AWingandaPrayer
格倫·沃森/GlenWasson
AceintheHole
Understandthesenewwordsbeforeyoureadthisarticle.
1.unwrap['?n'r?p]v.打開,展開,解開
2.turbulent['t?:bjul?nt]adj.洶湧的;狂暴的
3.persistent[p?'sist?nt]adj.堅持不懈的;固執的
4.intimidated[in'timideitid]adj.害怕的;受到恐嚇的
5.beguile[bi'gail]v.欺騙,誆騙
6.peculiarity[pi,kju:li'?riti]n.特質,怪癖,特性
Oneafternoonafewsummersago,Ihadbeenclearingbrushinthemountainsforseveralhoursanddecidedtorewardmyselfwithlunch.Sittingonalog,Iunwrappedasandwichandsurveyedtheruggedscenery.Twoturbulentstreamsjoinedtoformaclear,deeppoolbeforeroaringdownaheavilywoodedcanyon.
Myidyllwouldhavebeenperfecthaditnotbeenforapersistentbeethatbeganbuzzingaroundme.Thebeewasofthecommonvarietythatplaguespicnickers.Withoutthinking,Ibrusheditaway.
Nottheleastintimidated,thebeecamebackandbuzzedmeagain.Now,losingpatience,Iswattedthepesttothegroundandcruncheditintothesandwithmyboot.
MomentslaterIwasstartledbyaminorexplosionofsandatmyfeet.Mytormentoremergedwithitswingsbuzzingfuriously.ThistimeItooknochances.Istoodupandgroundtheinsectintothesandwithallmy210pounds.
OncemoreIsatdowntomylunch.AfterseveralminutesIbecameawareofaslightmovementnearmyfeet.Abrokenbutstilllivingbeewasfeeblyemergingfromthesand.
Beguiledbyitssurvival,Ileaneddowntosurveythedamage.Therightwingwasrelativelyintact,buttheleftwascrumpledlikeapieceofpaper.Nevertheless,thebeekeptexercisingthewingsslowlyupanddown,asthoughassessingthedamage.Italsobegantogroomitssand-encrustedthoraxandabdomen.
Nextthebeeturneditsattentiontothebentleftwing,rapidlysmoothingthewingbyrunningitslegsdownthelength.Aftereachstraighteningsession,thebeebuzzeditswingsasiftotestthelift.Thishopelesscripplethoughtitcouldstillfly!Igotdownonmyhandsandkneestobetterseethesefutileattempts.Closerscrutinyconfirmedthebeewasfinished—itmustbefinished.Asaveteranpilot,Iknewagooddealaboutwings.
Butthebeepaidnoattentiontomysuperiorwisdom.Itseemedtobegainingstrengthandincreasingthetempoofitsrepairs.Thebentveinsthatstiffenedthegossamerwingwerenearlystraightnow.
Atlastthebeefeltsufficientlyconfidenttoattemptatrialflight.Withanaudiblebuzzitreleaseditsgripontheearth—andflewintoariseinthesandnotmorethanthreeinchesaway.Thelittlecreaturehitsohardthatittumbled.Morefranticsmoothingandflexingfollowed.
Againthebeeliftedoff,thistimeflyingsixinchesbeforehittinganothermound.Apparentlythebeehadregainedtheliftinitswingsbuthadnotmasteredthedirectionalcontrols.Likeapilotlearningthepeculiaritiesofastrangeairplane,itexperimentedwithshorthopsthatendedignominiously.Aftereachcrashthebeeworkedfuriouslytocorrectthenewlydiscoveredstructuraldeficiencies.
Oncemoreittookoff,thistimeclearingthesandbutheadingstraighttowardastump.Narrowlyavoidingit,thebeerecheckeditsforwardspeed,circledandthendriftedslowlyoverthemirrorlikesurfaceofthepoolasiftoadmireitsownreflection.Asthebeedisappeared,IrealizedthatIwasstillonmyknees,andIremainedonmykneesforsometime.
