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1、一单元：Catching crabsIn the fall of our final year, our mood changed. The relaxed atmosphere of the preceding summer semester, the impromptu ball games, the boating on the Charles River, the late-night parties had disappeared, and we all started to get our heads down, studying late, and attendance at c
2、lasses rose steeply again. We all sensed we were coming to the end of our stay here, that we would never get a chance like this again, and we became determined not to waste it. Most important of course were the final exams in April and May in the following year. No one wanted the humiliation of fini
3、shing last in class, so the peer group pressure to work hard was strong. Libraries which were once empty after five oclock in the afternoon were standing room only until the early hours of the morning, and guys wore the bags under their eyes and their pale, sleepy faces with pride, like medals provi
4、ng their diligence. But there was something else. At the back of everyones mind was what we would do next, when we left university in a few months time. It wasnt always the high flyers with the top grades who knew what they were going to do. Quite often it was the quieter, less impressive students w
5、ho had the next stages of their life mapped out. One had landed a job in his brothers advertising firm in Madison Avenue, another had got a script under provisional acceptance in Hollywood. The most ambitious student among us was going to work as a party activist at a local level. We all saw him end
6、ing up in the Senate or in Congress one day. But most people were either looking to continue their studies, or to make a living with a white-collar job in a bank, local government, or anything which would pay them enough to have a comfortable time in their early twenties, and then settle down with a
7、 family, a mortgage and some hope of promotion. I went home at Thanksgiving, and inevitably, my brothers and sisters kept asking me what I was planning to do. I didnt know what to say. Actually, I did know what to say, but I thought theyd probably criticize me, so I told them what everyone else was
8、thinking of doing. My father was watching me but saying nothing. Late in the evening, he invited me to his study. We sat down and he poured us a drink. So? he said. Er . so what? So what do you really want to do? he asked. My father was a lawyer, and I had always assumed he wanted me to go to law sc
9、hool, and follow his path through life. So I hesitated. Then I replied, I want to travel, and I want to be a writer. This was not the answer I thought he would expect. Travel? Where? A writer? About what? I braced myself for some resistance to the idea. There was a long silence. Interesting idea, he
10、 said finally. There was another long silence. I kind of wish Id done that when I was your age. I waited. You have plenty of time. You dont need to go into a career which pays well just at the moment. You need to find out what you really enjoy now, because if you dont, you wont be successful later.
11、So how do I do this? He thought for a moment. Then he said, Look, its late. Lets take the boat out tomorrow morning, just you and me. Maybe we can catch some crabs for dinner, and we can talk more. It was a small motor boat, moored ten minutes away, and my father had owned it for years. Early next m
12、orning we set off along the estuary. We didnt talk much, but enjoyed the sound of the seagulls and the sight of the estuary coastline and the sea beyond. There was no surf on the coastal waters at that time of day, so it was a smooth half-hour ride until my father switched off the motor. Lets see if
13、 we get lucky, he said, picked up a rusty, mesh basket with a rope attached and threw it into the sea. We waited a while, then my father stood up and said, Give me a hand with this, and we hauled up the crab cage onto the deck. Crabs fascinated me. They were so easy to catch. It wasnt just that they
14、 crawled into such an obvious trap, through a small hole in the lid of the basket, but it seemed as if they couldnt be bothered to crawl out again even when you took the lid off. They just sat there, waving their claws at you. The cage was brimming with dozens of soft shell crabs, piled high on top
15、of each other. Why dont they try to escape? I wondered aloud to my father. Just watch them for a moment. Look at that one, there! Hes trying to climb out, but every time the other crabs pull him back in, said my father. And we watched. The crab climbed up the mesh towards the lid, and sure enough, j
16、ust as it reached the top, one of its fellow crabs reached out, clamped its claw onto any available leg, and pulled it back. Several times the crab tried to defy his fellow captives, without luck. Now watch! said my father. Hes starting to get bored with this game. Not only did the crab give up its lengthy struggle to escape, but it actually began to help stop other crabs trying to es
