HDDCN

上次提到新版大学英语精读/泛读（第三版），推荐给朋友的弟弟自学用（好吧已经被BS了），前两天带他去书城翻这套书，竟然缺货，跑了深圳几个书城和一家教育书店，都不全，连网上也买不到全套……真强。相比之下，倒是满世界的《新概念英语》，是个书摊都有全套卖。

他先买了预备级和一、二册，回来的车上我翻看，发现预备级有一篇课文叫"Dear Daughter"，竟然是我N久以前在某报纸（或者杂志？）上看过的一封妈妈写给女儿的信，这封信当时还是给我了一点点触动，"Sometimes teenagers don't understand their parents' rules because they haven't lived as long and they don't see the hidden dangers."这句一直记忆犹新。我搜了一下，在lessontutor.com找到原文，作者是Elaine Ernst Schneider，下面转载分享之。文章很简单，我觉得初中程度就能读。课本上删减了一段，一些句子有改动。

Dear Daughter,

Your dad and I aren't husband and wife anymore, but we are still your Mom and Dad. Only we can truly understand the other's grief in losing you. If only you had walked away from that car when you saw that the kids were drinking… Why did you get in their car? Why did you take the chance? Didn't you know that you would break our hearts and forever rob us of the joy of having you in our lives?

As I see you lying there so lifeless, how I wish I could take your place. How I wish I were the one they will soon be laying in the ground. How will your father and I ever learn to live without you? We will miss your vibrant laugh and wonderful sense of humor. I will miss seeing how your eyes sparkle when you are excited about something and want to share it with me. Your dad will miss that familiar page that says "Call me quick! I've got news."

So many dreams and goals that you had. Now these will never be fulfilled because of one empty decision – one poor choice – one moment where you forgot to think before you acted. What might God have made of your life? I wonder what His plans were for you? Now we'll never know. We'll never get to see you grow into adulthood, meet your future husband, or hold out our arms to hold your first baby. It all came to a dead stop the night the car crashed into that cement embankment. I'll never be able to drive by that place again, to see your blood and the blood of your friends splattered against the cold cement, a testimony to teenage rebellion – teenagers who thought they had all the answers and risked their lives to prove it.

How will I ever walk by your room again and see the pretty bedspread and curtains that your dad bought for you? Or will I have to take them down to be packed in a box that I can never open because I simply cannot bear to see the things that remind me of you? How will I explain to your sister how I let it happen? Was there something else I should have done? Something else I should have said? Why wouldn't you listen? And what am I to tell your sister's child when she looks in the family albums and finds that the pictures of her auntie suddenly stop? How do I explain to her that there are no more pictures because there is no more you? 

I know that teenagers think they have all the answers. You didn't want to believe that your dad and I were actually young once and faced many of the same temptations. You didn't want to believe that what we were telling you was the truth – that alcohol and drugs would rob you of your life. You didn't want to believe that you couldn't play around with those things – that even dabbling with them was serious. You didn't want to believe that – yes – just one time could damage you. You didn't want to believe us that we were telling you these things not only because they are the truth, but because we loved you so very much and were so afraid that this very day would come if you didn't change the direction you were headed in. And now that day is here -- the day that came from getting in a car with alcohol just one time. And now you are lying there so still. No more laughter. No more sparkle in your eyes. Just an empty shell where our beautiful baby girl used to live. Throughout life, there are many temptations to do things that might be harmful. Sometimes teenagers don't understand their parents' rules because they haven't lived as long and they don't see the hidden dangers. Wisdom is learning to face those temptations, think about what God and your parents would have you do, and then just say "no." If only you had said no.

Mom and Dad

昨天去书城，看到当年用的课本《大学英语 精读/泛读》系列终于出了新版（旧版好像是十年前的版本）。可能现在教材市场竞争越来越激烈，丫们终于发现不得不更新了。以前我上学时用《大学英语 精读/泛读》的学校很多，不过昨晚打听了几个学校，几年前就分别都选了不同的教材，还有一套《新视野大学英语》和一套《21世纪XXX英语》也N多学校在用……

这次的“第三版”排版印刷比老版本漂亮多了，老掉牙的课文也都换掉了，真不爽自己生那么早- -

另外新版除了精读和泛读的6册，竟然还有一本“预备级”，只要1300词汇量就可以开始学。估计是同时照顾到面向社会的教育市场。

竞争激烈啊～

大概翻了一下，不少课文还是相当幽默DI。放张“预备级”的例子——

写这个可能要得罪不少人- -

昨晚突然发现好友QQ和MSN的签名里，一堆人用下面这句：

每一天都是崭新的开始。

最近流行这句话？我觉得这根本就是一句屁话，每一秒，每一分钟不可以是“崭新的开始”么，为啥非要以86400秒为单位计算呢？还有——“崭新的开始”本来就是没有确切定义的单词，开始了又如何？问题是，自己有计划没？如果每天都否定前一天，能做成什么事？

此外，用这句话当签名的人，有没问过自己，究竟应该寻找“新的开始”，还是应该“再坚持一下”？再想一想，再想一想，再回答。还有一句屁话说哪个单词就是胜利，还有一句屁话说所谓的成功是谁的乖儿子来着？是不是后面两句屁话落实起来有难度，而上面那句屁话其实只是用来自慰的？

提醒自己，收拾心绪面对未来？需要每隔86400秒提醒一次说明你还是放不下。暗示自己，机会永远都有？这是扯淡。机会，绝对不是永远都有，你错过重要的机会，每天都会变成毫无意义的开始。

类似“每XXX都是XXX”的屁话还有很多，而这种屁话的通例就是陈述一个毫无价值的等式，比如“每个等边三角形都有三条长度相等的边～”，是啊，没错啊，有啊，那又怎么样呢？

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这下完了- -，说好不在blog上FQ的……下次注意……其实我也常拿屁话当签名，最近改歌词了……