| 摘 要： | 在东南亚的历史中,莱佛士爵士(Sir ThomasStamford Raffles)是著名人物之一,他最大的成就是很有远见地开辟新加坡,奠定它作为自由港的地位。这篇文章是叙述文,摘录自Josephine Kamm所著的“They Served the People”一书。此文是描述莱佛士童年时的贫困以及他艰苦奋斗的过程,用字浅显,描写生动,使读者深刻体会到莱佛士的实际处境。Although the boy was kept hard at work at his office desk ail day, he was determined to make up for the schooling he had missed, and so he taught himself in the evening to read French until he could understand it as well as English, and to gain a scientific knowledge of zoology, geology and botany. Even though he learned a great deal in this way, he was always conscious of the gaps in his education, and many years later he was to write: "If I were not a married man, I should be half inclined to study for a 'Bachelor of Arts' degree, and to make up even at this time of life for the sad omissions of my youth, which I can never too deeply deplore. Hurried Into public life be-
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