【正文】 even thei r horses were qui t. There were no shouts or peopl e doi ng crazy thi ngs. In al those terri bl e hours I saw not one wom an who cri ed, not one m an who was exci ted. Before the fi res, through the ni ght, thousands and thousands of peopl e who had l ost thei r homes l eft for safety. Som e were covered i n bl ankets. Som etim es whol e fami li es put everythi ng they owned and coul d save into wagons. They helped one another clim b the high hil s around the city. Never in al SanFrsncio’s histroy were her peopl e so kind as on that terri bl e ni ght. Uni t 5 Elias’ story My nam e is El i as. I am a por worker i n SouthAfri ca. The tim e when I first m et N elson Mandel a was a very di fficul t peri od of m y li fe. I was twel ve years ol d. It was i n 1952 and Mandel a was the bl ack l awyer to whom I went for advi ce. H e offered gui dance to poor bl ack peopl e on thei r l egal problem s. H e was generous wi th his ti me, for whi ch I was grateful . I needed hi s hel p because I had very li ttl e educati on. I began school at si x. The school where I studi ed for onl y two years was three kil om eters away. I had to l eave because m y fam il y coul d not conti nue to pay the school fees and the bus fare. I coul d not read or wri te wel. After 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 passbook to li ve 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 elson 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 Mandel a was. When he ani zed the AN C Youth League, I joi ned i t as soon as I coul d. H e sai d: “ The last thi rty 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 al most no ri ghts at al l. ” It was the truth. Black 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 in whi ch they had to li 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. No one coul d grow food there,. In fact as N el son Mandel a sai d: “… We were put into a posi ti on i n whi ch we had ei ther to accept we were l ess im 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。No newspaper men, no f il m fans! Why don39。t be bet ter, Gl ori a, 39。 sai d Gl or ia Gleam. 39。 when thi s was not al l owed… onl y then di d we deci de to answer vi ol ence wi th viol ence. ” As a m atter of fact, I do not l i ke vi ol ence… but in 1963 I hel ped him bl ow up som e governm ent buil dings. It was very dangerous because i f I was caught I coul d be put in pri son. But I was very happy to help because I knew i t would help us achi eve our dream of making bl ack and whi te peopl e equal. The rest of Eli as’ story You cannot imagi ne how the nam e of Robben Isl and made us afraid. It was a prison from whi ch no one escaped. There I spent the hardest tim e of m y li fe. But when I got there N elson Mandel a was al so there and he hel ped me. Mr Mandela began a school for those of us who had l ittle learning. We read books under our blankets and used anything we coul d fi nd to m ake candl es to see the words. I became a good student. I wanted to study oon di scover ed, di sguises can somet imes be t oo per fect. 39。 when thi s was not al l owed… onl y then di d we deci de to answer vi ol ence wi th viol ence. ” As a m atter of fact, I do not l i ke vi ol ence… but in 1963 I hel ped him bl ow up som e governm ent buil dings. It was very dangerous because i f I was caught I coul d be put in pri son. But I was very happy to help because I knew i t would help us achi eve our dream of making bl ack and whi te peopl e equal. The rest of Eli as’ story You cannot imagi ne how the nam e of Robben Isl and made us afraid. It was a prison from whi ch no one escaped. There I spent the hardest tim e of m y li fe. But when I got there N elson Mandel a was al so there and he hel ped me. Mr Mandela began a school for those of us who had l ittle learning. We read books under our blankets and used anything we coul d fi nd to m ake candl es to see the words. I became a good student. I wanted to study away. O nethird of the nati on felt i t . A huge crack that was ei ght ki l om etres l ong and thirty m etres wi de cut across houses, roads and canals. Steam burst from holes i n the ground. H ard hil ls of rock becam e ri vers of di rt. In fi fteen terri bl e seconds a l arge l ay i n rui ns. The sufferi ng of the peopl e was extrem e. Towthi rds of them di ed or were i njured duri ng the earthquake. Thounds of fami li es were kil l ed and many chi dren were l eft wi thout parents. The num ber of peopl e who were ki l ed or i njured reached more than 400, 000. But how coul d the survivors bel ieve it was natural ?Everywhere they l ooked nearl y everything was destroyed. Al of the city’s hospi tal s, 75% of i ts factori es and bui l di ngs and 90% of its hom es were gone. Bri cks covered the ground li ke red autum n l eaves. N o wi nd, however, coul d bel ow they away. Two dam s and m ost of the bri dges also fel or were not safe for travel i ng. The rail way tracks were now useless pi eces of stel. Tens of thousands of cows woul d never gi ve m il k agai n. H al f a mi l i on pi gs and mi l i ons of chi ckens were dead. Sand now fi l ed the wel s i nstead of water. Peopl e were shocked. Then l ater that afternoon, another bi g quake whi ch was alm ost as strong as the fi rst one shook Tangshan. Som e of the rescue workers and doctors were trapped under the rui ns. More buil di ngs fel down