（第四届）

An Unexpected and Splendid Experience

赵蒙莎 西北工业大学附中 指导老师 赵世廉

     Two roads diverged in the wood, and I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference.
                                                                                                                        ------Robert Forest
     Lying in quiet corner of Shannxi Foreign Language Book store were the National Geographic Reading Expeditions(NGRE), which I picked up at random the other day. These books did not appeal to me the moment I met them last year. In contrast with the classic and renowned New Concept English, this series had remained unknown to me and stayed in obscurity. However, driven by curiosity, I flipped through several pages and in a split-second the fasinating series, full of vivid, colorful pictures, kept my eyes fixed to it. Furthermore, the sentences were idiomatic, short and explicit enough for me to understand, while the language itself did not fail to impress me with its beauty and elegance. Much to my delight, NGRE consists of 44pamphlets that fall into nine series altogether. Ever since the moment of this discovery, I have stepped into a brand new world and it has made all the difference.
     With a fanciful picture lingering in my imagination, I traveled through the world as I dipped into the series Civilizations Past to Present. Not only did I see the staggering achievements our ancestors attained in distant past, I also realized the brutality they were capable of, sacrificing human victims to appease the gods.
     Time goes on and I come to the present day. Nothing could have been more pleasing—With the advance in technology, we have made a great many medical breakthroughs and it is those significant discoveries and the scientific research that have prolonged our life expectancy. I have no idea of how important the ‘magic bullets’ (effective medicines to cure disease) are until I read another two pamphlets—Fighting Disease and The Human Machine. I completely lost myself in the fantastic illustrations. Of the human structure, which combined precise contents as well as a lot of vivid pictures. The best example of this is on Page 16 of The Human Machine. A girl is lying on a patch of green at ease, and the writer presents ‘amazing systems’ of the body using this real model. Each of the arms shows either the muscular or the circulatory system, while each leg does the job of bringing up either the skeletal or the immune system. When I finished reading the ‘map’, I could not help thinking that I wanted to express my genuine gratitude to NGRE, for it enabled me to know exactly how the body functions as well as the technical terms for every part. I am a little bit sorry that I knew so little about the human body and as I explore further, I am 100 percent sure that the human machine is absolutely a natural wonder and the most powerful computer must look shattered in comparison with this unique machine. As a result, I appreciate my self more than ever before. I am even a little worried that the two pamphlets, by exerting a huge influence on me, will ultimately change the course of my life, prompting me to become a doctor rather than a journalist, a profession that was once firmly embedded in my mind since I was a little kid. Like Alice entering Wonderland, all this happened when I looked through a glass-case of a totally different English world.
     My reading expeditions continued by starting a new pamphlet. I got in touch with The Oceans Around Us which provided me with a deep vision into a magnificent kingdom that, I would not know were it not for this book. Having opened an infinite undersea world full of mystery and uncertainty, I began to realize how great nature is! It is simply gorgeous to see shoals of colorful fish coming by in the deep blue world, each of which has its own distinguished features. Whthout a doubt this is a mysterious world, home to tens of thousands of plants and animals that come in different size and bizarre shapes, but after all they are pretty creatures. I wish I could be part of the family, swimming in the crystal clear water with a carefree mood!
     At this exact moment just as I am about to wrap things up, I hold my head up seeing NGRE scattered in all corners of my little room—some beside my pillow, some on my desk, and the others simply left in the open drawers. They are ready to serve me at any time. When I outgrow a pair of shoes and clothes, I will hand them down to my little sister; however, one thing always remains—the books will be my intimate friends forever and I will never give them away. This series is an unparalleled treat that satiates a big appetite for reading original English materials. This original series, very different from those English books written by Chinese writers to middle school students, has the ability to shape a different character and I highly recommend it to you dear friends.