处理比较简单的浮雕，但他没有退缩，选择了刻一个穿衣服的大卫。他在胸前刻了许多衣摺，塑造出脚，在两腿之间打了个洞眼，可是很快他就不得不放弃这种做法了，可能是大理石的体积或薄度难倒了他。
又过了12年，当权者才重拾信心，委托另一名雕刻家来琢磨这个麻烦的雕像。安东尼奥·罗索里诺是个足智多谋的能工巧匠，但他也败下阵来，成为该尺寸刁钻的石块的第二名牺牲者。
米开朗基罗可能是做出了一个蜡模型，和其他想得到这份工作的人竞争，他游说他们让他来接这个活儿。结果我想他凭借聪明才智从激烈的竞争中脱颖而出，赢得了这项委任。
合约给米开朗基罗两年的时间来完成大卫雕像。他每个月固定领取3个金币，那是一名好工匠的薪酬。
石块横着放太大了，只能竖起来。这意味着尘土和石屑像雨点似地飘落在雕刻者的身上。大理石的单薄构成最大的挑战，有些地方仅厚两尺，下手不容有任何闪失。雕琢必须经过精确计算，否则石块会被毁掉，或者造成比例失调的后果。大卫甚至有可能失去平衡，坠倒在地上成为一堆20吨重的石砾。根据建筑学理论，要刻一根树干置于腿后来支撑雕像，大卫两腿对立站着，一条腿直立。如果雕刻家由雕像的喉咙向脚垂测，便看到因符合重力原理，雕像是平衡的。
除了要有灵感外，这还是相当累人而乏味的体力工作，每周工作六天，每天工作14小时。身高五英尺多一点、年轻强壮的雕刻家当时一定觉得他自己就是面对巨人的大卫。
委任一年后，教堂的长老前来参观工作的进度。眼前所见令他们叹为观止，无论之前他们是否期望看到一座裸体雕像，但我们知道他们感到很高兴，毕竟他们的委任塑造了一个杰作。
注释：
1) manhood n. 男子气概
2) appropriate v. 挪用，盗用
3) synonymous a. 同义的
4) extract v. 费力地取到
5) rivalry n. 竞争，竞赛
6) renaissance n. 文艺复兴
7) put sth. in motion 使某物开始运转
8) provoke v. 煽动，惹起
9) colossal a. 巨大的，庞大的
10) cathedral n. 大教堂
11) renowned a. 有名的，有声誉的
12) torso n. 裸体雕像的躯干部分
13) quarry v. 挖出，苦心找出
14) drapery n. 织物，布料
15) resourceful a. 足智多谋的
16) intimidating a. 威胁的，恐吓的
17) florin n. 弗罗林，一种金币
18) horizontally adv. 地平地，水平地
19) tackle v. 固定，处理
20) contrapposto n.（雕塑或绘画中以对立方式表现出人体各部分的）对应
21) plumb line 用铅垂线检查垂直度
22) tedious a. 单调乏味的
23) nude n. 裸体
★★《2003年01月号-第38期-disc01-09》★★
ebay
[原文]
meg whitman: it is incredibly unique, i mean, before ebay there was no way to connect businesses and individuals on a 24-7 basis in an efficient market to trade goods and services.
interviewer: did you have any idea going into this thing that it would be as successful as it has been?
whitman: no, i mean, i thought that this was largely going to be a collectables web site. i thought the 1)homerun was if this was someday a 100 hundred million dollars in 2)revenue company, so obviously it has grown way beyond what i think any of us had anticipated.
interviewer: "way beyond" is an 3)understatement. last year ebay has $748 million in revenue, up 74% from the year before, $90 million in profit and nearly 90% gain. and collectables were just the beginning, today ebay is the largest online seller of goods ranging from automobiles to computers to sporting goods, a total of 18 thousand categories in all.
whitman: we followed the users everyday, now 6 million users come to the site and they're 4)entrepreneurs from around the globe who figure out how to best use the site. and if we watch what they do very carefully and help make them more successful then we, by definition, are successful.
interviewer: explain the role of the customer who uses ebay, how important that customer is and what they do for ebay.
whitman: well, the customer has really built ebay because we don't hold any of the 5)inventory. they pick the inventory, they merchandise it, they pick, pack and ship it, they handle their own customer support and they actually list all of the items on ebay. so, we are the market place manager but it is the customer that really has built the company.
and the customers keep building and coming. right now, ebay has more than 42 million registered users, according to whitman, that's about 25% of americans online and they're leading ebay into new markets. fixed price sales now 6)account for nearly 20% of ebay's business, up from zero just a year and a half ago and big business, including home depot, ibm and disney, are now selling products there, but whitman says the core of ebay will always be small and medium size businesses.
ebay网络奇谈
[译文]
梅格·惠特曼：ebay实在独一无二，我是说，在它之前，没有哪家公司能24小时不停地运作，让商家和个人得以在一个高效率的市场里完成交易与服务。
记者：当时你有没有想过它会创造出这样大的成功？
惠特曼：没有，当时以为这只是个收藏家的天地。我想如果哪天公司的收入达一亿就算是大获丰收了，所以说它现在的发展显然略高出了我们所有人的预想。
记者：“略高”是保守的说法，去年ebay创收7.48亿美元，比前年上升了74%，利润达9千万美元，增幅将近90%。ebay起初只是个收藏家的网站，今天则成为最大的网上集市，销售范围由汽车到电脑到体育用品，全部货种有1.8万类之多。
惠特曼：我们每天都关注着用户，现在登陆网站的用户有6百万，他们是来自全球的企业家，懂得很好地利用我们的网站。如果我们密切关注他们的做法，帮助他们成功，那么从定义上来说，我们也就成功了。
记者：请说说ebay用户的角色，用户有多重要以及他们对ebay的贡献是什么？
惠特曼：实际上ebay是用户建立起来的，因为我们并不拥有任何货品。他们亲自挑选货品，他们交易、选货、包装并运输，负责自己的客户服务，实际上ebay所有的货种全是他们列出来的。我们只要管理市场，而公司则由用户来建立。
用户在不断建立ebay的同时，用户数量也在增加。ebay现在有超过4200万名注册用户，惠特曼说，这大约相当于25%的美国人是ebay的用户，而且他们正成为ebay开拓着新的市场。一年半前，ebay还没有正价货品销售，如今上升到公司20%的业务份额。像home depot、ibm还有迪斯尼这样的大公司现在都在ebay上销售商品，但惠特曼说，ebay的核心业务将永远围绕中小型企业。
注释：
1) homerun n. [棒球]本垒打
2) revenue n. 收入，税收
3) understatement n. 保守或简略的陈述
4) entrepreneur n. 企业家
5) inventory n. 详细目录，存货
6) account for （在数量、比例方面）占
★★《2003年01月号-第38期-disc01-10》★★
denzel washington
[原文]
denzel first learned to fight growing up on the streets of mount vernon, a working-class suburb outside of new york city. his mother, lenis, managed her own beauty shop, his father denzel senior was a penacostel preacher who 1)held down two other jobs. denzel went to church every sunday but dreamed of becoming a professional athlete. he spent all of his free time here, at what was then "the boy's club".
journalist: this was an importan