I AM AN IRONMAN

⊙ By Turia Pitt 翻译：Wendy

I AM AN IRONMAN

我是铁人

⊙ By Turia Pitt 翻译：Wendy

听力难度

澳式发音 适合精听语速：150词/分钟

常人很难想象一个广受欢迎的励志演讲人，一个参加各式长跑为慈善事业募捐的人会是一个曾经遭遇全身大面积烧伤，被医生断言愈后不可能再次行走的人。本文的主人公图里亚·皮特是一个不信邪的人，先后经历了超过两百次植皮和整容手术的她以乐观向上的态度和顽强的精神感动了澳大利亚。

Never tell Turia Pitt she can’t do something because she will quickly1)prove you very wrong.

Turia: We like our comfort zone because it feels warm inside, but you can’t improve if you always play it safe.

In September, 2011, Turia became trapped in a2)horrific grass fire, while running the 100-kilometre Kimberley Ultramarathon. She suffered burns to 65% of her body and has since3)undergone more than 1004)operations.

It was a5)miracle Turia survived, but she says she had too much to live for. Her6)unwavering determination has inspired the nation. When doctors told her she’d never run again, Turia7)vowed to prove them wrong. She8)swore one day she would complete an Ironman Triathlon, and this month, she did,9)smashing it in 1310)gruelling hours.

Announcer: Turia Pitt! You are an ironman!

On Pains

Interviewer A: Five years ago you were told that, perhaps, you would not walk again, and yet we just saw these pictures from the Ironman Ultramarathon.

Turia: Last Sunday I got told that I was an ironman. That’s what everybody gets told when they cross the line.

Interviewer B: You say it was the hardest thing you’ve ever done. How do you push yourself through for 13 hours, because, you’ve got a lot of11)reference in the pain department, and the draw on that inner string, haven’t you?

Turia: Yeah, so there’s a couple of different12)strategies I use. One is, I put it in perspective. I compare the pain that I’m experiencing to the pain that I’ve felt in hospital, and the other thing I do is I think about all of the things that I’m really grateful for. So, on that day I was, like, “Man, I’m so…so lucky that I’m alive, that I get to experience this race. My partner, Michael is here cheering for me. My whole triathlon club’s here, my coaches are here.” And all those sort of things just helped me to keep going.

On Fitness

Interviewer A: How is your level of13)fitness, Turia? Because, to come back from where you were at to…and I know you were really fit before, but your level of fitness must be just amazing.

1) prove [pruːv] v. 证明

2) horrific [hə΄rɪfɪk] adj. 极可怕的

3) undergo [ʌndə΄gəʊ] v. 经受，经历，过去分词为undergone。

4) operation [ɒpə΄reɪʃ（ə）n] n. 手术

5) miracle [΄mɪrək（ə）l] n. 奇迹

6) unwavering [ʌn΄weɪvərɪŋ] adj. 不动摇的，毅然的

7) vow [vaʊ] v. 发誓，立誓

8) swear [sweə（r）] v. 发誓，起誓，过去分词为swore。

9) smash [smæʃ] v. 打碎，粉碎

10) gruelling [΄grʊəlɪŋ] adj. 使精疲力尽的

11) reference [΄ref（ə）rəns] n. 参考

12) strategy [΄strætɪdʒɪ] n. 策略

13) fitness [΄fɪtnɪs] n. 健康，结实

Turia: The original goal for why I wanted to do the ironman was...I wanted to prove to everyone and to myself that I was fitter than I was in that ultramarathon. And I think now I am fitter. But I’ve also realized that fitness, there’s different14)metrics for fitness.

Interviewer A: Yeah.

Turia: Like, there’s fitness15)endurance, there’s fitness strength, fitness flexibility…

Interviewer B: You say that you feel lucky and that your quality of life is better than before the fire. Can you help us understand that?

Turia: I guess maybe because I can realize all of the things that I’m grateful for, because I never really did that before the fire. And, you know, I live in a beautiful part of Australia, in Mollymook…

Interviewer B: Yeah.

