talking plants are fantasy, new research has reveal ed something amazing: it appears that plants can communicate after all.
我们一直认为会说话的植物只存在于幻想之中，但新研究有了令人惊奇的发现：植物间似乎确实可以交流。
3 It has been known for some time that plants use chemicals to communicate with each other. This happens when a plant, say a bean plant, gets attacked by insects. The plant releases tiny amounts of chemicals from the leaves that are being eaten. This is like a warning, or a call for help: “I’m being attacked!” When another bean plant d etects the chemicals from its injured neighbour, it starts to release its own, different chemicals. Some of these chemicals drive insects away. Others attract insects—the wasps! The wasps kill the insects that are eating the bean plants. Scientists hope to l earn more about this plant warning system, so that we can use it to grow crops without pesticid es.
人们早就知道植物可以利用化学物质相互交流。当一株植物——比如豆科植物——被昆虫袭击时，就会发生这种情况。植物从正遭受啃食的叶子中释放出微量的化学物质，这像是警示，抑或求救：“我被攻击了!”当另一株豆类植物检测到附近受伤同伴释放的化学物质时，它自身便开始释放不同的化学物质，其中一些能驱赶昆虫，而另一些则会吸引另一种昆虫——黄蜂！黄蜂会杀死那些啃食豆类植物的昆虫。科学家希望能进一步了解这种植物警报系统，从而将其应用于种植不用使用农药的农作物。
4 More surprisingly, plants also use sound to communicate. Peopl e can’t hear these sounds, but plants are making them. Some plants make noises with their roots. Corn and chilli plants d o this. They also “listen” to the noises from other plants. A chilli plant can tell if a neighbouring plant is helpful, or unfriendly. Some trees make clicking noises when there is not enough water, indicating drought is arriving.
更不可思议的是，植物还能用声音进行交流。虽然人类听不到，但植物确实正在发出声音。有些植物通过根部发出声响，比如玉米和辣椒。它们还能“听见”其他植物发出的声响。由此，辣椒可以知道自己附近的植物是敌是友。还有些树木在缺水时会发出咔嗒声，以示干旱就要来了。
5 Most surprisingly of all, plants have an amazing system of communication that can link nearly every plant in a forest. Scientists call this system the “wood wid e web”. It is in some ways similar to the Internet we use. While the Internet is
web is linked und erground by fungi. This fungal network links the roots of different plants to each other. Using the wood wid e web, plants can share information and even food with each other. For exampl e, some pine trees can send food to smaller pine trees to help them grow. But just like our own Internet, the wood wid e web has its own version of “cybercrime”. Plants can steal food from each other, or spread poisons to attack other plants. Perhaps one day scientists will l earn how to create a “firewall” to help prevent these attacks within the wood wid e web.
然而最令人惊奇的是，植物拥有一套神奇的信息交流系统，几乎可以连接起森林中所有的植物。科学家们称之为“植物万维网”。在某种程度上，它很像人类使用的互联网。互联网是通过电缆和卫星连接的全球计算机网络，而植物万维网则是在地下通过真菌连接而成的。这个真菌网络将不同植物的根彼此连接。通过“植物万维网”，植物可以互相分享信息甚至是食物。比如，某些松树会通过真菌网络向松树幼苗输送养分，帮助它们生长。但是，像互联网一样，植物万维网也会发生“网络犯罪”。植物会偷取同伴的养分，或散播有毒物质攻击其他植物。也许未来某一天，科学家会研究出建造“防火墙”的方法来阻止植物万维网中的这些攻击。
6 Scientists are learning more every day about the secret ways in which plants talk to each other. Who knows? Maybe one day we will know enough about plant communication to be abl e to “talk” with them ourselves.
科学家们每天都在增进对植物间相互沟通的秘密方式的了解。谁知道呢？说不定哪一天，我们就能足够了解植物沟通的知识，从而亲自和植物“聊天”了。
Unit 6 Nurturing nature
Und erstanding ideas
The Sky Railway
天路
1 Sitting back in my seat, I can’t quite believe that I’m about to travel al ong the railway that many foreign experts claimed was “impossibl e”. The train has been racing along steadily since it l eft Xining. All this time, the song “Sky Railway”has been playing insid e my head. The words “railways like massive dragons are winding among the mountains” seem particularly vivid as I travel across the “roof of the worl d”.
