人教版高二英语课文下册Unit 12 Fact and fantasy - Reading
JULES VERNE:THE FATHER OF SCIENCE FICTION
Jules Verne was born in 1828, in France. His father sent him to Paris to study law, but instead Verne developed his love for the theatre. To make a living, Verne had to write and sell stories. He spent many hours in Paris libraries studying botany, applied science and many other subjects. He used the latest ideas and technical inventions of his day in his books. Many of the instruments in his novels will remind the reader of Dr Benjamin Franklin's experiments with electricity. By taking the scientific developments of his day one step further, Jules Verne laid the foundation of modern science fiction. He also suggested how inventions could be used in the future to allow man to do things that were considered impossible in his own time. Jules Verne died in 1905, long before any of his dreams came true.
At the beginning of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, one of Verne's most famous novels, ships are disappearing all over the world and it is believed to be caused by a sea monster. Dr Aronnax, his servant and a Canadian whale hunter set out to find the monster. After months of searching they find it and in the collision that follows, the three companions are thrown overboard. In their efforts to survive, they find themselves on the surface of the monster itself, which turns out to be a submarine. They are taken on board and Captain Nemo decides not to kill them but make them his permanent guests. From that day on they start planning their escape.
Captain Nemo takes Dr Aronnax and his friends on a voyage across the oceans. His submarine, the Nautilus, is an extraordinary ship. The furniture is precious and huge glass windows that can be opened and closed give a view of the underwater world. The ship is also very strong and protected with thick iron plates. Electricity is used for light, heating, power and to defend the ship against attacks. All that is needed for life on board comes from the ocean. The food aboard the Nautilus is all seafood.
Dressed in diving suits, Captain Nemo and his guests walk around in this magic world, lighted by the lamps of the ship. They find themselves surrounded by colourful rocks, fishes, seashells and plants, all waving and moving slowly in the blue waters.
Readers have wondered about the character of Captain Nemo ever since the book was published.You could say he is someone you will neither like nor dislike. You might think that he is a cruel man because he keeps Aronnax and the others as prisoners and destroys ships. But at other moments you will find him gentle and weak, as when he cries about the lost lives of people drowned in ships that have sunk.
Another wonderful story is that of Journey to the Centre of the Earth. The story begins with the discovery of an ancient document in an old book. The document explains how to find a secret road to the centre of the earth. Two men decide to go on this adventure and travel to Iceland, where they enter the earth through a chimney in a dead volcano. Their guide leads them through a narrow passage deep into the earth.Passing through layers of coal and marble they go deeper and deeper. They drink the water from a boiling underground river and after many days they reach a huge lake or underground ocean. Walking along its shores they go through forests of mushrooms and plants that lived on the earth millions of years ago. They build a raft to cross the sea and are attacked by ancient sea creatures. In the end, their raft is drawn into a fast stream and with ever increasing speed they are shot out of a volcano in southern Italy.
