打開7000單字書以後，會發生什麼事情？

Xiao Liu is a high school senior, rocking a clean and tidy short haircut, and measuring up at 183 centimeters. Today, Xiao Liu's dad arranged for a private tutor, Mr. Lin, to come over and give him an English lesson right at home.

Xiao Liu: Hey, there's this senior year 7000-word vocabulary book on my classmate's desk.

Mr. Lin: And then?

Xiao Liu: Well, I thought, why not crack it open and see what's up. Ended up landing on the very first word.

Mr. Lin: What's the first word?

Xiao Liu: The first word is 'abandon'.

Mr. Lin: Huh, familiar territory. Back in high school, I also ventured into vocabulary books, and wouldn't you know it, 'abandon' was the grand opener back then too. So, how much of this literary gem do you think you'll unravel?

Xiao Liu: Hard to say, really. Popped the hood and what do I find? 'Abandon'.

Mr. Lin: How does that connect to how much of the book you're gonna get?

Xiao Liu: Thing is, 'abandon' was my warm welcome—a not-so-subtle prompt to just give up. So, I threw in the towel right off the bat, no point diving any deeper. Caught sight of the first word and called it a day. How on earth am I supposed to gauge my comprehension from that?

Mr. Lin: First word's 'abandon,' and you gave up?

Mr. Lin: Tell you what, next time I'll craft a masterpiece, and right out of the gate, you'll see 'effort' staring back at you!

Xiao Liu: Uhh...

Xiao Liu: Mr. Lin, don't be so fond of me. You don't have to go and write a whole book just for me.

小劉是一位高三男生，留著清爽的短髮，183公分。
今天小劉的爸爸找了一位老師來家裡上英文課。

小劉：「老師，我同學桌上有一本高三7000單字書。」

林老師：「然後？」

小劉：「然後我就打開看，看到了第一個單字。」

林老師：「第一個單字是什麼？」

小劉：「第一個單字叫做abandon。」

林老師：「好熟悉。我高中也有念過單字書，打開第一個字也是abandon。那你這本書大概看得懂幾成呢？」

小劉：「我不知道。我打開第一個單字，是abandon」

林老師：「這跟你看得懂幾成有何關係？」

小劉：「第一個單字就叫我放棄，所以我就放棄、沒有繼續看下去了。我就看到第一個單字，怎麼可能知道這本書看得懂幾成？」

Bogdan Farca on Unsplash

林老師：「第一個字是『放棄』，你就放棄了？」

林老師：「那我下次編一本書，第一個字寫『努力』好了！」

小劉：「ㄜ......」

小劉：「林老師，不要那麼愛我。還專門為我寫一本書。」