The World’s Longest English Class

　　英孚创造吉尼斯纪录：世界最长的英语课

　　Have you ever fallen asleep in class? What if the class lasted for 72 hours straight?

　　It may sound impossible, but that’s exactly what EF teacher David Specchio and 26 dedicated students accomplished this September in Shanghai, breaking a new world record. Their three-day English class surpassed the standing Guinness world record set in Poland of 66 hours.

　　你会在课堂中睡着吗？但是如果课堂不停的持续72小时会怎么样呢？

　　听起来可能有些不现实，但EF教师David Specchio和26名专注的学员就在2005年9月做到了，打破了一项新记录！他们的3天英语课堂战胜了波兰创造66小时连续授课的原有吉尼斯纪律。

　　Why They Signed Up 他们为什么参加比赛

　　“It is really hard for a girl to stick to something (1) for 72 hours. I also wanted to improve my oral English. I believed if I succeeded, nothing would be impossible for me in my life.” Joyce

　　“I've always been interested in finding new challenges for myself and pushing my limits and it just seemed like a good idea at the time.” David Specchio, teacher

　　“I wanted to do something challenging and memorable because I would never get the opportunity to do this again.” Ding Rongrong

　　What Their Friends and Family Thought 他们的朋友和家人如何想的

　　“Some of my friends approved (2), others thought it ridiculous (3). My parents supported me because they didn’t think it was a bad thing for me to do.” Ding Rongrong

　　“My parents and friends didn’t know I was in the class. I did it secretly. Afterwards, I surprised them with the news.” Carol Gong

　　“I tried to persuade my friends to join with me but failed. They thought I was crazy.” Jessie

　　“All of my friends thought that I would not make it because I am so skinny.” Doris Guo

　　The Longest They Have Stayed Awake Before the Class

　　在比赛之前他们最长的不睡眠的时间

　　“30 hours. I went to a party with my friends. We sang songs all night. It was not long ago -- maybe 3 or 4 weeks before the class.” Joyce

　　“Two days and one night. It was from working overtime (4) last April. My schedule is usually quite regular. I seldom stay all night.” Jessie

　　“Two days and one night. It was the year before last when I rode bicycle to Xi'an from Shanghai. We couldn’t go to sleep at night because we stayed in a tent during mosquito (5) season.” River Hou

　　“Around 36 hours. That was in my wilder student days. But to be honest, I'm a bit of a night owl (6) and usually only sleep for around 5 hour a night.” David Specchio

　　How They Prepared 如何准备

　　“I heard someone in class say that they had slept for many hours, but I didn’t. Before the class, I bought some energy drinks. However, I found EF prepared them for us. That was really considerate (7)!” Joyce

　　“I didn’t eat too much and just tried to have good sleep the night before.” River Hou

　　“I searched for some good ways to stay awake on the Internet.” Ding Rongrong

　　“I wanted to prepare, but things happened. When I arrived in Shanghai on Thursday, my friends asked me to go shopping. I went to bed at half past 1 o'clock in the morning on Friday. At that moment, I was afraid that I could not last for 72 hours because I didn’t sleep much the night before.” Doris Guo

　　“I tried to have a healthy diet and tried to get more sleep in the few nights before. However, the night before I was very nervous and so got very little sleep, maybe five hours.” David Specchio

　　How They Stayed Awake 如何保持清醒

　　“I would also stand up, talk, walk around, and eat something.” Carol Gong

　　“I drank lots of liquids (8). If you have to go to the toilet all the time, it will stop you from sleeping.” David Specchio

　　“When I felt sleepy, I went to the bathroom to wash my face, and kept drinking. I also told myself, since I was there, I must stick to it -- no giving up.” Joyce

　　“I always did something -- read, talked about the topics, played the games. That way, I didn’t think of sleeping.” Sharon Tan

　　The Most Difficult Point

　　“At 48 hours.” Joyce

　　“The beginning of the third day. Most people in the class were tired including the teacher, so it was very difficult to stay awake.” Sharon Tan

　　“Trying to stay awake in the morning is quite difficult, especially between four to six o'clock.” Ding Rongrong

　　“The first day. I felt like it was a very long time before our first break.” Carol Gong

　　The Most Memorable Moment 记忆最深的一刻

　　“Near the end of the class, one of our classmates stood up and asked to play some games. Not many people were interested, they wanted to sleep, but I felt she was right. Since we had been there for more than half of the time, we should stay to the end. It was very moving (9).” Joyce

　　“The last moment when people said we finished the class. I said to myself, I did it!” Jessie

　　“The fashion show. We worked as a team and did a creative (10) job.” River Hou

　　“When I heard that I won the trip to London.” Sharon Tan

　　“Every minute.” Ding Rongrong

　　“The final half an hour. When I knew I would succeed, I got so excited.” Doris Guo

　　What They Learned 他们学到了什么

　　“I learned a lot. First, my English is better, especially my oral English. Second, I met some good friends. We talked a lot about our lives. It really broadened (11) my perspective (12). Finally, it was my first time to be on TV, so I was really excited.” Joyce

　　“I learnt that when you are focused you can really achieve amazing things. I also learnt that to achieve your goals you need to work together as a team. Without my students help it would have been impossible.” David Specchio

　　“I realized my personal potential (13). If I decide to do something and try my best, I believe I can succeed.” Doris Guo

　　“I now like team work more. During the class, we had to cooperate (14) with our team to finish various tasks.” Carol Gong

　　“I am more confident (15) now. I learned that difficulties and impossibilities are only in people's imagination.” Jessie

　　“I learned a lot from my classmates. Different people have different life styles. I realized that there are a lot of different kinds of people out there.” River Hou

　　“I learnt once I decided to do something, I needed to achieve it. I also learnt the importance of helping others.” Ding Rongrong

　　Word Key

　　1.stick to something phrase

　　2.approved (to approve) verb 赞成

　　3.ridiculous adjective 可笑的，滑稽的

　　4.overtime noun 额外工作时间

　　5.mosquito noun 蚊子

　　6.night owl noun 深夜不睡的人

　　7.considerate adjective 对…关心爱护的

　　8.liquid noun 液体

　　9.moving adjective 使人感动的

　　10.creative adjective 有创造力的

　　11.broadened (to broaden) 加宽

　　12.perspective noun 观点, 看法

　　13.potential noun 可能

　　14.cooperate verb 合作

　　15.confident adjective 有自信的