The Inside of the World

    When I was a very little boy， I was always asking questions．

    One day when I was walking with my nurse along the city street， I asked，"Jane what's under the street？""Oh， just dirt（尘土），" she replied．" And what is under the dirt？Oh， more dirt． " she replied．

    （1）　　．So I asked again， "Well， what's under that？""Oh， nothing﹣I don't know﹣why are you always asking so many questions？ "she asked．

    I knew there must be something under that．（2）　　I also heard that Chinese lived on the other sideof the world， head down， I wanted to find out if that was true．

    （3）　　，down， down， down． till I came through on the other side， and then I would know．I was a very little boy， you see． With a small shovel（铁锹）， I started a hole in the backyard behind the grapevines（葡萄藤）． No one knew what I was doing．（4）　　．

    Then one evening my father asked， "What's that hole in the backyard？ " （5）　　He didn't laugh when I told him， but he asked me if I knew how far I would have to dig．

    I hadn't dug through the world， but I did know how far it was．

A． I knew my secret was out B． I wasn't satisfied with her answer C． And I just wanted to know what it was D． So I made up my mind I would dig down through the world E． I wanted to keep it a secret until I had dug all the way through F． As a result， I became closer and closer to the inside of the world