英语短文阅读

　　A Volcano Eruption火山爆发

　　As the best candidate, I was appointed to collect and evaluate information for a database about diverse natural disasters, such as hurricanes, typhoons or thunderstorms. Sometimes I did this by giving out questionnaires to those who went through them. But sometimes I had to go through actual disasters myself. The Musaki Volcano was one of them.

　　At that time, I lived in a bungalow alongside the volcano with a novelist, who came for the appreciation of its eruption. One day, when I was drawing diagrams on the balcony and he was bathing inside, the volcano erupted unexpectedly. The ash and lava fountains shooting highly in the sky varied from 50 to 100 meters in height. It was absolutely fantastic! I even noticed a rainbow appear in the fog caused by a heat wave.

　　But, glancing through our surroundings, I foresaw the potential danger and found no guarantee of our safety. The uncomfortable gas almost made us unconscious. Sweats of anxiety began to drop. Managing to stop panicking and trembling, we quickly put on our protective suits, helmets and boots and eventually made our way to a safe place. How lucky we were even though my precious equipment and documents were all burnt to the ground!

　　作为最好的候选人，我被委派为一个数据库收集和评估各种自然灾害的信息，例如飓风、台风或雷暴等。有时我通过向经历过这些灾害的人分发调查问卷来收集信息，有时却得亲自经历实际的灾害。Musaki火山就是其中之一。

　　那时，我和一名来欣赏火山爆发的小说家同住在火山边上的一座平房里。有一天，当我正在阳台上画图表而他在屋里洗澡时，火山突然爆发了，喷射到天空中的火山灰和岩浆喷泉从50米到100米不等，这一情景绝对地奇异，我甚至还注意到一条彩虹出现在...

　　Defeat Disability战胜残疾

　　Yang’s ambition was to get an architect certificate or become a bowling master. But when he was conducting experiments with a microscope in the basement, a tank on the bench exploded, sending him flying outwards through the exit. He was out of breath while knowing he lost his eyesight as well as 70% of his hearing. In other words, he was disabled.

　　Feeling clumsy, he was annoyed at first though nobody made fun of him. He cut out going outdoors and just sat around at home talking to his parrot or tortoise silently. His sister resigned to help him in many ways. Her assistance and encouragement were so beneficial to his psychology that he adapted to his disability soon and became outgoing again. In a college accessible to him, he studied politics and literature. He always sat in the front row near the entry without any absence and, with the help of his handy laptop, he studied well by means of dictation. His thesis, Abolishing Slavery, met with all professors’ approval. After class, he and his companions often played drum music, which was noisy but suitable for his hearing. After graduation, he made high profits by designing software for a firm. All in all, in his community, he won his dignity and people’s congratulations.

　　He always wished all the best to his disabled fellows and encouraged them, “Never mind! All you have is adequate to get your achievement.”

　　阳的雄心是，要么获得一张建筑师证书，要么成为一名保龄球高手。但是在地下室里的显微镜下进行试验时，放在长凳上...

　　Happy Marriage Needs Fighting For

　　幸福的婚姻需要争取

　　As a talented navy officer, he was bound to be busy. When his wife rang him up to declare her divorce alarm, he was still scanning a digital counter to check the data so as to give an assessment of the theoretical framework for a biochemical weapon. His junior staff’s sympathy made him feel embarrassed.

　　His wife was a part-time clerk. With his high bonus, she lived in a grand house with elegant cushions and bedding. Her favour was reading stars’ biographies or absurd fictions with endless chapters in her armchair. People envied her leisure life very much. But in fact, she was tired of being left alone. She sent emails to his mailbox every week to state her thinking and ask for his accompaniment, but never received reply of satisfaction. Tired of his explanation that he must obey the orders, she filed for divorce.

　　Because he desired to get their holy affection back, he set other affairs aside. He trimmed his fingernails short and changed his overweight figure as well as his awful haircut. He wore an apron to prepare delicious cuisine for her. He also bought her a necklace and piles of flowers hoping that their receiver could turn around.

