1.The World's Greatest Swordsman （n.  剑客, 击剑手）

At an exhibition of the world's best swordsman, the third-place（排名第三的） fencer（n.剑客，击剑者）took the stage. A fly was released, and with an arc（n.弧） of his sword（n.剑，刀） he cut the fly in half. The crowd cheered. Then the second-place man sliced（slice  n.薄片vt.削） a fly into quarters. A hush fell in anticipation of the world's greatest swordsman.

His blade came down in a mighty arc - but the insect continued on its way! The crowd was aghast. The greatest swordsman had missed his target completely, yet he continued to smile.

"Why are you so happy?" someone yelled. "You missed!"

"Ah," replied the swordsman, "you weren't watching very carefully. They fly lives, yes - but he will never be a father."

stage  [n.舞台take the world stage登上舞台

exhibition  ]n.展览(会)release  ]vt.／ n.释(排)放；放开

hush  v.(使)安静下来 n.安静，寂静

anticipation  n.预期；预料in anticipation of   期待着

blade  ]n.刀刃，刀片mighty  [a.强大的

insect  ]n.昆虫，虫aghast  ]a.惊骇的

target  [n.目标，对象，靶子 vt.瞄准yell  ]vi./ n.号叫，叫喊