Xiaomin never thought abortion was a big deal. As he became acquainted with American politics ， however ， he realized you have to work hard to keep abreast of changing values to truly understand how absurdly controversial this issue has become. He found out from his American friends that opinions are in abundance of how to teach people to be accountable for their actions， how to make people abide by Family Planning laws， and even how to teach people just to abstain from sex. The significance of this issue became abruptly clear when Xiaomin‘s best friend， Jeff， got his girlfriend pregnant.

Jeff was an acclaimed graduate student who was living an abnormal life from other Americans just by attending a Chinese university to get his Ph.D.（Ph.D. is an abbreviation for Doctor of Philosophy， the highest degree available in a university）。 Jeff was also an ace soccer player and acoustic guitar player. There was also alway an abundance of women around him. This is how he met Sarah.

When Sarah became pregnant with Jeff， his friends suddenly treated him as if he was an accessory to murder. Jeff also felt as if he needed to be acquitted of some crime. But he decided in the end that he and his accomplice， Sarah， would keep the baby. According to Jeff and Sarah， the life of their child was more important than their career. Xiaomin was amazed. Keeping the child would abolish any chance of a successful career for Jeff. And in Xiaomin’s eyes， one could activate the process for an abortion with a simple visit to the doctor even though there might be lines， three people abreast.

But Jeff and Sarah were firm in their decision and Xiaomin had to abide his friends‘ decision. Life abounded in surprises. Now Jeff and Sarah were leaving school and returning to the United States. They would do everying they could to accommodate themselves to their new situation.

選擇生孩子

小民從來沒想過流產是個大事。但是，當他了解美國政治之后，他認識到得下很大的工夫才能一直了解不斷變化著的價值觀念，真正理解關于這個問題的爭議是多么的荒唐可笑。他從美國朋友身上發現人們對許多問題的看法是很豐富的，如怎樣教人們對自己的行為負責、如何使人們遵守計劃生育的法律規定、甚至如何教人們節制性生活。小民最要好的朋友杰夫使女朋友懷孕了，這件事情使上述問題的重要性突然變得清楚了。

杰夫是位頗受贊揚的研究生，他的生活和其他美國人相比是有些反常，因為他在一所中國大學里讀博士學位（Ph.D.是Doctor of Philosorhy的縮寫，是大學里能夠獲得的最高學位）。杰夫還是一名優秀的足球運動員和原聲吉他手，他身邊總是有一大堆女人圍著他，他就是這樣和薩拉相識的。

杰夫使薩拉懷孕后，他的朋友突然把他當作是謀殺同謀。杰夫也覺得好象有必要判他有罪，但最終決定他和他的共犯薩拉將生下這個孩子。杰夫和薩拉認為，孩子的生命比他們的事業更重要。小民感到很吃驚，因為要這個孩子將徹底毀杰夫在事業上取得成功的機會。在小民看來，你只要去一趟醫生那里，整個流產過程就會啟動，盡管可能要排隊，三個人并列而行。

但是杰夫和薩拉的態度很堅決，小民只好接受朋友們的決定。生活充滿了出人意料的事情。現在杰夫和薩拉正打算退學回美國，他們會盡全力使自己適應他們的新生活。

讀故事記單詞第二篇

WORD

affluent a. 富裕的，富足的

aftermath n. 后果，余波

aggravate vt. 1.加重 2.激怒，使惱火

aggregate n. 總數，合計 a. 總計的，合計 vt. 1.總計達，合計 2.使聚集，使積聚

in the aggregate 總共，作為總體

agitate vi. （for，against）煽動，鼓動 vt. 1.攪動，搖動 2.使焦慮不安

agony n. （極度的）痛苦，創痛

agreeable a. 1.令人愉快的，愜意的 2.（欣然）同意的，樂意的

aide n. 助手，副官

ailment n. 小病，疾病

air-conditioning n. 空調設備，空調系統

aisle ［ail］ n. 過道，通道

album n. 粘貼簿，集郵簿，像冊

alcoholic a. 1.酒精的，含酒精的 2.由酒精引起的 n. 酗酒者

alien a. 1.外國的，外國人的 2.陌生的 3.性質不同的，不相容的 n. 1.外國人，外僑 2.外星人

alienate vt. 1.使疏遠，使不友好，離間 2.轉讓，讓渡（財產等）

allege vt. 斷言，宣稱，硬說

alleviate vt. 減輕，緩解，緩和

alley n. 小巷，胡同

allot vt. 分配，撥出

alloy n. 合金 vt. 將……鑄成合金

allude vi. （to）暗指，影射，提及

A Hungry Alien

When an alcoholic man dressed in dirty clothes and stinking of beer first alleged that an alien had landed in an alley behind a restaurant frequented by the affluent， no one listened to him. Photos from the aftermath filled 10 photo albums.

In the begining， as he rushed down the center aisle of the pleasantly air-conditioned room， the alcoholic wasn’t able to successfully agitate anybody. It was as if they were only looking at his appearance and not listening to his words. When he did finally find someone agreeable to come outside and see what he said had happened， he was completely alienated to see that the creature was no longer there. Now that he had aggravated so many rich people， he was sure that he would leave the room in agony. His fears were alleviated， however， when the alien broke through a window into the restaurant， somehow knowingly coming to the aide of the alcoholic.

When all the people realized that the alien that the alcoholic had alluded to was really there and composed of an aggregate of unknown alloy not affected by normal bullets， they screamed and ran around leaving no chance for anyone to allot a route of escape. They behaved， in the aggregate， as if no one in the world could relieve them of this alien ailment. And they were right. None of the outside help that came could stop the alien from eating everyone in the restaurant.

饑餓的外星人

當一個穿著臟衣服、滿口啤酒味的酗酒男人宣稱有外星人在一家富人經常光顧的酒店后面的一個胡同里降落時，沒有人聽他的話。事后的照片裝滿了10個影集。

起初，當他從舒服的空調房間的中心過道沖進去的時候，這位酗酒者沒能成功地鼓動起任何人。大家好象只在看他的樣子，沒有注意聽他在說什么。當他終于找到一個人愿意出來看一看時，他完全成了孤家寡人，因為那東西已經不見了。由于激怒了那么多的有錢人，他清楚他不得不痛苦地離開那里。但是，很快他的恐懼得到了緩解，因為這時外星人破窗而入，好象知道要當酗酒者的助手似的。

當大家明白酗酒者提到的外星人確實存在而且總體上是由一種不知名的、普通子彈打不穿的合金構成的時候，他們尖叫著四處亂跑，竟沒有留出一條出路，結果誰也沒有機會逃出去。他們的行為總的來說就好象世界上沒有人能把他們從這種性質不同的疾病中解救出來。他們的感覺是對的，因為任何外來的援助都沒能阻止外星人吃掉酒店里的每一個人。