July 2012
Volume 2
BO OO OK K RE EC CO OM MM ME EN ND DA AT TIIO ON NS SB BY YO OU UR RL LIIB BR RA AR RIIA AN NS S Tuesdays with Morrie
by Mitch Albom
3B CHEUNG LOK MANG
“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.� --Henry Adams. Do you have a teacher who affects you for the rest of your life? Tuesdays with Morrie is written by an American writer Mitch Albom. Mitch had promised to stay in touch with his college professor; Morrie, however, he was too busy to keep in contact with his professor. 16 years later, Mitch became a sports newscaster and writer. One night he watched Nightline. He was stunned to find out that Morrie, who was diagnosed with ALDS, was dying soon. Mitch decided to visit his revered mentor. Through fourteen Tuesday lessons, Mitch learnt what love, living, death, marriage, and relationships were and learnt to treasure them. Mitch rediscovered the relationship that had never been broken. Then Morrie left the world forever peacefully. 1
After reading the book, I learnt that death is not terrible. However, death is a taboo among people. They always try to use other words to replace it as they are afraid of it. Why? It is because we don’t see death as a part of nature and the future. As Morrie said, “Everything that gets born dies.” We should face death bravely. When we still have time to show our love to our beloved, we should treasure it because life is unexpected. Morrie was optimistic even though he knew that he was dying because he thought that he still had time to say good-bye to everyone he loved. Morrie said that he was luckier than the people who died in accidents. I agree with him because we have time to do what we should and need to do and fulfill our responsibility and we should show our consideration towards our loved ones. “You need food, you want a chocolate sundae,” said Morrie in the eighth lesson. I was so ashamed when I read this because this was exactly my shadow. Morrie makes me understand that materialism is not the most important element in my life. Many youths in wealthy countries and cities, such as U.S.A., Hong Kong get to have what they want to gain contentment. We always ask our parents to buy us some new technical products to gain fulfillment. However, is it wise? Morrie said, “Do the kind of things that come from the heart. When you do, you won’t be dissatisfied, you won’t be envious, you won’t be longing for somebody else’s things. On the contrary, you’ll be overwhelmed with what comes back.” Our parents earn money by working hard. They save all their money and try to fulfill our wishes while they are wearing some old clothes and out-dated mobile phones just because of our greediness. Shouldn’t we be satisfied with what we have and use our money to help those who are really in need? We can help others by simply giving a hand to the needy, donate