24.High School English Reading Listening

Hank Viscardi was born without legs. He had—not legs but stumps(残肢) that could he fitted with a kind of special boots, People stared at him with cruel interest. Children laughed at him and called him ‘Ape Man’ (猿人) because his arms practically dragged on the ground.
　　Hank went to school like other boys. His grades were good and he needed only eight years to finish his schooling instead of the usual twelve. After graduating from school, he worked his way through college. He swept floors, waited on table, or worked in one of the college offices. During all this busy life, he had been moving around on his stumps. But one day the doctor told him even the stumps were not going to last much longer. He would soon have to use a wheel chair.
　　Hank felt himself got cold all over. However, the doctor said there was a chance that he could be fitted with artificial legs(假腿). Finally a leg maker was found and the day came when Hank stood up before the mirror, For the first time he saw himself as he has always wanted to be——a full five feet eight inches tall. By this time he was already 26 years old.
　　Hank had to learn to use his new legs. Again and again he marched the length of the room , and marched back again. There were times when he fell down on the floor, but he pulled himself up and went back to the endless marching. He went out on the street. He climbed stairs and learned to dance. He built a boat and learned to sail it.
　　When World War II came , he talked the Red Cross into giving him a job. He took the regular training. he marched and drilled along with the other soldiers. Few knew that he was legless. This was the true story of Hank Viscardi, a man without legs.
译文：
汉克-维斯卡迪生来就没有腿。他不是有腿，而是有残肢，可以穿上一种特殊的靴子，人们以残忍的兴趣盯着他。孩子们嘲笑他，叫他 "猿人"，因为他的手臂几乎是拖在地上的。
　　汉克像其他男孩一样去上学。他的成绩很好，他只需要8年就能完成学业，而不是通常的12年。从学校毕业后，他一直在大学里工作。他扫地、伺候人，或者在学院的某个办公室工作。在所有这些忙碌的生活中，他一直在用他的残肢四处移动。但有一天，医生告诉他，即使是残肢也不能维持太久了。他很快就不得不使用轮椅了。
　　汉克感到自己浑身发冷。然而，医生说，他有可能被安装上假腿。终于找到了一个假腿制造者，这一天，汉克站在镜子前，第一次看到了他一直想成为的自己--整整五英尺八英寸高。这时，他已经26岁了。
　　汉克必须学会使用他的新腿。他一次又一次地走过房间的长度，然后再走回来。有几次他摔倒在地板上，但他把自己拉起来，又继续无休止地行进。他走到了街上。他爬上楼梯，学会了跳舞。他造了一艘船，并学会了驾驭它。
　　当第二次世界大战来临时，他说服红十字会给他一份工作。他参加了常规训练。他与其他士兵一起行军和操练。很少有人知道他是没有腿的。这就是汉克-维斯卡迪的真实故事，一个没有腿的人。
重点词汇：
残肢 stump
a kind of 一种 ; 表示不确定
猿人 pithecanthropus ; ape man
on the ground 当场
went to 相当于 ; 付出
instead of 而不是 ; 代替 ; 作为…的替换
in one 集为一体