【正文】 re,” I screamed. “Don’t worry, O ld Tom won’t let it near, “Red replied. It took over hal f an hour to get the boat back to James, and when we approached hi m, I saw James being firml y held up in the water by O ld Tom. I couldn’t beli eve my eyes. There were shouts of “Wel l done, O ld Tom” and “Thank God” as we pul ed James back i nto the boat. And then Ol d Tom was off and back to the hunt where the other ki l ers were stil attacki ng the whal e. A NEW DIMENSION OF LIFE 19th January I’m sitti ng i n the warm ni ght ai r wi th a col d dri nk i n m y hand and refl ecti ng on the daya day of pure m agi c! I went snorkel ing on the reef offshore thi s m orni ng and i t was the m ost fantasti c thi ng I have ever done. Seei ng such extraordinary beauty, I thi nk every cel i n m y body woke up. It was l i ke di scoveri ng a whol e new di mensi on of li fe. The first thing I be e aware of was al the vi vi d col ors surroundi ng m epurpl es, reds, oranges, yel ows, bl ues and greens. The coral s were fantasti cthey were shaped li ke fans, pl ates, brai ns. Lace, m ushrom s, the branches of trees and the horns of deer. And al ki nds of sm al l, neat and el egant fi sh were swim mi ng i n and around the coral s. The fi sh di dn’t sem to mi nd m e swimm i ng am ong them . I especi al y l oved the li ttl e orange and whi te fish that hi d i n the wavi ng long thi n seaweed. And I al so loved the sm al l fish that cl ean the bodies of l arger fishI even saw them get i nsi de thei r m ouths and clean thei r teeth! It seem ed there was a surpri se waiti ng for m e around every corner as I expl ored sm al l caves, shelves and narrow passages with m y underwater fl ashl i ght: the yel ow and green parrotfi sh was hangi ng upsi de down, and sucki ng ti ny plants off the coral wi th i ts hard bi rdli ke m outh。 a yel owspotted red seasl ug was sl i di ng by a bl ue seastar: a l arge wiselooking turtle was passi ng so cl ose to m e that I coul d have touched i t. There were other creatures that I di dn’t want to get too cl ose toan eel wi th its strong sharp teeth, wi th onl y i ts head showi ng from a hol e, watchi ng for a tasty fish ( or m y tasty toe!)。 and the giant cl am hal f buri ed i n some coral wai ti ng for som ethi ng to swi m i n betwen i ts thick green l i ps. Then there were two grey reef sharks, each about one and a hal f m etres l ong, whi ch suddenl y appeared from behi nd som e coral . I tol d mysel f they weren’t dangerous but that di dn’t stop m e from feeli ng scared to death for a m om ent! The water was qui te shal ow but where the reef ended, there was a steep drop to the sandy ocean fl oor. It m arked a boundary and I thought I was very brave when I swam over the edge of the reef and hung there l ooki ng down i nto the depths of the ocean. My heart was beati ng wi l dl y I fel t very exposed i n such deep cl ear water. What a wonderful , l i m i tl ess worl d i t was down there! And what a ti ny spot I was i n thi s enorm ous worl d! Uni t 4 A LETTER H OME Dear Rosem ary, Thanks for your l etter, whi ch took a fortni ght to arri ve. It was wonderful to hear from you. I know you’re dyi ng to hear al l about m y l i fe here, so I’ve i ncl uded som e photos whi ch wi l l hel p you pi cture the pl aces I tal k about. You asked about m y hi gh school . Wel l , i t’s on 6April , 1992, when he di ed as a result of an H IV i nfecti on that he had got from a bl ood transfusi on ni ne years earli er. When Asi mov was three, he m oved with hi s parents and hi s oneyearol d si ster to N ew York City. There hi s parents bought a candy store whi ch they ran for the next 40 or so years. At the age of ni ne, when hi s m other was pregnant wi th her thi rd chi l d, Asi mov started worki ng parttim e i n the store. H e hel ped out through hi s schol and uni versity years unti l 1942, a year after he had gai ned a master’s degree in chemi stry. In 1942 he joi ned the staff of the Phil adel phi a N avy Yard as a juni or chem i st and worked there for three years. In 1948 he got hi s PhD i n chemi stry. The next year he becam e a bi ochem istry teacher a Boston Uni versi ty School of Medi ci ne. In 1958 he gave up teachi ng to be e a ful lti m e writer. It was when Asi mov was el even years ol d that hi s tal ent for wri ti ng becam e obvi ous. H e had tol d a fri end two chapters of a story he had wri tten. The fri end thought he was reteli ng a story from a book. Thi s real y surpri sed Asim ov and from that m om ent, he started to take him sel f seri ousl y as a wri ter. Asim ov began havi ng stori es publi shed i n sci ence ficti on m agazi nes i n 1939. In 1950 he publi shed hi s first novel and i n 1953 his fi rst sci ence book. Throughout his l i fe, Asim ov received m any awards, both for hi s sci ence fi cti on books and his sci ence books. Am ong hi s m ost fam ous works of sci ence fi cti on, one for whi ch he won an award was the Foundati on tril ogy (19511953), three novels about the death and rebi rth of a great em pi re i n a galaxy of the future. It was l oosel y based on the fal of the Rom an Em pi re but was about the future. These books are fam ous because Asim ov i nvented a theoretical fram ework whi ch was desi gned to show how i deas and thi nking m ay devel op i n the future. H e i s al so wel known for his col ecti on of short stori es, I, Robot (1950), i n whi ch he devel oped a set of three “l(fā) aws” for robots. For exam pl e, the first l aw states that a robot m ust not i njure hum an bei ngs or al ow them to be i njured. Som e of hi s i deas about robots l ater infl uenced other wri ters and even sci enti sts researchi ng i nto arti fi cial i ntel i gence. Asim ov was m arri ed twi ce. H e marri ed hi s fi rst wi fe i n 1942 and had a son and a daughter. Their m arri age l asted 31 years. Soon after hi s di vorce i n 1973, Asim ov m arri ed