Reading Aloud 4

Nobody chooses to be fat or ugly

My entire family is plump, and I am no exception. I think girls who are pretty and slim have many advantages because most people admire them.

For example, if a pretty girl needs help, many boys will scramble to help her, but if an ugly girl asks for help, most people will turn a deaf ear.

It's very unfair for ugly girls - they don't choose to be ugly. It is more important to make friends with kind-hearted people than beautiful ones, as beauty is only skin-deep.

Lee Kwai Ying (4E)
South China Morning Post (28th April, 2004)

Vocabulary

1. entire (n) 整體的
2. plump (adj) 胖胖的
3. exception (n) 例外
4. slim (adj) 苗條的
5. advantages (n) 有利條件
6. admire (v) 讚美
7. scramble (v) 爭搶
8. turn a deaf ear (phr) 充耳不聞
9. kind-hearted (adj) 善心的
10.skin-deep (adj) 膚淺的

Useful Sentences

1. no exception 例外
  The law applies to all countries over the world, China is no exception.

2. have the advantage 有利條件
  She had the advantage of a good education.

3. scramble to 爭奪
  Shoppers were scrambling to get the best bargains.

4. turn a deaf ear 充耳不聞
  He turned a deaf ear to rumours.

5. it is unfair 不公平
  It is unfair to suggest that the school was responsible for this accident.

6. make friends with 交朋友
  Jenny has found it easy to make friends with her schoolmates.