What vivid pictures! One presents a young man’s face, on which the name Beckham is painted, and the other depicts an equally disturbing situation, where a teenager spends 300 yuan on his haircut simply because he wants to follow Beckham’s hairstyle. Obviously, the drawer intends to remind us how crazily these youngsters are adoring their icons.
The pictures really set me thinking. I cannot help associating them with another hot word “supergirl”, which almost swept over every Chinese in the year 2005. They are mirrors, reflecting how eager the youth are to succeed like their icons. In recent years, with China’s steady economic growth, the youngsters have enjoyed material abundance, which, however, does not always mean spiritual satisfaction. On the opposite, many of them find themselves increasingly indulged in pursuing meaningless things. They imitate whatever their icons do: how to look cool, how to look for fun, and even how to play hide-and-seek with reporters. They envy how successful their icons have become, yet they never take a look at the thorny road, along which, their icons climb up to success.
Personally, I hold it self-evident that this kind of craziness will do great harm to the youth. It is high time that they were taught how to adore icons properly. It is the responsibility of every educational institution to call upon the youth to learn one thing about success: success always results from hard work. (237 words)
Notes: icon圣像，偶像。adore vt. (=love deeply and respect sb. highly) 钟爱，敬爱。
背记重点词语汉英对照：1. 一个…；而另一个…：One … ; the other …。 2. 仿效某人的榜样/衣着和谈吐：follow one’ example/dress and discourse。 3. 发人深省：set people thinking。 4. cannot help associating … with…：不由自主地把…与…联系起来。 5. 渴望做某事：be eager to do sth. (=desire/long to do sth.)。 6. 相反：on the opposite。 7. 仿效，模仿：imitate，follow, model oneself after/on。 8. 沉溺于：indulge oneself in sth. or in doing sth.。 9. 对某人有害： do harm to sb. 10. 该到…时侯了：It is high time that sb. did sth.。
Put the following sentences from Chinese into English：
1. 有两幅画呈现两种截然不同的情境：在温室中的花茁壮成长；而在暴风雨中的花朵凋谢（wither away）了。
2. 有一些年轻人只模仿明星的外表而没有去研究明星成功所经历的道路。
3. 这幅画真是发人深省。我不由自主地把成功与刻苦努力联系起来了。
4. 该到我们永远牢记不能沉溺于甜蜜的梦想中，而应该踏踏实实地做点事情的时候了。