British Council

生活在沙漠地區(qū)的艾弗爾自幼愛雪。當(dāng)從電視上看到滑雪比賽時(shí)，他被滑雪者酷帥又曼妙的表演所吸引。由此，他開始了一段追夢的綺麗旅程。

Before reading

Match the definitions （A～F） with the vocabulary （1～6）.

Vocabulary Definitions

1. satellite television

2. medal

3. take up

4. bobsleigh

5. goggles

6. dune

A. a small gold， silver or bronze disc given as a reward for winning a

competition

B. television services providing different channels from all over the world via satellites

C. a sledge for racing on ice

D. a small hill of sand on a beach or desert

E. to start （a new hobby or activity）

F. special glasses that protect your eyes when you swim， ski or use a dangerous machine

Afel was only a very small boy when he first saw snow. But it wasn't real snow that he saw. No， there was no real snow where he lived. He saw the snow in a picture book. The book had lots of pictures of children playing in big white fields. He asked his mother， “What are those white fields？”， and his mother laughed and said， “That's snow！” She tried to explain to him what snow was， but Afel didn't really understand. Sometimes there was rain where he lived， but not very much， so it was very difficult for him to understand what this cold， ice rain that his mother described was. It didn't matter. Even when he was only a very small boy， Afel was already in love with snow.

He dreamed about snow all the time， trying to imagine how it really was. He thought of big white fields. He thought of the big， heavy clothes the children playing in the snow wore. He thought about feeling cold. He dreamed of being able to fly across the white fields of snow.

Then， when Afel was twelve years old， the next thing happened. One day he was watching the TV at his uncle's house. His uncle had a big， new TV， with all the satellite channels. Afel was watching one of the satellite channels and a programme came on， and the programme was full of snow. Lots and lots of it. And not only snow—there were people flying across the snow.

They looked like strange animals， like fantastic birds. They had hats which covered all their heads and big goggles over their eyes. They wore brightly coloured clothes. And on their feet， they had things that looked like strange shoes.

“What are those？” he asked his uncle excitedly.

“Skis，” replied his uncle. “And those people are called skiers.” Afel was in love. Here was the snow， and here were people who were flying across the snow. It was just like one of his dreams. It was perfect. At that moment， he decided. He wanted to be a skier.