普通高中课程标准实验教科书 英语选修7 Unit 1 Living well-Read

MARTY’S STORY
 
         Hi, my name is Marry Fielding and I guess you could say that I am "one in a million". In other words, there are not many people like me. You see, I have a muscle¹ disease² which makes me very weak, so I can't run or climb stairs as quickly as other people. In addition, sometimes I am very clumsy³ and drop things or bump⁴ into furniture. Unfortunately, the doctors don't know how to make me better, but I am very outgoing and have learned⁵ to adapt to my disability. My motto is: live One day at a time.
          Until I was ten years old I was the same as everyone else. I used to climb trees, swim and play football. In fact, I used to dream about playing professional⁶ football and possibly representing⁷ my country in the World Cup. Then I started to get weaker and weaker, until I could only enjoy football from a bench at the stadium⁸. In the end I went into hospital for medical tests. I stayed there for nearly three months. I think I had at least a billion tests, including one in which they cut out a piece of muscle from my leg and looked at it under a microscope. Even after all that, no one could give my disease a name and it is difficult to know what the future holds.
          One problem is that I don't look any different from other people. So sometimes some children in my primary school would laugh, when I got out of breath⁹ after running a short way or had to stop and rest halfway¹⁰ up the stairs. Sometimes, too, I was too weak to go to school so my education suffered. Every time I returned after an absence, I felt stupid because I was behind the others.
          My life is a lot easier at high school because my fellow students have accepted me. The few who cannot see the real person inside my body do not make me annoyed¹¹, and I just ignore them. All in all I have a good life. I am happy to have found many things I can do, like writing and computer programming¹². My ambition is to work for a firm that develops computer software when I grow up. Last year invented a computer football game and a big company has decided¹³ to buy it from me. I have a very busy life with no time to sit around feeling sorry for myself. As well as going to the movies and football matches with my friends, I spend a lot of time with my pets. I have two rabbits, a parrot, a tank full of fish and a tortoise¹⁴. To look after my pets properly takes a lot of time but I find it worthwhile. I also have to do a lot of work, especially if I have been away for a while.
          In many ways my disability has helped me grow stronger psychologically¹⁵ and become more independent. I have to work hard to live a normal life but it has been worth it. If I had a chance to say one thing to healthy children, it would be this: having a disability does not mean your life is not satisfying¹⁶. So don't feel sorry for the disabled or make fun of them, and don't ignore them either. Just accept them for who they are, and give them encouragement to live as rich and full a life as you do.
         Thank you for reading my story

1 muscle   

n.肌肉，膂力；v.硬挤

参考例句：

• The heart is made of muscle.心脏是肌肉组织。
• He is a man of muscle.他是个大力士。

2 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

3 clumsy   

adj.笨手笨脚；不圆滑的，缺乏技巧的

参考例句：

• He is clumsy with his hands.他的一双手很笨。
• Its body looks heavy and clumsy when it has eaten its fill.它步态蹒跚，吃饱了的身体更显得笨拙可笑。

4 bump   

v.（against,into）碰，颠簸；n.碰撞，隆起物

参考例句：

• I heard a bump in the next room.我听到隔壁房间传来“砰”的一声。
• He got a bad bump on his forehead.他碰得前额隆起一个大包。

5 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

6 professional   

adj.专业的；职业的；n.专业人员；职业运动员

参考例句：

• He is a professional tennis player.他是一名职业网球运动员。
• I need a professional to sort out my finances.我需要专业人士为我管理财务。

7 representing   

v.表现( represent的现在分词 )；代表；体现；作为…的代表

参考例句：

• a diagram representing a cross section of the human eye 表现人眼的剖面图
• The competition attracted over 500 contestants representing 8 different countries. 这次比赛吸引了代表8个不同国家的500多名参赛者。

8 stadium   

n.露天大型运动场

参考例句：

• The new football stadium can hold eighty thousand people.新的足球场可以容纳八万人。
• The stadium is being used for a match.那个露天运动场正在进行一场比赛。

9 breath   

n.呼吸，气息，微风，迹象，精神，一种说话的声音

参考例句：

• I'm just going out for a breath of fresh air.我正要出去呼吸新鲜空气。
• While climbing up the stairs the old man always loses his breath.那老人上楼时总是气喘吁吁的。

10 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

11 annoyed   

adj.烦恼的，恼怒的，生气的，恼火的

参考例句：

• I imagine she was pretty annoyed when she found out.我想她发现此事后一定很生气。
• He was annoyed with complaints made from outside.他因外界的种种怨言而感到烦恼。

12 programming   

n.编程，规划， 设计

参考例句：

• There are some programming errors that need correction.有一些程式错误需要修改。
• He asked his teacher to expand on the steps of programming.他要老师进一步阐述编制程序的步骤。

13 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

14 tortoise   

n.龟，乌龟

参考例句：

• The tortoise wins the race while the hare is sleeping.兔子正睡觉时，乌龟赢得了比赛。
• A tortoise has a shell on his back.乌龟背上有硬壳。

15 psychologically   

adv.心理上地，心理学地

参考例句：

• This explanation fits the facts and is psychologically plausible. 这一解释与事实相符，从心理角度看也有理。
• Boys mature more slowly than girls,both physically and psychologically. 在生理和心理上，男孩比女孩成熟得晚些。

16 satisfying   

adj.令人满意的，令人满足的v.使满意，满足( satisfy的现在分词)

参考例句：

• It's satisfying to play a game really well. 一种游戏玩得特别好是一桩惬意的事。
• The book is more satisfying if you read each chapter in sequence. 这本书依次读各章会更好。 来自《简明英汉词典》