英语阅读短文

　　Born in a pigs’ nest, Lina led a poor life in her childhood. She was looked down upon by the children of her generation. But she intended to become a doctor after she came across Lin Qiaozhi by chance, who was delivering medical courses to an audience crowding around her. Before moving off, Lin inspired her to carry on her study. With Lin’s support, Lina entered an institute and studied hard sparing no time for entertainment. Her being outspoken and modest won respect for her. Her excellent arguing skills and observation ability put others into the shade.

　　Now, Lina has become a specialist in human beings’ emergency sickness. Her kindness and considerate behavior to the poor were well known. The organization she founded carried out campaigns and welfare projects to help cut the death rate for the poor. Her job was hard but worthwhile. She often refers to the connection between her achievement and Lin Qiaozhi, and says that her poor childhood is the bond between her and the poor.

　　丽娜出生在猪圈里，童年过着贫穷的生活，被和她同辈的孩子看不起。但是在她偶然遇见了林巧芝之后却打定注意想要成为一名医生，当时林巧芝正在给拥挤在她身边的观众传授医疗课程，在离开之前，林巧芝鼓舞她继续坚持学习。在林的支持下，丽娜进入了一所学院。她努力学习，毫不浪费时间玩闹娱乐。她的坦诚和谦虚为她赢得了尊敬，她优秀的辩论技巧和观察能力使其他的人都黯然失色。

　　现在，丽娜已经成为一名人类紧急病症专家。她对穷人的好心和考虑周到的一举一动都众所周知，她建立的组织开展各种活动和福利项目来为穷人减少死亡率。她的工作艰苦却很值得。她常常提到她的成就和林巧芝之间的联系，还总是说她贫穷的童年就是她与穷人之间的纽带。

 

　　Computers

　　电脑

　　The goal of early calculating machines was to simplify difficult sums. But with the help of new technology, electronic chips replaced tubes and a revolution of artificial intelligence has arisen. From then on, the appearance of computers totally changed our lives. They can not only download information from the wet when connected by the network or mobile phone signals, but also solve different types of logical problems. With operators as their coaches, they can even control rockets to explore the moon and instruct androids with the human race’s characters to mop floors and watch over your naughty niece. Anyhow, computers are so helpful that they do bring happiness.

　　However, computers are easily attacked by viruses. This reality has become a hard-to-deal with-problem. As a result, computers are dangerous in a way. So, personally, I worry about their universal applications in some fields, such as finance.

　　早期计算机器的目的是简化比较难的计算。但是在新技术的帮助下，电子芯片代替了电子管，一场人工智能革命由此掀起。从那时起，电脑的出现完全改变了我们的生活，它们不仅能在网络或移动电话信号的连接下从网上下载信息，而且可以解决各种类型的逻辑问题。在操作员的教练下，它们甚至还可以控制火箭探索月球，指导具有人类性格的机器人擦洗地板和照顾你调皮的侄女。不管怎么说，电脑都是如此的有用，以致的确给人们带来了快乐。

　　然而，电脑很容易受到病毒的攻击，这一现实已经成为一个难以处理的难题，结果，电脑在某种程度上是很危险的。因此，就个人而言，我很担心电脑在某些领域，例如金融方面的广泛应用。

 

　　An Amateur Journalist

　　业余记者

　　Jane is a housewife, but delighted to work as an amateur journalist. It is a dilemma for her to rush between family and work, and it is also unusual for the News Department to depend on an amateur to cover crimes. But Jane is really gifted. It is admirable that she is seldom accused of making mistakes. And, eager to become more professional, she concentrates on her job and updates herself now and then.

　　Once she is informed of a new case, her normal working process is as follows: first, she makes appointments with guilty people for interviews. So as to acquire accurate stories, she usually demands to record what they say. Meanwhile, a technically good colleague will assist her in taking photographs. Second, she assesses whether they are deliberately hiding the truth. If she is skeptical about their words, she will look into the case herself. Third, she writes thorough stories ahead of the deadline and submits it to the senior chief editor, who polishes and approves every section. Finally, her stories will be published in different editions of their magazine.

　　简是一名家庭主妇，但却非常乐意做一名业余记者。在家和工作之间奔波总是使她左右为难，而且对于新闻部来说，依靠一名业余人员来报道罪案也是不同寻常的，但是简真的很有天赋，让人钦佩的是她极少因为犯错而受到责备。因为渴望做得更加专业，她全神贯注于工作，且时不时地就提升自身的业务水平。

　　一旦接到新案子的通知，她通常的工作程序如下：首先，她和有罪的人约了作采访。为了获得准确的新闻，她通常要求做录音，同时，一位技术上好的同事会协助她拍照;接着，她对受采访的人是否有故意隐瞒真相作出评估。如果她怀疑他们的话，就会亲自调查案件;然后，她在截稿期限前写出详尽的报道，呈交给高级主编，由他对每个部分做润色和批准;最后，她的新闻就发表在杂志的各个版本中了。
 

　　Sailing Home

　　划船回家

　　This novel was about an unbelievable but genuine adventure. Its author was a black businessman who was brought up in America. In 1956, he visited Africa, his birthplace. One day, when he was wandering on the pavement near the bay enjoying the sea scenes, he lost his money and passport that he kept in an envelope. So he went to the embassy to seek help, but the ambassador with rude manners didn’t permit his staff to help though he bowed to him. Staring at his impatient face, he understood that it was the fault of his skin colour that accounted for their refection. So he decided to take a chance to sail on a small boat home.