Turia: I’ve got a really awesome job, I’m a motivational speaker, I get to do stuff like this today, I do ironmans.

On Inner Strength

Turia: Yeah, I often hear that at home:“You’re so amazing, and I couldn’t do what you do.” And I just think no one really knows how strong they are because we never get tested. Our lives are so safe. We get up, we get dressed, we drive to work, we tap away at a computer, we drive home, we watch TV. You know, there’s not much in our life where we have to rise to the challenge or rise above. And I think a lot of people do have that inner strength, they just never get tested. And, either way, I’m…I’m grateful for what’s happened to me because I know how strong I really am.

◆ marathon 马拉松：国际上非常普及的长跑比赛项目，全程距离42.195公里；分全程马拉松（full marathon）、半程马拉松（half marathon）和四分马拉松（quarter marathon）三种。

◆ ultramarathon 超级马拉松：简称超马，通常分成两种，一种有固定距离，常见的距离有50公里、100公里、50英里（80.46公里）或100英里（160.92公里）。其中100公里的完成时间是国际田径联合会承认的世界记录。另一种有固定时间，常见的时间有6小时跑、12小时跑和24小时跑，参赛者在固定时间内奔跑距离最长者获胜。

◆ triathlon 铁人三项运动：一个综合性运动竞赛项目，由天然水域游泳、公路自行车、公路长跑三项组成，运动员需要一鼓作气按此顺序赛完全程。铁人三项运动在2000年成为奥运会项目，2006年成为亚运会项目。

作文素材常积累：图里亚·皮特——You can let experiences destroy you or mould you. I chose to let them mould me. 我们的人生掌握在自己手里。如果图里亚都可以从她的非人遭遇中走出来，不仅成为体育运动上的铁人，更成为生活的“铁人”，那我们还有什么可抱怨的呢？

Never tell Turia Pitt she can’t do something because she will quickly prove you very wrong.

这是一个悬念式开头，它以读者意想不到的结论式陈述句调动读者思维，促使其迫不及待地继续往下读。同时，句子以表示绝对否定的never开头，使句子表达的意思更为“惊人”，刺激读者的好奇心。同学们在写作时可以借用这种简便但效果极佳的方法，为自己的文章增色。

14) metrics [΄metrɪks] n. 标准

15) endurance [ɪn΄djʊərəns] n. 忍耐力

永远都不要对图里亚·皮特说她做不了某件事，因为她很快就会证明你大错特错。

图里亚：我们都喜欢安逸的状态，那会感觉舒适，但如果你从不冒险，你就不会进步。

2011年9月，图里亚在参加澳洲的100公里金伯利超级马拉松大赛时遭遇了一场可怕的草地大火，身体烧伤面积达65%，此后她经历了100多次手术。

图里亚能活下来已经是一个奇迹，但她说她的人生还有很多未竟之事。她坚韧不拔的精神感动了整个澳洲。当医生告诉她以后再也不能跑步时，图里亚发誓要证明他们是错的，她发誓终有一天自己会完成铁人三项比赛。就在这个月（2016年5月），她成功了。她用异常难熬的13个小时的努力粉碎了医生关于她不能再跑步的预言。

播报员：图里亚·皮特！你是一个铁人！图里亚：是的，我用了两个不同的策略。一，我客观地看待比赛中经受的痛苦，我将比赛时感觉到的痛苦与我在医院所遭受的痛苦作比较。我做的另一件事是在心里想着所有让我心存感激的事。所以，比赛那天我在想：“我觉得我还活着……是多么地幸运，我还可以参与这项比赛。我的伴侣迈克尔在这里为我加油，我们铁人三项俱乐部的全体人员都在这里，我的教练也在这里。”所有这些都是帮助我坚持下去的力量。

