21.A Strange Disease

奇怪的疾病

When the construction of the firework factory came to the stage of painting, a pump was put in. Then, all the painters in the neighbourhood were defeated by a severe disease whose characteristic was alike to that of a bad burn.

An expert physician was instructed to attend to the victims and handle this case. He was enthusiastic, but he didn’t foresee that it was a hard challenge. After simple enquiry, he announced that the polluted paint was to blame. But without positive evidence, people suspected and rejected his view, saying the theory he put forward made no sense. Being much more strict with himself, he contributed himself to the case. Apart from making enquiries, he made detailed charts and analysed the data cautiously. Finally, he drew a scientific conclusion, linking the disease to the radium in the pump. Exposed to radium, a kind of radioactive material in the universe, people absorbed radiation and got sick immediately.

Spinning the pump backward, he took away the radium. This simple movement cured all the victims.

当那座烟花工厂的建设到了油漆阶段时，一个水泵被安装进来，接着，在它附近的油漆

工都得了一种严重的疾病（疾病击败油漆工），其特征与烧伤相似。

一位经验丰富的内科医生被指定去照顾受害者并负责处理这一案例。他热情地投入到工作中，但是却没有预见到这是一次艰难的挑战。在简单的询问后，他就宣布说罪魁祸首是受污染的油漆（油漆应受责备）。但是没有确实的证据，人们很怀疑并拒绝他的观点，大家都说他提出的理论毫无道理。他对自己要求更加严格，全身心地投入。除了询问，他还制作了详细的图表，谨慎地分析各项数据，最后，他终于得出了一个科学的结论，把疾病和水泵中的镭联系起来。镭是宇宙中的一种放射性物质，当暴露在镭的辐射中时，人体吸收其射线，立刻染上疾病。

他把水泵向后旋转，拿走了里面的镭，这个简单的动作治愈了所有的受害者。

22.Sightseeing in the United Kingdom

观光联合王国

After the wedding, my cousin and his wife went to the United Kingdom for nationwide sightseeing. He faxed a letter to me in English yesterday. To my delight, he no longer made any tense error. And his description roughly clarified my questions about the UK--its currency, its administration, the institution which divides it into four provinces, and the historical conflicts and quarrels when Southern Ireland broke away from the UK.

Unwilling to leave out any attraction, my cousin arranged his enjoyable journey carefully. One attractive place he visited was a castle in the countryside of Scotland, which lies near a port. It used to be the headquarters of the Communism Union but broke down during the war. Finding nothing could take the place of this splendid architecture, people accomplished rebuilding it in 1952. It was to their credit that all furnished rooms are consistent with what they used to be. My cousin was thrilled by its collections consisting of statues plus royal uniforms folded in glass tanks. Though there was no possibility to buy some of these exhibits, it was convenient to take photos, which he sent me along with his fax.

我的表弟和他妻子在举办了婚礼后到联合王国做全国旅游观光去了。他昨天传真了一封英文信给我，让我高兴的是，他再也不犯时态错误了，而且他的描述也粗略地向我阐明了关于英国的一些问题——它的货币啦，行政管理啦，把它分成四个行政区的制度啦，还有在南爱尔兰脱离联合王国时发生的一些历史上的冲突和争拗。

因为不愿意漏掉任何一个景点，我表弟仔细地安排了他愉快的旅程。他参观的其中一个吸引人的地方是苏格兰乡村的一个城堡。城堡靠近一座港口，曾经是共产主义联盟会的总部，但是在战争中倒塌了。人们发现没有任何东西可以取代这座辉煌的建筑，于是在1952年完成了重建。值得赞扬的是，所有配备家具的房间都和它们过去一致的。由雕像加折叠在玻璃柜里的皇家制服组成的收藏品使我表弟震撼不已。尽管没有可能购买这些展览品，拍照却很方便，他在传真中一起发给了我。

23.An Air Crash

飞机失事

I was a previous typist in a post office. Because I couldn’t tolerate typing any more postage bills or postcodes on a typewriter every day, I resigned. With a greedy motivation of making big money, I took up working as a business representative for the G.E Ecology Company, which produced goods by recycling useful materials from our dustbins. My new job left me good impressions in many aspects except that the working timetable was full of traveling by jets.

