The Giver, by Lois Lowry, is a classic novel for young adults and is widely adored by students in the United States.  In the novel, Jonas lives in a world quite different from our own.  His community has adopted a policy of “Sameness” – there are no colors, no hills, and no changes in weather.  More importantly, the people have no choices, and they have no memory of pain or suffering.  Only Jonas is selected to receive these memories, and now he has an important choice.

This novel is often read by students in the eighth or ninth grades in the U.S., so it is a good choice for those of you who are looking to improve your reading level before moving on to more advanced literature.  If you choose to read this novel, you might think about the following questions: How should society balance the interests of the individual versus those of the community?  And, is a world without pain and suffering ideal?

Until next time,

Matt 迈潇

洛伊丝·洛利（Lois Lowry）的《赐予者》是一本写给青年人的经典小说，在美国广受学生推崇。在这本小说里，乔纳斯（Jonas）生活在一个与我们的世界截然不同的世界里。他所在的社会采取了一项名为“同一性”的政策——在那里没有色彩、没有山丘、也没有天气的变迁。更重要的是，人们不作选择，他们也没有对疼痛或苦难的记忆。只有乔纳斯被选作承受这些记忆的人，而现在他做出了一个重要的决定。

这部小说在美国通常被八年级或九年级阅读。如果你正试图增强阅读水平，以接触更有难度的文学作品，那么这本书将是一个不错的选择。假如你决定读这本小说，你或许可以考虑以下问题：社会应如何平衡个人和社会整体利益？以及，一个没有疼痛和苦难的世界是否是完美无缺的？

我们下次再聊

迈潇