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，我都会绕着我家附近的公园慢跑。公园的一角有一片湖。

每次我慢跑经过这片湖时，都会看到同一个老妇人坐在湖边，身旁放着一个小的金属笼子。

上个星期日我终于忍不住好奇，停止了慢跑，朝她走去。

走近时，我发现金属笼子其实是一个小陷阱。

三只乌龟安然无恙地在陷阱底部慢悠悠地爬着。

她正认真地用海绵刷擦拭着第四只趴在她膝盖上的乌龟。

“你好！”我说。

“如果你不介意我多管闲事的话，我很想知道你在对这些乌龟做什么。”

“我在清洗它们的壳。”她笑了笑回答道。

“乌龟壳上任何像海藻、浮渣这类东西，都会减弱乌龟的吸热能力并且阻碍它们游动，时间长了还会腐蚀龟壳，让龟壳变得脆弱。”

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.”

她继续说道：“每个星期天早晨我都会花几个小时待在湖边，边放松自己，边帮这些小家伙摆脱困境。”

“但是，不是大多数的淡水乌龟都是伴随着它们壳上的海藻和浮渣度过一生的吗？”我问道。

“是的，不幸的是，它们的确是这样。” 她回答道。

“那么，你不觉得你在浪费时间吗？99%的乌龟都没有遇到像你这么好的人去帮它们清洗龟壳。所以，无意冒犯……但是你在这儿，通过你一个人的努力到底能带来多大改变呢？”

老妇人大声笑起来。

接着她看向膝盖上的乌龟，把龟壳上的最后一片海藻擦拭干净，说道：“亲爱的，如果这只小乌龟会说话的话，他一定会告诉你整个世界因我而不同。”

Vocabulary

curiosity n. 好奇心

trap n. 陷阱

clean off 擦去;清除

effort n. 努力;尽力（efforts是复数形式）