The Last Ninja|末代忍者

by Leigh Goldberg

A former engineer may be the last living guardian of Japan's secret warriors.

Hollywood has portrayed them as deadly assassins clad from head to toe in black garb except for narrow slits revealing their dark, intense eyes. Ninjas on the big screen possess superhuman powers like flight and invisibility, while carrying an array of deadly weapons like darts, knives, and the iconic throwing stars. That's what Hollywood does.

In real life from the 15th to the 17th centuries, ninjas were covert agents that did the dirty work for seemingly upstanding samurai lords. They spied, sabotaged, and killed. They also hid in plain sight by disguising themselves as civilians. Ninjas practiced ninjitsu, a form of martial arts which drew elements from nature like force, speed, and precision. Sadly, since ninjas don't exist in modern times, these skills may have been lost forever.

As luck would have it, the legacy that is ninja may still live on. Jinichi Kawakami is a 63-year-old former engineer who is being touted as Japan's last ninja. He is the 21st head of the Ban clan, which is a line of ninjas with a 500-year history. From the age of six to 18, Kawakami was trained as a ninja without knowing it. He honed his physical and mental skills, studied chemicals, weather, and psychology, and practiced espionage and guerrilla warfare. What's more, he had to endure heat, cold, pain, and hunger to prove that he could survive anything. When he turned 19, he inherited the title of master as well as special weapons and secret scrolls. Kawakami is currently researching the history of ninjas in addition to teaching ninjitsu, which means that this last ninja might not really be the final one.

    1.     How are Hollywood ninjas different from real ones?

(A) Hollywood ninjas disguise themselves as civilians.

(B) Real-life ninjas have the power to fly.

(C) Hollywood ninjas have a great sense of humor.

(D) Real-life ninjas don't dress all in black.

    2.     According to the article, what is something ninjas did NOT do?

(A) Murdered their enemies.

(B) Battled samurais.

(C) Posed as normal people.

(D) Used things formed in nature in their martial arts.

    3.     What does touted in the final paragraph mean?

(A) Pulled.

(B) Guided.

(C) Proclaimed.

(D) Teased.

    4.     What does the final sentence in the article mean?

(A) Since Kawakami is teaching the ways of the ninja, he may not be the last one.

(B) There's no doubt that Kawakami is the last of the ninjas.

(C) No one will ever be as good of a ninja as Kawakami.

(D) Kawakami has befriended a tribe of ninjas in northern Japan.

末代忍者

一位前工程师也许是日本仅存旧时神秘武士的最后守护者。

好莱坞为致命刺客塑造出了形象，除了从细缝中露出他们邪恶又认真的眼神，他们还身着全黑的装束。大屏幕上的忍者拥有超人的能力，诸如飞行及隐身术，同时身上也带着大量致命的武器，像是飞镖、刀以及忍者著名的星形手里剑。这都是好莱坞所创造出来的。

15至 17 世纪的现实生活中，忍者是秘密特务，他们专为那些表面正直的武士领主们从事卑鄙的勾当。他们从事间谍活动、暗中破坏及刺杀等任务。忍者们也会藉由将自己伪装成平民百姓来躲藏于众人之间。忍者练习忍术，这是某种型式的武术，从自然元素中取得，如力量、速度及精确性。遗憾的是，因为现代没有忍者，所以这些技艺可能已经永远失传。

然而幸运的是，这些忍者的遗产还能继续留存下来。川上仁一是一位 63 岁的前工程师，他被捧为日本最后的忍者。他是甲贺伴流的第 21 代掌门人，此流派拥有忍者 5 百年历史的血脉。川上 6 岁到 18 岁期间在不知情的情况下被训练成为一个忍者。他磨练自身的体能及心理技巧、研究化学物质、天气及心理学，并且从事间谍活动及游击战的演练。更重要的是，他还得忍受酷热、严寒、疼痛及饥饿来证明他可以在任何环境下生存。川上满 19 岁时便继承大师的头衔，也继承了一些特别的武器和秘密的卷轴。川上仁一目前除了教导忍术外，也正在研究忍者的历史，这意味着这位末代忍者可能还会有后吧。

答案：  1.  D   2.  B   3.  C   4.  A

忍者是日本自鎌仓时代至江户时代出现的一种特殊职业。忍者们接受忍术（即秘密行动的技术）的训练，主要从事间谍活动。像日本武士的武士道一样，忍者也遵循一套自己引以为荣的专门规范（忍术）。

忍者盛行于日本战国时代，效力于大名及封建下贵族们，执行情报收集、刺杀、暗中破坏等秘密任务。直到德川幕府将其纳入正式编制后，忍者才进入了最兴盛的年代。

事实上，忍者经常穿着深蓝或深紫色的服饰，因此可以易于在夜间隐匿。而一般影视作品都为忍者角色身着全黑的服装，其实完全是一种误解。（数据源：维基百科）