靠坐在火车的座位上，我简直不敢相信，我将要沿着许多外国专家声称“不可能建成”的铁路旅行。火车从西宁出发，向前平稳行驶。一路上，《天路》这首歌一直在我的脑海中回响。当火车开过“世界屋脊”时，“一条条巨龙翻山越岭”的歌词显得格外生动鲜活。
2 I was one of the people who came from all parts of China to work on this railway. Taking years to compl ete, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway is a record of all of our efforts to overcome the most difficult engineering chall enges. How to protect the d elicate ecosystem was among the top concerns.
修建青藏铁路的工人来自全国各地，而我就是其中之一。它历时数年建成，凝聚着我们攻克种种工程难题的全部心血。其中，如何保护脆弱的生态系统是需要我们首要问题之一。
3 The first landmark to catch my eye is the spl endid Qingshuihe Bridge, the worl d’s l ongest bridge built over permafrost. Look! A group of Tibetan antelopes is moving und er the bridge, with some stopping to eat grass at their l eisure.
Thirty-three passages have been built und er the railway to all ow the animals to move safely and freely in their natural habitat. Wild animals such as these Tibetan antelopes have now been using these passages for years. They seem totally unaware that we are speeding past at over 100 kilometres an hour.
最先映入眼帘的地标性建筑是壮观的清水河大桥，它是世界上最长的高原冻土铁路桥。看！一群藏羚羊正从桥下走过，有的停下来悠闲地吃草。铁路桥下修建了三十三条野生动物通道，让动物得以在自然栖息地中安全自由地通行。就像现在的这群藏羚羊一样，野生动物们使用这些通道已有数年，它们似乎完全没有意识到我们正以每小时100多千米的速度呼啸而过。
4 To prevent damage to wetlands and grasslands, 67
5 bridges with a total
l ength of about 160 kilometres were built between Golmud and Lhasa. We even moved 140,000 square metres of wetland to a new area in ord er to protect its distinct ecosystem.
为了避免破坏湿地和草原，我们在格尔木和拉萨之间建造了675座大桥，总长度约160千米。我们甚至将一块14万平方米的湿地迁往一个新的区域，以保护其独特的生态系统。
5 The journey has been flying by, and before I know it, we have reached Tanggula Station. Located at over 5,000 metres above sea level, this is the highest railway station in the worl d. In locations such as this, the thin air, changeabl e weather and high l evels of UV radiation presented perhaps the greatest challenge for railway workers. To make sure we stayed healthy, several oxygen-making stations were constructed. We were also abl e to enjoy regular breaks in l ower areas.
火车一路疾驰，还没等我反应过来，我们就已经到达了唐古拉车站。它位于海拔5,000多米的地方，是世界上海拔最高的火车站。在这样的高海拔环境中，稀薄的氧气，多变的天气，还有强烈的紫外线辐射，这些恐怕是我们铁路工人面临的最大挑战。为了确保工人的身体健康，我们建造了多个制氧站。我们还会定期到低海拔地区休整。
6 As we pass Cuona Lake, I feel a sense of prid e and achievement. Using
常用翻译技巧总结 个人认为，翻译题很重要！考研是个充实自己的过程，只要你还需要英语，就离不开翻译，所以大家应该引起足够重视。 首先个人推荐一本书，XDF唐静老师的《拆分与组合翻译法》，我听过他的课，他的方法很实用，感觉很象下面介绍的第四种方法。 翻译题里考察三方面内容： 1、专有名词（如operational research expert）、习惯用法（如depend on） 及多义词的翻译 (如school、set的多义) 2、一般性翻译技巧:包括词义选择，词序调整，词性转换和增词法等等 3、具体句型（定从、状从、主从、宾从、表从、同位从、强调结构、并列、 比较、倒装、插入、被动、否定等） 其中2、3是大考点，具体内容可在论坛下XDF的翻译笔记来看，在此不赘述。 可看出，应对翻译题的主要武器是翻译技巧，下面正式进入正题（常用方法、被动语态译法、形容词译法、举例详解） 一、常用方法 英汉两种语言在句法、词汇、修辞等方面均存在着很大的差异，因此在进行英汉互译时必然会遇到很多困难，需要有一定的翻译技巧作指导。常用的翻译技巧有增译法、省译法、转换法、拆句法、合并法、正译法、反译法、倒置法、包孕法、插入法、重组法和综合法等。这些技巧不但可以运用于笔译之中，也可以运用于口译过程中，而且应该用得更加熟练。 1增译法：指根据英汉两种语言不同的思维方式、语言习惯和表达方式，在翻译时增添一些词、短句或句子，以便更准确地表达出原文所包含的意义。这种方式多半用在汉译英里。汉语无主句较多，而英语句子一般都要有主语，所以在翻译汉语无主句的时候，除了少数可用英语无主句、被动语态或“There be…”结构来翻译以外，一般都要根据语境补出主语，使句子完整。英汉两种语言在名词、代词、连词、介词和冠词的使用方法上也存在很大差别。英语中代词使用频率较高，凡说到人的器官和归某人所有的或与某人有关的事物时，必须在前面加上物主代词。因此，在汉译英时需要增补物主代词，而在英译汉时又需要根据情况适当地删减。英语词与词、词组与词组以及句子与句子的逻辑关系一般用连词来表示，而汉语则往往通过上下文和语序来表示这种关系。因此，在汉译英时常常需要增补连词。英语句子离不开介词和冠词。另外，在翻译时还要注意增补一些原文中暗含而没有明言的词语和一些概括性、注释性的词语，以确保译文意思的完整。总之，通过增译，一是保证译文语法结构的完整，二是保证译文意思的明确。如： （1）What about calling him right away? 马上给他打个电话，你觉得如何？（增译主语和谓语） （2）If only I could see the realization of the four modernizations. 要是我能看到四个现代化实现该有多好啊！（增译主句） (3) Indeed, the reverse is true 实际情况恰好相反。（增译名词） (4) 就是法西斯国家本国的人民也被剥夺了人权。