关于体能

关于痛苦

采访者甲：五年前有人告诉你，可能你再也不能走路了，然而我们刚刚看到你在铁人超级马拉松赛上比赛的画面。

图里亚：上个星期天，我被告知我是一个铁人。这是每个跨过终点线的人都会听到的一句话。

采访者乙：你说这是你所做过最艰难的事，这13个小时你是如何坚持过来的？因为你在疼痛方面有很多经历，你当时在寻求内心的精神支持，对吗？

采访者甲：图里亚，你的体能水平如何？因为从你烧伤后的状态到……我知道你以前身体很强壮，但现在你的体能一定很棒。

图里亚：我参加铁人三项的最初目的是想向所有人及自己证明，我的体能比参加超级马拉松时还要好，我觉得我现在身体更好了。但我也意识到……衡量体能有不同的指标。

采访者甲：是的。

图里亚：这些体能指标包括耐力、力量强度、柔韧性……

采访者乙：你说你感到幸运，你的生活质量比烧伤前还要好，你能向我们解释一下吗？

图里亚：我想，也许是因为我现在能体会到让我心存感激的一切，因为在遭受火灾前我并未真正意识到这些事。还有，你知道，我住在莫里莫科——澳大利亚一个美丽的地方……

采访者乙：没错。

图里亚：我有一份非常棒的工作，我去做励志演讲……我有机会像今天这样做采访，我还参加铁人三项比赛。

关于意志力

图里亚：我在澳大利亚常常听到这样的话：“你真了不起，我可做不到像你这样。”我只是觉得，没有人真正知道自己到底有多大能耐，因为我们从未经受考验。我们的生活是如此地安逸：我们起床，穿好衣服，开车去上班，在电脑前工作，开车回家，看电视。你知道，在我们的生活中没有多少必须迎接挑战或者克服困难的事。我认为很多人都有这种强大的意志力，只不过从未有机会接受考验罢了。不管怎样，我……我对发生在我身上的事心存感激，因为这让我知道了自己究竟有多坚强。

听力难度英式发音 适合精读语速：155词/分钟

Inkheart墨水心

⊙ By Cornelia Funke 翻译：刘兴华

“有些书必须品尝，有些书可以囫囵吞下，只有少数的书要细嚼慢咽，好好消化。”（Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly.）

这句刻在美琪家书房门上的格言在整个故事的开篇部分就突出了“墨水世界”三部曲（心·血·死）的主题——这是一段关于文字、关于书本、关于阅读的奇幻旅程。12岁的美琪与父亲莫·弗尔查特相依为命，父女俩都是书迷，被阅读所环绕的生活平静无波，但这一切在一个雨夜被彻底打破了：一个名叫“脏手指”的陌生人突然出现在两人面前，让美琪第一次意识到自己家族具有神秘力量，而这正是她母亲失踪的原因。危险随之而来，为了拯救家人，美琪踏上了冒险之路……

作者柯奈莉亚·芳珂被媒体誉为“德国的罗琳”，其作品在全球的销量突破千万，获得多项少儿图书大奖，2005年还入选《时代周刊》“影响世界一百人”榜单。大概是因为芳珂早年一直从事插画工作，她的文字带有一种非常强烈的画面感，阅读时有如身临其境，分外扣人心弦。

故事就从改变所有人命运的这个雨夜讲起……

Rain fell that night, a fine, whispering rain. Many years later, Meggie had only to close her eyes and she could still hear it, like tiny fingers tapping on the1)windowpane. A dog barked somewhere in the darkness, and however often she2)tossed and turned, Meggie couldn’t get to sleep.

The book she had been reading was under her pillow, pressing its cover against her ear as if to lure her back into its printed pages. “I’m sure it must be very comfortable sleeping with a hard, rectangular thing like that under your head,” her father had teased her the first time he found a book under her pillow. “Go on, admit it, the book whispers its story to you at night.”

“Sometimes, yes,” Meggie had said. “But it only works for children.” Which made Mo3)tweak her nose. Mo. Meggie had never called her father anything else.

