江麗

艾薩克·阿西莫夫（Isaac Asimov），西方科幻小說黃金時代的代表人物之一，其一生著述近500本，題材涉及自然科學(xué)、社會科學(xué)和文學(xué)藝術(shù)等多個領(lǐng)域。其作品以“基地系列”“銀河帝國三部曲”“機器人系列”三大系列最為著名，曾獲代表科幻界最高榮譽的雨果獎和星云終身成就大師獎。

Isaac Asimov was a biochemist （生物化學(xué)家） and a highly successful American writer of science fiction. He was born in Russia and was brought to the United States at age three. He grew up in Brooklyn， New York， and graduated from Columbia University in 1939. In the same year， Asimov began contributing stories to science fiction magazines. Nightfall （1941）， about a planet in a multiple?star system that only experiences darkness for one night every 2，049 years， brought him to the front rank of science fiction writers.

It was when I was attending high school that I first read Asimov's stories. At the time， a few science fiction magazines began to introduce this author， and to translate a few pieces from his “Robot Series”. Of Asimov's works， the one that left the deepest impression on me was Pebble in the Sky. This novel directly influenced my early science fiction writing. Asimov was one of the leading writers of Western science fiction's Golden Age， so although his writing may not have a direct influence on writers of today， his underlying （潛在的） influence on many levels is undeniable—the famous Three Laws of Robotics， and many classic writing techniques， for example. Asimov's novels are marked by a fully integrated （完整的） logical system， and his stories are a pleasure to read. This is the reason why his novels still attract readers today. However， few people these days can follow Asimov's creative methods.

Compared with the “Robot Series”， Asimov's “Foundation Series” is a little less well?known. In fact， the “Foundation Series” creates an entire world， even grander than that of the “Robot Series”. This science fiction had a direct influence on later Western science fiction. The most famous example was Star Wars.

Reading Check

1. Which one of Asimov's works impressed the author most？

A. The “Robot Series”. B. Pebble in the Sky.

C. Nightfall. D. Star Wars.

2. What does the author think of Asimov's “Foundation Series”？

A. It is more popular than the “Robot Series”.

B. It is more expensive than the “Robot Series”.

C. It is less logically organized than the “Robot Series”.

D. It was written better than the “Robot Series” in some ways.

3. What's the author's purpose of writing this text？

A. To compare Asimov with other writers.

B. To advise people to buy Asimov's works.

C. To explain Asimov's writing background.

D. To introduce Asimov and his influence.

Language Study

Sentence for writing

It was when I was attending high school that I first read Asimov's stories. 我是在上高中的時候第一次讀到了阿西莫夫（寫）的故事。

【信息提取】該句含有一個強調(diào)句式：It is/was + 被強調(diào)部分（通常是主語、賓語或狀語）+ that/who+其他部分。在該句中被強調(diào)部分為時間狀語when I was attending high school。

【句式仿寫】就是在昨天，我在火車站遇見了杰克。