Common Talk Weeklyshuang yu zhou kan



Flawed, yet an angel
By Katherine Zhang



The story takes place at Welton School, a very traditional preparatory school for boys in the U.S. After the summer holiday of 1959, John Keating (performed by Robin Williams), former student at the institution, enters as the new English teacher. With his unconventional teaching methods, he inspires his students, a group of boys aged around 17, to act as individuals.

I watched the movie "Dead Poets Society" first with laughter then in tears. John Keating, a romantic idealist, is flawed, yet an angel, who enlightens students to make their life choices and to follow the old saying "Carpe diem" or "sieze the day". His appeal, which attracts me as well as the boys, lies in his distinctive teaching methods and his unique characteristics.

As time goes on, his students gradually buy his idea and strive with great enthusiasm to get what they really long for. Neil, a straight-A student who stands out from the others, was urged by "Carpe diem", against his father's will, and bravely acts in a role in "A Mid-Summer Night's Dream".

However, his father is irritated with Neil's choice, and in order to get Neil into Havard, he decides to transfer his son to a military school one night when Neil excels in his debut in the play. Neil, tortured by the decision, is in a dilemma for he doesn't want to give up or yield to his father's demands. Having failed to persuade his father, Neil commits suicide. His death results in the expultion of Mr. Keating.
If Mr Keating was a little more realistic, I think he would have told Neil that entering Havard is a duty, a responsibility and also a dream that he should realize both for his future and his father. But is it possible for Keating to think about things this way? Never.

He firmly believes that dreams and passion are the key elements that drive and control everything. However, life is not always as what we wish it to be, so sometimes we learn how to give in, how to concede to and how to trade off. It is not our yielding to life but quite the contrary. Neil may have not died if he had been given such an idea that so long as he's alive and longs for acting, he is able to make it. If he dies, his chances are over and never can he achieve it.

Frost says, "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—/ I took the one less traveled by/ And that has made all the difference." Mr. Keating chooses the path less traveled by. He chooses to teach his students first to be individuals between the commonplace and the unique. He may not be perfect because he's not realistic enough, yet he's still an angel, who, in the boys' wildest dreams, illuminates their minds and helps them to sort out their unique life style. That might be the true meaning of education: how to be a man, how to live like a man.

I almost wept at the last scene when I saw Todd and the other students standing on their desks to salute to Mr. Keating. At exactly that moment, I knew with affirmation that Mr. Keating was flawed, yet indeed an angel.




I will read more
By Ash Xue



I have never read much. Only when I was a student did I ever read things I liked. Since my graduation in July last year, I have read only what I need to read instead of what actually appeals to me. I considered it boring until I read a book with a long but straightforward title "Take initiative: leave your boss alone".

This subtle book, made up of 6 chapters, informs us of the 35 possessions that make an excellent staff member. I have been working for six months and still have not achieved the successful transformation from a student to a member of the workforce. It is not that I don't want to improve, I just don't know where the problem lies. By introducing some funny cartoons, this book exposes various kinds of misbehavior that a worker, especially one like me who is lacking in experience yet full of pride, may perform in the process of working.

This awakened me and I voluntarily re-assessed myself. Of course, the book not only points out problems but also offers ways to cope with them. If anyone can achieve what is suggested, he is sure to have a promising future. Thin as the book is, I read it in less than two hours. Intense as the ideas are, it may take me at least two years to carry them out properly. Anyhow, it will ensure me of a new start now and a relatively peaceful mood while I face any difficulties in the future.




Norah Jones:
Feels like home
By Ji Yongyong



The 24-year-old singer Norah Jones has just released her new blue note album - "Feels like home". After sweeping 8 Grammy awards in 2003 with her debut CD - "Come away with me", Jones' husky voice is now instantly recognizable.

Unlike the quiet ballads of her first CD, which was also characterized as "mellow", "Feels like home" is a little different. Jones varies the tempo to reflect the evolution of her performance style.
There are 13 tracks on this CD. "Sunrise", the first single, has a bright, buoyant feeling. "Those sweet words", which is also the theme music of a romantic movie, "Alex && Emma", shows Norah Jones's gorgeous vocals. This CD also features a song, "Don't miss you at all", which Jones developed four years ago. She had been performing it regularly in concerts before she became famous.

So much is cliched about this fabulous CD. Just go to a quiet corner, open the CD, close your eyes and listen.




Today is St. Patrick's Day

 
圣帕特里克节是爱尔兰的传统节日. 它原意是纪念圣徒帕特里克逝世的日子, 而今已发展成爱尔兰的常规节日. 绿色的三叶草是它的标志物.

The person who was to become St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was born in Wales about AD 385. His wishes were to convert the native pagans to Christianity. He traveled throughout Ireland, establishing monasteries across the country. He also set up schools and churches.

His mission in Ireland lasted for thirty years. He died on March 17 in AD 461. That day has been commemorated as St. Patrick's Day ever since.

Much Irish folklore surrounds St. Patrick's Day. Not much of it is actually substantiated. Some of this lore includes the belief that Patrick raised people from the dead. He also is said to have given a sermon from a hilltop that drove all the snakes from Ireland. Though originally a Catholic holy day, St. Patrick's Day has evolved into more of a secular holiday.
One traditional icon of the day is the shamrock. And this stems from a more bona fide Irish tale that tells how Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Trinity. His followers adopted the custom of wearing a shamrock on his feast day.