That night—when so much began and so many things changed forever—Meggie had one of her favorite books under her pillow, and since the rain wouldn’t let her sleep she sat up, rubbed the4)drowsiness from her eyes, and took it out. Its pages5)rustled6)promisingly when she opened it. Meggie thought this first whisper sounded a little different from one book to another, depending on whether or not she already knew the story it was going to tell her. But she needed light. She had a box of matches hidden in the7)drawer of her bedside table. Mo had forbidden her to light candles at night. He didn’t like fire.“Fire8)devours books,” he always said, but she was twelve years old, she surely could be trusted to keep an eye on a couple of candle flames. Meggie loved to read by candlelight. She had five candlesticks on the9)windowsill, and she was just holding the lighted match to one of the black10)wicks when she heard footsteps outside. She blew out the match in alarm—oh, how well she remembered it, even many years later—and11)knelt to look out of the window, which was wet with rain. Then she saw him.

The rain cast a kind of12)pallor on the darkness, and the stranger was little more than a shadow. Only his face13)gleamed white as he looked up at Meggie. His hair14)clung to his wet forehead. The rain was falling on him, but he ignored it. He stood there,15)motionless, arms crossed over his

1) windowpane [΄wɪndəʊpeɪn] n. 窗玻璃

2) toss and turn 辗转反侧

3) tweak [twiːk] v. 拧，捏（耳朵、鼻子等）

4) drowsiness [΄draʊzɪnɪs] n. 睡意

5) rustle [΄rʌs（ə）l] v. 沙沙地响；n. 沙沙声

6) promisingly [΄prɒmɪsɪŋlɪ] adv. 有希望地，有前途地

7) drawer [΄drɔːə（r）] n. 抽屉

8) devour [dɪ΄vaʊə（r）] v. 吞食

9) windowsill [΄wɪndəʊsɪl] n. 窗沿，窗台

10) wick [wɪk] n. 蜡烛芯，灯芯

11) kneel [niːl] v. 跪下，跪着，过去式为knelt。

12) pallor [΄pælə（r）] n. 苍白，灰白

13) gleam [gliːm] v. 闪烁，发出微光

14) cling [klɪŋ] v. 粘着，紧贴（常与to连用），过去式为clung。

15) motionless [΄məʊʃ（ə）nlɪs] adj. 不动的，静止的chest as if that might at least warm him a little. And he kept on staring at the house.

I must go and wake Mo, thought Meggie. But she16)stayed put, her heart17)thudding, and went on gazing out into the night as if the stranger’s stillness had infected her. Suddenly, he turned his head, and Meggie felt as if he were looking straight into her eyes. She shot off the bed so fast the open book fell to the floor, and she ran barefoot out into the dark18)corridor. This was the end of May, but it was very19)chilly in the old house.

There was still a light on in Mo’s room. He often stayed up reading late into the night. Meggie had20)inherited her love of books from her father. When she21)took refuge from a bad dream with him, nothing could22)lull her to sleep better than Mo’s calm breathing beside her and the sound of the pages turning. Nothing chased23)nightmares away faster than the rustle of printed paper. But the figure outside the house was no dream.

The book Mo was reading that night was24)bound in pale blue25)linen. Later, Meggie remembered that, too. What unimportant little details stick in the memory.

“Mo, there’s someone out in the yard!”

Her father raised his head and looked at her with the usual26)absent expression he

16) stay put 固定不动

17) thud [θʌd] v. 发出砰砰声

18) corridor [΄kɒrɪdɔː（r）] n. 通道，走廊

19) chilly [΄tʃɪlɪ] adj. 寒冷的

20) inherit [ɪn΄herɪt] v. 继承，遗传

21) take refuge 避难，摆脱困境

22) lull [lʌl] v. 使入睡，使休息

23) nightmare [΄naɪtmeə（r）] n. 梦魇，噩梦

24) bind [baɪnd] v. 装订，过去分词为bound。

25) linen [΄lɪnɪn] n. 亚麻布

26) absent [΄æbsənt] adj. 心不在焉的，茫然的wore when she interrupted his reading. It always took him a few moments to find his way out of that other world, the27)labyrinth of printed letters.

“Someone out in the yard? Are you sure?”

“Yes. He’s staring at our house.”

Mo put down his book. “So what were you reading before you went to sleep? Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?”

Meggie frowned. “Please, Mo! Come and look.”

