【正文】 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 scream ed. “Don’t worry, O l d Tom won’t l et i t near, “Red repl i ed. It took over hal f an hour to get the boat back to Jam es, and when we approached him , I saw Jam es being fi rm l y hel d up in the water by Ol d Tom. I coul dn’t bel ieve m y eyes. There were shouts of “Wel done, O l d Tom” and “Thank God” as we pul ed Jam es back into the boat. And then O l d Tom was off and back to the hunt where the other ki l ers were stil atacki ng the whal e. A NEW DIMENSION OF LIFE 19th January I’m sitting i n the warm ni ght ai r wi th a col d drink i n m y hand and refl ecti ng on the daya day of pure m agi c! I went snorkeli ng on the reef offshore thi s m orni ng and i t was the m ost fantastic thi ng I have ever done. Seei ng such extraordi nary beauty, I thi nk every cel l i n m y body woke up. It was li ke di scoveri ng a whol e new dim ensi on of l i fe. The fi rst thi ng I be e aware of was al l the vivi d colors surroundi ng m epurpl es, reds, oranges, yel l ows, bl ues and greens. The coral s were fantasticthey were shaped li ke fans, pl ates, brai ns. Lace, m ushroom s, the branches of trees and the horns of deer. And al ki nds of sm al , 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 i tl e orange and white fi sh that hi d i n 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 their m ouths and cl ean their teeth! It seem ed there was a surpri se wai ti ng for m e around every corner as I explored sm al caves, shel ves and narrow passages wi th m y underwater fl ashli ght: the yel l ow and green parrotfi sh was hangi ng upsi de down, and sucki ng ti ny pl ants off the coral wi th its hard bi rdl ike m outh。 and the gi ant cl am hal f buri ed in som e coral wai ti ng for som ethi ng to swim i n between its thi ck 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 myself they weren’t dangerous but that di dn’t stop me from feeli ng scared to death for a m om ent! The water was quite shal ow but where the reef ended, there was a steep drop to the sandy ocean floor. It marked a boundary and I thought I was very brave when I swam over the edge of the reef and hung there looki ng down i nto the depths of the ocean. My heart was beating wil dly I fel t very exposed in such dep clear water. What a wonderful, l imi tless worl d it was down there! And what a tiny spot I was in thi s enormous world! Unit 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 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