some money and support fund raising activities. By giving love to others, you will surely gain true satisfaction. Tuesdays with Morrie is a moving book with a warm afterglow. This is a true story which makes people shed tears. It is filled with simple words from a wonderful man who really understood the true meaning of life and love. After reading this book, I learnt that I should value salad days and live lightheartedly in the world.
飄移中國
/韓寒
3E Clara Wong
有人說，韓寒不過是個只懂批評的壞小孩而已，沒有獨立思考能力，而他所有的文章都只 是在迎合大眾的情緒。可是，我卻不這麼認為。在我看來，韓寒並非一個為叛逆而叛逆的作 家，而是一個為思想而叛逆的作家。當所有人都說中國電影業正在蓬勃的發展時，韓寒看出 電影審查制度的瘡疤；當所有人都追捧巴金、茅盾和冰心的時候，他道出了一位有責任的文 化人的基本修養是有骨氣、說真話、不獻媚、不阿諛，而絕對不是對文學大師懷尊敬之心、 2
追念之心，因此他不會隨波逐流，而會選擇自己真正欣賞的作品 看；當所有人都認為班幹部體制很能培養學生的組織能力時，他卻 揭露出系統裡迂腐的一面。 與《醜陋的中國人》不同，韓寒並沒有直接了當的點出中國的 種種弊病，而是以反諷的方式利用反語道出一個個可笑的事實，令 我每看畢一篇散文都不禁捂著嘴巴笑。就好像嘲諷新詩的一篇文章 中，韓寒並沒有列出新詩的好處或壞處，而是把自己的文字換作一 篇新詩表達，質量如何一看自知，手法高明。這種方式能使讀者對 他的文字有更深刻的印象，同時給讀者留下思索空間。 其中一篇令我印象深刻的是名為「話說中國文人」的散文。正正因為中國是「禮義之邦」 ， 我們就要裝謙虛、刻意貶低自己，連在奧運會勝出也要替對手失誤而感到惋惜嗎？正正因為 要捍衛自己的面子，即使平日說多少自己城市的壞話，向著外人便非要誇獎它不可嗎？ 韓寒 說穿了中國人的通病，或許會有不少人聽得不是滋味，可是若然中國缺少了像韓寒一樣把弊 病看得通透又敢怒敢言的人，會是多麼悲哀的一件事！ 當然，我不可能同意韓寒的所有觀點，但是我欣賞的是韓寒的批判性思維，更欣賞他處 事的灑脫。記得他在回應那些不齒他的人時曾說過： 「在這個快速閱讀的年代，那些討厭我並 一直在尋找漏洞的人，卻要一字一字閱讀我的文章，一幀一幀研究我的視頻，一行一行查看 我的資料。一想到他們的生活裡充滿了我，我的生活裡就充滿了欣慰。」他這種豪邁瀟灑的 風格滲佈全書，使我閱讀此書時津津有味。 其實，雖然韓寒口口聲聲在說中國的壞話，但我認為他才是真真正正熱愛中國這塊土地 的人— 相較於那些只懂瞎叫愛國主義口號的虛偽小人，他所說的「壞話」，才是真真正正對 國家有建設、負責任的說話。
Tell Me About Jesus
by Lois Rock
3B Tsang Sum In
Tell me about Jesus is a profile of Jesus that is shared with the public and worth reading. The author wrote not only about Jesus but also other aspects of Christianity that are related to recent daily lives like methods to interact and communicate with God, how to praise and pay our greatest gratitude to Him, which is excellent. From this book, I have learnt much information and history about Jesus; most importantly, I got to know the contributions Jesus made (teaching Christianity) and his sacrifice; I have learnt to be as 3
selfless and kind as him and to set him as my role model. From this, I know I should be grateful as well because God gave His son to us to save us from sin; we are very lucky. Without Jesus, there would not be such a wide spread of Christianity; I know that the belief in Christianity is spreading a positive and correct way of thinking and knowledge. I have learnt a lot from this book. We should pay our greatest respect and gratitude to God and Jesus; they sacrificed a lot for every one of us. I know much more knowledge about praying, Jesus and Christianity. I will follow Jesus both as my beacon and role model, to learn to be as selfless, kind and helpful as him, to get rid of sin and temptation. Though it is really difficult due to the more materialistic life and society in recent years, I will still try my very best to fulfill the Christian spirit just like Jesus did.