He didn’t believe her, but he went anyway. Meggie28)tugged him along the corridor so impatiently that he29)stubbed his toe on a pile of books, which was hardly surprising.30)Stacks of books were piled high all over the house—not just arranged in neat rows on bookshelves, the way other people kept them, oh no! The books in Mo and Meggie’s house were stacked under tables, on chairs, in the corners of the rooms. There were books in the kitchen and books in the31)lavatory. Books on the TV set and in the32)closet, small piles of books, tall piles of books, books thick and thin, books old and new. They welcomed Meggie down to breakfast with invitingly opened pages; they33)kept boredom at bay when the weather was bad. And sometimes you fell over them.

“He’s just standing there!” whispered Meggie, leading Mo into her room.

“Has he got a hairy face? If so he could be a34)werewolf.”

“Oh, stop it!” Meggie looked at him35)sternly, although his jokes made her feel less scared. Already, she hardly believed anymore in the figure standing in the rain—until she knelt down again at the window.“There! Do you see him?” she whispered. Mo looked out through the raindrops running down the pane and said nothing.

“Didn’t you promise36)burglars would never break into our house because there’s nothing here to steal?” whispered Meggie.

“He’s not a burglar,” replied Mo, but as he stepped back from the window his face was so37)grave that Meggie’s heart thudded faster than ever. “Go back to bed, Meggie,”he said. “This visitor has come to see me.”

27) labyrinth [΄læbərɪnθ] n. 迷宫

28) tug [tʌg] v. 用力拉，使劲拖

29) stub [stʌb] v. 绊脚，碰伤脚

30) stack [stæk] n. 摞，叠，大堆；v. 堆放

31) lavatory [΄lævətɔːrɪ] n. 卫生间，厕所

32) closet [΄klɒzɪt] n. 壁橱，衣橱

33) keep sb./sth. at bay 控制，使无法近身

34) werewolf [΄weəwʊlf] n. 狼人

35) sternly [΄stзːnlɪ] adv. 严厉地，严格地，坚决地

36) burglar [΄bзːglə（r）] n. 夜盗，窃贼

37) grave [greɪv] adj. 严肃的，庄重的

本期选段虽然篇幅较长，但语言难度不大，而且情节比较完整，讲述了美琪在一个雨夜发现屋外有人，赶紧找父亲来察看的故事——大家在生活中可能也会有类似的经历吧？这种熟悉感一下子拉近了书中人物与读者的距离，让读者迅速代入故事当中，作为一部小说的开头不可谓不巧妙。建议大家反复阅读这个选段，注意作者如何用英语描述各种充满生活感的场景与细节，这种叙事手法值得我们好好学习。

另外，本文朗读者为已故英国著名演员Lynn Redgrave，她的精湛演绎将美琪、莫和旁白三个角色诠释得非常到位，有兴趣的同学可以进行跟读练习。

◆ Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

《化身博士》：出版于19世纪末的哥特风科幻小说，是英国作家斯蒂文森（Robert Louis Stevenson，1850–1894）最有名的代表作之一。故事讲述杰基尔医生喝了一种试验药剂，结果每逢入夜就会化身成邪恶的海德先生四处作恶，令他饱受折磨。整部小说带有浓厚的哥特文学风格，对人性善恶两面的描写深刻入骨，是心理小说的先驱，“Jekyll and Hyde”这个词组后来更成了心理学中对双重人格的代称。

那晚下着雨，低吟的细雨。许多年后，美琪只需闭上眼睛，就能听到那像细小的手指敲着窗户般的雨声。夜里某处，有只狗吠叫着，美琪无法入睡，不时辗转反侧。

她的枕头下搁着她正在看的一本书。书册紧紧贴着她的耳朵，仿佛在引诱她重回书海。“哦，头底下有这样四四方方的硬东西，睡起来一定很舒服，”她的父亲第一次在她枕头下发现书时打趣道。“别不承认，这本书在晚上会轻轻在你耳朵旁述说它的故事。”

