大学英语六级词汇Unit10Part2

　　Sitting in this old church in China

　　led me to contemplate

　　about the lives of men and their spouses

　　who lived decades ago,

　　when they traveled to this distant land

　　in the Eastern Hemisphere.

　　Many of these Christian ministers and laymen

　　left their comfortable churches,

　　even cathedrals to preach their ideology to foreigners.

　　They established small chapels

　　where people could join in Christian fellowship

　　and where some Chinese people

　　accepted conversion to a new faith.

　　They came to a land

　　where the predominate faith was Buddhism.

　　Even though their words were eloquent

　　the message at times

　　must have seemed formidable and gloomy.

　　Even the foreignersclothing styles

　　would have appeared queer.

　　During this colonial time period

　　missionaries emigrated to all areas of China,

　　visiting small villages, distributing Bibles,

　　offering divine salvation

　　and preaching the word of God.

　　A unanimous decision was made

　　by many faiths to attempt

　　to enrich the lives of others

　　and to present the eloquent message of Christianity.

　　Some missionaries worked in the medical field

　　as doctors, surgeons, nurses and dentists.

　　Agriculture specialists helped the farmers

　　elevate their crop performance

　　to provide better nutrition for the people.

　　Finally there were teachers

　　who ran the mission schools.

　　All had to be very versatile at their work.

　　These people proved to be an inspiration

　　for others to follow in their footsteps.

　　Earnings from all these areas

　　would go back into further mission work

　　to fulfill their mandate.

　　In retrospect, my fascination with this historical era

　　may have been kindled in childhood.

　　While visiting my grandparents home

　　every Thanksgiving, I was allowed to examine

　　the fascinating ornaments from the Orient.

　　There were delicate elephant sculptures

　　carved from ivory, lacy sandalwood fans

　　and an imposing brass Buddha.

　　Best of all, I was allowed

　　to don an exquisite silk embroidered jacket

　　and play with a blue and tan parasol

　　which was adorned with

　　sprays of plum blossoms and tiny buds.

　　It was then I was introduced

　　to an exotic new world.

　　Maybe this too,

　　is partly what lured me to this country.

　　Under a new regime in China,

　　government statesmen questioned

　　what justification these foreign ministers

　　had in their country.

　　Subsequently, the morality of the instruction was questioned.

　　The pendulum swung the other way

　　and church people would no longer be welcome

　　to impart their message.

　　A plea to reconsider the decision was unsuccessful.

　　Diplomats also would be required to leave the country.

　　It would be a long time

　　before visas would be issued to foreign people,

　　to again live in China.

　　And so here I am!

　　The clearance for my visitors visa

　　had been administered swiftly.

　　My surroundings aroused in me a sense of heritage.

　　Today, sitting here pondering,

　　allowed me to be a participant

　　rather than just a spectator

　　in a new chapter of Chinas history.