Weird Butterfly Ceremony

課文：

For the first half of his life, Chang Ching kept his artistic pursuits in the background. He spent his days working as an optometrist in Dounan Township while restricting his bonsai-related activities to his leisure time. On weekends and in spare moments, Chang searched through the mountains and valleys of Taiwan for miniature trees and rocks. Little did he know those mountain landscapes would play a key role in the second half of his life.

keep … in the background：隱蔽於不易注意到之處
pursuit：追求、追趕
optometrist：驗光師
restrict：限制、約束（= limit、stint、define）
bonsai：盆栽、盆景藝術
leisure time：閒暇時間（= free time）
leisure：休閒、餘暇
spare moment：空閒時候
spare：餘（= extra、lingering）
valley：谷
miniature：迷你（模型）的、小型的
little did he know：他絲毫不知道（= he little know）
landscape：風景、景觀（= scenery）

On September 11, 1984, Chang heard a voice in a dream telling him to pursue sculpture, assuring him that he would be successful within two years. Believing he had heard from God, Chang set out to become a professional sculptor, making a radical career shift in middle age.

pursue：追求（= chase、court、run after、seek、woo）
sculpture：雕刻品、雕塑
assure：保證
sculptor：雕刻家、雕塑家
radical：激進
career shift：職業徹底變化
middle age：中年（= midlife）

Formal training

After only about a year of carving wooden figures, Chang was invited to hold an exhibition at Yunlin County Cultural Center. But the self-taught artist wasn’t satisfied, and he sought to become an apprentice to internationally known sculptor Yang Yu-yu. Initially, the prominent teacher turned Chang away based on his age but later accepted the novice sculptor as his student.

carve：雕刻（= engrave、marble）
wooden：木質（= wood）
figure：人物
exhibition：展覽（= show）
self-taught：無師自通
satisfied：滿意
apprentice to：作為…的學徒、見習生
initially：最初
prominent：突出、傑出（= eminent、illustrious）
novice：新手、初學者

文法：
… spent … V.ing as … while V.ing …（花時間從事主要活動，同時從事次要活動）

特別補充：
mini-：小
apprentice：學徒、拜…為師
novice at：在…方面為新手
ophthalmologist：眼科醫生（= eye doctor）
geographer：地理學家
scene：現場、風景、風光（= view）
exposition：博覽會
expo：世博會