XH New 5 Yuan English Essentials Series (Set of 8 Books)

Author: Li Shaoming (Compiler)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-08-01
Features: That day, I went shopping with a friend in the "Technology Market" and felt more exhausted than ever. Let me explain. This technology market is a computer mall near the southern campus of Shandong University in Jinan, Shandong. Inside a three-story building, there are over 300 computer merchants selling whole computers, hardware and software, consumables, accessories, and of course, program CDs. When it comes to those program CDs, I was completely baffled. What kind of stuff were they? My grandmother—may she rest in peace—if she were still alive, she would surely enjoy living for several more decades in this prosperous era. The Seven Fairies, the White Snake, Old Bao, Maud Gonne, the blind storyteller, and the fortune-teller were all there. Mahjong and bridge might have made her frown, and she might not have been able to play the Three Kingdoms game, but she would have loved and , Wei Xiaobao and Xiao Yan. My friend once pitied me for still using a 286 and WPS from over a decade ago: "Ah, so many pleasures you missed." But dear grandmother, if 'pleasures' meant these, I would rather go back to my village to watch the ants climb trees.
As I was about to leave, my high school son said to me, "If multimedia could show Euclid and Newton teaching math, then we would buy a computer." I asked. There were no such programs. Some merchants hadn’t even heard of these names. "Do you have any technology programs for children?" "Yes." I took a disc, and the cover listed "Mysteries of the Earth," "Mysteries of the Human Body," and other titles. Without even looking, I knew they would only interest children in third grade or younger.
That day was a "autumn tiger," with a forecast of 33 degrees. But surrounded by all that media, I felt it was at least 34 degrees. Aside from sweating profusely, I didn’t experience any enjoyment or see any real technology. So, if I had to choose, I would still prefer reading—books with black and white text. Books that cost five yuan each, the kind you can choose to read or not (note, this is an advertisement). During the blooming flowers and willows, the rainy autumn of the, the tedious long summer, with no homework or dates; at such times, holding a book, lying on the bed, or sitting in the shade, quietly reading one or two leaves, three or five leaves—it’s a state of mind, a way of living—a way of life that is becoming increasingly distant from us under the clamor of electronic, lighting, and dazzling power in the bustling city.