失去的幸福時光
/茱迪．皮考特
3A
Hui Lok Yan Lorraine
每個人都擁有童年,大部份的人都是在家人的陪伴下成長的: 有人來自幸福的家庭、有人來自破碎的家庭… 我慶幸可以在一個幸 福的家庭中成長, 有父母、祖父母的疼愛，物質從不缺乏，真的擁有 幸福時光! 幸福不是必然的，一定要自己努力爭取, 然而擁有了更要 珍惜, 這樣的幸福才會持久!! 書中的艾力克斯是在一個負面的家中成長,小時候經常遭他的 父親虐打和責罵; 長大後建立了自己家庭, 縱使他很愛自己的妻子, 卻因小時後那段恐怖的回憶而對妻子造成一次又一次的傷害。他們 各自有不快的童年，凱西要救贖這段婚姻，每次原諒丈夫後擔驚受 怕，最終决斷地在遇段婚姻畫上句號。 現今社會, 這些家暴攘成很多悲劇，受害者不但受到肉體的傷害，精神上受的極大傷。家 暴大都是強者傷害弱者: 大人傷害小童，丈夫毆打妻子，姑勿論甚麼原因誘發攻擊至親，我認 為都應該報警，讓這些家庭尋求幫助。這些人都屬精神病態，不接受正確的治療，情况不但沒 改善，反而每况愈下。二十世紀，精神病是有藥可治，像傷風感冒一樣普遍，千萬別被這病嚇 怕，早些接受治療，從過健康生活，亨受幸福時光。
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Like Dandelion Dust
by Karen Kingsbury
3A Eva Lee
Like Dandelion Dust is a really exciting story, with an unpredictable ending, and the story has innovative ideas while having a meaningful moral. Sometimes love means sharing, sometimes it means caring, but sometimes it means giving too. Because of love, you give the best to the one you love, even though it may need your sacrifices. Just like Wendy, she loved Joey so much that at last she gave up custody over him so that he could have a better life and a better future. Despite her sadness, Wendy didn’t hold Joey for herself; this was the way Wendy showed her love. Not only appearing in family relationships, this kind of love exists in many different ways: soldiers die for protect their country; In the Manila kidnapping accident, a husband died from a bullet in saving his wife’s life; best friends talking through the whole night if one of them is upset. However, since selfishness is one of the characteristics of human nature, there is no perfect love between humans. Looking back we all have tried arguing with our siblings for just a toy or some sweets, not lending a hand to friends because we are busy doing our own things…… even though there is no perfect love between people, there is still a kind of love which is totally perfect; that is the love from God. God love us so much that he has planned the best road for everyone. As Beth, Molly’s sister, says God will have the best plan for Joey. When Jack and Molly started to believe in Him, miracles happened and finally they had Joey back. Also, God will protect us when we have fears, as Joey prayed and had peace after seeing Rip’s violent action. Lastly, although we cannot give out perfect love, we still have to try our best to love others. And since God loves us so deeply, we should spread it to others by giving ourselves. With more love, I believe that our world will be much better!
愛的歷史
/妮可．克勞斯
3A Hui Lok Yan Lorrain
獨居老翁李奧、十四歲喪父的少女艾瑪、還有抑鬱的中年作家?︰這三個毫不相干 又互不認識的人，各自心中都藏著一個寂寞的靈魂。在各自的世界裡經歷傷痛、生離死 別、飽嘗孤寂，但因為對愛的堅持與追尋，最後他們孑然一身，咬緊牙關，在人生的大 道上繼續走下去。 5
整本書的背景，可說是猶太人的漂流史。因為戰亂，李奧和艾 瑪逃到美國；茲維和蘿莎逃到南美。戰亂拆散了多少家庭與情侶， 人們跑到另一個國家舉目無親，一切從零開始，迎接不安的未來。 他們每天只能一步步迎向命運，向同一個目標進發─ 要活著。或許 有一天，我們會對朋友敘述過往的戀情；老了，對子女談起祖父母 當年的趣聞軼事；對某個人訴說你一生走過的軌跡。 書中每個人都很寂寞，皆因失去生命中最重要的人，與此同時 也會用自己的方式去療傷止痛。每當我傷心時會哭，也會找朋友傾 訴，讓自己釋懷、放下。空虛寂寞的人，更需要別人的溫暖和關心，即使這份溫暖是來 自你不認識的人，你也想得到。但書中角色的療傷方法有點不同，如老翁李奧，需要別 人的愛、渴求那份溫暖，更希望有人關注他，所以他故意做出唐突的舉動，吸引其他人 的注意，確認自己的存在價值。其實，愛是一種虛無飄渺的東西，可能這一刻你擁有了， 但下一秒你就會失去它。當你有幸擁有這份愛，便要好好珍惜這幸福的時光。當愛偷偷 的溜走，你亦不會有遺憾，至少你曾經擁有過。我覺得擁有刻骨銘心的愛，好比品嘗清 甜的露水，令人永致難忘。縱使此刻失去，我認為這已經是一件很幸福的事。 愛有很多種，表達的方式也有很多。 對我而言，親人給我的愛是最實在、最溫暖 的，有些時候甚至感到有些澀愛我，只要我開口他們便盡心盡力的為我實現願望，令我 以為這是理想當然的事。在這樣的成長環境和接受過多的愛，難道我們能夠不成為人們 口中的港孩嗎？愛，真是難以明白。
Brainteaser
by Martin Gardner
2B Pang Yuk Nga
It is a very crazy, but wonderful book. It challenges my senses, tickles my funny bone and sometimes I was baffled. It took me about 5-10 minutes to solve a problem. However, I cannot solve about half of the questions correctly. According to my memory, I have only answered 5 questions correctly. The questions were very tricky but not too difficult if you turn to the back and look for the answer. It is very interesting and it causes me keep on turning pages to discover more. The most unforgettable question was where I needed to put the book in front of the mirror to find out the answer. It is really very unpredictable. This book inspires me a lot and increases my exposure to mathematics. It is a great experience to solve those time-consuming problems.