幾年前的一個下午，我在山上開墾荒地，接連幹了幾個小時。此時，我決定用吃午飯來犒勞自己。我坐到一根圓木上，一邊打開一包三明治，一邊欣賞著周圍險峻的山景。只見兩條湍急的小溪匯合到一起，形成了一個清澈無比、深不見底的水潭，之後，潭水順著一片樹木叢生的峽谷洶湧直瀉而下。
假如不是一隻蜜蜂繞著我不停地嗡嗡地飛，我田園詩般的心情必定會完美至極。那是一隻很普通的愛讓野餐者掃興的蜜蜂。沒有片刻的思考，我一下把它趕跑了。
這只蜜蜂非但沒有被嚇到，反而又飛了回米，繞著我嗡嗡地飛了起來。現在，我可沒有耐心來忍耐它了，我猛地一下把它打落在地，一腳踩了下去，它嘎吱一聲被碾進了沙土裡。
沒過多久，我腳旁邊的沙土裡發生了一次小爆炸，這令我大為震驚。那個令我感到苦惱的東西從沙土裡鑽了出來，用它的翅膀瘋狂地扑打著。這次，我沒有給它留下任何機會。我站了起來，用我210磅的體重將這隻小蟲子碾進了土裡。
我再次坐下來開始吃午餐。過了幾分鐘，我覺得腳旁邊有什麼東西微微動了一下。一隻身體遭到破壞卻依然活著的蜜蜂從沙土裡有氣無力地鑽了出來。
它的倖存引起了我的興趣，我俯身對它所受的傷害仔細看了看。右邊的翅膀相對來說還比較完整，然而左邊的翅膀已經遭到了重創，就像一張被揉皺的紙。儘管如此，那只蜜蜂還在一刻不停地慢慢地上下活動著它的翅膀，就像在估量著它所受的傷害。它還開始修整沾滿了沙子的胸部和腹部。
接下來，蜜蜂將注意力轉向了那被折彎的左邊的翅膀，它用腿不停地撫平整個翅膀，迅速平整了翅膀。在每次整理完後，這只蜜蜂就嗡嗡地扑打著翅膀，彷彿在檢驗升力。這只毫無希望的廢物竟然以為它還能飛起來！
我把雙手撐在地上，跪了下去，為的是能更好地觀看這些毫無結果的努力。經過更為仔細的觀察，我得出結論：這只蜜蜂死定了——它肯定完了。作為一個老飛行員，我對翅膀瞭解得相當透徹。
然而那只蜜蜂對我高超的學識置若罔聞。看上去，它正在漸漸恢復力量，而且加快了修整的步伐。此刻，它那薄紗般的翅膀變得堅挺起來，彎曲了的翅脈快要伸直了。
最後，蜜蜂感覺有足夠的信心能夠嘗試飛起來了。隨著一陣嗡嗡聲，它從地面飛了起來，接著一頭撞在了不足3英吋外的沙堆上。這個小生命遭到了嚴重的撞擊，它接連翻了幾個觔斗。接下來，它多次瘋狂地梳理和伸展著翅膀。
這只蜜蜂又一次飛了起來，這次它飛了6英吋之後再次撞倒在另一個土墩上。顯而易見的是，蜜蜂的翅膀恢復了升力，可是它尚未掌握好控制方向的機制。就像一名飛行員想要弄清楚一架生疏的飛機的特性一樣，它試著作了幾次短途飛行，然而均以屈辱告終。每碰撞一次，那只蜜蜂便會瘋狂地活動起來，來糾正新發現的結構上的缺陷。
它再一次飛了起來，這一次它越過了沙丘，向著一根樹樁筆直地飛去。它勉強躲過了樹樁，接著放慢飛行的速度，轉了幾個圈，然後在明澈如鏡的水潭上空緩緩飄過，像是在欣賞自己的倒影。那只蜜蜂消失在遠方之後，我意識到自己依然跪在地上，並且一直跪了很長時間。
LearningforBetterUnderstanding
Readthepassagecarefully,andthenanswerthefollwingquestions.
1.Whatdoestheauthorprobablydo?
______
2.Whydoestheauthorremainonhiskneeforalongtime?
SeizeYourTime
Accordingtothespeech,matcheachofthefollowingverbswithits
meaning.
(1) unwrapa.tocausepainortroubletosb/sthoveraperiodoftime
(2) plagueb.tomakeajudgementaboutthenatureorqualityofsb/sth
(3) crunchc.toremovethepaper,plasticetcthatisaroundsomething
(4) assessd.tomakeasoundlikesomethingbeingcrushed
PracticingforBetterLearning
Dothefollowingstatementsagreewiththeinformationinthereading
text?
Write
TRUEifthestatementagreeswiththeinformation
FALSEifthestatementcontradictstheinformation
____(1)Iwashavinglunchwhenthebeebuzzedaroundme.
____(2)Thebeecamebackfortwice.
____(3)ThebeecannotflyagainwhenIgrounditintothesand.