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ReactiontotheRocking-HorseWinnerItisuniversallyacknowledgedthatagoodsheetoftextshouldnotonlyteachstudentslanguagepoints,butalsocontainthespiritualvalues.However,neverhaveIeverreadatextbetterthantheRocking-HorseWinnercomplyingwiththetworequirementsaboveforitremindsmeofthefactthattheparents¡¯understandingstowardtheperfectlifewillalwaysaffectsthedevelopmentoftheirchildren.InthisshortstorywrittenbyB.H.Lawrence,aboytriedtowinlovefromhisfamilymembers,whoconcernedmoreaboutfortuneaswellasthesocialpositionratherthantheirrelatives,bybettinginhorse-raceswiththeyounggardenerofthefamily.Whentheboymadeafortune,hisuncle,insteadofstoppinghisnephew,tookpartinthebettinggroup.Oncethewhole5000poundstheboywonwasgiventohisparentsbyhisuncle,thefamilywasreadytoleadanextravagantlife,henceanevensevereshortageofmoney.Inordertoimprovethesituation,theboytookpainstowinahorse-race.Sorrowfullyintheend,thefamilygot80000poundsatthecostoftheboy¡¯slife.Iamindignantatthestory.Theboy,unsophisticatedyetunlucky,forfeitedhisbrieflifemisledbythemotto--nomoney,nogoodluck,whichwasfirmlybelievedbyhisparents.Similarlyintherealsociety,onpurposeorunconsciously,parentstendtohavehigherexpectationsontheirchildren.Aren¡¯ttheyruiningthefutureoftheirchildrentoacertainextent?Forexample,nowadaysalargeamountofchildrenareorderedtotakehundredsofso-calledadvanceddevelopmentlessonssothattheywillbemorecompetitiveinthefuture.ThereisnodenyingthatthetraininginstitutionssuchastheNewOrientalandtheCrazyEnglisharebecomingincreasinglywelcomedoneyearafteranotherinspiteoftheextremelyexpensivecost,andthattheChopinPianoCompetitionoftheChildrenismoreandmorepopularpartlyforthereasonthatthechampionwillbeadmittedtoakeyartschool.However,childrenseemtobemoreprecociousandevenautisticthanthepastinawaywhiletheyoughttoenjoyacarefreeandcherishedchildhood.ThusIwonderwhetherthoseparentshaveeverrealizedthattheirchildrenaretooyoungtobearsomuchpressure.Ievenwonderwhetheritisworthyofhavingsuchlessonswhichiswearingdowntheirinterests.Howcanyouimagineapersonstrugglingtobesuccessfulatthesacrificeofhis/herdelightedchildhood?Unfortunately,inthismodernsociety,nothingseemstobemoreseriousthanthelackingincommunicationsbetweenparentsandchildren.Hadn¡¯ttheboy¡¯sfamilypaidtoomuchattentiontotheirsocialposition,therewouldn¡¯tbesosevereshortageofmoney.Hadn¡¯tthefamilypretendedtoactasamodelfamily,regardlessoftherealrequirementofthechildren,theboywouldn¡¯tbedead.Thereisnodoubtthatthereisalackofheart-to-heartcommunicationinthefamily.Nowadaysparentsspendtoomuchtimeandenergyontheircareer,ignoringtheimportanceofthespiritualneedsoftheirchildren.Asifintheiropinion,themoremoney,themorecare.I¡¯veseenandreadmuchreportsonnewspapersandTV¡¯sabouttheyouth¡¯scriminalonaccountofascarcityofconcernsfromthefamilies.Anotherproblemisthatchildrenarefrequentlydirectedwhatshouldbedoneandwhatshouldnotbedone.Oritisbettertosaythefutureofthemajorityofthestudentsisarrangedoratleastinterferedbytheirparents,leadingtoastrikingresultthatupto80%ofthestudentshaven¡¯tsetupacleargoalandevensetnogoalabouttheirfuture,accordingtoasurvey.Inaddition,itislikelythatthemajorsthecollegestudentschoosearenolongermainlybasedontheirinterestsbutwhethertheyareperspectiveornot.Andbecauseofthat,somecollegestudentsareforcedtochoosethealleged¡°hot¡±majors,hopingtheirfuturetobebrighter.Howbeit,itmayalsoresultinsomebadinfluences.Ononeaspect,thosestudentsmightnotdowellintheirmajorsnowthattheyhavehardlyeverpassionaswellasinterests.Ontheotheraspect,theremightbetoomuchpressurefromthecoursesandthefamiliesaswell.Oncetheybecomewornoutofstrength,someserioussituationsmaytakeplace.Forinstance,wearequitefamiliarwiththeshootingissuesinthecampusesintheUSA.AsoccursfrequentlythesuicideincidentsintheschoolsofChina.Theoverwhelmingmajorityofthosesituationsareresultingfromtheoverloadedpressure.Thereforeitisindeednecessaryforparentstolowerdowntheirpositiontolistentothevoiceoftheirchildren.Afterall,childrenarechildren.Theyhaven¡¯tbeenoldenoughtounderstandthesignificanceofthefortuneaswellasthesocialposition.Whattheywantisapraiseofthesuccess,anencouragementofthefailure,anaccompanimentofthehappiness,andacomfortofthesorrow.Theyoughttobecherishedtoenjoyacarefreechildhoodwiththecuriosityofallthethingsaround,insteadofacceptingthingsallowed.Theyshouldberespectedtomaketheirownchoicesmainlydependingontheirinterestswiththeadviceoftheadults.Theymustbebelievedtohavetalentsinaparticularfield,thoughthattalentmaynotexistinstudy,inrespectthatinthisconstantlychangingworld,thescoreisnottheonlystandardofmeasuringatalentedpersonanymore.Allinall,whatadultsdowillalwaysaffectthechildren.Consequently,itiseverygrown-up¡¯sdutytosetagoodexampletotheyoungergenerations,andaccompanytheirgrowingup.