Frederick William Ⅰ，the King of Prussia , could never have imagined that his greatest gift to the Russian people would have such an amazing history . This gift was the Amber Room , which was given this name because several tons of amber were used to make it . The amber which was selected had a beautiful yellow-brown colour like honey . The design of the room was in the fancy style popular in those days . It was also a treasure decorated with gold and jewels , which took the country's best artists about ten years to make . In fact , the room was not made to be a gift . It was designed for the palace of Frederick Ⅰ. However, the next King of Prussia , Frederick William Ⅰ,to whom the amber room belonged, decided not to keep it. In 1716 he gave it to Peter the Great. In return , the Czar sent him a troop of his best soldiers. So the Amber Room because part of the Czar's winter palace in St Petersburg.About four metres long, the room served as a small reception hall for important visitors . Later,Catherine Ⅱhad the Amber Room moved to a palace outside St Petersburg where she spent her summers. She told her artists to add more details to it .In 1770 the room was completed the way she wanted . Almost six hundred candles lit the room ,and its mirrors and pictures shone like gold. Sadly , although the Amber Room was considered one of the wonders of the world , it is now missing . In September 1941, the Nazi army was near St Petersburg . This was a time when the two countries were at war . Before the Nazis could get to the summer palace , the Russians were able to remove some furniture and small art objects from the Amber Room . However , some of the Nazis secretly stole the room itself . In less than two days 100,000 pieces were put inside twenty-seven woooden boxs . There is no doubt that the boxs were then put on a train for Konigsberg, which was at that time a German city on the Baltic Sea . After that, what happened to the Amber Room remains a mystery . Recently , the Russians and Germans have built a new Amber Room at the summer palace . By studying old photos of the former Amber Room , they have made the new one look like the old one .In 2003 it was ready for the people of St Petersburg when they celebrated the 300th birthday of their city . A FACT OR AN OPINION? What is a fact? Is it something that people believe? No. A fact is anything that can be proved. For example, it can be proved that China has more people than any other country in the world. This is a fact. Then what is an opinion? An opinion is what someone believes is true but has not been proved. So an opinion is not good evidence in a trial. For example, it is an opinion if you say “Cats are better pets than dogs”. It may be true, but it is difficult to prove. Some people may not agree with this opinion but they also cannot prove that they are right. In a trial, a judge must decide which eyewit nesses to believe and which not to believe. The judge does not consider what each eyewitness looks like or where that person lives or works. He/she only cares about whether the eyewitness has given true information, which must be facts rather than opinions. This kind of information is called evidence. Unit 2 AN INTERVIEW Pausanias, who was a Greek writer about 2,000 years ago, has come on a magical journey on March 18th 2007 to find out about the present-day Olympic Games. He is now interviewing Li Yan, a volunteer for the 2008 Olympic Games.
