陕西省定边县第四中学高中英语 Unit 1 Breaking records 背景材料 文章 Ashrita Furman 素材 新人教版选修 9Early lifeAshrita was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1954, the same year the Guinness Book of Records was conceived and the year Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute mile. Ashrita was fascinated with the Guinness Book of World Records as a child but never thought he could ever break a record, since he was very nonathletic. He grew up in the Kew Gardens Hills neighborhood in Queens, and attended Jamaica High School.[1]That all changed when, as a teenager, Ashrita became interested in Eastern spirituality and in 1970 became a devout follower of the Indian mystic Sri Chinmoy. Sri Chinmoy’s philosophy of self-transcendence inspired Ashrita to participate in a 24-hour bicycle race in New York City's Central Park in 1978. With only two weeks' training, Ashrita tied for third place overall, cycling 405 miles. As he later described the experience, “It was one of the most profound moments of my life. As I climbed off my bicycle, I realized that it wasn't my body that had cycled for 24 hours, but my inner Spirit. By using meditation I was able to connect with an inexhaustible energy which we all have but rarely use. At that moment I decided to attempt breaking Guinness records to inspire others to connect with their own indomitable inner strength.”[2] Ashrita at the Great Wall of China in January 2005 breaking the Guinness record for the fastest mile on a kangaroo ball.First recordIn 1979, Ashrita set his first official record by doing 27,000 jumping jacks. In 1986, Ashrita invented and set the record for underwater pogo stick jumping and introduced it on Good Morning America on April Fools Day. ...