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Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
3F Emily Ip
The story features Peter Houghton, a boy who has been the victim of severe, ongoing bullying at school and has at times been mistreated as an outcast at home. On the day the shooting occurs, Peter goes to school as usual. Everything is routine except that on this day, Peter has decided to bring a gun with him to eliminate some of his schoolmates. Throughout the narrative, Picoult reveals various events before and after the shooting through using flashbacks. Readers learn of how this timid and reserved youth is forced to endure years of physical and psychological bullying, both at school and at home. The audience is shown why and how Peter is set on a course of eventual tragedy and destruction. Through knowing about Peter's road of misery, readers are gradually led to become sympathetic to Peter's plight, his resulting psychological breakdown and his violent, tragic implosion. The reader is then torn between condemning the horrific act and feeling Peter's gaping sense of hopelessness. In the end, Peter is sentenced to life in prison with eight counts of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder. Choosing not to serve his sentence in its entirety, Peter eventually commits suicide by suffocating himself with a sock in his cell. Ultimately this book is sad but absorbing, as Picoult creates a sense of realism and gives her characters great depth. The reader gains a real understanding of the story's characters, allowing the reader to experience a true sense of empathy and sympathy during their journey. More importantly, Picoult uses a dramatic story to vividly highlight prevalent teen issues including peer pressure, self-esteem, deprivation of family love and school bullying. This book is an inspirational read for parents and educators who wish to gain insight into how the teenage mind works. The story of Peter is heartbreaking and are too real. It reveals an issue we should all know of: inadequate care can lead to destruction. This is worth our attention. Parents nowadays are there for their children in every way they can be. However, the question is whether parents have taken care of the emotional needs of their kids. Children may be bullied by their peers, or they may feel terrible when parents are trying to compare them with anyone who outshines them. Parents should reconsider these matters and try to understand their children's feelings. 7
Of course, parental care is not the only cause that may drive teenagers to become like Peter. Society has a part to play in teaching people to care for others. If this is the case, tragedies like Peter's can surely be avoided!
Kira-kira by Cynthia Kadohata
2B OLMSTED JEAN WENDOLYN
Katie Takeshima has a sister, Lynn, who taught Katie the word Kira-kira , meaning "glittering", and she uses it to describe everything. But Lynn becomes sick with anemia, and she soon dies. After Lynn’s death, Katie realizes why Lynn had taught her the word kira-kira; to remind there is something kira-kira in the future. It is a very touching book; I can feel the wind blowing on me gently like I am in a wheat field and hear Lynn saying ‘kira-kira’. It gave me a very light but sad feeling when I am reading it, like in a lonely wheat field. My favourite part is when the family goes to California in the end, where Katie could hear the waves saying ‘kira-kira’, just like her sister. I like how the writer made the book very soothing and comfortable, like a wheat field, even when Lynn dies, and adding in funny enlightening parts in the book is like putting flowers in the wheat. The sadness when Lynn gets ill and dies, acts as a comfy breeze, which frequently reminds us of Lynn’s tragedy while also comforting us. I recommend this book to people who have lost someone special and some that are afraid they would. Kira-kira makes dying like a breeze, and it soothes us whenever we are thinking of it. I hope you would enjoy this book.
