Words:

　　amplify vt. 放大；扩大；增强；详述

　　analogous adj 类似的

　　analogy n. 类比，类推；类似物

　　analysis n. 分析；分析报告

　　analyze vt. 分析，分解

　　anarchist n. 无政府主义者

　　anarchy n. 无政府，混乱

　　anatomy n. 解剖；解剖学

　　ancerstor n. 祖先，祖宗

　　ancerstry n. （总称）祖先，列祖列宗；家族，血统

　　ancillary adj. 辅助的

　　anecdotal adj. 趣闻的，多轶事趣闻的；具有轶事形式（风格）的

　　anecdote n. 短故事，轶事

　　anesthesia n. 麻醉

　　anesthetic n. 麻醉剂，麻药

　　anguish n. 极度的痛苦，苦闷

　　angular adj. 有角的，尖角的

　　animated adj. 活泼的，有生气的

　　annals n. 编年史；历史记载，历史

　　annex vt. 兼并，附加

　　annihilate vt. 消灭，消减

　　I often wondered my ancestry. I knew that my angular face and large eyes came from my father's Spanish ancerstors. But what did they do for a living?

　　My father, who is very animated, would try to satisfy my curiosity by telling me funny anecdotes about his father and grandfather. His stories were often intriguing, but the information I wanted had to be more than anecdotal. So one day, I went to the library and searched through the annals of Spanish history.

　　I found a good book that thoroughtly analyzed the relevant time period and amplified its analysis with charts and illustrations. In it, I discovered several interesting historical figures who shared my surname, Sierra.

　　One was an anarchist. He worte books in which he expressed his belief and society in the rural areas should be allowed to exist without a government. He believed that the government was purposely creating a fear of anarchy merely to justify its first taxes on rural area farmars.

　　Another Sierra is a Doctor of anatomy. He was credited fot inventing the first anesthetic. The anesthesia allowed him to operate on his patients without causing pain.

　　The most interesting Sierra was a former high-ranking official who worked in an ancillary department of the central Spanish government. He spent most of his life protecting the Spanish military's efforts to annihilate and annex samller and weaker countries overseas. From the government's point of view, his protests were analogous to treason, and they sentenced him to a life of auguish in prison.

　　From this research, I was able to see many analogies between the characteristics of my ancestors and my own personality. It made me feel very proud to be a Sierra!