第一篇 回顾与展望 - the Educator Login page!

group. Bernard had joined it too.It wasn't obvious to everyone; Bernard still blustered and sent his cronies on errands. But Alai now movedfreely through the whole room, and when Bernard was crazy, Alai could joke a little and calm him down. Whenit came time to choose their launch leader, Alai was the almost unanimous choice. Bernard sulked for a few daysand then he was fine, and everyone settled into the new pattern. The launch was no longer divided into Bernard'sin-group and Ender's outcasts. Alai was the bridge.***Ender sat on his bed with his desk on his knees. lt was private study time, and Ender was doing Free Play. Itwas a shifting, crazy kind of game in which the school computer kept bringing up new things, building a mazethat you could explore. You could go back to events that you liked, for a while; if you left them alone too long,they disappeared and something else took its place.Sometimes funny things. Sometimes exciting, and he had to be quick to stay alive. He had lots of deaths, butthat was OK, games were like that, you died a lot until you got the hang of it.His figure on the screen had started out as a little boy. For a while it had changed into a bear. Now it was a largemouse, with long and delicate hands. He ran his figure under a lot of large items of furniture. He had played withthe cat a lot, but now it was boring-- too easy to dodge, he knew all the furniture.Not through the mousehole this time, he told himself. I'm sick of the Giant. It's a dumb game and I can't everwin. Whatever I choose is wrong.But he went through the mousehole anyway, and over the small bridge in the garden. He avoided the ducks andthe divebombing mosquitoes-- he had tried playing with them but they were too easy, and if he played with theducks too long he turned into a fish, which he didn't like. Being a fish reminded him too much of being frozen inthe battleroom, his whole body rigid, waiting for the practice to end so Dap would thaw him. So, as usual, hefound himself going up the rolling hills.The landslides began. At first he had got caught again and again, crushed in an exaggerated blot of gore oozing第 69 页 共 340 页http://www.en8848.com.cn/ 原 版 英 语 阅 读 网