Awakening your senses 唤醒你的感官

蒋建平

給自己来个测试吧。风从哪边吹来？你家门前能看见多少种野花？希望我们能够运用我们的感官和情感全方位去感受自然的美妙，去感受世界的美好。

Give yourself a test. Which way is the wind blowing？ How many kinds of wildflowers can be seen from your front door？ If your awareness is as sharp as it could be， youll have no trouble answering these questions.

Most of us observed much more as children than we do as adults. A childs day is filled with fascination， newness and wonder. Curiosity gave us all a natural awareness. But distinctions that were sharp to us as children become unclear; we are numb（麻木的） to new stimulation（刺激） and new ideas. Relearning the art of seeing the world around us is quite simple， although it takes practice and requires breaking some bad habits.

The first step in awakening senses is to stop predicting what we are going to see and feel before it occurs. This blocks awareness. One chilly night when I was hiking in the Rocky Mountains with some students， I mentioned that we were going to cross a mountain stream. The students began complaining about how cold it would be. We reached the stream， and they unwillingly walked ahead. It was almost knee?deep when they realized it was a hot spring. Later they all admitted theyd felt cold water at first.

Another block to awareness is the obsession （痴迷） many of us have with naming things. I saw bird watchers who spotted a bird， immediately looked it up in field guides， and said “a ruby?crowned kinglet” and checked it off. They no longer paid attention to the bird and never learned what it was doing.

The pressures of “time” and “destination” are further blocks to awareness. I encountered many hikers who were headed to a distant camp?ground with just enough time to get there before dark. It seldom occurred to them to wander a bit， to take a moment to see whats around them. I asked them what theyd seen. “Oh， a few birds，” they said. They seemed bent on their destinations.

Nature seems to unfold to people who watch and wait. Next time you take a walk， no matter where it is， take in all the sights， sounds and sensations. Wander in this frame of mind and you will open a new dimension to your life.

[Reading][Check]

1. What idea does the author convey in paragraph 3？

A. Admitting mistakes honestly.

B. Following the teachers advice.

C. Avoiding jumping to conclusions.

D. Stopping complaining all the time.

2. What does the bird watchers behavior show？

A. They were really fascinated by nature.

B. They cared only about the names of birds.

C. They were very patient in their observation.

D. They questioned the accuracy of field guides.

3. Why did the hikers take no notice of the surroundings during the journey？

A. The natural beauty wasnt attractive to them.

B. They focused on arriving at the camp in time.

C. The forest in the dark was dangerous for them.

D. They were keen to see rare birds at the destination.

4. Whats the main idea of the passage？

A. We should try our best to protect nature.

B. We should open our mind to new things and ideas.

C. We should get rid of some bad habits in our daily life.

D. We should use our senses to feel wonders of the world.

[Language][Study]

Difficult sentence

One chilly night when I was hiking in the Rocky Mountains with some students， I mentioned that we were going to cross a mountain stream. 一個寒冷的夜晚，我和一些学生在落基山脉徒步旅行，我提到我们将要蹚过一条山中的小溪。

【点石成金】本句是一个主从复合句，when I was hiking in the Rocky Mountains with some stu?dents是关系副词when引导的定语从句，One chilly night是先行词，关系副词when在从句中作时间状语，that we were going to cross a mountain stream是that引导的宾语从句。