高中英语外研版必修1~3单词表高中英语外研版必修一单词表 Module 1 academic [,?k?'demik] adj. 学术的 province ['pr?vins] n. 省 enthusiastic [in,θju:zi'?stik] adj.热心的, amazing [?'meizi?] adj.令人吃惊的；令人惊讶的information [,inf?'mei??n] n. 消息 website [ web’sait] n.网站；网址 brilliant ['brilj?nt] adj.(口语)极好的 comprehension [,k?mpri'hen??n] n. 理解,领悟 instruction [in'str?k??n] n.（常作复数）指示；说明method ['meθ?d] n. 方法 bored ['b?: d] adj.厌烦的；厌倦的 embarrassed [im'b?r?st] adj.尴尬的；难堪的；困窘的attitude ['?titju:d] n. 态度
behaviour [bi'heivj?] n. 行为；举动 previous ['pri:vi?s] adj.以前的；从前的 description [di'skrip??n] n.记述；描述 amazed [?'meizd] adj. 吃惊的;惊讶的 embarrassing [im'b?r?si?] adj.令人尴尬的；令人难堪的technology [tek'n?l?d?i] n. 技术 impress [im'pres] vt.使印象深刻 correction [k?'rek??n] n. 改正；纠正 encouragement [in'k?rid?m?nt] n. 鼓励；激励enjoyment [in'd??im?nt] n.享受；乐趣 fluency ['flu:?nsi] n.流利；流畅 misunderstanding [,mis?nd?'st?ndi?] n. 误解disappointed [,dis?'p?intid] adj. 失望的disappointing [,dis?'p?inti?] adj.令人失望的 system ['sist?m] n. 制度；体系；系统 teenager ['ti:nid??] n.少年
必修4 Unit 1 A STUDENT OF AFRICAN WILDLIFE It is 5:45 am and the sun is just rising over Gombe National Park in East Africa. Following Jane's way of studying chimps, our group are all going to visit them in the forest. Jane has studied these families of chimps for many years and helped people understand how much they behave like humans. Watching a family of chimps wake up is our first activity of the day. This means going back to the place where we left the family sleeping in a tree the night before. Everybody sits and waits in the shade of the trees while the family begins to wake up and move off. Then we follow as they wander into the forest. Most of the time, chimps either feed or clean each other as a way of showing love in their family. Jane warns us that our group is going to be very tired and dirty by the afternoon and she is right. However, the evening makes it all worthwhile. We watch the mother chimp and her babies play in the tree. Then we see them go to sleep together in their nest for the night. We realize that the bond between members of a chimp family is as strong as in a human family. Nobody before Jane fully understood chimp behaviour. She spent years observing and recording their daily activities. Since her childhood she had wanted to work with animals in their own environment. However, this was not easy. When she first arrived in Gombe in 1960, it was unusual for a woman to live in the forest. Only after her mother came to help her for the first few months was she allowed to begin her project. Her work changed the way people think about chimps. For example, one important thing she discovered was that chimps hunt and eat meat. Until then everyone had thought chimps ate only fruit and nuts. She actually observed chimps as a group hunting a monkey and then eating it. She also discovered how chimps communicate with each other, and her study of their body language helped her work out their social system. For forty years Jane Goodall has been outspoken about making the rest of the world understand and respect the life of these animals. She has argued that wild animals should be left in the wild and not used for entertainment or advertisements. She has helped to set up special places where they can live safely. She