　　After being tested out for 3 months in all, he eventually succeeded.

　　作为一名才华出众的海军军官，他注定是要忙碌的。当他的妻子打来电话宣布和他离婚的警告时，他还在查看一台数码计数器核对数据，以对一种生物化学武器的理论框架做出评估。他的下级职员表现出的同情使他很尴尬。

　　他的妻子是一位非全日性工作的职员，有了他的高津贴，她住在一所装饰有优雅垫子和寝具的富丽堂皇的屋子里。她的爱好是坐在扶手...

　　Mark and a Seal

　　马克和海豹

　　Mark rented an accommodation with his pension near the shore. He paid annual visits there to enjoy the vivid beauty in the depths of the pure sea.

　　Once, with his underwater telescope and flashlight, Mark dived along the boundary between the steep reef and the area of seaweed conservation. Suddenly, an awesome Antarctic seal with sharp teeth appeared opposite him. Every cell in his body was scared to death. But soon, he was aware that he wasn’t the target of an attack. With a neat wound in its lip caused by a shark, this grey seal was washed upside down by the tides time after time. But it tried to jog Mark as if to urge him to help it. So Mark abandoned fleeing away. With its teamwork, Mark used a net to drag the seal to the shallow water. Without pausing he helped it out after a simple operation and settled it in a narrow cave by the seaside. Every time he brought it tasty fish, it would yell and suck his hands happily. Witnesses said their anecdotes reflected a magic dimension of the relationship between humans and animals.

　　马克用他的退休金在海岸边租了一间住所，每年都去那儿欣赏纯净的大海深处那生动的美丽。

　　有一次，马克带着他的水下望远镜和手电筒，潜到陡峭的暗礁和海草保护区间的分界线。突然，一只长着尖利牙齿、使人畏惧的南极海豹出现在他对面。马克吓坏了，但是很快，他就意识到，他不是攻击的目标。这只灰色海豹的唇上有道鲨鱼咬出的整齐伤口，还时不时地被潮水冲得头上脚下。尽管如此，它却总是努力轻轻碰撞马克，似乎在催促他帮助它。于是马克放弃了逃跑。在这只海豹的合作下，马克用一张网把它拖到浅水区，并毫不停歇给它动了一个简单的手术，帮助它解决了问题，然后将它安置在海边一个狭窄的洞里。每次当马克给它带来鲜美可口的鱼时，它就会高兴地大声叫唤，还吮吸他的手。目击者都说他们的轶事映射出人与动物关系中奇妙的一个方面。

 

　　Helping the Remote Village援助山村

　　A year ago, the famous astronaut received an invitation by airmail from a remote village. Intending to sniff some fresh air, he and his interpreter paid a fortnight visit there. It was a privilege for them to be there, but they were shocked by what they saw. The tracks were muddy. The river was drying up. Most villagers only possessed one broom, a few tins and several jars and their rectangular grass huts with round angles were surrounded by weeds. Besides, their school had no roof and platform, and the students had no concept of clicking a computer at all. They were badly in need.

　　Soon, the astronaut made a generous voluntary donation to the village. There were textbooks for students, sewing machines for tailors and tractors for farmers. His distribution catalogue also included operating a clinic and a trunk library, as well as giving weekly lessons to teach relevant farming knowledge like how to dry out seeds or raise oxen. He himself not only helped do some paperwork but also purchased grills for boys to toast potatoes and combs for girls who were dying to get one. The other day, he heard from the villagers again inviting him to participate in the donation anniversary. For political and security reasons, he couldn’t adjust his outgoing arrangement-otherwise he would go. But his deeds were remembered forever.

　　一年前，那位著名的宇航员收到一份由一个偏远村庄通过航空邮件寄来的邀请。因为想要呼吸一下新鲜空气，他和翻译到那儿做了一次两周的访问。当地之行使他们倍感荣幸，但却震惊于所见所闻。泥泞的道路、河流干枯，...

