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didn't play each other to begin with, though, because we couldn't keep a ball in play. We started off playing in the neighbourhood courts of Compton, Los Angeles, where we grew up. Most people didn't play tennis round there, especially kids. But that didn't bother us. People ask whether we had distractions, but to be honest, we didn't. It's not like we had jobs, or things to take care of, or bills to pay. All we had to do was to be a kid and go out there and hit the ball. So that was easy.
6 What with playing tennis together and sharing bedrooms until I was 15, Serena and I have always been close. But I think people tend to group us together as if we're the same person sometimes. And we're not. We're like any other pair of siblings — we have
differences the way any siblings do. One of the many things I love about her is that she's got this great sense of humour. Recently she's been making these funny videos and
they've had me laughing my head off. I'm laughing just thinking about them. That's typical of Serena. Of course, being the baby in the family we've always tried not to spoil her, but she's so sweet, even now it's difficult not to. I suppose, being that bit older than her, I've definitely got that older-sister syndrome where she's concerned. I've always been very protective of her and I probably always will be.
亲姐妹的价值观：网坛传奇姐妹花维纳斯?威廉姆斯和塞雷娜?威廉姆斯
维纳斯? 威廉姆斯和塞雷娜? 威廉姆斯是两位世界最著名的网球选手。她们荣获了50 多个单打冠军，20多个双打冠军。2000年，年仅19岁的维纳斯在温布尔登网球赛上赢得了她的第一个单打大满贯。1999年，年仅17的塞雷娜在美国网球公开赛上获得冠军。她们还有三个姐姐。
塞雷娜：维纳斯和我总是下决心要把事情做好，要获得成功，要尽自己最大的努力。你可能会说我们是完美主义者。这确实是一种天性。我向来都是这么想的。我还记得有一次——大概五六岁的时候——我要完成一项家庭作业。我下定决心要得优秀，于是就一遍又一遍地修改，直到自己觉得满意为止。我想这跟打网球有点儿像。如果我的作业不是班里最好的，我就不会放弃努力。所以，我小时候就显示出许多成功的迹象，我确信我姐姐也是这样的。
父母对我们的成功起了决定性的作用，这是毫无疑问的。我妈妈常说，如果爸爸是身体，那么她就是脊梁骨。妈妈说的对，她确实有那么重要。我知道有很多人认为一直是爸爸在逼我们练球，这是事实。如果有一天我不想练球，只有妈妈会说：“没关系。”可过不了多久，她又会说，得收收心，该出去练球了。其实她也不是那么好说话的，而这正是你所需要的。你的父母总不能一个把你往这个方向拽，另一个把你往那个方向拽吧。他们俩对我们的要求是一致的，所以，在某种程度上说，他们配合得很好。
我和维纳斯并不是生在富贵人家。我们家门口也没有停着一溜奔驰车。但是，我们也不是穷人：我们从来没饿过肚子，没缺过什么——我认为那才是真穷呢。我想，最重要的一点是，在我们的成长过程中，没有一样东西不是靠自己的努力得来的。像爸爸一样，妈妈也要出去工作，养家糊口。因此，当轮到我们的时候，我们也一样要把自己该做的事情做好。我对此心存感激，因为虽然我们还年轻，可我已经认识到，这对塑造我们的性格起了很大的作用。
我觉得我比维纳斯略微外向些，也更愿意冒险。我可能更愿意去尝试新的事物。但另一方面，与维纳斯相比，我更孤僻些，喜欢把事情藏在心里；而维纳斯为人更坦率，更愿意将自己的想法和盘托出。假如我们为琐事争吵——这其实是没有的事——她肯定会把憋在心里的话说出来。可是她甚至根本不需要开口，因为我能体会到她的心情。我敢说她也能体会到我的心情。虽然她比我大不了多少，她却一直像个大姐姐一样保护着我。其实，她不仅对我这样，对她的姐姐也是这样。我想她的天性就是如此吧。
维纳斯：我对塞雷娜最早的记忆是她坐在小推车里，我推着她到处转。虽然我比她大，但因为大不了多少，所以我也就只能推着她围着房子转个一百圈。我好像一直在照顾她。后来不久，我们就开始打网球了。我可能是五岁开始打球的。刚开始的时候，我们并没有互相对打，因为我们还都接不到球。我们是在洛杉矶的康普顿长大的，而且就在康普顿居民区的网球场练球。那儿大多数人都不打网球，孩子们就更不打了。但那并不影响我们。有人问我们，小时候有没有什么让我们分心的事情，可说实话，没有任何让我们分心的事情。我们不必工作、
不需要干活儿或者挣钱付账单。我们只要做好小孩子该做的事情和出去打球就行了。事情就是那么简单。
在15岁以前，我都是和塞雷娜一起打球，还和她睡在同一间卧室里，所以我们一直亲密无间。可我觉得人们有时候喜欢把我们俩混为一谈，好像我们是一个人，其实不是。我们就像其他的兄弟姐妹一样，也有不同之处。塞雷娜极具幽默感，这点最让我喜欢。最近她拍了几部滑稽录像，看得我简直要笑破肚皮了。现在想起来我还想笑呢。那就是典型的塞雷娜。她是家中最小的孩子，我们一直尽量不把她给宠坏了。可她真是太可爱了，我们到现在都没法不宠她。我想，可能是因为比她年龄大一点，我对她确实有那种当姐姐的情结，我总是想保护她，而且我会永远这么做。
Unit8
The armchair traveller
1 George lived on his own in a flat in south London. He lived alone by choice, because he felt overwhelmed by the stupidity of people and ugliness of his surroundings. As we all know, London is not a beautiful city today, and the climate is unpleasant. For George, the city was like an over-familiar elderly lady, who in the right light, reminded him of her past beauty, but who had lately become rather tiresome.
