Unit 1 PEOPLE OF ACHIEVEMENT
HEROES IN YOUR EYES
Everyone knows the people who have helped to change the face of the world in recent years. From Bll Gates tQ Steve Jobs to Jack Ma, few would not recognise their names. However, those who work tirelessly behind the scenes often go unnoticed, in spite of their great achievements. If you know anyone who deserves to have their contributions recognised, we would love to hear from you! Let us know how these people have helped to make a difference in your eyes.
The person I respect most is the geophysicist Huang Danian, who helped China to make many technological advances.
Huang was a remarkable scientist. He had studied and worked in Britain for 18 years, but when he felt that his country needed him, he gave up his well-paid job and returned to China. Over the next seven years, Huang worked to develop many devices needed for deep-sea exploration.
Unfortunately, such achievements didn't come cheap. Due to the frantic pace of his research, Huang was absent from his father's funeral, and even his own cancer went undetected as he had no time to see a doctor. To sum up, Huang sacrificed everything for his research, and I think more people should honour him.
(Zhang Keyu, Hubei)
I want to tell everyone about two teachers on Changyu Island, Wang Kaiquan and Lin Zhujin.
Few people know about this hometown of mine. The island is beautiful, but it's quite isolated, and there aren't many modern conveniences. In bad weather, even our water and power supplies are unstable. People who have never been to our island are often surprised by this and find it hard to adjust. Many who live on the island dream of leaving. These two primary school teachers, however, have stayed on for 23 long years! They are the only teachers here, and they plan to stay for as long as there are children who need to attend school.
I want to thank them, and let the world know about these teachers who work tirelessly every day for the sake of the children.
(Chen Xueyin, Fujian)
My mother, Liu Shurong, is my greatest inspiration. She is 47 years old and works as a cashier at a neighbourhood supermarket.
I used to think her job was pretty easy, but now that I am older, I realise that my mother deserves respect for doing an amazing job all these years. She works long hours every day for the sake of our family, and she still finds the time to help with household chores and spend time with me.
My mother takes pride in her work. She faces customers with a smile and works hard even when she is tired. Because of her, I have learnt to stay positive even when times are hard.
(Luo Tengfei, Jilin)
THREE DAYS TO SEE(Adapted)
Helen Keller
I have often thought it would be a blessing if each human being were stricken blind and deaf for a few days at some time during his early adult life. Darkness would make him more appreciative of sight; silence would teach him the joys of sound.
Now and then I have tested my seeing friends to discover what they see.Recently I asked a friend, who had just returned from a long walk in the woods, what she had observed,“Nothing in particular,”she replied.
How was it possible, I asked myself, to walk for an hour through the woods and see nothing worthy of note? I who cannot see find hundreds of things to interest me through mere touch. I feel the delicate symmetry of a leaf. I pass my hands lovingly about the smooth skin of a silver birch,or the rough, shaggy bark of a pine. In spring I touch the branches of trees hopefully in search of a bud, the first sign of awakening Nature after her winter's sleep. Occasionally, if I am very fortunate, I place my hand gently on a small tree and feel the happy quiver of a bird in full song.
At times my heart cries out with longing to see all these things. If I can get so much pleasure from mere touch, how much more beauty must be revealed by sight. And I have imagined what I should most like to see if I were given the use of my eyes,say for just three days.
On the first day, I should want to see the people whose kindness and companionship have made my life worth living. I do not know what it is to see into the heart of a friend through that“window of the soul"', the eye. I can only“see"through my finger tips the outline of a face. I can detect laughter,sorrow,and many other obvious emotions. I know my friends from the feel of their faces.
For instance, can you describe accurately the faces of five different friends? As an experiment, I have questioned husbands about the colour of their wives' eyes, and often they express embarrassed confusion and admit that they do not know.
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