P.7 Dear Editor, I am writing to raise the mental health awareness of Hong Kong students. The past academic year saw 22 students commited suicide, eight of whom were studying at universities. But this could be just the tip of the iceberg as mental illness affects a far greater number of students. The alarming trend begs the question: how much do we know about mental illness? I am afraid the answer is “not much”. The common misconception is that “only the weak are susceptible”. For example, Alex Leung, 23, was a model student in the Law School. He led the English debate team in international events. However, he actually spent most of his third year of study under the mounting pressure.
He soon bega n to skip class es and avoid talking with pe ople. He just h id in his room the time, not e all ven visiting th e restaurants or pantry when f eeling hungry . He wasn’t we but, still, was a a k, poor victim o f anxiety. Therefore, we should not pu t too much pressure on s tudents as str ess is the mai cause of men n tal illnesses. T he governme should take a nt ction to teach students to fa and care abo ce ut mental illne s ses. It can hel decreasing th p e number of p e ople who suff from anxiety a er s soon as pos sible.I hope th students will n at ot give up the ir lives easily a they have alre s ady learnt mo re about men health care. tal Yours faithfull y, Gordon Chun g
Can you see the highlighted phrase "the tip of the iceberg"? It means what you see is just a small part of something much bigger. This is an idiom using
metaphor. Metaphor
adds colours to what we want to talk about, making it more interesting and meaningful.
Examples:
LITERACY SKILLS
LANGUAGE EXPLORERS
All of these adorable children are angels. The naughty boys are little monsters. You are the apple of my eye.
易受影響的 mounting (adj.) 遞增的 susceptible (adj.)
受害者 anxiety (n.) 焦慮 victim (n.)
a o t en t s i L ng o s r o h p a t e m
暗
metaphor (n.)