雙語·閱讀文選

A friend

He wasn't a guy of big words， and he seemed to live entirely in his own world. I remember that during the days he worked with us none of us exactly knew who he was， where he came from or what he was looking for， and afterwards he disappeared. Nobody knew where he had gone， what he was doing or if he had friends or a family to stay with. I guess， we didn't even know his name----and even if we did， I've forgotten it anyway.

Those days were more than hard for all of us. There seemed to be no escape from the greyness of our everyday life which was the only colour that surrounded us. The huge concrete blocks we lived in was grey， the grey of the factory dust， even the colour of our clothes， that once might have been white was grey. It must have been a bright and shining white... and I can't exactly recall how much time I spent trying to imagine the kind of white it might have been. Since white was the colour of the kind of paradise I so much longed to live in someday， grey left behind nothing more than a bitter taste of emptiness and depression. I can remember how I noticed once， that any other colour must be a symbol for something， a feeling or whatever. Only grey seemed to stand for absolutely nothing.

This was the world I lived in， and so did he.

Having our job in the factory was still luxury though， considering the fact that most of us had families to feed. And not long after he started to work there， I would always find him working at the machine next to mine. We'd work for hours next to each other， staying quiet， with our thoughts drifting away to a different place but still aware of our hands doing the same movements over and over again. We were doing that until the bell would ring to end the work for the day. I used to work in a mechanical way， following the same rhythm over and over again， and so did he. But every time I was about to give up， he would lift his head and give me a little smile， as if he could guess my thoughts. I think it was actually his eyes that impressed me most. They were so dark and straight， and though they seem to be hiding anything， I couldn't get rid of the impression that somehow he must be hiding something.

Since I first saw him， he had always been around， and every time he gave me one of those smiles， he would spread a bit of warmth into my heart， a bit of friendliness. I guess， at the end of the day it must have been him who gave me the strength to go on somehow， just by being there.

Well， to make a long story short， he died only a year after he started working with us. It was a car accident and he didn't have to suffer very long. I must have been his only friend in town， at least that was what I thought when I went to his funeral. The only person I met there was an old lady， maybe his mother. She told me that he had lost his family just the year before and after that he didn't speak any more. He hadn't said a single word. First I didn't believe her. I just thought that he was a fairly quiet person; besides there was nothing much to say anyway. But suddenly I realized that I couldn't recall ever having heard his voice at all. Only then did I realize it!

He gave me so much and I knew so little about him. He had been my friend and now I had lost him without having had the chance to give anything back. He had been so strong that he was able to give whatever had happened.

I felt weak in those days. And guilty. But after that I started to care for the people around me. I think I started to live.

一個朋友

他不是一個說大話的人。他似乎完全生活在一個人的世界里。記憶中，在他和我們共事的那段日子里，我們中沒有人能確切地知道他是誰，來自何方，或者在尋求什么；之后他便消失了。誰也不清楚他去了哪里，他做些什么，究竟他有沒有朋友或是家人。我想我們甚至無人知曉他的姓氏。或許聽到過，但是我卻記不清了。

那段日子對我們來講真是艱難無比。似乎沒有任何辦法能擺脫圍繞著我們的灰蒙蒙色調的生活。我們居住的巨大的混凝土樓房是灰色的，工廠的塵埃是灰色的，甚至我們的衣服也是灰色的，而它們原有的顏色或許是白色，而且一定是那種雪亮的白色……我記不起多少次我曾努力地去想象那究竟是一種何樣的白色。既然白色構成了天堂——我夢寐以求的來世之家——的色調，那么灰色給我留下的除了空虛與壓抑之外，還是空虛與壓抑。我還記得我曾注意到每一種顏色都是一種事物、性格或是其他什么的象征。惟有灰色沒有任何的意義。這就是我，也是他，生活于其中的世界。

不管怎樣，在工廠做工對我們已屬難得，因為我們多數人還要養家糊口。他來廠里工作不久，我便總看到他緊挨著我的工作臺干活兒。我們常常默默無語地一干就是幾個鐘頭，雙手一遍又一遍地重復著同一套動作，可思緒卻飛到了不知何方，直到收工的鈴聲響起才停下了手中的活計。我一直就是這樣機械地、一遍遍地、以同一種節奏做著工。他也是如此。而每一次我正要打算放棄時，他總會抬起頭，送給我一個淡淡的微笑。似乎他能猜出我的心思。我想實際是他的眼神深深地打動了我。它們是那樣的深邃、坦蕩、無掩。然而我還是感受到他心中有一種難言之隱。

我頭一次見到他起，他便總是出現在我的周圍。每次他向我投以微笑時，他同時也將一絲絲的溫暖和友情送入我的心房。我想每一天結束時，一定是他給了我無論如何也要繼續下去的力量。

好了，長話短說。他與我們共事一年后便去世了。是一次沒有讓他受苦痛的車禍奪走了他的生命。我肯定是他城里惟一的朋友，至少在葬禮上我是這樣認為的。我遇到的惟一的一個人是位老太太，或許是他的母親。她告訴我說，就在一年前他失去了家庭，從此便沒有開口說過話，再也沒有說過一個字。起初我不信她的話。我只是一直覺得他是一個寡言少語的人；再說，本來也沒有什么好說的。但是猛然間，我意識到我確實想不起曾聽過他的聲音。此時此刻我才明白！

他給予我如此之多，而我對他的了解卻如此之少。他一直是我的朋友，而我還沒有機會回報他便失去了他。他始終是那么堅強，無論發生什么也在無私地給予。

那段日子里，我感到很弱，也很內疚。可是從此以后，我開始將關心投向周圍的人，我開始了新生。

What are falling stars?

