The Effect of Extensive Reading on Writing

This morning, Ms. Wen (溫明圓老師) gave me two essays by a girl when the girl was studying at Zhongshan Girls High School several years ago. She was an avid reader, reading a lot of English novels.

The following is one of the essays. Read it, and you would be convinced of the importance of extensive reading.

Is it fair to judge someone by the way they look? Why or why not?

There is an old Chinese proverb that goes, “One’s looks grow from one’s heart,’’ telling us that a person with a bulldog face might have personalities like one. People more or less tend to judge others by their looks; a pretty face might add a few points to the first interview, and “good first impressions” are always emphasized in relationship books. But is it really fair to jump to conclusions about a person merely by the way they look? I don’t think so.

Although it is true that what you wear and how you look can reflect your identity, beauty on the outside doesn’t guarantee the beauty within, and an ugly scar on your face doesn’t make you a radical. Here is an example. I once went to see a group of girls dance. They all had awesome figures and dazzling looks, all but their leader, who was short and kind of fat. I didn’t think much of her (even though she was the rat in the group) until they started to dance. The results were surprising. Instead of enjoying the beauty of the other girls, I found that I couldn’t tear my eyes off the leader! The way she twitched her body was so attractive she glowed on the stage, while all the other pretty girls dimmed. This shocking experience taught me never to underestimate a person, no matter how he or she looks.

There are all kinds of misjudgments. Blond jokes joke about pretty women having no brains; baby-faced adults find it hard to convince people; a talented musician who looks like he’s gone through a car accident never finds a job, is that just? Facial discrimination is just as severe as race and sex discrimination, you never know what you’re missing. So, is it really fair to judge someone by the way they look? In my opinion, it’s not. Looks might be part of a person, but before jumping into any conclusions, look twice and observe. (246 words)