The Undomestic Goddess
by Sophie Kinsella
4F Wu Oi Lam Stephanie
Samantha Sweeting, a young and reputable lawyer, was a typical workaholic. She was about to get a huge partnership when her “perfect” world came crumbling down—she had lost her law firm fifty million pounds because of a blunder. She was so thunderstruck she walked right out of her office and boarded a train. It turned out the train took her to a small town called Cotswold where she was employed to be a housekeeper. Life in Cotswold was tranquil and laid back. Samantha learnt to relax and take things slowly there. At the end, although she was given a partnership, she turned it down so as to enjoy life. This book is perfect for leisure reading. The plot unfolds smoothly and quickly, hence 8
keeping readers interested along the way. It is also filled with hilarious moments that are bound to make readers amused. This “laid-back” storytelling style is definitely fit for relaxed reading on a summer afternoon. Nevertheless this book does give readers a little something to think about. Would you rather live a stressful and burdened life for recognition, or a serene life with time for yourself and devote yourself truly to your own passion? This book attempts to remind workaholics that rests are essential both to the body and soul. Another important message conveyed by the book is be comfortable with changes in one’s life. Changes are like spices that zest up the mundane daily routines. Be bold and try taking up different lifestyles. It may result in something completely unexpected and extraordinary. Have time for yourself to reflect and relax. Summer holidays are the perfect time for this.
Linear Algebra with Applications (International Series in Pure and Applied Mathematics)
by George D Mostow
3E Matthew Wong
This book is about the system and structure of Linear Algebra. In Chapter 10, it talks about the systems of equations and matrices. Here is an example of linear equations which is a set of m equations in n unknowns: a11x1 + a12x2 + … + a1nxn = b1 …... a21x1 + a22x2 + … + a2nxn = b2 am1x1 + am2x2 +…+ amnxn = bm Using summation notation, this is more compactly written as:
i=1,2, …, m
I think this book is quite interesting. There are more and more examples of other kinds of Linear Algebra, such as the Homogeneous systems and matrix algebra. I learnt a lot after reading this book. It is difficult, but if you are interested in Mathematics and you are willing to 9
spend some time on it, you will surely find how marvelous Mathematics is and you will be amazed.
２9 歲的 X’mas /鎌田敏夫著;
蕭照芳譯
3C Venus Cheuk Yee Tam
這是一本電影小說，所以對話較多，也有點像在看劇本的感覺。 故事是講述一個女生在２９歲生日的那天給男朋友拋棄，同一天又被 公司同事誹謗給調去一個自己不喜歡做的位置…所有的不幸好像在 一個應該是美好的一天同時降臨。幸好她還有兩個無所不談的好朋 友，他們開解了那女生，令到她感到一絲溫暖。 然而本來是單純的朋友關係發生了變化，令到本來很和諧的氣氛 給打破了﹔女生發現她喜歡上那男生，男的卻喜歡上另一個女生，後 來更跟那喜歡的女生一起回他的故鄉去了﹔然而那女生在這時却發 現她懷了男生的孩子。 人要走自己的路，活出自己的人生才會快樂和滿足是本書一個啟示。此書寫出一個容易 理解又一針見血的問題：你喜歡這個自己嗎？喜歡的，而且不會有違道德標準的就應該去做； 相反，不喜歡的，就別做。本書亦有勵志的一面，憑著女生的遭遇，它告訴我們只要永不放 棄，在陰谷裡也能夠翻一個新天地。
Newsletter prepared by Adrian Leung (4E) 10