VOICE 等

VOICE

China’s tennis player Li Na made history at the French Open on Jun. 4， 2011. She earned the women’s championship and became the first Chinese player to win a Grand Slam singles title.

More than 116 million viewers in China witnessed the match. Li Na is already a national hero， she’s just going to go to rock-star status. Look at Yao Ming， she’s going to be there.

—Stacey Allaster， the WTA chief said.

Li Na is an exponentially better exemplar of Chinese soft power. Her individualistic persona—tattoo and all—and sense of humor win over international audiences.

—The Atlantic Magazine considered that Li Na was a new face of Chinese soft power.

I didn’t use to understand tennis all that much but because of Li Na I have fallen in love with it now. I hope that my child will grow up with a love for tennis.

—A young father said. After Li Na’s victory， the enthusiasm for tennis is running high in China.

French Open 法國(guó)網(wǎng)球公開(kāi)賽

Grand Slam 大滿貫

singles 單打比賽

status 地位

WTA女子網(wǎng)球協(xié)會(huì)

（Women’s Tennis Association的簡(jiǎn)稱(chēng)）

exponentially 迅猛發(fā)展地

exemplar 典范

individualistic個(gè)性化的

persona 人格

tattoo 紋身

FIRST HABITABLE PLANET DISCOVERED

20 light years away from our solar system， there is a planet called“Gliese 581d” which has conditions that could support Earth-like life， including possible oceans and rainfall. On May.19， 2011， the planet has been the first to be officially declared habitable by French scientists.

Glises 581d is truly different from the Earth. The sky is likely to be red， not blue， the gravity is twice as what is on Earth， and the weight of anyone standing on the surface is doubled. In addition， the level of carbon dioxide on this planet is too high for human beings to breath. So， it was ruled out as a habitable planet candidate before.

However， the scientists used a new computer model， which uses methods similar to those used to measure Earth’s own climate， to simulate the surroundings of 581d. The report confirmed that Gliese 581d is really a habitable planet.

Dr Robin Wordsworth， a member of the French scientist team， said: “This discovery is important because it’s the first time climate modelers have proved that the planet is potentially habitable， and all observers agree that the planet exists， though there are still some contradictions. The fact that a planet so unlike the Earth could be habitable gives us a bright future of the search for life in general.”

Maybe our dreams of living in other planets have been in sight.

habitable 適合居住的

light year 光年

solar system 太陽(yáng)系

rainfall 降雨

gravity 引力

carbon dioxide 二氧化碳

rule out 排除

candidate 候選者

simulate 模仿

contradiction 不同意見(jiàn)

THE BRIDGE KEEPER

There was once a bridge which spanned a large river. During most of the day the bridge sat with its length running up and down the river paralleledwith the banks， allowing ships to pass through freely on both sides of the bridge. But at certain times each day， a train would come along and the bridge would be turned sideways across the river， allowing the train to cross it. A switchman sat in a small shackon one side of the river where he operated a controlto turn the bridge and lock it into place as the train crossed.

One evening as the switchman was waiting for the last train of the day to come， he looked off into the distance through the dimming twilightand caught sight of the trainlights. He stepped to the control and waited until the train was within a prescribeddistance when he was to turn the bridge. He turned the bridge into position， but， suddenly， he found the locking control did not work. If the bridge was not securelyin position it would wobbleback and forth， causing the train to jump the track and go crashing into the river. This would be a passenger train with many people aboard.

The man hurried across the bridge， on the other side of the river there was a lever switch that he could hold to operate the lock manually. He could hear the rumble of the train now， and he took hold of the lever and leaned backward to apply his weight to it， locking the bridge. He kept applying the pressure to keep the mechanism locked. Many lives depended on this man’s strength.

Then， coming across the bridge from the direction of his control shack， he heard a sound that made his blood run cold.

“Daddy， where are you?” His four-year-old son was crossing the bridge to look for him. His first impulse was to cry out to the child， “Run! Run!” But the train was too close; the little boy would never across the bridge in time. The man almost left his lever to run and snatch up his son and carry him to safety. But he realized that he could not get back to the lever if he saved his son. Either the people on the train or his little son must die. He took but a moment to make his decision.

The train sped safely and swiftly on its way， and no one aboard was even aware of the tiny broken body thrown mercilessly into the river by the onrushing train. Nor were they aware of the pitiful figure of the sobbing man， still clinging tightly to the locking lever long after the train had passed. They did not see him walking home more slowly than he had ever walked: to tell his wife how their son had brutally died.

span跨越

parallel平行

shack棚屋

control 操縱裝置

dimming模糊的

twilight暮色

prescribed規(guī)定的

securely 穩(wěn)固地

wobble搖晃

lever 控制桿

manually用手（操作）

rumble隆隆聲

mechanism裝置

impulse沖動(dòng)

snatch一把抓住

swiftly 快速地

mercilessly 殘忍地

sobbing啜泣的

cling (to)緊緊抱住

brutally殘酷地

1. The underlined phrase “the pitiful figure”（in Paragraph 6） refers to .

A. the onrushing trainB. the locking lever

C. the sobbing manD. the broken body

2. What choice did the bridge keeper make that evening?

（Find the KEY in this issue）

（本期由呂吉爾、楊彥、Asuka供稿）