【正文】 that som ethi ng was happeni ng. As we drew cl oser, I coul d see a whal e bei ng atacked by a pack of about si x other kil l ers. “What’re they doi ng?” I asked Gee. “Wel, i t’s team work the ki 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 stoppi ng 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 thi ng happened. The ki l ers started racing between our boat and the shal e just li ke a pack of exci ted dogs. Then the harpoon was ready and the m an in the bow of the boat ai m ed i t at the whal e. He l et i t go and the harpoon hi t the spot. Bei ng badly wounded, the whal e soon di ed. Wi thi n a m om ent or two, i ts body was dragged swiftly by the kil l ers down into the depths of the sea. The m en started turni ng the boat around to go hom e. “What’s hapened?” I asked. “H ave we l ost the whal e?” “O h no, ” Jack repl i ed. “We’l l return tom orrow to bring i n the body. It won’t fl oat up to the surface for around 24 hours. ” “ In the m eanti me, Ol d Tom, and the others are havi ng a good fed on its l i ps and tongue,” added Red, l aughi ng. ● ● ● Al though Ol d Tom and the other ki l ers were fi erce hunters, they never harm ed or atacked 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 of the boat. “ Man overboard! Turn the boat around!” urged Gee, shouti ng l oudl y. The sea was rough that day and it was diffi cul t to handl e the boat. The waves were caryi ng Jam es further and further away from us. From Jam es’ face, I coul d see he was terri fi ed of bei ng abandoned by us. Then suddenl y I saw a shark. “Look, there’s a shark out there, ” I scream ed. “Don’t worry, O l d Tom won’t l et i t near, “Red repl i ed. It took over half an hour to get the boat back to Jam es, and when we approached hi m, I saw James bei ng fi rml y hel d up i n the water by O l d Tom . I coul dn’t beli eve m y eyes. There were shouts of “Wel done, Ol d Tom ” and “Thank God” as we pul l ed Jam es back i nto the boat. And then O l d Tom was off and back to the hunt where the other ki l ers were stil l atacking the whal e. A NEW DIMENSION OF LIFE 19th January I’m si tti ng i n the warm night 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 agic! I went snorkel i ng on the reef offshore thi s m orni ng and i t was the m ost fantasti c thing I have ever done. Seei ng such extraordi nary beauty, I think every cel i n m y body woke up. It was l i ke discoveri ng a whol e new di m ensi on of li fe. The first thi ng 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 ushrooms, the branches of trees and the horns of deer. And al ki nds of smal , neat and el egant fi sh were swimm i ng in and around the coral s. The fi sh di dn’t seem to m i nd m e swi mmi ng am ong them. I especi al l y loved the l ittl e orange and white fi sh that hi d in the wavi ng l ong thi n seaweed. And I al so l oved the sm al fi sh that cl ean the bodi es of l arger fi shI even saw them get i nsi de thei r m ouths and cl ean 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 hanging upsi de down, and sucki ng tiny pl ants off the coral wi th i ts hard bi rdl i ke m outh。on 6April , 1992, when he di ed as a result of an H IV infecti on that he had got from a bl ood transfusi on ni ne years earl ier. When Asim ov was three, he m oved wi th his parents and hi s 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 ni ne, when hi s m other was pregnant wi th her thi rd chil d, Asi m 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 chemi stry. In 1942 he joi ned the staff of the Phil adel phi a N avy Yard as a juni or chem ist 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 Universi ty School of Medi cine. In 1958 he gave up teachi ng to bee a ful l tim e wri ter. It was when Asim ov was el even years ol d that his 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 fri end thought he was retel li 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 fi cti on m agazi nes i n 1939. In 1950 he publ ished hi s fi rst novel and i n 1953 hi s first science book. Throughout hi s li fe, Asi m ov recei ved m any awards, both for hi s sci ence fi cti on books and hi s science books. Am ong hi s most famous works of sci ence fi cti on, one for whi ch he won an award was the Foundati on tril ogy (1951 1953), three novel s about the death and rebi rth of a great em pi re i n a gal axy 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 Asi mov i nvented a theoreti cal fram ework whi ch was designed to show how i deas and thinki ng m ay devel op i n the future. H e i s also wel l known for his col l ection 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 i njure hum an bei ngs or al l ow them to be injured. Som e of hi s