普通高中课程标准实验教科书英语选修高三选修9 Unit 1 Breaking records-Reading
"THE ROAD IS ALWAYS AHEAD OF YOU"
Ashrita Furman is a sportsman who likes the challenge of breaking Guinness records. Over the last 25 years, he hasbroken approximately 93 Guinness records. More than twenty of these he still holds, including the record for having the most records. But these records are not made in any conventional sport like swimming or soccer. Rather Ashrita attempts to break records in very imaginative events and in very interesting places.
Recently, Ashrita achieved his dream of breaking a record in all seven continents, including hula hooping in Australia, pogo stick jumping under water in South America, and performing deep knee bends in a hot air balloon in North America.
While these activities might seem childish and cause laughter rather than respect, in reality they require an enormous amount of strength and fitness as well as determination.
Think about the fine neck adjustments needed to keep a full bottle of milk on your head while you are walking. You can stop to rest or eat but the bottle has to stay on your head.
While Ashrita makes standing on top of a 75 cm Swiss ball look easy, it is not. It takes a lot of concentration and a great sense of balance to stay on it. You have to struggle to stay on top especially when your legs start shaking.
And what about somersaulting along a road for 12 miles? Somersaulting is a tough event as you have to overcome dizziness, extreme tiredness and pain. You are permitted to rest for only five minutes in every hour of rolling but you are allowed to stop briefly to vomit.
Covering a mile in the fastest time while doing gymnastically correct lunges is yet another event in which Ashrita is outstanding. Lunges are extremely hard on your legs. You start by standing and then you step forward with the fight foot while touching the left knee to the ground. Then you stand up again and step forward with the left foot while touching the fight knee to the ground. Imagine doing this for a mile!
Yet this talented sportsman is not a natural athlete. As a child he was very unfit and was not at all interested in sports. However, he was fascinated by the Guinness Book of World Records.
How Ashrita came to be a sportsman is an interesting story. As a teenager, he began searching for a deeper meaning in life. He studied Eastern religions and, aged 16, discovered an Indian meditation teacher called Sri Chinmoy who lived in his neighbourhood in New York City. Since that time in the early 1970s, Ashrita has been one of Sri Chinmoy's students. Sri Chinmoy says that it is just as important for people to develop their bodies as it is to develop their minds, hearts and spiritual selves. He believes that there is no limit to people's physical abilities.
When Ashrita came third in a 24-hour bicycle marathon in New York's Central Park in 1978, he knew that he would one day get into the Guinness Book of World Records. He had been urged by his spiritual leader to enter the marathon even though he had done no training. So, when he won third place, he came to the understanding that his body was just an instrument of the spirit and that he seemed to be able to use his spirit to accomplish anything. From then on, Ashrita refused to accept any physical limitation.
With this new confidence, Asharita broke his first Guinness record with 27,000 jumping jacks in 1979. The motivation to keep trying to break records comes through his devotion to Sri Chinmoy. Every time Ashrita tries to break a record, he reaches a point where he feels he cannot physically do any more. At that moment, he goes deep within himself and connects with his soul and his teacher.
Ashrita always acknowledges his teacher in his record-breaking attempts.In fact, he often wears a T-shirt with Sri Chinmoy's words on the back. The words are:
"There is only one perfect road. It is ahead of you, always ahead of you."
