| 19D | 20B | 21C | 22D | 23A | 24B | 25D |
| 26A | 27D | 28B | 29B | 30C |
May: We are buying one present together for Mrs. Lin. Here is what people said online.
| CLASS GIFT · Mrs. Lin |
|---|
| Idea 1: a book of poems 350 |
| Idea 2: a nice-looking plant, good for her desk 420 |
| Idea 3: a paper card by every student 0 |
| Money so far: 380 |
Ken: We do not have enough for Idea 2. Can we ask for ten dollars more each?
May: Some students cannot pay more. Let us do Idea 1 and Idea 3 together.
Ken: Good. Then everyone takes part, and we still have thirty dollars left.
梅：我們要一起買一份禮物給林老師。這是大家在網路上的意見。
| 全班禮物 · 林老師 |
|---|
| 方案一：詩集 350 |
| 方案二：好看的桌上植物 420 |
| 方案三：每位學生一張紙卡 0 |
| 目前金額：380 |
肯：方案二的錢不夠。可以請每個人再出十元嗎？
梅：有些同學沒辦法多付。我們把方案一和方案三一起做吧。
肯：好。這樣每個人都能參與，而且還剩三十元。
Friday · 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. · On the school field
Students may bring one family member. Please write the name at the office before Thursday so that we know how much food to buy. Younger brothers and sisters are welcome, but a kid under six must stay with a parent all evening.
Do not bring a fire of your own. Each table already has one. If it rains, we will move into the hall, and the cooking part will be dropped. We will tell you by message before four o'clock that day.
星期五 · 下午 6:00 至 9:00 · 於學校操場
學生可攜帶一位家人。請於星期四前到辦公室寫下姓名，讓我們知道要買多少食物。歡迎弟弟妹妹參加，但六歲以下的孩子整晚都必須由家長陪同。
請勿自行攜帶火源，每桌都已備妥。若下雨將移至禮堂，並取消烹煮部分。當天四點前會以訊息通知。
Dear Wei,
Congratulations on your new job! Mother read your message aloud in Mandarin at breakfast and everyone clapped.
You asked what we did for the festival. Almost nothing changed. Grandmother made the same three dishes, including my favorite one, Father put the same red paper on the gate, and your little nephew broke a bowl, as you did at his age.
We did do one new thing. Because you could not come, we put your chair at the table anyway and sent you a photo of it. Grandmother said that as long as the chair is there, nobody has really left. I am not sure I believe that, but I liked it.
Come home when you can. The address has not changed.
Ann
親愛的偉：
恭喜你找到新工作！媽媽在早餐時用國語把你的訊息唸出來，大家都鼓掌。
你問我們節慶做了什麼。幾乎什麼都沒變。奶奶做了同樣的三道菜，包括我最愛的那一道，爸爸在門上貼了同樣的紅紙，而你的小姪子打破了一個碗，就像你在他那個年紀一樣。
我們確實做了一件新的事。因為你不能回來，我們還是把你的椅子擺在桌邊，並拍了照片傳給你。奶奶說只要椅子還在，就沒有人真的離開。我不確定我相信這句話，但我喜歡它。
有空就回家吧。地址沒有變。
安
Every country keeps a few days that stop ordinary time: Thanksgiving in one land, the Moon Festival in another. People travel for hours, far beyond their own town, cook food they do not cook the rest of the year, and say words they would feel shy to say on a Tuesday.
Some say this is only habit. But a year without such days is hard to hold in the mind. Without them, weeks run together, and we lose the marks that let us say when something happened. A festival is a mark tied on a long rope.
This is also why a new festival is so hard to make. A day becomes real only after people have kept it through a wedding, a death, and a year when nobody wanted to celebrate. Time, not planning, is what turns a date into a tradition.
每個國家都保留幾個讓日常時間停下來的日子：有的國家是感恩節，有的是中秋節。人們遠行到自己城鎮之外，煮一年中其他時候不會煮的菜，說出在星期二會難以啟齒的話。
有人說這只是習慣。但沒有這些日子的一年，在腦中很難抓得住。沒有它們，週與週就糊成一片，我們也失去了用來說出某件事何時發生的記號。節慶是長繩上做的一個記號。
這也是為什麼要創造一個新節慶這麼困難。一個日子要真正成立，必須經歷過一場婚禮、一次死亡，以及一個沒有人想慶祝的年份。讓日期變成傳統的是時間，不是計畫。