晨读英语美文 Did The Earth Move for You?

Did The Earth Move for You?

[00:08.16]Eleven-year-old Angela was stricken with a debilitating disease 

[00:13.64]involving her nervous system. 

[00:15.15]She was unable to walk and her movement 

[00:18.11]was restricted in other ways as well. 

[00:19.85]The doctors did not hold out much hope 

[00:22.92]of her ever recovering from this illness. 

[00:24.79]They predicted she'd spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair. 

[00:29.16]They said that few, if any, 

[00:32.22]were able to come back to normal after contracting this disease. 

[00:35.49]The little girl was undaunted. 

[00:38.35]There, lying in her hospital bed, 

[00:40.96]she would vow to anyone whod listen 

[00:43.69]that she was definitely going to be walking again someday.

[00:46.55]She was transferred to a specialized rehabilitation hospital 

[00:50.81]in the San Francisco Bay area. 

[00:52.68]Whatever therapies could be applied to her case were used. 

[00:56.93]The doctors were charmed by her undefeatable spirit. 

[01:01.64]They taught her about imagining  

[01:03.82]about seeing herself walking. 

[01:06.01]If it would do nothing else, 

[01:08.40]it would at least give her hope 

[01:10.71]and something positive to do 

[01:12.48]in the long waking hours in her bed. 

[01:15.45]Angela would work as hard as possible 

[01:18.39]in physical therapy and in exercise sessions. 

[01:21.03]But she worked just as hard lying there faithfully doing her imagining, 

[01:26.28]visualizing herself moving, moving, moving!

[01:30.54]One day, 

[01:32.41]as she was straining with all her might to imagine her legs moving again, 

[01:37.31]it seemed as though a miracle happened: 

[01:39.84]The bed moved! 

[01:42.47]It began to move around the room! 

[01:44.75]She screamed out, 

[01:46.29]Look what I'm doing! 

[01:47.59]Look! Look! I can do it! I moved, I moved!

[01:52.43]Of course, 

[01:53.83]at this very moment everyone else in the hospital was screaming, too, 

[01:57.68]and running for cover. 

[01:59.19]People were screaming, 

[02:00.84]equipment was falling and glass was breaking. 

[02:03.67]You see, it was the recent San Francisco earthquake. 

[02:07.40]But don't tell that to Angela. 

[02:10.13]She's convinced that she did it. 

[02:13.10]And now only a few years later, 

[02:16.26]she's back in school. 

[02:17.80]You see, anyone who can shake the earth between San Francisco and Oakland 

[02:23.38]can conquer a little disease, can't they?