A private school in the western Indian state of Gujarat made pupils walk over burning coals and broken glass in a hair-raising test designed to boost their confidence.
Officials at the Riverdale school in the city of Surat described the challenges set at a summer camp as “important exercises that will make a child strong and determined.”
“We asked the students to walk with naked feet on fire and on broken glass pieces as it teaches them to deal with their fear and find new ways to overcome it,” Kalpesh Patel, a school administrator, told AFP.
Patel said 80 children aged nine to 14 walked on the hot coals, while 110 students walked over glass pieces. He said no one suffered any injuries.
Television footage of the event was picked up by Indian news channels.
“The children were reluctant in the beginning but afterwards they exuded confidence,” Patel said, adding that the school had been running the activities for more than a decade.
Fire-walking has existed as a religious ritual in many cultures for thousands of years. It has also gained some popularity in the US as a team-building exercise and alternative health remedy.
(AFP)
為了增加學童信心，印度西部古加拉特省一所私立小學，舉行了一場令人毛骨悚然的測驗，要學童赤腳走過火紅木炭與碎玻璃。
蘇拉特市里弗代爾小學人員表示，這項夏令營活動「是讓孩童變強壯，培養堅忍毅力的挑戰」。
校方行政人員卡爾貝希•巴戴爾跟法新社表示：「我們要求學生赤腳走在火苗與碎玻璃上，因為這讓他們學習面對恐懼，並找出克服它的方法。」
巴戴爾說，八十名九到十四歲的孩童走上火紅木炭，而走過碎玻璃的有一百一十位，但沒有任何人受傷。
印度多家電視新聞台紛紛報導這個活動。
巴戴爾說：「孩子們一開始很排斥，但後來卻表現的很有信心。」他還說，學校舉辦這個活動已經超過十年。
這種過火宗教儀式在在許多文化中已流傳數千年。在美國則因做為團隊合作訓練與另類健康療法而小有名氣。
（法新社╱翻譯：吳岱璟）
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1. 錢已經用一半了。 ˇ Half of the money is gone. χ Half of the money are gone. 註：Half of ... 作主詞時，動詞與介詞 of 後面的名詞或代名詞相一致，即名詞或代名詞是單數時，動詞該是單數；若為複數，則動詞也該是複數，例如： Half of the story is interesting. Half of the stories are interesting. Half of it is interesting. Half of them are interesting. 2. 許多人走過這條路。 ˇ Many a man has travelled this road. χ Many a man have travelled this road. 註：many a 意義上雖然作 many 解，但後面應跟單數名詞，動詞也用單數形式。 3. 敵人被迫投降。 ˇ The enemy were forced to surrender. χ The enemy was forced to surrender. 註：enemy 作為總稱，前面須有定冠詞，用作句子主詞時，動詞通常用複數形。類似的情形如 talent： Taiwan is known for its semiconductor technology and is actively working to attract and retain global talent. 4. 他倆誰都不該責怪。 ˇ Neither of them is to blame. χ
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