Once, when speeding up, our jet was swallowed by a thunderstorm, which destroyed our GPS receiver and made us lose sight of the directions. A constantly flashing light showed that our jet was in danger. A steward instantly asked us to put on masks and fasten the safety belts, and then pressed a button to switch on the escaping capsule. It slid sideways out of the opening at once and landed in a desert area safely. Lacking food and tablets, we were nervous and uncertain at first. But we all kept optimistic and made good adjustment to the situation. We swept up the surrounding mud to make our settlement and were back on our feet soon. Finally, guided by the smoke of our crashing jet, some local citizens came by carriages and saved us.

我以前是一家邮局的打字员，因为忍受够了每天在打字机上打邮资账单或邮政编码，我辞了职。带着想挣大钱的贪婪动机，我开始给一家叫G.E生态公司的企业当商务代表，这家公司通过回收我们垃圾箱里的有用材料生产商品。我的新工作在多方面都给了我很好的印象，除了一点：乘飞机旅行挤满了我的工作时间表。

有一次，我们的喷气飞机在加速时被一场雷暴吞没，不仅损坏了GPS信号接收器，还使我们看不见方向。一盏持续闪亮的灯说明我们的飞机正处在危险中。一名乘务员立刻让我们戴上面罩、系牢安全带，接着按下一枚按钮 打开逃生仓电源，逃生仓马上侧着滑出出口，安全降落在一片荒凉的地区。因为缺少食品和药品，我们一开始都又紧张又心里没底，但是我们都保持乐观，做好调整适应这一新境况。我们打扫干净周围的泥土，安顿下来，很快就恢复过来。最后，在我们坠机烟雾的指引下，一些当地的居民搭乘马车到来，我们都获救了。

24.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。

25.First Aid

急救

A boy fell ill. His organs were damaged by the radiation of an infrared ray stove. But before the ambulance arrived, a number of other injuries happened to this unlucky boy over and over again. First, he was choked by some poisonous liquid from the kettle on the cupboard. Then his wrist skin was burnt by electric shock. Finally, his ankle was cut by a pan.

Fortunately, the boy’s nurse gave him proper temporary treatments according to his complex symptoms. She mildly squeezed the poisonous liquid out of his throat and put bandages firmly in place to apply pressure to the ankle wound to stop bleeding. As for the burn, she used scissors to remove his sleeve, poured a basin of cold water over the burn to cool it and put her hands on a damp blouse to cover his swollen tissue tightly. She also inspired his bravery to fight against the unbearable pain. Her first aid made a vital difference in saving his life. A ceremony was held to honour the nurse who overcame a variety of barriers to save the boy.

有个孩子病倒了，他的体内器官被一台红外线烤炉的放射线灼伤了。但是在救护车到来前，这个不幸的孩子身上还一而再、再而三地发生了许多别的伤害。开始是被橱柜上水壶里的有毒液体噎住，然后是手腕的皮肤被电击烧伤，最后，一只平底锅还割伤了他的脚踝。

幸运的是，男孩的保姆根据他的复杂症状给予了适当的临时治疗。她轻轻地从他喉咙里把有毒液体挤了出来；并在脚踝合适的位置紧紧扎上绷带，施加压力使伤口的流血止住；对于烧伤，她用剪刀剪去他的袖子，倒了一盆凉水给烧伤位置降温，并找来一件湿的女式衬衫紧紧盖住他肿胀的皮肤组织。此外，她还激发起他的勇敢和难以忍受的疼痛做斗争。她的急救在挽救他性命中起了至关重要的作用。人们举办了一场典礼来表彰这位克服各种障碍挽救了男孩的小保姆。

26.Abstract Art

抽象艺术

Abstract art used to be controversial. On one hand, the artists stopped painting delicate figures but attempted to adopt special techniques to give people different visual impacts. On the other hand, their works, including sculptures carved out of marble or fragile clay, were all with a specific aim of showing feelings. Some conventional scholars who were allergic to abstract art said it was evidently ridiculous and neither art nor geometry. Their Traditional Art Committee predicted its soon disappearing.

