(20)急!英文作文提示!

Many fishermen left the sea and worked on land in the past few decades because they could not catch enough fish to support their livings. Wing Sing is one of them. Wing Sing is born in a fisherman family. His father and grand father were both fishermen. They run their own business in family scale. Therefore, he started helping his father to catch fish when he was a young boy. Wing Sing knows very well that fishing is never a safe industry. He has witnessed some of his neighbors never came back one day after they sailed away. Also, he could not see too much prospect for his son to also work as a fisherman in the future. He believed he could make more money if he went to work on land. For this reason, he sold the boat and left the sea with his wife and son. Yet it was not easy for him to find a new job as he is not very well educated and does not have any other job experience. After a few months of job hunting, he was employed by a local delivery company. Although he earned only a little bit more, his income is much more stable than before. He now can plan for his family, especially his son’s education.

Life is easier than before yet he sometimes misses the days on sea. Fishing is physically very demanding yet life is much simpler when compared to city life. He and his family can no longer work and live together as he did with his father and grandfather. Wing Sing understands that he would not have such opportunity to build a very close relationship with his son on boat like he and his father anymore. What he can do at this moment is to earn as much as he can then move to a place where his home can be closer to the water so that he can sleep and live in the smell of sea.

2007-09-15 00:11:33 補充：
第一個作者直接從internet copy, 不要用; 另外請他根據自己的程度修改或改善文章

To write a story about a fisherman...
e.g.
One day, a fisherman caught a very special thing, e.g. a fish which lays egg, a fairy that could give him a wish...

All verbs should be changed to past tense. Most verbs can add '-ed'.

This is a story about the life of a fisherman who lived in the Shau Kei Wan Typhoon Shelter back in the 1960s. Born to a traditional fisherman's family, Ma Mui Nam was originally given a girl's name — Ma Mui (which means in Cantonese 'sister Ma') — because of his parents' belief that this would protect him from suffering the same tragic infant deaths of his three brothers.

Whether it was due to this odd naming practice or not, Ma did survive to his parents' comfort and grew up to be a stout and healthy man who made a living through fishing.

The day Ma applied for his Hong Kong identity card was the day he finally earned a man's name. When asked about his personal particulars, he said, far too quickly, "Ma Mui, Nam", meaning "Ma Mui, male". That extra word 'Nam' thus stuck, and gave him back his gender status by name.

The experience somehow awakened Ma to the importance of being literate. He then started attending adult school as a primary-level student, with the determination as strong as his handwriting that literally broke the lead of his pencil. Unfortunately, his endeavours were interrupted by the frequent fishing trips that took anywhere from three days to whole weeks at a time. As a result, Ma's major achievement from his school days was probably writing his name correctly.


Another routine that got in the way of his studies was his family's regular visits to the Tin Hau (Goddess of the Sea) Temple, which was seen as a top priority. This came from the family belief that they had experienced deliverance at the hands of the Goddess who from that time on became their object of worship.

The episode took place long before Ma was born, when his ancestors' fishing boats were struck by a horrific storm at sea. In the nick of time, a huge wave swept them to the shore and the first thing in sight was a Tin Hau temple. One of them even saw a lady in red, resembling the effigy of the Goddess, waving to them.

From that day onward, they made it a family tradition to regularly worship and make offerings to the Goddess, unlike most believers who only showed up at the temple for the annual Tin Hau Festival. And the only temple they ever went to was this particular one located right on the shore.

It is understandable why this family held such a strong faith in the Goddess of the Sea. For one thing, raising a family with 10 children was not an easy task for the parents, which meant they had to work very hard by fishing even in the worst weather. While other fishermen watched in awe, the family somehow managed to make it back safely each time.

One of the most dramatic episodes took place when Ma's mother was to deliver a baby as a Typhoon Signal No. 3 was hoisted. Ma's father still insisted on going out on one more fishing trip with his son to seize the catch. Before casting off, they went to seek blessings from Tin Hau. But this time, the prayers were not answered, and they never returned.

Ma's mother this time delivered a baby girl and she was given a boy's name — Ma Mui Nam, to commemorate her brother.


(Remarks: The Hong Kong Tourism Board invited legends, folklore and stories of Hong Kong from the public. Some of the collected stories cannot be verified through historical publications or other formal means.)