2 His lifestyle was modest and his financial circumstances allowed him to spend his days in an old and comfortable armchair, wearing a dressing gown and reading great works of literature. Despite his cynical and pessimistic nature, he especially enjoyed the classic works of travel writing, so that from the deep warmth of his armchair, he could travel in his mind to the farthest reaches of the world.
3 One morning, he was browsing through a book by Marcel Pagnol, whose visions of Provence in southern France have inspired several generations. Set against the dramatic
background of, on the one side, the low mountains of the Alps, and on the other, by the deep blue of the Mediterranean Sea, Provence has a tradition of farming and local crafts. To Pagnol, it was a rural and conservative region, with an instinct not to trust strangers. 4 But George also knew, through his reading elsewhere, that Provence was a place which attracted the rich and the artistic. It was home to painters, such as Picasso,
Cezanne and Van Gogh, to writers such as Graham Greene, Ernest Hemingway, Emile Zola, and to actors such as Roger Vadim and Brigitte Bardot. The beaches of St Tropez, the Film Festival at Cannes, the restaurants in Grasse and the hotels in Nice all created a vision of unimaginable glamour.
5 But was it so unimaginable? As he continued to read, he became increasingly keen to see Provence for himself. Unable to contain his curiosity, he got dressed and went to a travel agency. After some hurried discussion, he understood that he only needed take himself to the station to board a train which would take him directly to Avignon, in the heart of Provence.
6 Such was his astonishment that a journey, so rich in ideas, colours and impressions, could be made with such little effort, a train ride of a mere six hours, that he went straight to the station, bought a ticket and booked a seat.
7 It was early, and George had time to spare before the train left. Near by the station was a French restaurant offering customers meals full of the Mediterranean, fresh fish straight from the market, cheese, wine, olives, herbs and fruit and vegetables coloured with the sun. He chose a table by the window, and ordered a meal the like of which he would have found in the Old Port of Marseille.
8 But as the departure time approached, George gradually became tired, partly
because of the effects of the large meal, but partly because he realized that it would be very tiring to make the journey. He sensed that he would have to hurry along the platform, search for his reserved seat, push his way through the crowds of other travellers, and remain uncomfortably seated — at least in comparison with his armchair at home — for six long hours. And when he arrived, he would have to find a hotel, sleep in an unfamiliar bed, and look for the sights, sounds and smells which his dreams had already been so effective in describing to him. Was it really necessary to go to Provence? In his
imagination, wasn't he already there? Surely it would be disappointing if his vision was not matched by the reality, at the very least? Wouldn't it be simpler, safer just to stay here at home in London?
9 George was suddenly struck by the realization that as a stranger, he would never experience the warmth and colours of his mind. Perhaps the Provence of Pagnol, like elsewhere in the world, might be the reality. Perhaps it was just a nuisance to travel abroad at all?