　　He met a large amount of difficulty but was never stopped. On the contrary, difficulty pushed him to go ahead harder. Three months later, he was spotted by a ship by accident. He was in rags indeed. A maid even screamed when bringing him a steak and pineapple dessert. Aboard, he earned his passage by working as a barber and got home finally. As for the name of his novel, he couldn’t think of a better one than the phrase “Go Ahead”.

　　这部小说写的是一次令人难以置信而又真实的历险。其作者是一位在美国被抚养长大的黑人商人。1956年，他回到他的出生地非洲。有一天，当他在海湾边的人行道上漫步欣赏海景时，他丢失了一个装着钱和护照的信封，于是向当地的大使馆寻求帮助。但是大使态度非常粗鲁，即使向他鞠躬，也不允许他的职员帮忙。盯着他那不耐烦的脸，他知道是他皮肤颜色的错才导致了他们的拒绝。于是，他决定冒险驾驶一只小船回家。

　　他遇到了许多困难，但是从未停止，相反，困难推动他更努力地前进。三个月后，当他被一艘船偶然发现时，真的是衣衫褴褛。给他端来牛排和菠萝甜品的女仆甚至被吓得尖叫起来。在船上，他当一名理发师来挣取船费，最后终于回到了家。至于这部小说的名字，他再也不能想到一个比“前进”更好的短语了。

 

　　A Brave Maid

　　勇敢的女仆

　　A wooden vase from the Ming Dynasty at the entrance of the reception hall amazed everyone. The artists designed it in a rare style and selected valuable jewels to decorate it. People thought highly of its fancy colour of honey and the beautiful paintings on it.

　　The vase used to belong to a former castle. But when the country was at war, the enemy troops exploded the castle. Debates on how the vase survived went on and on. In order to remove people’s doubt, a team of no less than 20 people carried out an informal investigation. The evidences they found showed that a maid took the vase apart and asked a sailor to sink it in a local well. She never gave away the secret even under the cruel trial of the enemies who were in search of treasures.

　　It is worth giving this brave maid a fortune in return.

　　接待大厅入口处的明朝木制花瓶 使每个人都惊奇不已。艺术家以一种罕有的风格设计它，并挑选了贵重的珠宝装饰它。人们高度赞赏它那蜂蜜般的奇特颜色，还有上面绘制的绘画。

　　这个花瓶曾经属于一座从前的城堡，但在战争期间，敌人的军队炸毁了城堡，于是关于这个花瓶是如何幸存下来的争论就一直在持续着。为了解开人们的疑问，一个由不少于20人的调查队开展了一次非正式的调查。他们找到的证据表明，有个女仆 把花瓶拆开，然后让一名水手把它沉到当地的一个水井里。她从来没有泄露这个秘密，即使是在搜寻财宝的敌人残酷的审讯下。

　　这位女仆真是值得给予一大笔钱作为对她的回报。

 

　　A Horrible Earthquake

　　可怕的地震

　　Dirty water rose in wells and canals before the earthquake. But no one judged that an earthquake was coming. Suddenly, everything shook. It seemed as if the world was at an end. Millions of brick houses and a number of dams were destroyed. Railway tracks became useless bars. Pipes in mines burst and let out smelly steam. Huge cracks trapped cyclists everywhere.

　　The next day, this event was the headline or main title of all newspapers. With the reporters giving an outline of the disaster, the whole nation was shocked by the damage and the victim’s extreme suffering. People were moved when they read that the survivors comforted each other by saying “Congratulations! You survived!”. So they not only expressed their sympathy sincerely, but also organized together to help the victims right away. The injured were rescued and the dead were buried. The frightened survivors were dug out from under the ruins and were offered shelter, fresh water and electricity. Thanks to people’s help, the loss was minimized.

　　地震前，水井和运河里的污水都涨涌起来。但是却没人判断出地震即将来临。霎那间，一切都在摇晃，似乎整个世界就要结束。数以百万的砖房和许多水坝遭到破坏;铁路轨道都变成无用的铁条;煤矿管道纷纷爆裂，发出有臭味的蒸汽;到处都有骑车的人被巨大的裂缝陷住。

　　第二天，所有报纸都纷纷以大字标题或主要标题报道了这一事件。记者们描述了灾难的大概情况，全国都被地震的破坏和灾民们极度的苦难所震惊。当人们读到幸存者以“恭喜啊，你还活着。”来互相安慰时，都被感动了。人们不仅衷心地表达了他们的同情，而且还立刻组织起来帮助灾民。伤员被救助了，死者被埋葬了，吓坏的幸存者被从废墟中挖出来了，栖身处、净水和电力也很快得到提供。多亏了人们的帮助，灾区的损失被减到了最小。