It was a few weeks before Christmas in 1917．The beautiful snowylandscapes of Europe were blackened by war．It was World War I and theGermans were in their trenches on one side of the battlefield．and the A—mericans were in their trenches on the other side．The exchange of gunfirehad been intense．Between these two companies of soldiers was a thinstrip of no—man’s—land．A young German soldier．trying to cross no—man’s—land，had become caught in the tangle of barbed wire．He criedout pitifully for help． Whenever there was a break in the noise of the shells exploding，theAmericans in that sector could hear him scream．Finally one Americansoldier in that sector could stand this crying no longer and carefullycrawled out of the safety of his trench to help the German．Right away theAmericans stopped firing for fear of hitting their own man，and then theGerman officer realized what the American was doing and ordered hismen to also cease firing．Now there was a strange silence across the no——man’s—land．On his stomach，the American made his way over to theGerman soldier and freed him．He then stood up with the German in hisarms，walked straight to the German trenches and placed him in the wait—ing arms of his comrades．Having done SO，he turned and started back to suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder that spun him around．There stood a German officer who had won the Iron Cross，the highest German honor for bravery．He pulled it from his own uniform and placed it on the American，who then walked back to his own company of sol—diers．When he was safely back in the American~enches，they resumed the insanity of war！
landscape n．风景，景象；风景画，风景相片；山水
v．使自然美化；进行造园工程
battlefield n．战场；沙场
trench n．沟渠，管沟，堑壕
v．蚕食，侵犯，挖；挖战壕，侵犯，接近
straight n．直线，直
adj．直的，连续的，正直的
adv．直接地，不断地，立即
spun adj．纺成的
resume n．摘要，梗概；简历
v．重新开始，继续；重返；恢复；重新占用；重新开始，继续
insanity n．疯狂；精神失常；精神错乱；极端的愚蠢
勇气
1917年的圣诞节再过几个星期就到了。战争使欧洲美丽的雪景黯然无光。这是在第一次世界大战期间，战场的一侧战壕里呆着德国人，另一侧则呆着美国人。两军交火很是激烈。有一条很窄的无人地带横在美、德两伙士兵间。在试图穿过无人地带时，一个德国士兵被乱七八糟的铁丝网缠住了，他可怜巴巴地呼救着。
在炮弹的爆炸声静下来的空隙，几乎那个战区的美国人都能听到他的尖叫声。最后，战区里的一个美国人实在听不进那种喊叫了，于是他慢慢地从安全的战壕里爬出来，要去帮助那个德国人。马上，由于害怕伤到自己人，美国人就先停止了开火。随后，德国军官知道了美国人在干什么，也命令自己的队伍停火。这时，无人地带笼罩在难以置信的寂静中。美国人匍匐到了德国士兵面前，把他从乱铁丝中解救了出来，然后站起身，抱着德国兵径直走到德军战壕，德军士兵被他放进了等待已久的伙伴的怀里。做完这一切，他转身要回美军的战壕。
突然，一只手搭在他肩膀上，把他拨转过来。一位佩戴铁十字勋章的德国军官站在他面前，那是德国授予勇敢者的最高荣誉。他摘下自己军装上的勋章，把它戴在美国人身上，接着美国人也回到自己的战友身边。当他安全返回美军战壕时，疯狂的战争又继续了。
名人名言 Life finds its wealth by the claims of the world，and its worth byclaims of love．
——Tagore
生命因世界对它的要求而得到财富，因爱心对它的要求而有了价值。
——泰戈尔