Self-access learning
(students' self-initiated work for teacher's revision)

To retain the authenticity of the student's work, minimal teacher's revisions are made.

7C Leung Ming Lun (2003-4) - work showing application of writing styles learnt in workshop shared on the Intranet.

Striding into the 21st technological century, there are many things of society that have been changed irreversibly/ irrevocably. It is not only the quality of our lives, but also our culture that changes. While people are now raising searching questions about the knowledge of our traditional culture, the culture is, however, continuously altering itself. As much as most people are eager to keep those traditions in our daily lives, our civilization reveals that it is simply not allowed to do so. What is exactly happening here?

One area which should be now looked into is the change of our customs and the most striking fact is the tradition of binding feet. As long ago as a hundred years back, the females of the honorable nobilities used to bind their feet when they were born. In the light of people!|s judgment of beauty, people at that time were led to believe that the smaller the feet they possessed, the prettier they were. It was commonly believed that things of the infants were the most glamorous. Feet of the babies were no exception. Only with binding those feet of the little girls could their holy newborn feet be preserved and they did it audaciously. This appalling act resulted in securing a good marriage since those !§three-inch-golden-lotus!‥ wobbling on tiny feet would make the male nobles completely blown over/ fascinated/ head over heels in !§love!‥. For this reason, girls would then be invited into / ushered into / roped into the nobility circles again.
We must not overlook the fact that everything bears its good or bad fruits. As a Chinese saying goes: !§one false step/ move brings everlasting/ eternal grief!‥, binding the feet leads to lifelong problems. It is lucky that this custom has already vanished, if not, the hospitals/ the centers for the handicapped hospital will bound be a great venue for those bound-feet guests. Since the girls needed/ had to keep the inborn size of their feet by tying a good many turns of cloth around the feet, the normal metabolic growth of the feet will surely be retarded. Can you imagine how a mature woman can stand up on baby feet and do anything else? Bound-feet girls faced the same fate as cripples. They would do nothing but sleep. By this measure, it is absolutely imperative to abolish the atrocious practice as that custom would only deplete the labour force. Change of this custom definitely/ indisputably/ undoubtedly brings about the positive influence of today!|s society.

Similar changes in habits of our people have been initiated by// have evolved to keep the pace of/ keep in pace with/ keep abreast of/ keep in line with the development of society. General awareness of personal hygiene is now still promoted/ highlighted in all families even after the outbreak of Sars. In the past, people seldom washed their hands after they had gone to the toilet/ answered the call of Nature. But now, people not only change in this way, some of them also bring a packet of wet tissues when they go out. Sanitation of every corner is also uppermost in people!|s mind. Spitting or throwing rubbish becomes a hideous act in others!| sight. No one can deny that Hong Kongers have changed their old habits for the better. They will definitely benefit from having a healthier body.
However, what is more worth noticing is that the change of that kind of habit induces another problem. That is pollution. Hardly can we see an empty bin in the toilet nowadays. The sinks or toilets are full of tissue papers used to blot out the water or the mess on people!|s hands. Indeed, it in turn destroys/ adversely affects/ devastates the environment of the earth. More trees may have to be chopped off because of the high demand of tissue papers. Furthermore, cleaning the house or streets by detergent or even the bleaching solution is also another way that damages the environment. The vicious cycle can never halt. The side effects of improving sanitation look unavoidable. Changes in human!|s habits have its costs.

These are a fraction of the changes of our customs and habits. Some changes may also have/ produce harmful influence that involves moral choices. We should therefore have a pellucid eye in assessing the rapid development of society. We should not just follow the trend.
Obviously, from what I!|ve mentioned above, the development of society can bring about both positive and negative sides in the changes of our customs and habits. What we should now do, whatever the change is, is focusing/ to focus on the influence of the change and having/ to have deep thoughts on the influence. WE must not allow ourselves to become the undesirable factor/ element/ vehicle of new and upcoming trends.

Striding into the 21st technological century, there are many things of society that have been changed irreversibly/ irrevocably. It is not only the quality of our lives, but also our culture that changes. While people are now raising searching questions about the knowledge of our traditional culture, the culture is, however, continuously altering itself. As much as most people are eager to keep those traditions in our daily lives, our civilization reveals that it is simply not allowed to do so. What is exactly happening here?

One area which should be now looked into is the change of our customs and the most striking fact is the tradition of binding feet. As long ago as a hundred years back, the females of the honorable nobilities used to bind their feet when they were born. In the light of people's judgment of beauty, people at that time were led to believe that the smaller the feet they possessed, the prettier they were. It was commonly believed that things of the infants were the most glamorous. Feet of the babies were no exception. Only with binding those feet of the little girls could their holy newborn feet be preserved and they did it audaciously. This appalling act resulted in securing a good marriage since those "three-inch-golden-lotus" wobbling on tiny feet would make the male nobles completely blown over/ fascinated/ head over heels in "love". For this reason, girls would then be invited into / ushered into / roped into the nobility circles again.

We must not overlook the fact that everything bears its good or bad fruits. As a Chinese saying goes: "one false step/ move brings everlasting/ eternal grief", binding the feet leads to lifelong problems. It is lucky that this custom has already vanished, if not, the hospitals/ the centers for the handicapped hospital will bound be a great venue for those bound-feet guests. Since the girls needed/ had to keep the inborn size of their feet by tying a good many turns of cloth around the feet, the normal metabolic growth of the feet will surely be retarded. Can you imagine how a mature woman can stand up on baby feet and do anything else? Bound-feet girls faced the same fate as cripples. They would do nothing but sleep. By this measure, it is absolutely imperative to abolish the atrocious practice as that custom would only deplete the labour force. Change of this custom definitely/ indisputably/ undoubtedly brings about the positive influence of today's society.

Similar changes in habits of our people have been initiated by/ have evolved to keep the pace of/ keep in pace with/ keep abreast of/ keep in line with the development of society. General awareness of personal hygiene is now still promoted/ highlighted in all families even after the outbreak of Sars. In the past, people seldom washed their hands after they had gone to the toilet/ answered the call of Nature. But now, people not only change in this way, some of them also bring a packet of wet tissues when they go out. Sanitation of every corner is also uppermost in people's mind. Spitting or throwing rubbish becomes a hideous act in others' sight. No one can deny that Hong Kongers have changed their old habits for the better. They will definitely benefit from having a healthier body.

However, what is more worth noticing is that the change of that kind of habit induces another problem. That is pollution. Hardly can we see an empty bin in the toilet nowadays. The sinks or toilets are full of tissue papers used to blot out the water or the mess on people's hands. Indeed, it in turn destroys/ adversely affects/ devastates the environment of the earth. More trees may have to be chopped off because of the high demand of tissue papers. Furthermore, cleaning the house or streets by detergent or even the bleaching solution is also another way that damages the environment. The vicious cycle can never halt. The side effects of improving sanitation look unavoidable. Changes in human's habits have its costs.

These are a fraction of the changes of our customs and habits. Some changes may also have/ produce harmful influence that involves moral choices. We should therefore have a pellucid eye in assessing the rapid development of society. We should not just follow the trend.

Obviously, from what I've mentioned above, the development of society can bring about both positive and negative sides in the changes of our customs and habits. What we should now do, whatever the change is, is focusing/ to focus on the influence of the change and having/ to have deep thoughts on the influence. WE must not allow ourselves to become the undesirable factor/ element/ vehicle of new and upcoming trends.