廖灿星看了看手中的讲义，薄薄的几张纸，课文是手写油印的，标题是：a pair of woodpeckers（一对啄木鸟），字体流丽飘逸，令人赏心悦目。
“今天要学的课文已经发给大家了，这篇小文原载于几年前的《大西洋月刊》杂志，作者名已然不可考，不过短小精悍，倒是很适合作为课文。下面我想请同学们来读一下，谁先主动请缨？”
在一众举手的同学们之中，杨振宁的手举得最高最直，钱钟书先生便第一个叫他读，杨振宁站起身，大声朗读起来：
“i had been reading in hudson’s green mansions that very afternoon，and as i walked along the highway that stretched like a gray sword slash through the exuberant foliage with which a wet june had clothed the forest of broad-leaved maple，alder，willow，and ash that had taken possession of the logged-off land beyond my ranch，i recalled the graceful antics of a couple of birds that the mythical abel observed during his flight with rima to the land of her birth”
杨振宁朗读的时候，钱钟书先生双手支撑在讲桌上，左腿直立，右腿稍弯，两脚交叉，右脚尖顶着地，嘴角露出浅淡的微笑，整个人看起来自有一种潇洒自在的气度。
杨振宁读完一段，廖灿星便鼓起勇气举起手来，在钱钟书先生抬手示意后，接着读起了第二段，读完之后，廖灿星见钱钟书先生朝自己点了点头，脸上的笑意似乎更明显了，廖灿星感觉受