“有时候会，”美琪回答，“但只对小孩有效。”这话让莫捏了捏她的鼻子。莫——美琪只会这样称呼她父亲。

在那个有许多事情开始，又有许多事情永远改变的夜晚，美琪的枕头下搁着一本她的爱书。雨声让她无法入睡，她便坐起来，揉掉眼中的倦意，从枕头下拿出那本书。在她翻开书时，书页窸窣作响，让人期待无比。美琪发现，每本书的第一声低语听起来都有点不同，这完全取决于她是否知道这本书将要述说的是怎样一个故事。但她需要光线。她在床头柜的抽屉中藏了一盒火柴。莫不准她在晚上点蜡烛，他不喜欢火。“火会吞书，”他老这样说。但她毕竟十二岁了，要照看几点烛火自然不成问题。美琪喜欢在烛光中阅读。她在窗台上搁了五个烛台，正要拿亮起的火柴点燃黑色的烛芯时，屋外传来了脚步声。多年以后，她还记得自己吓得吹灭了火柴，跪在被雨打湿的窗前往外张望。然后，她看到他了。

黑暗因为雨而显得苍白，那名陌生人模糊得像个影子，只有往美琪这里看的脸露出些光亮。他的头发贴在湿漉漉的额头上。雨水落在他身上，但他毫不理会，只是一动不动地站在那儿，手臂抱胸，仿佛这样就能保暖似的。他就这样盯着他们的屋子。

我得叫醒莫！美琪心想，但她动弹不得，心扑通扑通地跳着，眼睛紧紧盯着外面的夜色，好像被那位陌生人的纹丝不动传染了一样。突然间，他转过头，美琪觉得他直视着她。她一下蹦下床，把翻开的书本震落在地，光着脚跑到外面阴暗的走廊里。尽管现在已经是五月末，这栋老房子还是冷飕飕的。

莫的房间还亮着灯。他经常熬夜看书。美琪正是从父亲身上遗传了这种对书的热爱。每当她在噩梦过后躲到他身边，没什么比莫那平静的呼吸和翻页的声音更能让她安心入睡，没什么比印刷纸的窸窣声可以更快地驱散梦魇。但是，屋子外面那个身影并不是梦。

莫在这一晚念的书是淡蓝色布面装帧的——美琪后来依然记得这一点，人的记忆中怎会有这么多无关紧要的东西呢。

“莫，院子里有人！”

父亲抬起头，心不在焉地瞧着她，就像往常被她打断阅读时一样。每次，他都要缓上那么一会儿才能从另一个世界——从文字的迷宫中回归人间。

“那里有人？你确定？”

“是的，他盯着我们的房子。”

莫搁下书。“你睡前在看什么书？《化身博士》？”

美琪皱起眉头。“别这样，莫！过来看看。”

他并不相信，但还是跟过来瞧瞧。美琪焦急地拉着他，害得他在走廊里一脚踢到书堆上。这一点都不稀奇，因为他们的屋子里到处都有高高的书堆，而且不像其他人那样把书整整齐齐地排在书架上，喔不，在他们这儿，书堆在桌子下、椅子上、房屋角落里、厨房里、厕所里，电视机上和衣柜中都有书。小小的一堆，高高的一堆，厚的、薄的、旧的、新的……它们敞开着书页，在早餐桌上向美琪发出邀请，在天气糟糕的日子里打发无聊——有时候，你还会被它们绊倒。

“他就站在那里！”美琪将莫带到房间，小声说着。

“他的脸是毛茸茸的吗？那说不定是狼人。”

“哎呀，别闹！”美琪严厉地看着父亲，不过这个玩笑确实让她没这么害怕了，她几乎不相信雨中那个身影的存在——直到她再次跪在窗前。“在那儿！你看见了吗？”她轻声说道。莫透过玻璃上滑落的雨滴往外看去，一声不吭。

“你不是保证过不会有小偷到我们家来吗，因为这里没东西可偷？”美琪小声说。

“那不是小偷，”莫回答，他离开窗边，神色凝重，这让美琪的心跳得更加剧烈了。“上床去，美琪，”他说，“他是来找我的。”

（选自人民文学出版社版本，有改动）