【正文】 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 m ov was thre, he m oved with hi s parents and his oneyearol d si ster to N ew York Ci ty. There hi s parents bought a candy store whi ch they ran for the next 40 or so years. At the age of nine, when hi s mother was pregnant with her thi rd chil d, Asim ov started worki ng parttim e i n the store. H e hel ped out through hi s school and uni versi ty years until 1942, a year after he had gai ned a m aster’s degree i n chem i stry. In 1942 he joi ned the staf of the Phil adel phia N avy Yard as a juni or chemi st and worked there for three years. In 1948 he got hi s PhD i n chem i stry. The next year he becam e a bi ochemi stry teacher a Boston Uni versi ty School of Medi ci ne. In 1958 he gave up teaching to be e a ful tim e wri ter. It was when Asim ov was el even years ol d that hi s tal ent for writi ng becam e obvious. H e had tol d a fri end two chapters of a story he had wri tten. The friend thought he was retel i ng a story from a book. This real y surpri sed Asim ov and from that m om ent, he started to take him sel f seri ously as a writer. Asim ov began havi ng stori es publ i shed i n sci ence fi cti on m agazi nes i n 1939. In 1950 he publ i shed hi s fi rst novel and i n 1953 hi s fi rst sci ence book. Throughout hi s li fe, Asim ov received m any awards, both for hi s sci ence ficti on books and hi s 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 tri l ogy (19511953), three novel s about the death and rebi rth of a great em pi re in a gal axy of the future. It was l osel y based on the fal l of the Rom an Em pi re but was about the future. These books are fam ous because Asi m ov i nvented a theoreti cal fram ework whi ch was designed 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 hi s 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 fi rst l aw states that a robot m ust not injure hum an bei ngs or al l ow them to be i njured. Som e of hi s i deas about robots l ater i nfluenced other writers and even sci enti sts researchi ng i nto arti fi ci al i ntel igence. . Asim ov was m ari ed twice. He m arri ed hi s first wi fe i n 1942 and had a son and a daughter. Thei r m ari age l asted 31 years. Soon after hi s di vorce i n 1973, Asim ov m arri ed agai n but he had no chil dren with hi s second wi fe. Unit 3 OLD TOM TH E KILLER WH ALE I was 16 when I began work i n June1902 at the whal i ng stati on. I had heard of the kil l ers that every year hel ped whal ers catch huge whal es. I thought, at the ti m e, that thi s was just a story but then I wi tnesed i t wi th my won eyes many tim es. O n the afternoon I arri ved at the stati on, as I was sorti ng out m y ac m odati on, I heard a loud noi se i ng from the bay. We ran down to the shore i n tim e to see an enorm ous anim al opposi te us throwi ng i tsel f out of the water and then crashi ng down agai n. It was bl ack and whi te and fi shshaped. But I knew it wasn’t a fi sh. “That’s Ol d Tom, the kil er,” one of the whal ers. Gee, cal ed out to m e. “He’s tel li ng us there’s a whale out there for us. ” Another whal er yel ed out, “Rushoo…rushoo. ” Thi s was the cal that announced there was about to be a whale hunt. “Com e on, Cl ancy. To the boat,” Gee sai d as he ran ahead of me. I had al ready heard that Gee di dn’t l i ke being kept wai ting, so even though I di dn’t have the ri ght cl othes on, I raced after hi m. Without pausi ng we jum ped i nto the boat wi th the other whal ers and headed out i nto the bay. I looked down i nto the water and coul d see Ol d Tom swimm i ng by the boat, showi ng us the way. A few m inutes l ater, there was no Tom, so Gee started beati ng the water wi th hi s oar and there was Tom, ci rcl i ng back to the boat, l eadi ng us to the hunt agai n. Using a tel escope we coul d see that som ethi ng was happening. As we drew cl oser, I coul d see a whal e bei ng attacked by a pack of about si x other kil l ers. “What’re they doi ng?” I asked Gee. “Wel l, i t’s team work the kil l ers over there are throwi ng them sel ves on top of the whal e’s bl owhol e to stop i t breathi ng. And those others are stopping i t di vi ng or fl eei ng out to sea,” Gee tol d m e, poi nti ng towards the hunt. And just at that m om ent, the m ost extraordi nary thing hapened. The kil l ers started raci ng between our boat and the shal e just l i ke a pack of exci ted dogs. Then the harpoon was ready and the m an i n the bow of the boat aim ed i t at the whal e. H e l et i t go and the harpon hi t the spot. Bei ng badl y wounded, the whal e son di ed. Wi thi n a m oment or two, i ts body was dragged swi ftl y by the ki l ers down i nto the depths of the sea. The m en started turni ng the boat around to go home. “What’s happened?” I asked. “H ave we l ost the whale?” “O h no, ” Jack repli ed. “We’l l return tom orrow to bri ng i n the body. It won’t fl oat up to the surface for around 24 hours. ” “ In the m eanti m e, Ol d Tom , and the others are havi ng a good feed on i ts li ps and tongue,” added Red, l aughi ng. ● ● ● Although Ol d Tom and the other kil l ers were fi erce hunters, they never harm ed or attacked peopl e. In fact, they protected them. There was one day when we were out i n the bay duri ng a hunt and Jam es was washed off the boat. “ Man overboard! Turn the boat around!” urged Gee, shouti ng l oudl y. The sea was rough that day and i t was di ffi cul t to handl e the boat. The waves were carryi ng Jam es further and further away from us. From Jam es’ face, I coul d see he was terri fied of being abandoned by us. Then suddenly I saw a shark. “Look, there’s a shark out there, ” I s