is leading a busy life but she says: "Once I stop, it all comes crowding in and I remember the chimps in laboratories. It's terrible. It affects me when I watch the wild chimps. I say to myself, 'Aren't they lucky?" And then I think about small chimps in cages though they have done nothing wrong. Once you have seen that you can never forget ..." She has achieved everything she wanted to do: working with animals in their own environment, gaining a doctor's degree and showing that women can live in the forest as men can. She inspires those who want to cheer the achievements of women. WHY NOT CARRY ON HER GOOD WORK? I enjoyed English, biology, and chemistry at school, but which one should I choose to study at university? I did not know the answer until one evening when I sat down at the computer to do some research on great women of China. By chance I came across an article about a doctor called Lin Qiaozhi, a specialist in women's diseases. She lived from 1901 to 1983. It seemed that she had been very busy in her chosen career, travelling abroad to study as well as writing books and articles. One of them
第一学期中段考试 高一级英语试卷（必修模块I）I. Listening（22.5分）： 第一节：请听下面5段对话，选出最佳选项(15分)： 听第1段对话，回答第1至第3题： 1. Who enjoys the stay in Hong Kong? A. Mr Bush B. Miss King C. Mrs Brown 2. What kind of food does the man prefer? A. Chinese food B. European food C. American food 3. Where will the speakers have lunch? A. At a Chinese Restaurant B. At a Korean Restaurant C. At Brown’s Restaurant 听第2段对话，回答第4至第6题： 4. What’s the relationship between the speakers? A. Teacher and student B. Manager and secretary C. Father and daughter 5. How did the woman do her work? A. Efficiently B. Quickly C. Carelessly 6. What is the customer’s name? A. Sam B. Seam C. Sean 听第3段对话，回答第7至第9题： 7. Where are the two speakers now? A. In the office B. At the airport C. On the street 8. What is the most probable result of the conversation? A. The woman refuses to help the man. B. The woman helps to type the report immediately. C. The woman accepts the man’s request. 9. What’s the relationship between the speakers? A. Colleagues B. Classmates C. Cousins 听第4段对话，回答第10至第12题： 10. What is the man’s telephone number? A. B. C. 11. Which language will the man learn? A. German B. French C. Japanese 12. Which level of class will the man take? A. Elementary B. Secondary C. Advanced 听第5段对话，回答第13至第15题： 13. What are the speakers talking about? A. Holidays B. Mr Green’s son C. The weather 14. When does Tom go to school?
HUNAN UNIVERSITY 英文文档翻译 （中文翻译） 设计（论文）题目J2EE平台上高质量的网络程序开发学生姓名张刚 专业班级10级软件工程5班 指导老师李珩 系主任（院长）林亚平 评阅人 2014年4 月16 日
J2EE平台上高质量的网络程序开发Harshad B. Praj'apati Information Technology Department Dharmsinh Desai University Nadiad, India https://www.doczj.com/doc/7a4491611.html, Vipul K. Dabhi Information Technology DepartmentDharmsinh Desai University Nadiad, India https://www.doczj.com/doc/7a4491611.html, 摘要：网络应用程序的质量在它的成功中起着重要的作用。而且通过运用高品质的网页设计过程来提高网络应用程序的质量的效果是现而易见的。强大开发平台和强大程序的体系结构，不仅可以网页程序高质量和强劲的结构化，而且在网络应用程序开发过程中可以满足客户不断变化的要求和高效率操作代码的方法。即使在用户交互式应用架构发展迅速的前提下，模型 - 视图 - 控制器（ MVC）设计模式仍然是架构设计的基本模式。在本文中，我们讨论了实现高质量属性的Web应用程序，使用了支持Web应用程序开发和要求严格的J2EE平台。本次研究将帮助很多不同规模的网络应用程序开发，使他们从初始阶段本身或者已成型的Web应用程序转型到未来的高质量的Web成品。关键词：MVC模式;网页程序;Java EE;高质量对象;高质量的Web程序开发. 1.