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In this essay, a child desperately (and very angrily) pleads their father not to smoke. Though this is classified as "Intermediate", beginners should definitely try this read, leaning heavily on the hover word-list. The difficult parts are the mid-level turns of phrase, which are all explained below. <!--more-->

<img src="http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/20130603-INLINE.jpg" alt="Chinese Reading comprehension exercises: Essays and reading passages" width="100" height="100" class="imgborder alignleft" />Couple of grammar points. First of all: 我本想让您别抽烟. Most of this sentence is quite simple, but the addition of the character 本 can be puzzling, especially since 本 has many meanings. In this case, the word 本 means "originally", as in "I originally thought to let you not smoke." Or, in better English, "My original intention was that this would make you stop smoking." 

Another point: When the father learns that his cigarettes are gone, he 东翻西找. This phrase is actually a mixture of two words: 东西 (thing, stuff) and 翻找 (to rummage through things while searching, turn things over). We've seen this kind of thing before in previous posts, as with the phrase "仰起头来" in the post <a href="http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/2012/01/02/little-dog-wears-shoes/">Little Dog Wears Shoes</a>. If you let the mental picture kind of wash over you, you get an image of the father turning things over looking for his cigarettes.

A word of interest: 大烟枪. Literally, this word means "big opium pipe" or in more contemporary times can actually mean "big bong". Colloquially in reference to a person, this means "someone who smokes a lot", a "heavy smoker". 

The Chinese title is: 爸爸请您别抽烟了, and the original is <a href="http://www.tom61.com/youxiuzuowen/xiaoxueyinianjizuowen/2013-04-15/1365990844246971.html">here</a>. 

这句话，让当时的我感到莫大的痛苦。

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<h4>Click to Listen</h4>
抽烟 - [pinyin]chou1 yan1[/pinyin] - Smoke cigarettes
悄悄 - [pinyin]qiao1 qiao1[/pinyin] - Quietly, secretly
偷走 - [pinyin]tou1 zou3[/pinyin] - Steal (away with something)
垃圾桶 - [pinyin]la1 ji1 tong3[/pinyin] - Trash can
狠 - [pinyin]hen3[/pinyin] - Fierce
莫大 - [pinyin]mo4 da4[/pinyin] - Great (as in 'a large amount' rather than 'good')
理 - [pinyin]li3[/pinyin] - Pay attention to
肺 - [pinyin]fei4[/pinyin] - Lungs
尼古丁 - [pinyin]ni2 gu3 ding1[/pinyin] - Nicotine
千疮百孔 - [pinyin]qian1 chuang1 bai3 kong3[/pinyin] - Riddled with wounds, afflicted with many illnesses
吐痰 - [pinyin]tu3 tan2[/pinyin] - Hawk a loogie
丢下 - [pinyin]diu1 xia4[/pinyin] - to abandon

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爸爸，请您别<strong>抽烟</strong>了！我还清楚地记得，那天，我<strong>悄悄</strong>地把您的烟盒<strong>偷走</strong>，又偷偷地扔进<strong>垃圾桶</strong>里，我本想让您别抽烟。可谁知，您回来后，发现烟盒不见了，就东翻西找。当我告诉您，烟盒是我扔的，您十分生气，还<strong>狠</strong>狠的骂了一句话，你这个坏孩子！这句话，让当时的我感到<strong>莫大</strong>的痛苦。我把自己反锁在房间内，当时心里想着，你这个大烟枪！抽吧，抽吧，抽到死了我也不<strong>理</strong>你。

爸爸，请您别抽烟了！我常常发现您上班时，烟盒的烟还是满满的，可下班回来时，烟盒里的香烟只剩下几根了。每当看见您身旁云雾缭绕，我的鼻子感觉酸酸的。我担心您的<strong>肺</strong>已被<strong>尼古丁</strong>熏得<strong>千疮百孔</strong>。

爸爸请您别抽烟了！现在您每天都在咳嗽，每天都在<strong>吐痰</strong>。我担心您会离我们而去。那时<strong>丢下</strong>我们，那该怎么办呀。

爸爸，为了您的健康，为了我们，请您别抽烟了!

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Papa, please don't smoke! I still remember clearly, that day, I quietly stole your box of cigarettes, and secretly threw them in the trash can, because I was thinking that would stop you from smoking. But who knew, when you returned, and you found out your cigarettes were gone, you rummaged through everything looking for them. When I told you, that it was me who threw them away, you were quite angry, and you ruthlessly scolded me, <em>You bad child</em>! That sentence made me [lit: 'the me of that time'] feel great pain. I locked myself in my room, and at that time in my heart I thought, You big opium pipe! [Then go ahead and] smoke, smoke, smoke until you die and I won't care [lit: I won't pay any attention to you].

Papa, please don't smoke! I always find that when you go to work, your box of cigarettes is still full of cigarettes, but when you get off work and come back, there are only a few cigarettes left in the box. Every time I you surrounded by a curling cloud [of smoke], there's a sour smell in my nose. I worry that your lungs have already been riddled with gaping wounds by the nicotine. 

Papa, please don't smoke! You cough every day, and every day you expectorate. I worry that you will leave us. When you abandon us, then what will we do? 

Papa, for your health, and for us, please don't smoke! 
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