But nowadays, abstract art has become part of the permanent possessions of contemporary civilization. Galleries along the Madison Avenue give scores of superb exhibitions on typical abstract works, appealing to many who have a preference for abstract art. The Shadow of Egypt, a café in this district, has become the home to those aggressive abstract artists. Consequently, it is not a coincidence for you to meet one of these artists of great reputation in the flesh. They are asked for signatures and given bunches of fragrant flowers plus they are given a great deal of praise by their faithful fans.

抽象艺术曾经颇受争议，一方面，抽象艺术家们不再画精致的画像，而是试图采用特别的技巧给人们以不同的视觉冲击；另一方面，他们的作品，包括用大理石和易碎的粘土雕刻出来的雕像，都以表达感情为其明确的目的。有些对抽象艺术反感的传统学者说抽象艺术是极其明显地荒谬可笑，说它既不是艺术，又不是几何学，他们的传统艺术委员会还预言了它的迅速消失。

但是到了今天，抽象艺术已经成为当代文明永久财产的一部分，麦蒂逊大道的画廊为典型的抽象艺术作品举办了许多出色的展览，吸引了许多对抽象艺术有偏爱的人。这区有家叫埃及之影的咖啡馆已经成为那些有进取精神的抽象艺术家们活动的根据地，所以，亲眼见到一位名声极大的艺术家本人并不是什么巧合的事，他们被忠实的崇拜者索取签名，并被给予成束的芬芳花朵和大量的赞扬。

27.A Russian Poem

俄国童谣

Since childhood, Anton had often recited poems, accompanied by pianists and violinists, at wedding ceremonies before brides and bridegrooms exchanged rings. Gradually, he found writing poems the most appropriate way to convey his joy and sorrow. When his poem Contradictory Blank won him a national championship and a scholarship to the Moscow University from a sponsor, he was just an unknown librarian. After getting his diploma, he devoted his life to writing poems. Using concrete but flexible language and the minimum of words is his style. He tried out different patterns and preferred nursery rhyme in particular. The following is a translation of one of his works made up of 3 sections:

Little sparrow with heavy load,Ran out of energy and very cold;No compass and all sweat salty,Can you go through the endless darkness?Little balloon let out by the thread,Flew over cottages and was very glad;With warmth transformed from sunlight,He said he could forever fly;Take it easy, little balloon;Don’t tease the sparrow with his wound;On the bare branch and have a rest;This diamond heart will eventually get success.

从童年时起，安东就常常在钢琴师或小提琴师的伴奏下在婚礼上朗诵诗歌，为新郎新娘交换戒指前的仪式助兴。渐渐地，他发现写诗是表达他的欢乐和悲伤的最合适方式。在他还是个寂寞无闻的图书管理员时，他的诗《矛盾的空白》就获得了全国诗歌创作冠军，并为他赢得一位赞助人提供的奖学金，到莫斯科大学深造。获得文凭后，他将一生都投入到诗歌创作中。使用具体而灵活的语言和最少的词语数量是他的风格，他还喜欢尝试不同的诗歌形式，特别是童谣。下面由三部分组成的译文就是他的作品中的一首：

小麻雀，负重担，      小气球，脱绳系，       别紧张，小气球

筋疲力尽挡风寒，      飞越农舍真高兴，       别笑麻雀伤口留，

汗水成盐无指引，      阳光给予它温暖，       光光的树梢歇片刻，

能否穿越无边暗？      永远高飞不费力；恒（钻石）心终把成功求。          

28.Let’s Help Adolescents

帮助青少年

Whether they are male or female, adolescents feel like deciding on everything themselves in spite of parents’ instruction, especially when they face problems like sex, mental stress, etc., which make them feel ashamed and embarrassed. Thus they often automatically get into troubles due to their imperfect comprehension and judgement. Some are addicted to cigarettes, only several packets of which will hurt their lungs and make them breathless quickly. Others can’t quit drinking alcohol, whose harmful effects include causing young pregnant women to abort or give birth to abnormal babies. The worst is drug abuse, for the withdrawal is tough once their bodies are accustomed to the drugs. Meanwhile, those who share needles bought from illegal chemists are at great risk of being infected with desperate AIDS. If so, neither injecting nor taking pills can guarantee their survival.