介绍 随着网络应用的普遍和普适计算时代的巨大需求，在网络应用程序的开发过程中，一些相关的网络应用程序的质量问题[1]也获得了极大的关注。在这场商业互联网竞争的比赛中，应用程序的业绩使得开发人员更注重程序的质量。如果一个Web应用程序能够在不断变化的客户需求和商业需求中存活下来，那这个程序将是非常有价值的。 建设高品质的网络应用确实是一个困难的，具有挑战性的任务。但如果选择了正确的开发进程，方法，工具，人员，那么开发出高质量的应用程序将成为可能。由于开发平台的选择也会影响相关的开发过程，方法，工具，和程序员，所以开发平台的选择也是构建高效，稳健，和高品质的应用程序的重要角色。 Java EE平台[7]是开放的，基于标准的N [ 8 ]和硬件上的分布式企业应用程序,独立于操作系统平台。作为应用程序对于Java EE平台是独立的，所以企业不会与遇到供应商锁定的问题。基于Java EE平台的网络应用程序使用模型/视图/控制器（MVC ） [ 2 ]设计模式[ 3 ]的三个架构组件：表示逻辑，控制逻辑和实体/业务逻辑。我们讨论了传统的基于GUI的应用程序中使用MVC设计模式的情况，并讨论它是如何适应在基于Java EE平台的网络应用程序的架构。我们按照（一）质量属性的要求分析了Java EE平台[ 1 ] Web的应用程序（ ii）就开发过程中相关的支持（ iii）与开发过程中涉及到人员的支持.目前我们的研究结果结果表明，在Java EE平台的Web应用程序中，开发出高品质的网络应用程序，能满足不断变化的客户需求，满足不断变化的商业业务的需求的程序，是非常有价值的网络程序。 在本文所提出的任务中，运用程序发展过程中不同的观点，集中讨论了在Java EE平台下如何实现高质量的程序开发。相关的工作情况如下：使用MVC设计模式开发的Web应用程序在[4]，在[5]中是用了https://www.doczj.com/doc/7a4491611.html,和JSP框架的设计模式，里面包含了MVC，应用程序的质量特性和属性都在[1]中进行说明。 第二节讨论了传统的GUI应用程序体系结构的MVC设计模式及其在网络应用架构适应。在第三部分提出了Web应用程序的开发过程，并在Java EE平台为它提供支持。在第四部分提出了关于Java EE平台的Web应用程序提供有价值的功能。第五部分介绍了Java EE平台的分析和实现网络应用程序及其组件的高品质的结果。最后的第六部分提出了结论和方向，为今后的研究工作。 2.J2EE平台上使用MVC设计模式的网页架构
必修 4 Unit 1 A STUDENT OF AFRICAN WILDLIFE It is 5:45 am and the sun is just rising over Gombe National Park in East Africa. Following Jane's way of studying chimps, our group are all going to visit them in the forest. Jane has studied these families of chimps for many years and helped people understand how much they behave like humans. Watching a family of chimps wake up is our first activity of the day. This means going back to the place where we left the family sleeping in a tree the night before. Everybody sits and waits in the shade of the trees while the family begins to wake up and move off. Then we follow as they wander into the forest. Most of the time, chimps either feed or clean each other as a way of showing love in their family. Jane warns us that our group is going to be very tired and dirty by the afternoon and she is right. However, the evening makes it all worthwhile. We watch the mother chimp and her babies play in the tree. Then we see them go to sleep together in their nest for the night. We realize that the bond between members of a chimp family is as strong as in a human family. Nobody before Jane fully understood chimp behaviour. She spent years observing and recording their daily activities. Since her childhood she had wanted to work with animals in their own environment. However, this was not easy. When she first arrived in Gombe in 1960, it was unusual for a woman to live in the forest. Only after her mother came to help her for the first few months was she allowed to begin her project. Her work changed the way people think about chimps. For example, one important thing she discovered was that chimps hunt and eat meat. Until then everyone had thought chimps ate only fruit and nuts. She actually observed chimps as a group hunting a monkey and then eating it. She also discovered how chimps communicate with each other, and her study of their body language helped her work out their social system. For forty years Jane Goodall has been outspoken about making the rest of the world understand and respect the life of these animals. She has argued that wild animals should be left in the wild and not used for entertainment