导语 Janice Sigrist老师是一名资深教育人，曾在美国和中国的多所国际幼儿园担任园长和创始人。在上海生活生活21年的她，于今年7月回美定居。一妍邀请Janice开设一个英文学习专栏，通过Janice的日常故事，激发大家学习英文的兴趣，提升口语能力。
文丨Janice Sigrist
编辑｜第1整理术编辑部
Pick up your English again！
第七个故事音频版：
本专栏适合人群：
1）所有英文学习爱好者。
2）希望接受更多沉浸式英语教学体验的爸爸妈妈和小朋友。
3）希望将来为国际家庭、双语家庭提供上门整理服务的职业整理收纳师。
第1整理术YiOrganizer招募第一个英文学习粉丝群（同时也是Janice粉丝群）。大家可以在群里向Janice建议下一期的故事话题，包括国际教育、美国日常生活，或是任何有关美好生活的问题，统统欢迎。2 准备一段你听Janice讲故事的心得（英文），或提供一个你希望听到的新话题（英文），发送给小助手“苹果老师”微信号（ID：msapple004）。加好友暗号：Janice。3 满足以上两个小伙伴，默认就是Janice的粉丝啦，获得入群机会。群讨论主题：聆听Janice小故事的心得，建议，以及其他希望Janice讲故事的话题方向。拒绝其他话题闲聊。建议尽可能使用英文交流。Hi there. I am Miss Janice, an educator and lover of life! I enjoyed my 21 years in China, my 38 years as an educator, and I am back in the US now sharing my US experiences with you.Today I experienced something I had not done in over 46 years. First, let me share just a little bit of information. At the end of June I broke my right arm, and it has just been recently that I have been able to use it more. It is not completely healed, but it is getting so much better. In addition, I have just put an offer down on a beautiful home in Rawlins, Wyoming. It is a small town surrounded by mountains and desert.So today, I wanted to learn how to shoot again. When we were little, we would spend our summers in Wyoming. When we were 8 or 9 we were taught about gun safety, and when we were around 11 or 12 our Dad taught us all how to shoot a gun. My mother’s family had a ranch that was about 30 miles outside of town, and there was always the possibility of a rabid animal, a rattle snake, or some other critter attacking an animal or a person—and so we were all taught how to use a gun for protection. And, the last time I shot a gun it was my grandfather’s old shotgun, 46 years ago.It was actually a lot of fun today! We drove about 20 miles outside of Boise, to the Double Tapp Range. It is a private club that my brother belongs to. He pays a membership of $200 per year, or around 1,288 rmb, which is expensive for here but it is on huge open land, the owner is his friend, and it is generally not very busy because it is so huge. It is often used by law enforcement agencies for practice and qualifying, and that is reassuring.Now, because of my right arm, I needed to use a light pistol. My brother gave me his 22 pistol, which is light and easy to handle. It takes just 6 bullets, and we loaded it up. To relearn, I stood in front of the target, around 8 feet or 2.44 meters. I put on a good pair of ear plugs, ones that are designed for shooting. We put our own target on a standup one that the club had provided, and I held the gun firmly with my right hand. Next, I cupped my left hand around the butt of the gun and my right hand. I pulled the hammer back, which you have to do in order to shoot, until it clicked. It was hard to do this, and later I used my left hand to cock it back before I took my grip. I used my right eye, with my left eye closed, to look through the sights. I used the first joint on my right index finger, the one next to the thumb, to gently squeeze the trigger. I remembered not to ever jolt the gun, and not to be afraid of the sound of the gun, or I would not be able to shoot straight.I took my pose, with my left foot in front, and the right leg behind. I put both arms out straight in front of me, and looked through the sights. I kept my weight balanced between both legs, took my time, and pulled the trigger. I hit the mark! I wasn’t in the middle, but I wasn’t outside of it either! I was in the middle section, slightly to the left. Then, after a second shot, when I hit my next mark, I moved backwards. I did this after 2 more shots, and then reloaded the gun and shot another click, or round. I kept moving back, so that I was up to perhaps 12 feet or 3.66 meters away.The bullets I shot were .22 caliber, which means that its size is 22 one hundredths of an inch wide, or .58 centimeters wide. Caliber is a way of measuring the width of a bullet. Today my brother shot .45’s, which are much wider and heavier. They are around 1.14 centimeters wide.I am sharing with you the picture of my target after I finished shooting. It is not perfect by any means, but it sure was fun and I felt really good afterwards. I will continue to practice and I will learn how to clean and care for a gun as well. When I do move to Wyoming I will legally purchase a gun, and will keep it only for emergencies. I will also continue to learn how to shoot better.What a fun experience! In this area of the US, which we call Cowboy country, especially out in the countryside, most people do know how to shoot a gun, as it is a part of their daily life, and at times it is necessary for self-protection from the elements or for protection of family and property.Thank you for joining me today. I wish you all a wonderful week, great new adventures of your own, and I welcome you to join my future adventures. ☺ Bye, bye!
