普通高中课程标准实验教科书英语选修高二下选修7 Unit 1 Living well - Reading and wri
At the age of 25, Zhang Yuncheng achieved his ambition to write and publish a book. Having a book published is a great achievement for anyone, but Zhang Yuncheng's success is particularly special. Yuncheng went to school for only one day and he did not start learning to read until he was 12 years old. Even more amazing, every character the young author writes causes him pain.
Yuncheng has a disease which affects the muscles in his body. His parents first noticed there was something wrong with their son when he was just three years old. By the time he was seven, the boy could neither run nor jump. He could only walk. On his first day of school, Yuncheng had to watch the other students as they ran around at lunchtime. That day he caught a cold and his parents decided not to send him back to school. So Yuncheng stayed at home and over the years his condition got worse and worse. By the time he was 16 he could not walk at all, by 18 he couldn't get out of bed without help, and by the time he was 20 he could not lift his arms above his head. Yuncheng's whole world became his family and what he could see out of the window near his bed. Every movement he made caused him pain.
However, Yuncheng's condition has not stopped him making the most of his life. When, at the age of 12, he became interested in learning to read, his brother showed him some characters. Within a few years he had taught himself thousands of Chinese characters. Yuncheng also taught himself to write and when he was 17 he wrote a letter to a newspaper describing his situation and his dream of a better life. The letter was read by Zhang Danuo, an editor at the newspaper, who was inspired by Yuncheng's spirit. The two began writing to one another and soon became friends.
Zhang Danuo offered to help Yuncheng achieve his ambition to write a book. Every week or so he set Yuncheng a writing assignment. Although he was often ill, and sometimes could hardly pick up his pen, Yuncheng kept writing and sent his finished essays to Zhang Danuo. Yuncheng was always happy when he finished an assignment. "I felt everything in the world was beautiful and how wonderful it was to live in the world," he said. Yuncheng's book describes what his life is like, what his hopes and dreams are and how he overcomes the problems he faces every day. Readers have been inspired by his courage and his good heart and his book has sold extremely well. Yuncheng says that because his life will not be a long one, he must do as much as he can in the time that is left to him.
