“My daughter can’t figure out what’s in the picture. I can’t either. Can you you teach her how to write an essay when pictures like this appear in exams? Thank you”

前幾天，一個女兒在英國就讀Year 5的家長，跟我吐槽女兒Mock Exam裏的一條看圖作文題目有多難。

英國中小學給學生發的看圖作文題目我接觸過不少，的確，那條學生家長也給難倒的題目，可能是我見過的看圖作文題目裏最難的：

報道無罪　知情有價　請即訂閱《追新聞》：
https://www.patreon.com/thechasernews

這麼沒有meaning的圖片，怎樣write a story based on it? 我建議可以好好運用聯想力。圖片中的少男，讓我想起我曾經的住所的附近，傍晚經常能看到少男們展示滑板花式，估計這個年紀的男孩喜歡通過展示體能確立自我。他腳下的木條讓我想起我小時候到泰國旅行觀賞的bamboo dance。另外，我注意到少男的背後毫無人煙，所以我可以把故事設在清晨。

Below is my response to the question：

Finally, all the effort he had put in was beginning to pay off: he was well on his way to becoming a self-taught bamboo dance artist in his community. 

For the past six months, he would set his alarm at 5:30 am every morning, so that he could head oft to the city square and have it all to himself. At this hour, nobody was around to mock him for dragging a piece of wood along and pretending it was the bamboo that his feet had to deftly navigate. After weeks of countless slips and missteps, he began to get a hang of this intricate Southeast Asian dance, which he first saw after stumbling upon it in a video on Youtube. This morning in particular, he was surprised at how far above the “bamboo” he could leap. Curiously, his body felt light, not heavy.

He had to stop his practice at 7:30 am sharp, so that he wouldn’t be late for school. It was with resentment that he entered its gates, for now that he had found himself through dance, he finally understood why school was so dreary. The adults who taught him had never poured their heart and soul in anything; to them, boredom was normal, and they honestly thought they were preparing kids for life by suffocating them with boredom and forcing them to get used to it.

 

Michelle Ng

英國牛津大學畢業，前《蘋果日報》和《眾新聞》專欄作家，現在身在楓葉國，心繫中國大陸和香港。

聯絡方式： michelleng.coach@proton.me
個人網站： https://michellengwritings.com

逢周日英國時間晚上8時 / 周一香港時間凌晨3時刊出