UNIT 1
I am frequently asked the question ,”Can you u chopsticks” I have lived in Korea ,Japan and China .In each country , I have ,more often than not and without having requested one ,been given a fork when one was available .I have politely refud and said that I would be fine with chopsticks .Sometime, I have to make further explanation.
Chopsticks are the least of my worries when I am eating in an Asian home or restaurant .In fact ,learning how to u chopsticks takes me nothing but a few weeks .This is not to say I was skillful, though .Learning how to u chopsticks is easy for me ,whereas learning the rituals and how to conduct mylf at the table is quite difficult .Just how many times do I have to say ”no ,thank you” when I really mean” no ,thank you ,I truly am full ”?How do I get away with refusing more food without offending someone ?If I insist and I still get more ,is it appropriate just not to eat it ?This would be impolite where I come from.
I have enjoyed many great meals and my interactions with the people have been great .I am increasingly aware that I will never be able to give back as much as I have received. I
don’t know how I can ever thank all of the people who introduced me to eating in Asia.
UNIT 2
This was what all of the training and pain was about-winning .I watched TV to e the young runner who had been under my coaching for the last few years .I would have been there on the spot had it not been for the traffic problem .I couldn’t make it even on my bicycle. While I watched the young runner enter to the cheers of thousands of people ,I could not help thinking of the pains that he had gone through in his training.
The young runner was hardly considered to be promising when he first came to me .There were countless training ssions full of pain for him .I had en fatigue written on his face I had heard him swear at me .I had been indifferent to his anger and pain .It was clear that only hard work could earn him success .I had smiled to mylf when I found that he had too much passion to give up .And he would persist with the training until he reached perfection .I had never forgot to remind him that despite the challenges he had to keep on practice. It was unfair that he had no time for his G F. But that was life f
or him.
The thunderous shouts and cheers drew me back to the TV screen .Oh, my dear ,the young runner was gaining speed .He was running to the finish line .He was strong enough to beat other runners .His courage ,heart and discipline together with his years of practice won him the honor. Tears rolled down my cheeks when I found on the screen the young runner was looking around .I understood at once that he was looking for me .For year ,he had become so ud to my prence ,success or failure .It must have emed strange for him to find me missing.
UNIT 3
I didn’t marry for all the” right reasons” .Love had nothing to do with marriage .And ,for my husband’s part, well, I suspect love was on his mind either .He married me becau I made him feel young .He was such an ordinary man going around his very ordinary midlif
e crisis .He was divorced ,looking for younger women and a career change .That didn’t bother me, though .He was still fairly charming ,pretty handsome and above all rich .I married for money ,and I don’t have any doubt about it .My friends don’t applaud my decision ,but I can also tell that they wish, at least a little bit ,for some of the same things that I now enjoy .They always prefer to speed a lot of time by my swimming pool than at their common little homes .And another thing, they are always complaining about their ”beloved”. ”He’s always watching how much I spend.”” It’s become more like a business relationship than a marriage.’
My husband, however ,doesn’t care how much I spend and our marriage never become a business becau it already was one. You could say, we have a mutual understanding .We are very realistic about the whole thing .It is painful for my friends when they realize that love is just an illusion. Marriage for love never existed for me. And, he’ll never divorce me .He’d lo too much money.
UNIT 4
Love is important becau without it life has no meaning or purpo .ILove allows us to do more than we could ever accomplish without its power. So often we take good care of our physical needs .We make sure our bodies are fed ,cleaned ,clothed, exercid and rested .However ,we tend to overlook the most important need-love .Of cour, as a society ,love is not overlooked .Popular media constantly places great emphasis on what we need to do to attract” love”. But being loved is not as powerful an emotional need as that desire to love someone el.
