Passage 2

I still recall a scene from an otherwise totally forgettable movie I saw many years ago. A business executive in a suit and tie, carrying a briefcase, is walking home after a typically stressful day at the office. He passes a neighbour’s lawn where a group of small children are playing with a garden hose that someone has left running on the grass. 

The man watches the laughing and screaming children with a smile on his face. Then, after looking around to make sure no one is looking, he throws off his business suit, drops the briefcase, and rushes to join the fun. 

The man, s face is filled with joyful abandon as,wearing only shorts and vest;he turns his body to meet the full impact of the gushing hose. The next scene shows him back in his suit, continuing his way home and looking a littlesheepish, as he adjusts his features to assume, once more, the appearance of calm respectability. 

How often do we look back at the pure, spontaneous joys of childhood—to a time when joy was pure and full, unchecked by the feelings of guilt or concern for propriety? The thrill of a forbidden expedition to a pond or the delight of watching the matchstick flare up between one’s fingers. 

I remember that time when, as a small child, my eager little fingers touched the hong bao that I had been given by a visitor on the first day of the Chinese New Year, and felt—joy of joys! —the welcome flatness of paper money instead of the hardness of coins. 

I shouted for joy and called attention to my new wealth, unaware of my mother's embarrassment as she cast a quick glance at the visitor. Later, after the guest had left, she told me in a severe voice never to do such a “shameful” thing again. What would people think? 

Oh,for the return of lost innocence and the capacity for pure joy. Yet the truth is that no matter how endearing a child J s spontaneity of feelings and action, it would be unrealistic to allow these emotions to carry over to adult life. The business of living is a serious one, necessarily regulated by an array of customs, codes and norms to ensure the smooth function of day-to-day life：at home or at work,in the private or public domain. 

There are “dos and don’ts” related to polite,socially acceptable behaviour，that ensure we act in the correct way, use the proper forms of address, and express our feelings in ways that do not offend others. 

Yet the need for playfulness seems to be a permanent feature of the human condition. It is inseparable,even in the most serious adult. Sometimes,during parties and games,this force is allowed to break through the smooth surface of social respectability;for a few brief moments it is all right for adults to engage in horseplay. Witness the wild abandon with which party goers throw each other into the swimming pool, put on crazy masks and play silly games. The rest of the time we are required to be mature, disciplined adults carrying on the serious business of living. 

But, once again, for the return of lost innocence! The greatest loss of all, even greater than the loss of pure enjoyment, is the loss of a sense of wonder. This is the special gift of childhood：the ability to see the world with fresh eyes, treating the most ordinary objects and happenings with keen curiosity and fascination.

To reclaim the child’s sense of wonder, to be attentive to the marvels that surround us, whether these be the everyday beauties of nature,the warmth of human contact,or the extraordinary achievements of modem technology, is not only to save ourselves from the tiredness of living, but to enrich our lives with a special spiritual dimension. 

46. The author described the movie scene at the beginning in order to___.