Me and my family （我和我的家人）

我以前从来未当过班主任，这学年是我的第一次。我希望多了解学生，我也盼望给他们多一点英语写作的机会；因此，我便推行了一项“写作交流计划”，名为Something to Say （STS），以下是我第一篇写给学生的STS.

　　TEACHER'S

　　Dear students，

　　Hi， boys and girls， I am glad to be your English teacher this year. As you don't know much about me， let me first talk about myself here.

　　On the right you see an age-old picture of my family. Two of them have already passed away-my father and my elder （not the eldest） brother. Both of them died of cancer. My father suffered from liver cancer and was deceased in the year 1978 while my brother was killed by cancer which spread from the underside of his tongue to many other parts of his body. He left us on the 15th of April 1992 at the age of 37.

　　In the photo， the youngest one， sitting on the lap of the woman（my mother） was me. My younger sister was not yet born. My elder sister was seated next to my mother. She was a fat little girl at that time but now she is a middle-aged mother of two children. Her family and my mother are at present living in the U. S. A. My sister owns a Chinese-American restaurant which has been making good profits.

　　My eldest brother is a civil servant right now. He has been doing this job for more than 20 years. He likes this job， I guess. He has a son and a daughter. Both are working now. So， his burden as the breadwinner（one who supports the whole family） has not been so heavy recently. That's whyhe took a trip to Beijing during the last Lunar New Year Holiday.

　　As for me， I am 36， a school teacher and the father of a boy and a girl who are still too young to help me in anything.

　　Many changes have taken place over the last 35 years and things will never be the same again. No matter whether you like your family or not， think about it—some years later they won't be around you anymore. Try your best to love and forgive them. Nobody is perfect. They deserve your love and care because they are your family.

　　Dennis

　　first 属副词，它可以被放于句首、句中或句末，例如：

　　●…first let me talk…

　　●…let me first talk…

　　●…let me talk about myself first.

　　passed away的意思跟died相近，但前者可算是一种遵重死者的说法。

　　留意不同用法：

　　●died of cancer√

　　●died from cancer√

　　留意不同解释：

　　●suffer from解作“患上（疾病）”例如…suffer from cancer

　　●suffer解作“遭受（损失）”例如…suffer great loss

　　deceased是形容词，意思等同于dead.

　　yet用于否定句，表示某件事情尚未发生（但即将发生）。

　　留意不同语态：

　　●主动语态：she seated herself…=她坐在……

　　●被动语态：she was seated…=她被安排坐在……

　　用现在完成进行时，表示现在仍然是有可观利润的。

　　I guess跟I think意思相近。

　　此处用的现在完成时，通常跟recently一起出现。

　　That's why可以被Therefore取代。

　　当改变话题时，可以用As for，相当于中文“至于”一词。

　　No matter…or not属连词，后面应该用逗号分隔开主句。

　　family可解作family members（家人）。

　　LANGUAGE

　　Spelling

　　英语的基本单位是单词，若要有效及准确地传递信息，最基本的要求是能准确地拼写（spell）单词。但颇为遗憾的是，香港中学生的拼写能力并不理想，看看下列考生常犯的拼写错误（spelling errors）便可知道：

　　在同一篇文章里，如出现太多的拼写错误，可导致三种严重后果：

　　（一）给阅卷者一个坏印象：

　　某些学生能够写出句式优美、语法正确的句子，原可获得高分，可惜由于拼错了很多简单的单词，因而被扣了不少分数。

　　（二）阅卷者难以明白句子意思：

　　一些考生写下句子如：I take a life.但其实他们希望表达的意思是：I take a lift.（我乘电梯。）阅卷者当然难以明白其句子的意思。

　　（三）阅卷者误解句子的意思：

　　举例说：My father suffered from liver cancer and was deceased in the year 1978.（我父亲患了肝癌，于1978年逝世。）若把deceased错拼为diseased，则其意思会变为：我父亲患了肝癌，而发病时间是1978年。

　　学生们写给我的第一篇STSs，主要是介绍自己，并提到对我的感觉，也有一些学生回应我第一封信的内容。以下是我挑选的四段STSs的内容，其中某些单词拼错。请在拼错的单词下画上横线，并将正确的单词填写在右栏横线上。若该行没有错字，请打√。

　　Test Your Understanding

　　1.I like playing soccer and watching soccer matchs during hoilday. But I cannot play soccer now because I am very busy. I hope I can past the Final Examination.

　　2.I was already a Form-four student last year. I thing I was a lazy boy last year. So， I need to repent Form Four. But this year I will work hard. I am studing some notes now. I promise you I will go to Form Five.

　　3.Last year I was a noughty and lazy boy. I was very weak in English， so I took a summer cause. I have promised my father and mother that I will take satisfoctary results.

　　4.When I knew you alway speak English in class， I was very worried. But I also though it was good because I can learn more English. Honestly， I still feel a litter nervous. Can you tell me how you celibrated the Mid-Autumn Festival？ I read your storyabout your family. I was sad that cancer took away the lifes of your father and brother. I agree with you that we shoud love and forgive our family.