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

At the age of 25, Zhang Yuncheng achieved his ambition to write and publish a book. Having a book published is a great achievement for anyone, but Zhang Yuncheng's success is particularly special. Yuncheng went to school for only one day and he did not start learning¹ to read until he was 12 years old. Even more amazing, every character the young author writes causes him pain.
          Yuncheng has a disease² which affects the muscles³ in his body. His parents first noticed there was something wrong with their son when he was just three years old. By the time he was seven, the boy could neither run nor jump. He could only walk. On his first day of school, Yuncheng had to watch the other students as they ran around at lunchtime. That day he caught a cold and his parents decided⁴ not to send him back to school. So Yuncheng stayed at home and over the years his condition got worse and worse. By the time he was 16 he could not walk at all, by 18 he couldn't get out of bed without help, and by the time he was 20 he could not lift his arms above his head. Yuncheng's whole world became his family and what he could see out of the window near his bed. Every movement he made caused him pain.
          However, Yuncheng's condition has not stopped him making the most of his life. When, at the age of 12, he became interested in learning to read, his brother showed him some characters. Within a few years he had taught himself thousands of Chinese characters. Yuncheng also taught himself to write and when he was 17 he wrote a letter to a newspaper describing his situation and his dream of a better life. The letter was read by Zhang Danuo, an editor at the newspaper, who was inspired by Yuncheng's spirit. The two began writing to one another and soon became friends.
          Zhang Danuo offered to help Yuncheng achieve his ambition to write a book. Every week or so he set Yuncheng a writing assignment⁵. Although he was often ill, and sometimes could hardly pick up his pen, Yuncheng kept writing and sent his finished essays to Zhang Danuo. Yuncheng was always happy when he finished an assignment. "I felt everything in the world was beautiful and how wonderful it was to live in the world," he said. Yuncheng's book describes what his life is like, what his hopes and dreams are and how he overcomes the problems he faces every day. Readers have been inspired by his courage and his good heart and his book has sold extremely⁶ well. Yuncheng says that because his life will not be a long one, he must do as much as he can in the time that is left to him.

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

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 muscles   

n.肌肉( muscle的名词复数 )；（操纵他人的）力量；权力；肌肉组织

参考例句：

• I must take some exercise and loosen up my muscles. 我必须活动活动使肌肉放松些。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Gosh! My muscles is going to ache all over tomorrow. 哎呀！明天我全身肌肉都会痛了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 assignment   

n.任务，作业；分配，指定

参考例句：

• His assignment was to follow the spy.分配给他的工作是跟踪这个间谍。
• He has got a new assignment.他得到一项新任命。

6 extremely   

adv.极其，非常，极度

参考例句：

• The film is extremely good,I just cannot miss it.这部电影太精彩了，我非看不可。
• The old man was extremely difficult to get along with.这个老人极难相与。