【導讀】couldsaveintowagons.Theyhelpedoneanotherclimbthehighhillsaroundthecity.NeverinallSanFrsncio’shistroywereherpeoplesokindasonthatterriblenight.Unit5Elias’storyMynameisElias.IamapoorworkerinSouthAfrica.ThetimewhenIfirstmetNelsonMandelawasaverydifficultperiodofmylife.Iwastwelveyearsold.Itwasin1952andMandelawastheblacklawyertowhomIwentforadvice.Heofferedguidancetopoorblackpeopleontheirlegalproblems.Hew

　　

【正文】 er tryi ng hard, I got a job i n a gol d mi ne. H owever, this was a tim e when one had to got to have a pasbook to l ive i n Johannesburg. Sadl y I di d not have i t because I was not born there, and I worri ed about whether I woul d be e out of work. The day when N el son Mandel a hel ped m e was one of m y happi est. H e tol d m e how to get the correct papers so I coul d stay i n Johannesburg. I becam e m ore hopeful about m y future. I never fot how ki nd Mandela was. When he ani zed the AN C Youth League, I joi ned it as soon as I coul d. H e sai d: “ The l ast thirty years have seen the greatest num ber of l aws stoppi ng our ri ghts and progress, unti l today we have reached a stage where we have alm ost no ri ghts at al .” It was the truth. Bl ack peopl e coul d not vote or choose thei r l eaders. They coul d not get the jobs they wanted. The parts of town i n whi ch they had to l i ve were deci ded by whi te peopl e. The pl aces outsi de the towns where they were sent to li ve were the poorest parts of South Afri ca. N o one coul d grow food there,. In fact as Nel son Mandel a sai d: “… We were put i nto a positi on i n whi ch we had ei ther to accept we were l es i m portant, or fi ght the governm ent. We chose to attack the laws. We fi rst broke the l aw i n a way whi ch was peaceful。 when this was not al owed… onl y then di d we deci de to answer vi ol ence wi th vi ol ence. ” As a matter of fact, I do not li ke vi ol ence… but i n 1963 I helped hi m bl ow up som e governm ent bui l di ngs. It was very dangerous because i f I was caught I coul d be put i n pri son. But I was very happy to hel p because I knew i t woul d hel p us achi eve our dream of m aki ng bl ack and white peopl e equal . The rest of El ias’ story You canot im agine how the nam e of Robben Isl and m ade us afrai d. It was a pri son from whi ch no one escaped. There I spent the hardest tim e of m y l i fe. But when I got there Nel son Mandela was also there and he helped m e. Mr Mandel a began a school for those of us who had li ttl e l earni ng. We read boks under our bl ankets and used anythi ng we coul d fi nd to m ake candl es to see the words. I becam e a good student. I wanted to study for degree but I was not al owed to do that. Later, Mr Mandel a al owed the pri son guards to joi n us. H e sai d they shoul d not be stopped from studying for thei r degrees. They were not cl everer than m e, but they di d pas thei r exam s. So I knew I coul d get a degree too. That made m e feel good about m ysel f. When I fi ni shed the four years in pri son, I went to fi nd a job. Si nce I was better educated, I got a job worki ng i n an offi ce. H owever, the poli ce found out and tol d m y boss that I had ben i n pri son for bl owi ng up governm ent bui l di ngs. So I l ost m y job. I di d not work agai n for twenty years unti l Mr Mandel a and the AN C cam e to power in 1994. Al l that ti m e m y wi fe and chil dren had to beg for food and hel p from rel atives or fri ends. Lucki l y Mr Mandel a rem em bered m e and gave m e a job taki ng touri sts around m y ol d pri son on Robben Island. I felt bad the first tim e I tal ked to a group. Al the terror and fear of that ti m e cam e back to m e. I rem em bered the beatings and the cruel ty of the guards and m y fri ends who had di ed. I fel t I woul d not be abl e to do i t, but m y fam il y encouraged m e. They sai d that the job and the pay from the new South Afri ca governm ent were my reward after worki ng al l m y l i fe for equal rights for the Bl acks. So now at 51 I am proud to show vi si tors over the pri son, for I helped to m ake our peopl e free i n their own l and. A fol ower of Bi l Gates I have been a fri end of Bil l Gates for a l ong ti me. I knew hi m when he was a student at Harvard Uni versity. We were surpri sed when he l eft Uni versi ty to set up hi s own pany” Mi crosoft” and make hi s own software. But he was the cl ever one! H e i s very good at writi ng puter l anguages and al most al puters now use Mi crosoft software. The program “Word” i s used from Bri tai n to Chi na! O f course he has m ade a l ot of m oney and that m akes peopl e very jeal ous. They want to stop his success. Even the governm ent i s agai nst him and has tri ed to break hi s pany into two parts. They say that he i s unfai r to other people who want to sel sim il ar software. Because hefi ts hi s new software free in every new puter, the governm ent says he is stoppi ng other pani es from sel ing thei r programs. Thi s is not fai r. Everyone shoul d be able to do what they can to m ake their pany bi gger. Bi l Gates has not onl y done what he can to stop other peti tors. H e i s very ri ch, but he is generous. H e has gi ven m il li ons of dol ars to help the educati on and the health of m any chil dren around the worl d. You coul d not m eet a better man than Bi l Gates. A peti tors of Bi l Gates Bil Gates has been very sucessful and be e very ri ch. H e i s very generous but how has he got hi s m oney? H e has down thi s by m aki ng sure that no one else wi l be abl e to pete with hi s software. Hi s software i s not the best but i t i s used m ost wi del y i n the worl d. When he sees what i s needed, he makes a program and produces i t qui cker than anybody el se. That way he gets a large part of the software m arket. Then he works on im provi ng the software l ater. H e tri es hard to stop others m aki ng beter software. In 1995 the governm ent tri ed to m ake thi ngs fai rer for peopl e li ke m e. The governm ent wanted to m ake Mi crosoft i nto two pani es so that nei ther of them was so strong nor so ri ch. Thi s m eant that they coul d not stop som ebody el se m aki ng new software. I al ways wonder how he coul d get so rich so qui ckl y. Has he done it by fai r m eans? O r has he done it by being a puter bul l y? 必修二 Uni t 1 In search of the am ber room Frederick Wil