However, don’t be disappointed at or have prejudice against our children so easily. After all, being awkward is an appendix of youth. As long as we strengthen communication with them instead of only banning this or banning that, we will surely help them avoid anything unfit.

不论男女，青少年们都喜欢不顾家长的指导，自己对一切作决定，特别是当他们面对如性、心理压力等等一些使他们觉得羞愧和尴尬的问题时更是如此。因此，由于他们理解力和判断力的不足，他们常常会无意识地陷入困境中。有的对香烟上瘾，只要几包就会对他们的肺造成损害，使他们很容易就气喘吁吁；有的没法戒除酒精带来的不良后果，包括造成年轻的怀孕女性流产或生下不正常的婴儿；最糟糕的是滥用毒品，因为一旦他们的身体对毒品习惯了，要想戒毒就相当困难了。同时，那些共用从非法药剂师处购买的注射器的青少年冒着感染令人绝望的艾滋病的极大风险，一旦感染上，不管是打针还是吃药都没法保证他们的生存了。

然而，请不要轻易就对我们的孩子失望或抱有偏见，毕竟，不成熟是年轻的必然附属品。只要我们加强和他们的沟通，而不是仅仅禁止这样，不准那样，我们一定能帮助他们避开不健康的东西。

29.Refresh Our Environment

恢复环境生机

As the director stated on behalf of his researching group, the data of this graph makes a clear presentation of the future environmental tendency. On one hand, the quantity of fuel keeps on decreasing by 9% per year while the growth of a wide range of pollution has been a global trend. On the other hand, the mildly but steadily going up of the average temperature is resulting in catastrophes like widespread floods. Without disagreement, they subscribe to the view that it is humans’ existence and their randomly consuming energy that result in this phenomenon.

Many people have a commitment that developing nuclear power or energy from outer space will stop bad consequences coming about. However, scientists and educators are opposed to this view even if our needs may be met on the whole. They tend to advocate refreshing our circumstances by saving energy and recycling waste. It is suggested that we use energy-saving appliances such as electrical motors, microwaves and so on and not be casual about little things like recycling a can. So please glance around and see what you can do. So long as everybody makes contribution, we will not have to put up with this problem anymore.

正如那位主任代表他的研究小组所说明的那样，这张图表的数据清楚地描述了未来环境的趋势：一方面，燃料的数量以每年9%的速度持续减少，同时，大范围污染的增长已经成为一种全球趋势；另一反面，平均气温轻微却稳定地升高正在造成像广泛的洪涝那样的灾难。无不同意地，他们一致赞成是人类的存在和任意的消耗能源才造成了这一现象。

许多人都信奉开发核能和外太空能源会防止糟糕的后果发生的理论，然而，即使这样可以基本上满足我们的需要，科学家和教育家们仍然反对这一观点。他们更倾向于拥护用节省能源和回收废料的方法恢复环境生机，并建议我们要使用节省能源的器具，如电力发动机、微波炉等，还建议我们不要对如回收罐子这种小事漫不经心。因此，看看你身边是否有你能做的事，只要每个人都作出贡献，我们就不必再忍受这个问题的困扰了。

30.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热浪造成的雾里。

然而，我向四周看了一下，马上预见到了潜在的危险，也发现了我们的安全毫无保障。令人不舒服的气体几乎使我们失去知觉，忧虑的汗水开始流淌下来。我们努力使自己不要惊慌和颤抖，迅速穿上保护套装、头盔和靴子，最后成功前往安全的地方。尽管我珍贵的设备和文件都烧得精光，但是我们真的非常幸运。