A small thing can say a lot about a big effort. Last week, a volunteer named Alimujiang Halike stood in a cold camp on the Tibetan plateau, watching steam rise from a pressure cooker. He leaned forward, waved the steam towards his nose and smiled. The rice and meat were ready. He had carried those two pots all the way from his home, because he knew that at four thousand metres water boils too early for rice to cook properly.
He heard about the earthquake in Baqing county while he was in Xi’an. He did not spend long thinking. He flew back to Urumqi to pick up the pots he had bought earlier, then travelled to Xining and on to Lhasa. There he joined a friend who runs a small restaurant, loaded twenty sheep, flat bread and carrots into a car, and set off for the disaster area. The mountain roads are full of bends, so the travellers took turns driving through the night for twelve hours.
Alimujiang is not new to this work. He comes from Hejing county in Xinjiang and once gave away money he earned selling lamb skewers to help poor students. Over the years he has cooked at several disaster sites. He says the highland is hard, but the people there are having a harder time, and a hot meal is something he can actually give. At dawn his team began preparing food. Four hours later the fire was lit and the smell of lamb and rice spread across the camp, and children queued for bread, saying thank you again and again.
Reports like this one are easy to read and easy to forget. Yet they show something plain. Help does not always arrive as money or machines. Sometimes it arrives as two pots in a bag, a twelve-hour drive and a person who will not let others eat cold food. That is ordinary kindness, and it is often the fastest kind.
Words to know:
- volunteer (志愿者)
- pot (锅)
- pressure (压力)
- plain (高原；平原)
- spread (扩散；散开)
- queue (排队)
- earn (挣得；赚得)
长难句拆解 · 一般过去完成时 · because 原因状语从句
主句 He had carried… 用过去完成时，表示这个动作发生在「站在那里看蒸汽」之前，是更早的事。 because 引导原因状语从句，从句里 he knew 后面还有 that 引导的宾语从句，形成两层从句。 too… to… 结构表示「太……以至于不能……」，too early for rice to cook properly 就是「（沸腾得）太早，米饭无法正常煮熟」。 直译：他早已把那两口锅从家里一路带过来，因为他知道在四千米处水沸腾得太早，米饭无法煮好。
长难句拆解 · 转折与并列 · Yet they show something plain
Yet 在此作连词，等于 but，表示与上一句的转折关系，语气比 but 稍重，常用于书面语。 something plain 是不定代词加后置形容词。英文里修饰 something、anything、nothing 这类词的形容词必须放在后面，不能说 plain something。 plain 本义是「平的、朴素的」，这里指「简单明了的、不加修饰的」。 直译：然而它们显示出某种朴素的东西。
同义替换 · 雅思阅读利器
下面每组左边是原文表达，右边是可以在写作和阅读中互换的说法，点一下即可自测。
- A small thing can say a lot about a big effort → Small details often reveal a large undertaking → say a lot about 表示「很能说明」
- He did not spend long thinking → He made up his mind quickly → spend time doing 结构的常见替换
- The mountain roads are full of bends → The roads twist and turn through the mountains → full of bends 表示弯道多
- Over the years he has cooked at several disaster sites → In recent years he has served hot meals at more than one disaster area → over the years 表示「这些年来」
- the people there are having a harder time → local people are facing even greater difficulties → have a hard time 表示处境艰难
- the smell of lamb and rice spread across the camp → the aroma of food filled the camp → spread across 表示扩散到整个范围
- it is often the fastest kind → it is frequently the quickest form of help → kind 在此指「种类」，替代前面提到的 help
阅读自测 · 3 题
- True / False / Not Given: Alimujiang bought the two pressure cookers after the earthquake happened.
- Short answer: How long did the travellers drive through the night to reach the disaster area?
- Short answer: Why does the writer say this kind of help is often the fastest?
参考答案与解析
- False。原文说 He flew back to Urumqi to pick up the pots he had bought earlier，锅是震前就买好的，题目把它改成震后才买，属于时间偷换。
- Twelve hours. 依据是 the travellers took turns driving through the night for twelve hours。
- Because help does not always come as money or machines; ordinary people can give it directly and at once, as with two pots and a long drive. 依据是末段 Help does not always arrive as money or machines 与 That is ordinary kindness, and it is often the fastest kind。干扰项常写「因为志愿者比专业队伍快」，原文从未比较速度，属于偷换比较对象。
中文译文
一件小事，往往能说明一件大事的分量。上周，一位名叫阿里木江·哈力克的志愿者站在青藏高原一处寒冷的营地里，看着高压锅升起的蒸汽。他俯下身，用手把蒸汽扇到鼻前，笑了。米饭和羊肉好了。那两口锅是他一路从家里带来的，因为他知道，在四千米的地方水沸腾得太早，米饭煮不熟。
他听到巴青县发生地震的消息时，人正在西安。他没犹豫太久，先飞回乌鲁木齐取上早先买好的锅，再转到西宁、拉萨。在拉萨，他会合了一位开小餐馆的朋友，把二十只羊、馕和胡萝卜装上车，开往灾区。山路弯多，同行的人轮流开了一整夜，开了十二个小时。
阿里木江并不是第一次做这样的事。他来自新疆和静县，曾把卖羊肉串挣的钱捐给贫困学生。这些年，他在好几个灾区做过饭。他说高原苦，但那里的人更苦，而一顿热饭是他真能给出去的东西。天一亮，队伍就开始备料。四小时后炉火点起，羊肉和米饭的香气在营地里散开，孩子们排队领馕，一遍遍说着谢谢。
这样的报道读起来很容易，忘掉也很容易。但它们说明了一件朴素的事。帮助并不总以钱或机器的形式到来。有时候，它只是包里那两口锅、十二小时的车程，和一个不肯让别人吃冷饭的人。这就是平常的善意，而它往往是最快的那种。