The Old Man and the Sea 《老人与海》

人不是为了失败而生的，一个人可以被毁灭，但不能被打败。这就是海明威的《老人与海》给我们的启示。

In a small fishing village in Cuba, an old fisherman , Santiago, has just gone 84 days without catching a fish. On the 85th day, he is determined to catch a big one.

For years, Santiago has been fishing with a young boy named Manolin, who is loyal（忠心的）to Santiago. But the boy’s parents force him to leave Santiago and fish on a more lucrative（赚钱的）fishing boat. Santiago decides to head out on the Gulf Stream alone.

Finally, a huge Marlin has found Santiago's bait and this sets off a very long struggle between the two. The Marlin is so huge that it drags Santiago beyond all other boats and people. His hands become badly cramped（痉挛）and he is cut and bruised（瘀伤）from the force of the fish.

Santiago and the Marlin become united out at sea. He respects and loves the Marlin and admires its beauty and greatness. But after an intense struggle in which the fish drags the boat around in circles, Santiago harpoons（叉住）the very large fish and hangs it on the side of his boat. He feels brave, like a hero.

But a group of sharks smell the blood in the water and follow the old man's boat. Santiago has to fend off each shark that goes after his prized catch. Each shark takes a huge bite out of the Marlin, but the old man fends them off, himself now bruised, but alive. He sails back to shore with the body of his Marlin. He is only able to walk and slowly goes back to his hut, where he falls into bed.

The next morning, the boy finds the old man and cries when he looks at Santiago's bruised hands. He promises he will reject his parents' wishes and fish with Santiago again.

Answer the following questions according to the passage:

1.       Why do the boy’s parents force him to leave the old man and fish on another fishing boat?

2.       What kind of fish does the old man catch on the 85th day?

3.       Does Santiago bring the huge fish back to shore?

Keys:

1.       Because they think the old man has bad luck and the boy won’t earn money fishing with him.

2.       A huge Marlin.

3.       Yes, he does.