欢迎大家来到“英语阅读”，本栏目旨在提升各位同学的阅读、听力水平及阅读理解能力，内容精选自《英语周报》高中阅读专版。

Life Is a Gift

原文

Hu Ge was on top of the world. He was young, handsome and famous. By the time he was fourteen, he had already become a TV star with millions of fans. Then something terrible happened.

As Hu tells the story on a recent episode of Readers (《朗读者》), he was traveling with his assistant when their car was involved in a serious accident. Tragically, the assistant was killed and Hu suffered injuries to his head and face which required numerous surgeries and a year of recovery. At one point, Hu thought he might lose the sight of his right eye and that the more than one hundred stitches (缝线) used to put his face back together would ruin his acting career. Fortunately, Hu’s injuries healed and his career continued.

The accident occurred in 2006 and, now, twelve years later, the 35-year-old actor reflects that it changed him into someone who understands that life is a gift and that every moment of it is precious. In the Readers' interview, Hu quotes a line from his hit TV drama Nirvana in Fire (《琅琊榜》): "You've survived. Now don't waste your life."

J.R.R. Tolkien (托尔金) once wrote in a letter to a friend, "Are not all of God's punishments also gifts?" The famous writer of the Lord of the Rings trilogy (《指环王》三部曲) was referring to his childhood when both his father and mother died before he was twelve. These tragedies could have crushed (彻底击垮) the young boy, but with the help of a kindly priest (神父) who raised him, he became a scholar and an Oxford professor of literature. He wrote the magical Lord of the Rings books in his sixties as a way to show that struggle, hardship and tragedy — even evil — are a part of life, but that they can be overcome with the help of others and, more importantly, through our own efforts.

Too often in life when bad things happen to us we ask, "Why me? I'm a good person; I've done nothing wrong. Why must I suffer?" But I think Hu Ge and Tolkien would agree that these are the wrong questions to ask. The real question to ask is, "Now that they've happened, how can I learn from them?"

教案

Pre-reading

1. What is the biggest trouble that you have ever got into in your first year at high school? How did you solve the problem? Write the trouble on one side of the paper and your solution on the other.

2. Exchange the paper with your deskmate (without letting him or her see your solution) and ask him or her: Do you think it was a real trouble? What would you do if you ran into the same trouble? Compare his or her answer with yours. What can you learn from this activity?

Language study

1. Hu Ge was on top of the world … By the time he was fourteen, he had already become a TV star ...

① on top of the world: very happy or proud, especially because of success or good fortune 非常愉快或自豪（尤指因获成功或好运）

e.g. Winning a gold medal was the happiest moment in her life. She was on top of the world.

② “by the time +句子”的结构中，从句用过去时，主句用过去完成时。

e.g. By the time she finished work, her colleagues had already left.

2. At one point, Hu thought he might … and that the more than one hundred stitches used to put his face back together …

① thought后面跟了两个并列的宾语从句，在这种情况下，我们通常可省略第一个that，但必须保留第二个that。

e.g. I know you are not a doctor and that you want your son to become a doctor.

② “used to put his face back together”的过去分词结构作后置定语，修饰了more than one hundred stitches。

3. The famous writer of the Lord of the Rings trilogy was referring to his childhood when both his father and mother …

① the famous writer of the Lord of the Rings trilogy指代的就是前句提到的J.R.R. Tolkien，这样一方面交代了托尔金的身份，另一方面也避免了行文的重复。

② refer to: to mention or speak about sb. or sth. 提到、说到或涉及到某人或某物

e.g. They agreed never to refer to the matter again.

l Complete each sentence with one word in its correct form.

tragically recovery ruin reflect magic

1. Diamonds were once thought to have ___________ powers.

2. She began to ___________ after a few days of fever.

3. He ___________ that his parents were probably right.

4. The explosion resulted in a ___________ loss of life.

5. Farmers felt rather sad after the storm ___________ the crops.

Key: 1. magical 2. recover 3. reflected 4. tragic 5. ruined

l Translate the following sentences into English.

1. 当得知她的女儿被斯坦福大学录取时，她感到幸福极了。(top)

2. 当我们到达机场的时候，飞机已经起飞了。(by)

3. 让警方意外的是一群年轻人牵连进了这起案件中。(involve)

Key:

1. When she heard her daughter had been admitted to Stanford University, she felt on top of the world.

2. By the time we arrived at the airport, the plane had already taken off.

3. What surprised the police was that a group of young people had been involved in the case.

Reading comprehension

l Choose the best answer.

1. The word "precious" in Paragraph 3 probably means "__________."

A. well paid B. almost worthless

C. brand new D. highly valued

2. According to the article, what do Hu Ge and Tolkien have in common?

A. Both of them rose to fame in their teens.

B. Both of them narrowly escaped death.

C. Both of them managed to survive considerable hardship.

D. Both of them were adopted by kind people in their childhood.

3. What is the author's purpose in writing the article?

A. To praise Hu Ge for his hard efforts to make a quick recovery.

B. To sympathize with Tolkien and his childhood experiences.

C. To encourage students to learn a lesson from their troubles.

D. To criticize those who are always complaining about their bad luck.

Key: 1-3 DCC

After reading

Take a look at the sheet of paper with your trouble and solution on it. Do you think it was the best solution to the problem? Why or why not? Can you come up with a better idea to deal with the problem now?

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后语：坚持是一种信仰，专注是一种态度！每一次您的转发，就是对我们的认同和鼓励！亲们，喜欢就积极转发吧，您的每一次转发，都是我们持续的原创动力。原创的路上感恩有您一路同行！！！

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