【正文】 i m in between i ts thi ck gren l i ps. Then there were two grey reef sharks, each about one and a hal f metres l ong, whi ch suddenl y appeared from behind som e coral . I tol d m ysel 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 quite shal ow but where the reef ended, there was a steep drop to the sandy ocean fl oor. It marked a boundary and I thought I was very brave when I swam over the edge of the reef and hung there looking down into 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 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 i deas about robots later i nfl uenced other wri ters and even sci enti sts researchi ng i nto arti fi ci al i ntel i gence. Asim ov was m arri ed twi ce. H e m arri ed hi s fi rst wi fe i n 1942 and had a son and a daughter. Thei r m ari age l asted 31 years. Son after hi s divorce i n 1973, Asi m ov m arri ed again but he had no chi l dren wi th hi s second wife. Uni t 3 OLD TOM TH E KILLER WH ALE I was 16 when I began work in June1902 at the whali ng stati on. I had heard of the kil l ers that every year hel ped whal ers catch huge whal es. I thought, at the ti m e, that this was just a story but then I wi tnessed i t with m y won eyes m any tim es. O n the afternoon I ari ved at the stati on, as I was sorti ng out m y acm odati on, I heard a l oud noi se i ng from the bay. We ran down to the shore i n tim e to see an enorm ous ani mal opposi te us throwi ng i tsel f out of the water and then crashi ng down agai n. It was bl ack and whi te and fishshaped. But I knew it wasn’t a fi sh. “That’s Ol d Tom , the kil er,” one of the whal ers. Gee, cal ed out to m e. “He’s tel li ng us there’s a whal e out there for us.” Another whal er yel ed out, “Rushoo…rushoo. ” Thi s was the cal that announced there was about to be a whal e hunt. “Com e on, Cl ancy. To the boat, ” Gee sai d as he ran ahead of m e. I had al ready heard that Gee di dn’t li ke bei ng kept wai ti ng, so even though I di dn’t have the ri ght cl othes on, I raced after him. Wi thout pausi ng we jum ped i nto the boat wi th the other whal ers and headed out i nto the bay. I l ooked down i nto the water and coul d see O l d Tom swi mmi ng by the boat, showi ng us the way. A few mi nutes l ater, there was no Tom , so Gee started beati ng the water wi th his oar and there was Tom, ci rcli ng back to the boat, l eadi ng us to the hunt agai n. Usi ng a tel escope we coul d se 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.