　　Study in America

　　留学美国

　　Nannan’s father runs an enterprise near the Ming Tombs selling batteries and drills to the Daqing Oilfield. Hoping to get the qualification to help govern it, Nannan made much preparation and then left her motherland with her visa to study in America. Having reached her destination, she settled in an inn recommended by the travel agent.

　　As far as Nannan was concerned, she always kept it up in China. But she had to acknowledge it was not easy to adjust herself to the new academic requirements, which were not parallel with China’s. Though she was occupied with lectures and seminars day in and day out, the essays she drafted were still contradicted by her tutors. As for her routine life, she felt that it was hard to fit in, too. For example, she found English idioms difficult to understand. And it was out of the question to eat delicious Chinese foods though many optional cafeterias served abundant substitutes. In addition, she had to wait in a queue early for the minibus that took her to school and it was usually so cold that she felt numb. What bothered her most was that she received no apology when her sleeping was disturbed by a barking dog in a shopkeeper’s cage.

　　Luckily, with her parents comforting her by videophone, she became autonomous soon and eventually got her bachelor’s degree successfully.

　　楠楠的父亲在明陵附近经营一家企业，销售电池和钻机到大庆油田。抱着获得相应资格帮助管理的希望，楠楠做了大量准备，然后带着签证离开祖国去美国留学。抵达目的地后，她在一间旅行代理推荐的旅馆安顿下来。

　　Immigrate to America

　　移民美国

　　Attracted by the boom in America, my nephew teamed up with a Korean to illegally cross the Bearing Strait in the Arctic to America. To avoid the Customs’ punishment, they hid in a small ferry called the North Pole Seagull, sitting back to back without sleeping, showering and shaving for 3 days, and had no chance to mourn their lost luggage when landing. The hardship of this crossing was apparent.

　　At first, he made a living by means of raising cattle and then was hired in aircraft industries. He lived in a Catholic district. Taking in a small percentage of Pakistani immigrants, the majority of the residents were from Italy and Denmark, who all kept up their customs and cultures. Different blocks here were distinctly marked out and indicated from the racial angle. It was unfair and needed reforming. But with nowhere else to go, my nephew lived on and managed to make a life for himself.

　　My nephew’s fortune came when he bravely helped a conductor brake a ream to stop it from slipping out of the rails. The man was elected vice chairman of the Socialist Party later. It occurred to my nephew that he could grasp this opportunity to ask for his help. The man who was thankful helped him apply to the civil authority for the right to live in America by inserting his brave deed into his documents. Unlike a great many other applicants, his application was approved by the Federal Justice Ministry. Before long, he start...

　　Be Careful about Cloning

　　谨慎对待克隆

　　After a series of initial experiments and corrections, the scientist’s hard work paid off when the twin clone turkeys were hatched with normal feather and claws. This breakthrough possibly enabled people to bring their adored pets back to life. However, it bothered him from time to time that their health was in poor condition because they were unable to resist illnesses. This drawback cast him down. Merely 2 weeks later, the clones and their carrier died, which struck frustration into his heart. He retired before he attained his ambition and became a member of an opera chorus to relieve his depression.

　　Shortly afterwards, the media published a conservative argument objecting to cloning owing to moral problems, and suggested the constitution include compulsory regulations to forbid obtaining commercial profits from cloning.

　　When interviewed, the scientist stared at the decorations on the ceiling, thinking for a while, and then said, “I’m not in favour of any arbitrary assumption, but undertaking cloning does differ from the straightforward procedure of making loafs out of flour. Until we accumulate enough exact knowledge, any practice is in vain and is bound to fail. Altogether, being more careful is reasonable or we may walk into a side road.”

　　在最初一系列的实验和修正之后，科学家的辛苦工作终于取得了成功，一对双生的克隆火鸡孵化出来，羽毛和爪子都很正常。这一突破或许能让人们使他们喜爱的宠物死而复生。然而，使他不时地烦恼的是，因为它们无法抵抗疾病，使得它们的健康状况极差。这个缺点让他很沮丧。仅仅过了2个星期，克隆体和母体都死亡了，这使他内...