Every Sunday morning I take a light jog around a park near my home. Theres a lake located in one corner of the park.

Each time I jog by this lake， I see the same elderly woman sitting at the waters edge with a small metal cage sitting beside her.

This past Sunday my curiosity got the best of me， so I stopped jogging and walked over to her.

As I got closer， I realized that the metal cage was in fact a small trap.

There were three turtles， unharmed， slowly walking around the base of the trap.

She had a fourth turtle in her lap that she was carefully scrubbing with a spongy brush.

“Hello！” I said.

“If you dont mind my nosiness， Id love to know what youre doing with these turtles.”

She smiled. “Im cleaning off their shells，” she replied.

“Anything on a turtles shell， like algae or scum， reduces the turtles ability to absorb heat and impedes its ability to swim. It can also corrode and weaken the shell over time.”

每個星期日的早晨，我都會繞著我家附近的公園慢跑。公園的一角有一片湖。

每次我慢跑經(jīng)過這片湖時，都會看到同一個老婦人坐在湖邊，身旁放著一個小的金屬籠子。

上個星期日我終于忍不住好奇，停止了慢跑，朝她走去。

走近時，我發(fā)現(xiàn)金屬籠子其實是一個小陷阱。

三只烏龜安然無恙地在陷阱底部慢悠悠地爬著。

她正認(rèn)真地用海綿刷擦拭著第四只趴在她膝蓋上的烏龜。

“你好！”我說。

“如果你不介意我多管閑事的話，我很想知道你在對這些烏龜做什么?！?/p>

“我在清洗它們的殼?！彼α诵卮鸬馈?/p>

“烏龜殼上任何像海藻、浮渣這類東西，都會減弱烏龜?shù)奈鼰崮芰Σ⑶易璧K它們游動，時間長了還會腐蝕龜殼，讓龜殼變得脆弱?！?/p>

She went on， “I spend a couple of hours each Sunday morning， relaxing by this lake and helping these little guys out.”

“But dont most freshwater turtles live their whole lives with algae and scum hanging from their shells？” I asked.

“Yep， sadly， they do，” she replied.

“Well then， dont you think your time could be better spent？ And 99% of these turtles dont have kind people like you to help them clean off their shells. So， no offense… but how exactly are your localized efforts here truly making a difference？”

The woman giggled aloud.

She then looked down at the turtle in her lap， scrubbed off the last piece of algae from its shell， and said， “Sweetie， if this little guy could talk， hed tell you I just made all the difference in the world.”

她繼續(xù)說道：“每個星期天早晨我都會花幾個小時待在湖邊，邊放松自己，邊幫這些小家伙擺脫困境?！?/p>

“但是，不是大多數(shù)的淡水烏龜都是伴隨著它們殼上的海藻和浮渣度過一生的嗎？”我問道。

“是的，不幸的是，它們的確是這樣?！?她回答道。

“那么，你不覺得你在浪費時間嗎？99%的烏龜都沒有遇到像你這么好的人去幫它們清洗龜殼。所以，無意冒犯……但是你在這兒，通過你一個人的努力到底能帶來多大改變呢？”

老婦人大聲笑起來。

接著她看向膝蓋上的烏龜，把龜殼上的最后一片海藻擦拭干凈，說道：“親愛的，如果這只小烏龜會說話的話，他一定會告訴你整個世界因我而不同?！?/p>

Vocabulary

curiosity n. 好奇心

trap n. 陷阱

clean off 擦去;清除

effort n. 努力;盡力（efforts是復(fù)數(shù)形式）