今年学校旅行的目的地是由学生们自己决定的，他们最后决定到赤柱。这令教师们感到担忧，因为赤柱区内有太多好去处，恐怕会有一些学生在区内乱逛，容易发生意外的事。

TEACHEER'S

Dear students,

The school picnic is over now and I believe most of you had a good time on the picnic. Right? Perhaps you don't know----we teachers do not like school picnics because of many reasons. For one thing, there are too many responsibilities. Once we get to the place, we cannot control what the students do. Accidents may happen. Mr. Mak was in charge of all business concerning the S.4 picnic and he was the one who worried most. After all, the students were dismissed upon arrival, we >took a twenty-minute walk to the graveyard for deceased soldiers in the Second World War. All the way Mr. Mak was carrying with him a heavy bag in which there was the loudspeaker and a first-aid pack. On the way to the graveyard, I joked with him, “ If somebody gets hurt on the beach, how can he possibly find the first-aid stuff? ” We both laughed.

Mr. Mak told me that he regretted having let the students choose the place for the picnic because he thinks Stanley is not a good place for a school picnic. He said it was very difficult to keep the students in a certain place so that we could see what they were doing. Since we could not supervise the students, he worried that accidents might happen. I wanted to relax him, so I said, “ Take it easy, Mr. Mak. If accidents have to happen, they may happen anywhere. There is nothing we can do to prevent them from happening. ”

Thank God that there was no accident on our picnic. When we got back to school, we were told that an unhappy thing had taken place among the S.3 students in a day-camp which was thought to be very safe originally. Some S.3 students had played with stones. They threw stones at their fellow classmates and unluckily one stone hit another student badly. The unfortunate student bled a lot and was sent to hospital afterwards. This confirmed what I said, “ If accidents have to happen, they may happen anywhere. ” I am always prepared to hear bad news about my students, e.g. committing suicide, contracting a terminal disease, having been caught by the police, running away from home, being killed in an accident, etc. Of course I will be sad when I hear such news but there is nothing I can do. So, why not just relax? As a matter of fact, things like these did happen to my students once or twice during my eight years' teaching career.

Oh, one of you suggested that we use the letter boxes to play the game Master and Angel. I think it is a terrific idea. I'll tell you how to play this game later.

Dennis

had a good time on the picnic 可简单地写作 enjoyed the picnic 。

严格来说这里应该加上逗号：… we, teachers, do not …

because of 之后必须用名词或相等于名词的短语或从句，例如：

·… because of your words

·… because of what you said

For one thing 的意思相等于 one of the points/reasons is that 。

once 在这里并非副词（解作“一次”），而是连词，解作“一旦”。

may 在这里的解释是“可能”。留意不同解释：

· You may go to the toilet. = 你可以上厕所去。

· You may fail in the exam. = 你可能会考试不及格。

concerning 可用 regarding 代替。

were dismissed 是被动语态，意思是“被吩咐解散”。

这里的 With him 可以省略。

用 possibly 可强调某事极难做到。

这里可用 regretted letting the students choose …代替。

不少学生只单用 that ，但实际上，用 so that 才能表明某件事的后果。

have to happen 在此句中的意思相等于 need to happen 。

用被动语态的一个好处是不用提及谁是主语，例如：在… we were told that …这句话中便不用提及谁告诉我们。

若是随意地玩某些东西，应写作： play with …，例如： play with the dolls 或 play with the pencils 。但如果表示进行体育（文艺）比赛或演奏乐器，则写作： play …，例如： play chess 或 play the piano 。

throw （解作“掷”）的不规则变化形式是： throw （不定式）、 threw （过去式）和 thrown （过去分词）

fellow 只可用来形容同辈关系。

bleed 作为动词（解作“流血”）时的不规则变化形式是： bleed （不定式）、 bled （过去式）和 bled （过去分词）

prepared 在这里是形容词，意思是“预备好了的”。

why not just relax 并非问句，而是一项建议，因此不必加上问号。

did happen 的意思是“真的发生了”；这里用 did have happened 也可以。

teaching career 的意思并非“教学事业”，而是“教学生涯”。

terrific 的同义词包括： wonderful 、 great 、 marvellous 和 excellent 。

LANGUAGE

Condensed sentence

一般英语会考作文的篇幅大约是 300 字。一些考生以为在文章里谈及大量不同的事物，便能丰富内容，但这可能会弄巧成拙，导致文章缺乏深度，以致失掉不少分数。但若只集中谈三两件事情，一些考生又担心阅卷者会怀疑自己的知识水平。这可算是一种两难的处境（ a dilemma ）

现介绍一种折衷的办法：在文章的适当部分、以精简、“浓缩”的句子（ condensed sentence ，例如：使用动名词），陈述多项跟主题有关的事物，以丰富内容或借以支持自己的论点；还可让阅卷者相信自己并非知识贫乏。请看本单元的例子。

EXAMPLE

I am always prepared to hear bad news about some students, e. g. playing truant, contracting a disease, having been detained by the police, running away from home, being killed in an accident. etc.

其实在上述例句中还可附加更多的内容。例如：… fighting with neighbours, quarrelling with schoolmates, 等等。

有一天，刚上完课，同学们正站立着向老师行礼时，有三位女同学抢先开门离去，我大声喝止她们，全班同学都被我的举动吓呆了。后来同学们纷纷在 STSs 中向我提及此事。请在以下“浓缩”的句子中的横线上补全单词。可参考其中例子。

Test your Understanding

1. Today at the end of the second lesson, you were angry. I had never seen you get angry before, so I was very afraid. I don't like seeing your shout at people. I prefer to see you do something else, e.g. smiling ______ to people, ch ______ with other teachers, la ______ at silly things, te ______ jokes, making ______ us laugh, etc.

2. Sir, don't get angry any more. There are many bad points about getting angry, e.g. be _____ less handsome, ge ______ fewer friends, m ______ others unhappy, wors ______ the problem, cr ______ new problems and ma _____ more enemies.

3. Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! We made you angry these few days. Yesterday, shouted at the top of your voice to stop May from going out of the classroom. Many of us were frightened, including me. I had never seen it before. I am so sorry. I know our problems: m ______ too many noises in class; t ______ in our homework late; not co ______ with teachers; get ______ involved in boy-girl problems; br ______ school rules, etc.