A group of teenagers from a dry corner of Gansu Province became famous online this summer for an essay one of them wrote. This month, two of them have started college.
It began when a travel blogger met the boys working in a melon field on the edge of the Gobi Desert. They were earning money for school fees and to help their families. At first sight, they looked tough — dyed hair, earrings, tanned and peeling skin. But when one of them, known online as Ma C, was asked to write an essay called My Mother, everything changed.
I often pretend not to care, he wrote, asking quietly about you. Do you ask about me, Mom? He described the day he earned his first wages: he bought his grandmother a roast chicken, new clothes for his younger brother, and spent the last sixty yuan dyeing his hair yellow. I always felt that made me look harder to mess with, he wrote.
Behind the loud appearance were quieter reasons. Some had given up plans for sports school because their families could not pay. Others had dropped out when an elder fell ill. Their style, readers realised, worked like a suit of armour.
The essay moved millions of people. But the boys did not treat their sudden fame as a way to make money, and they did not sell their hardship. When an entrepreneur in Zhejiang, Zhou Heping, asked them what they wanted, they answered at once: We want to study.
On September 4, two of them, Xiao Guan and Xiao Wu, enrolled at Jinhua Technician College with help from Zhou. They are studying drone technology and mechanical engineering. Three others have stayed in Gansu to continue their schooling. On the day before term began, Xiao Guan and Xiao Wu met Zhou again. They had cut their hair short and dyed it back to black.
Words to know:
- melon field (n.) 瓜田
- essay (n.) 作文
- wages (n.) 工资
- dye (v.) 染（发）
- drop out (phr.) 辍学
- hardship (n.) 苦难
- entrepreneur (n.) 企业家
- enrol (v.) 入学、注册
长难句拆解 · 分词定语与倒装句
① It began when a travel blogger met the boys working in a melon field on the edge of the Gobi Desert. 主干是 It began（事情由此开始）。when 引导时间状语从句；从句里 working in a melon field… 是现在分词短语作后置定语，修饰 the boys，相当于 who were working in a melon field；介词短语 on the edge of the Gobi Desert 再叠加一层位置信息。长句的信息是「层层包装」的，找主干时先剥掉分词和介词短语。
② Behind the loud appearance were quieter reasons. 这是全倒装句：正常语序是 Quieter reasons were behind the loud appearance。方位短语 Behind… 提到句首、be 动词紧跟其后，真正的主语 quieter reasons 被压到句末，倒装让「表象之下另有隐情」的悬念感更强。破解倒装的两步法：先找谓语 were，再回句末找主语。
同义替换 · 雅思阅读利器
题目从不照抄原文，全靠同义替换改写。做题时先在题干里圈出「信号词」，再回原文找它们的同义变体，定位速度会明显变快。本文可迁移的替换组：
- became famous online → went viral on the internet（走红类话题通用）
- earning money for school fees → making money to pay for their studies
- at first sight → at first glance
- dropped out → quit school
- their sudden fame → overnight popularity
- enrolled at → was admitted to
- worked like a suit of armour → served as a protective shield
阅读自测 · 3 题
- 简答（不超过 6 个词） — What did Ma C buy his grandmother with his first wages?
- 判断（T / F / NG） — All of the boys left Gansu to study in Zhejiang.
- 判断（T / F / NG） — The boys asked Zhou Heping for money before he offered help.
参考答案与解析
- A roast chicken. — 用 his first wages 定位第三段，「he bought his grandmother a roast chicken」，直接摘出名词短语即可，别把给弟弟的新衣服也答进去。
- F — 原文「two of them enrolled at Jinhua Technician College… Three others have stayed in Gansu」，是 2 + 3 的分工，All of the boys 属「以偏概全」。
- NG — 原文只说 Zhou 问他们想要什么、他们答「We want to study」，从未提到谁先开口要钱，属「无中生有」。
中文译文
今年夏天，一群来自甘肃干旱角落的少年因为其中一人写的一篇作文而在网上走红。这个月，他们中的两人已经踏入大学校门。
这一切始于一位旅行博主在戈壁滩边缘的瓜田里遇见这些干活的男孩。他们在为学费和贴补家用挣钱。第一眼看上去，他们显得很「社会」——染过的头发、耳钉、晒得黝黑脱皮的皮肤。但当其中一位网名叫「马C」的男孩被要求写一篇题为《我的母亲》的作文时，一切都改变了。
「我常常假装不在乎，」他写道，「却悄悄打听着你。妈妈，你也会打听着问我吗？」他描述了自己拿到第一份工钱那天：给奶奶买了一只烤鸡，给弟弟买了新衣服，最后剩下的六十元拿去把头发染成了黄色。「我一直觉得那样让我看起来不好惹。」他写道。
这副张扬的外表之下，是更安静的缘由。有人因为家里交不起钱放弃了体校的打算；有人因为长辈生病而中途辍学。读者们意识到，他们的打扮就像一身铠甲。
这篇作文打动了无数人。但男孩们没有把突如其来的名气当作赚钱的门路，也没有贩卖自己的苦难。当浙江企业家周和平问他们想要什么时，他们脱口而出：我们想上学。
9月4日，其中的小关和小吴在周和平的帮助下，进入金华技师学院就读，学习无人机技术和机械工程。另外三人留在甘肃继续学业。开学前一天，小关和小吴再次见到周和平。他们已经剪短了头发，把颜色染回了黑色。