Passage Five

Mary Donaldson is worried about her 16-year-old daughter. Sophia. Six months ago, Sophia came back from a party, upset and unhappy. From then on，(1)she thinks of nothing but how to lose weight and become beautiful. She refuses to eat and keeps on doing exercise. (A)Sophia had always been a little heavy, so when he decided to go on a diet, Mary encouraged her. (2)She felt that her daughter would look more attractive if she loses 10 kilograms. However, Sophia has lost over 20 kilograms until now. Her eating and exercising habits are having a harmful effect on her health. She is too thin and is often sick.

Her mother is trying to prevent her from going on a diet and losing weight, but Sophia thinks that she is still too heavy and refuses to start eating as usual. Sophia's mind is full of the idea of looking like a model. (B)Every day she goes to a club to do exercise. When she is not there, she spends her time reading magazines like Fashion & Beauty (《时尚与美》). The models in these magazines are very thin and beautiful. Sophia says. "If I look like these models, I will be happy."

(C)Mary doesn't know how to help (3)her daughter. She feels sorry for having encouraged her at first, because Sophia no longer feels good or pleased with her body. She's afraid that Sophia will never be happy if she keeps comparing herself with the models in the magazines. (D) Common people are not supposed to look like models. The most ordinary face becomes (4)beautiful when the person behind it is filled with confidence, wisdom and the joy of life.

One day, I took an underground to work, I saw something that made me very sad. On the tube( underground in London), a mother kept looking at her phone screen and playing a game with her daughter sitting beside her. The little girl, about 5 years old, was talking to her mother about her day, repeating the next stop's name cheerfully, praising her mother's long nails--trying to draw her mother's attention. Her mother just nodded and mumbled "Mm, hm" with her eyes glued to the screen, busy passing the levels of the game. I watched the girl give a final try to at least get her mum to look at her, but it was no use. Then the little girl turned silent. It was a shame the mother didn't notice that.

      It broke my heart and got me wondering--what kind of game would make the mother forget she has the most beautiful thing in the world, the human she created, the person she loves with all her heart? What it meant when she couldn't look into her daughter's eyes and even stop to listen to the girl?

      Some parents are almost like the teenagers, always on their phones with mindless games or going through Facebook. Perhaps parents have many things to deal with, but sometimes they are everything to their kids.

     This is not an isolated example. I've seen too many such examples. I might not be a parent myself, and probably still have a long way before becoming one, but I know what I saw isn't right.

     The scene used to be seen among teenagers very often when parents complained how their children were crazy about their mobile phones. Look how the situation has changed! The parents have become "technology slaves", that is to say, they can't control themselves while using mobile phones. Now some middle-aged parents hold the best iPhones or Samsung phones, which are probably the only two brands they know. They are playing the simple games with so expensive mobile phones. I'm uncertain whether to laugh or to cry. But my hope is that this storm passes.

My friends and I finished lunch at a hotel when it started to rain heavily. When it became lighter, I decided to get my car at my office three streets away.

My friends said that I shouldn’t go, mainly because I would give birth to a new baby and was seven months pregnant then. I told them that I’d be very careful. One of them wanted to come with me but I asked her to stay with another friend who needed help with her baby.

I walked out of the hotel and started making my way to the car. At the crossing, a black car stopped and a man came out with an umbrella. Before I knew what was happening, he walked right towards me. To my surprise he stopped in front of me and said he’d go with me together. I said there was no need for him to do so, but he still offered to help. During our walk, he kept telling me to walk slower, as the ground was wet. When we got to my car, I thanked him and he went away. I did not get his name. Even I can’t remember what he looks like. Did he stop for me? I’ll never know.

So how did I pay it as a return? I was at home when I noticed two Indian workers walking in the heavy rain. Maybe they were on their way to the working place near my home.            . They were surprised by my action. They were very thankful to me, wondering why a stranger was offering such kindness. I was so relaxed and happy that day.