or advertisements. She has helped to set up special places where they can live safely. She is leading a busy life but she says: "Once I stop, it all comes crowding in and I remember the chimps in laboratories. It's terrible. It affects me when I watch the wild chimps. I say to myself, 'Aren't they lucky?" And then I think about small chimps in cages though they have done nothing wrong. Once you have seen that you can never forget ..." She has achieved everything she wanted to do: working with animals in their own
the most-favored-nation clause最惠国条款 A rolling stone gathers no moss 滚石不生苔 the Trojan horse 特洛伊木马 the heel of Achilles阿喀琉斯之踵 Blood is thicker than water. 血溶于水 with a heavy heart 心情沉重； more haste, less speed 欲速则不达 to praise to the skies捧上天去 to be on thin ice 如履薄冰 Walls have ears. 隔墙有耳 As stubborn as a mule犟得象头牛 To fish in the air 水中捞月 To drink like a fish牛饮 To be at the end of one’s rope山穷水尽 To spend money like water挥金如土/花钱如流水 have an axe on the grind醉翁之意不在酒 a wet blanket一个令人扫兴的人 like a fish out of water. 很不自在 be born with a silver spoon in her mouth生长在富贵之家 Like father, like son.有其父，必有其子Least said, sooner mended.说得少，错的少 Out of sight, out of mind.眼不见，心不想 Penny wise, pound foolish.小事聪明，大事糊涂 Where there’s a will, there’s a way.有志者，事竟成 a white elephant毫无用处 in the red惨淡经营 Heads or tails?正面还是反面 Where is the head?（船）厕所在哪里? man-of-war 战舰 soft money纸币 soft breeze微风 soft words温暖的话语 to be on tenterhooks (心情烦乱，焦急，紧张) cut a joke插科打诨 speak one’s mind畅所欲言 be after one’s own heart称心如意 at one’s finger-tips了如指掌
1. 2. 第1讲 简单句的五种基本结构 英语句子的基本结构可以归纳成五种基本句型及其扩大、组合、省略或倒装。掌握这五种基本句型，是掌握各种英语句子结构的基础。 英语五种基本句型结构如下： 主语 谓语 用符号表示为： ① Ｓ Ｖ （主＋谓） ② Ｓ Ｖ Ｏ （主＋谓＋宾） ③ Ｓ Ｖ ｏ Ｏ （主＋谓＋间宾＋直宾） ④ Ｓ Ｖ Ｏ Ｃ （主＋谓＋宾＋宾补） ⑤ Ｓ Ｖ Ｐ （主＋系＋表） 主语（subject ） 谓语（predicate ） 宾语（object ） 定语（attribute ） 状语(adverbial) 补语（complement ） 表语（predicative ） 考点1. 基本句型 一：Ｓ Ｖ （主＋谓） 这类句子的谓语动词都是不及物动词，都不带宾语，但可以带状语，常见的不及物动词有： act, come, go, work, last, fall, cry, disappear, appear, smile, rise, ring, live, look, listen, laugh, hurry, talk, sleep, graduate, die, care, agree, jump, fail, wait, succeed, stay, sit, lie, shine, happen, take place, rain, snow, ect. 如: It is raining now. (Ｓ Ｖ) We've worked for 5 hours. (Ｓ Ｖ) The meeting lasted half an hour. (Ｓ Ｖ) Time flies. (Ｓ Ｖ) vi. vt . link.v. 宾语 宾语（间）宾语（直） 宾语 宾语补足语 表语 ① ⑤ ② ④ ③
课文翻译 Unit 1 2020年将蓬勃发展的10个行业 要从零进入拥有大量的就业机会和良好的薪酬领域，现在就开始规划 预测未来这是很难的，特别是假如你仍在努力搞清楚在当今的经济社会里发生了什么事情时。但如果你正在读大学、正开始新的职业生涯、或投资于新的技能。预测未来这正是你需要做的。 由于强大的全球化和数字化技术，商业世界比以往任何时候都将以更快的步伐发生变化。在进入未来热门的零领域的一种方式是远离那些没有的领域。政府的劳工统计局（BLS）公布的年度表衰退产业都遵循一些共同趋势。他们往往涉及到可以在海外更便宜完成，诸如低技能的装配线工作，或迅速取代人类工人的技术，以及呼叫中心的工作。削减成本和政府裁员等都可为脆弱的领域。 雇主本身有时会提供他们想要的各种技能有用提示。全国大学与雇主协会的最新年度调查表明，公司最感兴趣打算聘请的毕业生是在工程，商业，会计学，计算机科学，经济学等专业。不幸的是，许多学生喜欢的专业诸如社会科学、历史学、教育学、心理学这些都不是有很高的需求领域。 为了制定一个更完整的可能提供大量的就业机会和良好薪酬领域列表，我分析了各种来源数据，包括劳工统计局（BLS）和行业研究公司IBISWorld的数据，表明未来的高就业水平在数十个领域。就业及其重要的法则有：首先，即使你担心教育费用，良好薪酬领域就业仍然需要有一个本科学位。咨询公司麦肯锡公司预测到2020年将短缺150万大学毕业生，这意味着雇主将继续高度关注受过良好教育的工人。 另外重要的一点：最成功的人往往是终身学习者，他们从大学毕业或完成一个培训项目后不久的就发展新的技能。事实上，构建多元技能系统，诸如具有分析专长与文科背景融合，科学知识与法律学位相结合，可以是在杂乱的就业市场来突显自己的一个很好的方法。另外，由于经济衰退和流动，最持久的技能往往是那些可以从一个领域转移到另一个领域。 但你必须锚定你职业生涯的地方，所以在这里列出10个可能在2020年蓬勃发展的领域： 1．数据分析。大数据时代刚刚起步，许多企业急于开拓广阔的新数据库，以收集更多关于他们的客户、他们的竞争对手、甚至他们自己的信息。目前挑战的是不只是分析数字，数据分析使企业感觉到并且获得可以转化为业务优势有用的见解。营销和市场研究是两个广泛利用数据分析的新生领域。 2．辅导和治疗。现在人们普遍认识到心理健康如同身体健康一样重要，这很可能增加这一领域专业人士的需求。例如劳工统计局预计到2020年对婚姻和家庭治疗师的需求将增长41％。 3．科学研究。新技术将继续在医学、制造业、运输业和许多其他领域产生突破，这意味着将来对在生物、化学、数学和工程领域接受了教育的工人会有强劲的需求劲。一些领域表明特别的承诺：生物技术和生物医药、纳米技术、机器人技术以及3D印刷。3D技术使得从数字数据文件转换为实物产品制造成
