【導讀】on6April,1992,whenhediedasaresultofanHIVinfectionthathehadgotfromabloodtransfusionnineyearsearlier.WhenAsimovwasthree,hemovedwithhisparentsandhisone-year-oldsistertoNewYorkCity.Therehisparentsboughtacandystorewhichtheyranforthenext40orsoyears.Attheageofnine,whenhismotherwaspregnantwithherthirdchild,Asimovstartedworkingpart-timeinthestore.Hehelpedoutthroughhisscholanduniversityyearsuntil1942,ayeara

　　

【正文】 l ers down i nto the depths of the sea. The m en started turni ng the boat around to go hom e. “What’s happened?” I asked. “H ave we l ost the whal e?” “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, laughing. ● ● ● Al though O l d Tom and the other ki l ers were fierce hunters, they never harmed or attacked peopl e. In fact, they protected them . There was one day when we were out in the bay duri ng a hunt and James was washed off the boat. “ Man overboard! Turn the boat around!” urged Gee, shouting l oudly. The sea was rough that day and it was diffi cul t to handle the boat. The waves were carryi ng James further and further away from us. From James’s face, I coul d see he was teri fied of being abandoned by us. Then suddenly I saw a shark. “Look, there’s a shark out there,” 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