我的書(shū)架

My room is a little world of my own， packed with things that are very special to me. Everything in my room， from the blue armchair to the red sports bag， from the posters1 on the wall to the model car perched2 on the windowsill， exhibits a part of me. However， the object that reveals the most about me is undoubtedly the bookshelf.

The large wooden shelf is in light yellow. It has four levels and the same amount of doors， with cabinets at the bottom. It is fairly tall —— I have to stand on my toes (踮著腳尖) to reach the top level. There are glass panes3 on the doors， as well as exquisite4 handles.

It is obvious that no house can be called home unless there are residents. Likewise， no shelf can be called bookshelf without books —— and my bookshelf is no disgrace5 to its name. It is packed with books， books of every topic， from different countries， of all sizes， for all ages... It is the soul of my room， the king of my world.(它是我房間的靈魂，是我個(gè)人世界的國(guó)王。）

Right from the beginning of my life， I have had a strange connection with books. On the day I was one-year-old， my parents held a traditional Chinese\"ceremony\" for me. They placed all kinds of things before me， such as calculators， hammers， clothes， pens， toys etc.， and told me to pick one. I picked none of the large and modern things littered6 before me， but firmly grabbed an old book. This meant my future life would have something to do with books. It may be superstition7， but it was as correct a prophecy8 as was ever made.

From the time I was a little baby， my mum had started to tell me stories using picture books. Though I could not even speak then， and definitely could not understand a word mum said， I would always laugh and wave my armslike windmills when she came to sit by my side， holding a book in her hands. When I was three， my mum started to teach me Chinese characters. I learnt quickly， and after a short time. I could read some basic storybooks. During the cold winter days. I would lie in bed before sleep， kept from the coldness by my cosy9 blankets， and read with mum for a long time. It was the happiest time of my day. Thus， I developed the habit of reading before sleep， which I still keep today. At that time， the bedside table acted as my first bookshelf， being easy to reach from bed.

Myknowledge of the Chinese language accumulate10 with my age. By the time I was five， I could read books with a large number of words. With the fast growing of my collections， the bedside table was insufficient11 for its job， and my parents spared a level of their bookcase to me —— that was my second \"bookshelf.\"

When I was seven， I had the opportunity togo to England with my parents. I could scarcely say or read any English upon arriving. We did not take any of my Chinese books along with us， hence I was desperately in need of books to read. What could I do? One day， I happened to stumble upon12 an original version(原版) of \"The Three Kingdoms\" (《三國(guó)演義》) during my search in my parent's luggage. It is a novel describing wars in the ancient times， written in the Ming Dynasty， and is very hard to understand， even for adults. However， though faltering13 here and there. I was able to understand most of it —— and was completely fascinated by it. The vivid characters， the ferocious14 battles， the unexpected war-strategies...all made me think of the book day and night. My reading time before bed extended. My mother woke up at one o'clock one night and saw light escaping from my room. She went in and ordered me to go to sleep. I could do nothing but obey. (我無(wú)話可說(shuō)，只能從命了。)

Of course， being in England， my major priority was to learn English; and with the help of my parents， teachers and most of all —— English books， my English improved rapidly. At first， I read some picture books with only a few simple words on a page. I quickly succeeded over reading that， and went on to read more complicated ones —— relative to me —— with short stories. Every day， after school， I would lie on the carpet —— another special habit of mine —— and devour15 the books， while other English boys were playing outside. I enjoyed my reading， and they enjoyed their playing. However， their playing benefited them only with the relish16 of spirit， while my reading brought me the knowledge of mind. Therefore， it was no wonder that I caught up with most of my peers17 on English after merely a term. I continued reading， and frequently went to the local library to borrow books. By this time， the books I read were some popular novels for children at my age. In the meantime， I had finally acquired18 a small bookcase of my own (being the third in the position)， consisting of19 four levels， and just enough for me to cram in all my collections. After about one year， my English was one of the best in my class. All my teachers and friends expressed their amazement on my progress to me， but I knew it owed much to the books. On taking leave of(向…告別) them before my return to China， my teachers encouraged me to keep reading English when I went back. I nodded.

Indeed，on coming back to China， my fondness of English literature grew instead of perishing， and \"Goosebumps\" (《雞皮疙瘩》) and \"Harry Potter\"(《哈利·波特》) were among my favourites. Recently， I have become more and more interested in Charles Dickens' (查爾斯·狄更斯) works. His novels， such as \"Great Expectations\" (《遠(yuǎn)大前程》)， \"David Copperfield\" (《大衛(wèi)·科波菲爾》) and \"A Tale of Two Cities\"(《雙城記》)， magically lured20 me into their worlds. I also read many famous Chinese novels， including \"Monkey King\" (《西游記》)and \"The Dream of the Red Mansions\" (《紅樓夢(mèng)》). There are many scientific books in my bookshelf as well， e.g. \"A Brief History of Time\"(《時(shí)間簡(jiǎn)史》) and \"The Universe in the Nuts\" (《果殼中的宇宙》)， by Stephen Hawking(斯蒂芬·霍金). Another interest of mine is to read biographies21， as I like to learn from great people.

I look at my bookshelf now —— the fourth in the line of bookshelves. How large it is， and how grand it seems， compared to its predecessors. However， no matter large or small， the bookshelf is always the object in my room that reveals the most about me. It has a thirst for books; I have a thirst for knowledge. ( 它渴望書(shū)本，我渴望知識(shí)。) Pretty same， huh? Yeah， it's a replica22 of me.

注釋

1. poster n. 招貼畫(huà)，海報(bào)

2. perch vt. 把…置于，使處于

3. pane n. 框格玻璃，窗格

4. exquisite adj. 精美的，賞心悅目的

5. disgrace n. 丟臉，恥辱

6. litter vt. 亂扔

7. superstition n. 迷信

8. prophecy n. 預(yù)言

9. cosy adj. 舒適的

10. accumulate vt. 積累

11. insufficient adj. 不能勝任的

12. stumble vi. ～upon 偶然遇到，碰巧找到

13. falter vi. 猶豫，畏縮

14. ferocious adj. 殘忍的

15. devour vt. 貪婪地(或熱切地)看(或聽(tīng)、 讀等)

16. relish n. 興趣，愛(ài)好

17. peer n. 同等地位的人，同齡人

18. acquire vt. 獲得，開(kāi)始具有

19. consist vi. ～of 由…組成

２０. lure vt. 吸引，引誘

2１. biography n. 傳記

２２. replica n. 復(fù)制品