Unit 1 Living well -Reading Hi, my n ame is Marry Field ing and I guess you could say that I am "one in a million". In other words, there are not many people like me. You see, I have a muscle disease which makes me very weak, so I can't run or climb stairs as quickly as other people. In additi on, sometimes I am very clumsy and drop thi ngs or bump into furn iture. Unfortun ately, the doctors don't know how to make me better, but I am very outgoing and have learned to adapt to my disability. My motto is: live One day at a time. Un til I was ten years old I was the same as every one else. I used to climb trees, swim and play football. In fact, I used to dream about playing professional football and possibly represe nti ng my country in the World Cup. Then I started to get weaker and weaker, until I could only enjoy football from a bench at the stadium. In the end I went into hospital for medical tests. I stayed there for n early three mon ths. I think I had at least a billion tests, including one in which they cut out a piece of muscle from my leg and looked at it un der a microscope. Eve n after all that, no one could give my disease a name and it is difficult to know what the future holds. One problem is that I don't look any different from other people. So sometimes some childre n in my primary school would laugh, whe n I got out of breath after running a short way or had to stop and rest halfway up the stairs. Sometimes, too, I was too weak to go to school so my education suffered. Every time I returned after an abse nee, I felt stupid because I was beh ind the others. My life is a lot easier at high school becausemy fellow students have accepted me. The few who cannot see the real pers on in side my body do not make me annoyed, and I just ignore them. All in all I have a good life. I am happy to have found many things I can do, like writing and computer programming. My ambition is to work for a firm that develops computer software when I grow up. Last year inven ted a computer football game and a big compa ny has decided to buy it from me. I have a very busy life with no time to sit around feeling sorry for myself. As well as going to the movies and football matches with my friends, I spend a lot of time with my pets. I have two rabbits, a parrot, a tank full of fish and a tortoise. To look after my pets properly takes a lot of time but I find it worthwhile. I also have to do a lot of work, especially if I have bee n away for a while. In many ways my disability has helped me grow stro nger psychologically and become more independent. I have to work hard to live a normal life but it has been worth it. If I had a chance to say one thing to healthy children, it would be this: having a disability does not mean your life is not satisfying. So don't feel sorry for the disabled or make fun of them, and don't ignore them either. Just accept them for who they are, and give them en courageme nt to live as rich and full a life as you do. Tha nk you for read ing my story.