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发信人: dandy (我在桥上看风景), 信区: English
标  题: The Boy Who Talked With Dolphins (和海豚交谈的男�
发信站: 紫丁香 (Wed Oct 20 16:21:25 1999), 转信

The Boy Who Talked With Dolphins (和海豚交谈的男孩)
这是一个具有传奇色彩的真实故事，一个男孩和海豚之间的
故事，一个摄人心魄但又发人深省的故事。
IT BEGAN as a deep rumble(隆隆声) , shattering(打破)
the predawn(前缀pre表示"......前") silence. Within
minutes on that January morning in 1994, the "Los
Angeles area was *in the grip of(在......的支配下)
one of the most destructive earthquakes in its history.
At Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park, 20 miles north
of the city, three dolphins were alone with their terror.
They swam frantically(疯狂的) in circles as heavy concrete
pillars(混凝土柱子) collapsed around their pool and roof
files crashed into the water.
Forty miles to the south, 26-year-old Jeff Siegel was
thrown from his bed with a jarring thump(剧烈的震动).
Crawling to the window, Jeff looked out at the
convulsing(居震中的) city and thought of the creatures
who mattered more to him than anything else in the world.
I've got to get to the dolphins , he told himself.
They rescued me , and now they need me to rescue them.
To those who had known Jeff from childhood , a more unlikely
hero could not have been imagined.
JEFF SIEGEL was born hyperactive(活动亢进) , partially
deaf and lacking normal coordination(动作协调). Since
he couldn't hear words clearly,he developed a severe
speech impediment(障碍) that made it almost impossible
for others to understand him. As a preschooler, the
small sandy-haired(沙色头发的) child was
taunted(嘲笑) as a "retard(弱智) " by other kids.
     '
Even home was no refuge. Jeff's mother was unprepared
to deal with his problems. Raised in a rigid
authoritarian household(管教甚严的家庭环境), she was
overly strict and often angry at his differences. She
simply wanted him to fit in(配合). His father, a police
officer in their middle-class Los Angeles community of
Torrance , worked extra jobs *to make ends meet(使收支相抵,以维持生计)
and was often gone 16 hours a day.
Anxious and frightened on the first day of kindergarten ,
five- year-old Jeff climbed over the schoolyard
fence and ran home. Furious(火冒三丈) , his mother
hauled him back to school and forced him to apologize
to the teacher. The entire class overheard(无意中听到).
As the mispronounced and barely intelligible words
were dragged out of him ,he became a instant prey
for his classmates. To fend off(避开)the hostile(充满敌意的)
world ,Jeff kept to isolated corners(偏僻角落)of the
playground and hid in his room at home , dreaming of a
place where he could be accepted. _
"Then one day when Jeff was nine* he went with his
class to Los Angeles's Marineland. At the dolphin
how, he  was electrified(震撼) by the energy and
exuberant(热情洋溢的) friendliness of  the beautiful
animals. They seemed to smile directly at him , something
that happened rarely in his life. The boy sat transfixed(出神) ,
overwhelmed with emotion and a longing to
stay(喜爱之情胜过了一切，而且极想留下来).
First Touch. By the end of that school year, Jeff's teachers had
labeled(把列为，此宾语若为人，一般带贬义) him emotion disturbed and
learning  disabled. But testing at the nearby Switzer Center for .
children with disabilities showed Jeff to be average-to-bright ,
though so anxiety-ridden(心神不宁，忧心忡忡) that his
math-test score came out borderline retarded(处于临界位置，
即可以定为弱者，也可以不定为弱者) .
He transferred from the public school to the center. Over the next two
years he became less anxious, and his *academic achievement(学习成绩)
improved dramatically(显著的).
At the start of the next year he returned， unwillingly, to public
school. Tests now showed his I. O. in the 130s the *gifted range(天才一类).
And years of therapy(治疗) had improved his speech. But to classmates Jeff
was still the same victim.
--to be continued
============================================================================
--
昔我往矣,杨柳依依，今我来思,雨雪霏霏。
行道迟迟,载渴载饥, 我心伤悲,哀人莫知。


※ 来源:．紫丁香 bbs.hit.edu.cn．[FROM: 202.118.237.98]

English 版 (精华区)