英语范文背诵精华2.3 Love of Life

Love of Life

Two men walked slowly, one after the other, through the low water of a river. It ran cold over their feet. They had blanket¹ packs on their backs; guns, but no bullets²; matches, but no food.
Suddenly the man behind fell over a stone, hurt his foot badly and called: "Hey, Bill, I've hurt my foot." Bill continued without looking back.
The man was alone but not lost in the empty land. He knew the way to camp, and its food and bullets. He struggled³ to his feet and limped⁴ on. He had not eaten for two days. He picked some small round, tasteless fruits. They did not satisfy⁵, but he knew he must eat them.
In the evening he built a fire and slept like a dead man. When he woke up, he took out a small bag weighing fifteen pounds. He wasn't sure he could carry it any longer. But he couldn't leave it behind. He had to take it with him. He put it back into his pack, rose to his feet and continued.
His foot hurt, but it was nothing compared with his hunger⁶, which made him go on until darkness⁷ fell. His blanket was wet, but he knew only he was hungry. In his troubled sleep, he dreamed of rich meals. He woke up cold, sick and lost; the small bag was still with him. As he pulled himself along, the bag became heavier and heavier. He opened the bag, full of small pieces of gold. He left half the gold on a rock. 1. ______
Eleven cold, rainy days passed. Once he found some animal bones with no meat on them. He broke them and ate them like an animal. Would he, too, be bones tomorrow? Why not? This was life. Only life hurt. There was no hurt in death. To die was to sleep. Then why was he not ready to die? He, as a man, no longer desired⁸. Life in him, unwilling⁹ to die, drove¹⁰ him on.
One morning he woke up beside a river. Slowly he followed it with his eyes and saw it emptying into a shining sea. When he saw a ship, he closed his eyes. He knew there could be no ship, no sea, here. An imagined picture, he thought. Hearing¹¹ a noise, he turned around. A wolf（狼）, old and sick, was coming slowly toward¹² him. This was real, he thought. He turned back; the sea and the ship were still there. He didn't understand. Had he been walking north, away from the camp, toward the sea? He started slowly toward the ship, knowing full well the sick wolf was following him. In the afternoon, he found the bones of a man. Beside the bones was a small bag of gold, like his own. Bill had carried his gold to the end; he would carry Bill's gold to the ship. Ha-ha! He would have the last laugh on Bill. His laughing sounded like the low cry of an animal. The wolf cried back. The man stopped suddenly and turned away. How could he laugh about Bill's bones and take his gold? 2. ______ 3. ______
He was very sick, now. He inched¹³ about on hands and knees, having lost everything— his blanket, his gun, and his gold. Only the wolf stayed with him hour after hour. At last he could go no further¹⁴. He fell. The wolf came close to him, but the man was ready. He got on top of the wolf and held its mouth closed and bit it with his last strength¹⁵. The wolf's blood flowed¹⁶ into his mouth. He held the wolf with his teeth and killed it; then he fell on his back and slept. 4. ______ 5. ______
The men on the ship saw a strange object¹⁷ lying on the beach. It was moving toward them — perhaps twenty feet an hour. They went to look and could hardly believe it was a man.
Three weeks later, when he felt better, he told them his story. But there was one strange thing: he feared there wasn't enough food on the ship. They also noticed he was getting fat. They gave him less food, but still he grew fatter with each day. Then one day they saw him put some bread under his shirt. They searched his bed and found food under his blanket. They understood.
 

1 blanket   

n.毛毯，覆盖物；排字版；vt.用毯子裹，扑灭，挡风， 覆盖，使包含；adj.包含所有的，适用于所有情形的

参考例句：

• A blanket keeps us warm because it is woollen and thick.毯子给我们保暖，因为它用羊毛制成而且很厚。
• He covered the child up with a blanket.他用一条毯子把孩子盖严。

2 bullets   

n.弹药；军火

参考例句：

• The bodies of the hostages were found riddled with bullets. 在人质的尸体上发现了很多弹孔。
• The bullets and cannon-balls were flying in all directions. 子弹和炮弹到处乱飞。

3 struggled   

v.搏斗( struggle的过去式和过去分词 )；奋斗；努力；争取

参考例句：

• She struggled to articulate her thoughts. 她竭力表明她的想法。
• I struggled to regain some dignity. 我努力恢复自己的一点儿尊严。

4 limped   

一瘸一拐地走( limp的过去式和过去分词 )； 困难地航行

参考例句：

• The damaged ship limped back to port. 那艘受损的船困难地驶回港口。
• He limped off the playground. 他一瘸一拐地离开了运动场。

5 satisfy   

v.满意；满足

参考例句：

• Her father tried his best to satisfy her demands.她的父亲想尽一切办法来满足她的要求。
• She is too poor to satisfy her family's material needs.她太穷了，无法满足家人的物质需要。

6 hunger   

n.饿，饥饿，渴望，饥馑；vt.使饥饿；vi.挨饿，渴望

参考例句：

• I hunger for a new house.我渴望得到一座新房子。
• I have experienced real hunger.我体验过真正饥饿。

7 darkness   

n.黑暗，冥冥，夜色；罪恶，无知

参考例句：

• Darkness closed down on the city.黑夜降临于该城。
• Darkness was falling fast.天很快黑了下来。

8 desired   

adj.想得到的

参考例句：

• The medicine is potent enough to produce the desired effect. 药力强。
• He desired to obtain a position in the Civil Service. 他想望在政府行政机关里谋到一个职位。

9 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

10 drove   

vbl.驾驶，drive的过去式；n.畜群

参考例句：

• He drove at a speed of sixty miles per hour.他以每小时60英里的速度开车。
• They drove foreign goods out of the market.他们把外国货驱逐出市场。

11 hearing   

n.听，听见，听到，听说，听取；听力，听证会，诉讼，审讯

参考例句：

• I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.我盼望着不久收到你的信。
• The old man's hearing is poor.那位老人听力差。

12 toward   

prep.对于，关于，接近，将近，向，朝

参考例句：

• Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
• Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了，并跑了过去。

13 inched   

adj.有英寸刻度的，英寸的

参考例句：

• The worm inched along. 那条虫向前蠕动。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He inched the van forward. 他一点点向前挪动着货车。 来自辞典例句

14 further   

adv.（在时间或空间上）距离更大地；更远地

参考例句：

• Have you had any further news?你有进一步的消息吗？
• We will help you further.我们会进一步帮助你的。

15 strength   

n.力量，力气，长处，强度

参考例句：

• She distrusts her own strength.她怀疑自己的力量。
• You must reserve your strength for the tennis final.你必须为网球决赛保存力量。

16 flowed   

v.流( flow的过去式和过去分词 )；垂；流出；（谈话、文体等）流畅

参考例句：

• A stream of blood flowed from the wound. 一股鲜血从伤口流出来。
• He was so mulish that my admonitions just flowed over him. 他很顽固，我的告诫对他只不过是耳边风。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 object   

n.物，物体，目标，宾语；v.反对

参考例句：

• Now he had no object in life.现在他没有生活的目标。
• I object strongly to the idea.我坚决反对这种主张。