Contrary to popular belief， \"falling stars\" are not stars at all， but are meteors， solidbodies that travel through space.

Meteors， ranging in size from that of a pinhead， to many tons， are visible to the naked eye at night， when the friction between the surfaces of the meteors and of the air， produces heat as the meteors enter the earth's atmosphere. The intense heat incinerates the meteors， which leave a blazing trail of light in their wake.

Most meteors do burn up when they enter the earth's atmosphere， with the exception of the large meteors， which are dragged through the earth's atmosphere by the earth's gravitational pull. After successful landings upon the earth， these huge bodies are renamed meteorites. Some scientists theorize that thousands of meteors fall to the earth during the daytime and the nighttime， but this theory is impossible to prove or to disprove， as most would necessarily land in water， which covers most of the earth's surface.

Generally speaking， meteors and meteor particles travel together in swarms like bees， with the exception of the loners， and travel in any direction they choose. Nature's spectacular fireworks show， a \"meteor shower，\" comes into view when the swarms encounter the upper layer of the earth's atmosphere during the earth's perpetual revolution around the sun.The friction produced when the meteors and the meteor particles rub against the atmospheric air incinerates the swarms， and they fall towards the earth in a brilliant display of light.

The source of meteors traveling through space has yet to be explained satisfactorily. For thousands of years， the common belief held， was that meteors， or \"falling stars，\" were literally from out of this world. In 467 BC， Roman historians recorded the extraordinary fall of a meteor to the earth.

Today， astronomers espouse the theory that comets spawn the swarms. The comets' offspring， the meteor swarms， travel in regular orbits， similar to the earth's orbit around the sun. One must be quite patient to witness such a swarm， or a meteor shower， as the swarms cross the earth's path only once every 33 years. This spectacle of light is， however， well worth the wait.

何為墜落的星

與人們普遍的看法相反，\"墜落的星\"其實根本不是\"星\"，而只是\"流星\"，是穿越太空的固態物體。流星的大小從細若針頭，大到數噸不等。當流星進入地球大氣層后，其表面與空氣摩擦從而產生熱量，使人們在夜間用肉眼就能看到。巨大的熱量將流星焚化，使之留下一條熾熱的發光的尾巴。

大多數流星在進入地球大氣層時就已經被燒化了，除了一些特別大的流星，它們穿過大氣層，被地心引力拖了下來。這些巨大的天體成功著陸后便被重新命名為隕石。一些科學家推斷，每天每夜都有成千上萬的流星墜落到地球上，但這一理論無法得到證明，也無法加以否定，因為大多數流星必然落到江河湖海中，它們占據了地球的大部分面積。

一般來說，流星及流星顆粒都是成團成群運行的，就像蜂群一樣，他們按自己選擇的方向隨意運行，除了有極少數單獨運行的例外。當地球繞著太陽作循環往復的公轉時，流星團如果遭遇地球大氣層上層時，就會出現\"流星雨\"這種\"大自然煙火\"的壯麗景觀。流星及流星顆粒與大氣層摩擦產生的熾熱將流星團熔化，它們紛紛向地球墜落，呈現出光芒四射、五彩繽紛的奇觀。

至于穿越太空的流星的來源，還有待于得出令人滿意的解答。幾千年來，人們普遍認為，流星或稱\"墜落的星星\"，實際上是天外來客。早在公元前467年，古羅馬的歷史學家就曾記錄下流星墜落地面的不同尋常的隕落。

如今，天文學家們支持彗星產生了流星團的說法。彗星的后裔，即流星團，沿正常的軌道運行，與地球繞太陽運行的軌道相似。人們必須有足夠的耐心，才能等到親眼目睹流星團或\"流星雨\"發生的那一天，因為流星團穿越地球軌道每33年才有一次。可是，如果能有幸觀看流星雨的壯麗景象，這樣的等待也值得。

空中火箭

What is the sky? Where is it? How high is it? What lies above the sky? I am sure that you have asked questions like these. They are very difficult to answer， aren't they?

Perhaps we can answer some of these questions now. What is the sky? It is vast space. Where is the sky? It is all around the world. In the sky there is the sun， the moon， and all the stars.

Scientists have always wanted to know more about space. They use telescopes to obtain information. But this is not enough. So they want to send men to some of the other worlds in space.

The moon is the nearest heavenly body to the earth. An airplane cannot fly to the moon， because the air only reaches a height of 240 kilometers. Then there is no air. But a rocket can fly even when there is no air.

A rocket is made of metal. There is a hot gas inside it. When it rushes out of the end of the rocket， the rocket is pushed up into the air.

Rockets can fly far out into space. Rockets have already taken men to the moon. One day they may be able to go anywhere in space.

天空是什么？它在哪兒？它有多高？天空的上方存在著什么？我確信你問過類似這樣的問題。這些問題是很難回答的，不是嗎？

或許現在我們能夠回答這些問題中的一些。天空是什么？它是廣闊的空間。天空在哪里？它遍及全球。天空中有太陽、月亮以及所有的星星。

科學家們總是想更多地了解太空。他們用望遠鏡來獲取信息，但這是不夠的。因此他們要把人送到太空中的其他星球上去。

月球是離地球最近的天體。飛機不能飛到月球上去，是因為飛機只能到達24萬米的高度，再往上就沒有空氣了，但火箭即便在無空氣時也能飛行。

火箭由金屬制成，里面有一種熱的氣體，氣體從火箭末端沖出來時，火箭被推向空中。

火箭能夠飛出地球進入太空。火箭已經載人到了月球。會有那么一天，它們也許能夠進入太空的任何地方。