How reading books saved my life

浙江臺州仙居縣文元橫溪中學 江 麗

人們的業余愛好對他們的生活有著很大的影響。 有些人喜歡運動，有些人喜歡看電視，而“我”，卻喜歡看書。

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難詞探意

1. cringe /kr?nd?/ v. 畏縮; 覺得難為情

2. prolong /pr?'l??/ v. 延長；拉長; 拖延；延期

3. obsession /?b'se?n/ n. 著迷

What people do in their free time shapes their life. Some people play sports. Other people watch Netflix. I, however, read books. It's amazing how many of my peerscringewhen I say I read for fun. I'd much rather read all weekend than attend a party.

The most incredible thing about books is that you can put them down for as long as necessary; if you come back in a year it'll still be there, faithfully waiting for the turn of a page. Through books, you can explore universes that haven't been discovered yet. You can travel into the minds of others, and see things through their eyes. And maybe if you're lucky, like me, you can grow because of them.

I had my first battle with depression in 8th grade. After several months of being isolated from everyone in my grade, I decided that my life wasn't exactly worth fighting for anymore. If you've never experienced depression, you're lucky. Books were the only way I could escape into someone else's world and leave mine behind. Keeping my mind busy was the only way toprolongthe inevitable defeat I was facing. As time went on it became harder to distract myself, and eventually I had decided that I was just going to end it before it could get worse.

I had planned to leave my home and have a travel alone in the evening while my mom was at a meeting. After school that day, I went to my grandparents' house, as I frequently did. My grandma,knowing myobsessionwith the Harry Potter series, had purchased for me the final book in the series,which is the only one I hadn't read. I went home that afternoon and started reading, and ended up completely forgetting about my prior plan. The book took me about a week to read, and within that week, my life had gotten significantly easier to deal with. I gradually have friends, and I felt more confident being by myself, and eventually I became okay again. Actually, life can be full of sunshine if you treat it positively.

So I guess the book saved my life. And, books in general, continue to give me the stability to carry on.

Reading Check

1. What's paragraph 2 mainly about?

A. Exploring the universe.

B. Purchasing books.

C. Benefits of books.

D. Importance of travel.

2. What happened to the author in 8th grade?

A. The author was addicted to attending parties.

B. The author suffered from depression.

C. The author had difficulty in reading books.

D. The author fought with classmates.

3. What does the underlined word “plan” in paragraph 4 refer to?

A. Buying the Harry Potter series.

B. Attending a meeting alone.

C. Enjoying sunshine with friends.

D. Leaving for a journey.