In a far-away place, there was a village. The village was1 in potatoes than anywhere else in the country. At the end of every growing season, 2potatoes were dug out of the ground, and readied for market. In each home, men and women would3divide the potatoes into three groups, large, medium and small.
One year, there was a young man4received his share of the potatoes. As the other villagers5, he walked around the village laughing and talking.6villagers thought he was lazy, and they worried that this man would never get7potatoes ready in time. When it was time for the villagers8to market, they were greatly surprised to find that the man's potatoes9perfectly into three groups.
After 10the man how he did it, they understood he was not lazy, 11very clever. He had put all his potatoes in a cart and pulled it along the village's rough dirt road. As the cart moved up and down over the road, the potatoes moved12. The small potatoes moved to the bottom, the larger potatoes rose to the top and the medium potatoes rested13 the middle.
Life14like this too. The rough roads we travel along can also15us.
There once was a farmer who lost his watch in his barn (谷仓). The watch was only cheap but was very 1to him because it was a gift from his father.
After 2the barn for a long time, he gave up and asked for 3 from a group of children playing nearby.
He 4 them that the person who found the watch would be rewarded.
Hearing this, the children hurried inside the barn 5. They searched everywhere but still could not find the 6. Just when the farmer was going to give up, a little boy went up to him and asked to be given another 7.
The farmer looked at him and thought," Why not? After all, this kid looks honest."
So the farmer 8 the little boy back into the barn. After a while the little boy came out with the watch in his hand! The surprised farmer asked the boy how he 9 where the rest had failed.
The boy replied," I did nothing but sit quietly and listen for the sound of the watch."
This shows us that sometimes a 10 mind can think better than an excited one."
Once when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to buy tickets for the circus. Finally, there was only one family between the ticket office and us. This family made a big impression on me.
There were eight children, all probably under the age of 12. You could tell they didn't have a lot of money. Their clothes were not expensive, but they were clean. The children talked excitedly about the clowns. It was clearly a very important day out for them. The father and mother seemed happy as they could be.
The tickets lady asked how many tickets the father wanted, he proudly answered," Please let me buy eight children's tickets and two adults' tickets, so I can take my family to the circus."
The ticket lady told him the price.
The man's wife lowered her head. There was no longer a smile on the man's face. He quietly asked," How much did you say?"
The ticket lady again told him the price.
The man obviously didn't have enough money. But how could he tell his kids the bad news?
Seeing what was happening, my dad took a $20 note from his pocket and dropped in on the ground. (We were not rich ourselves at all!) He then tapped the man on the shoulder and said," Excuse me, sir, you dropped this."
The man understood my father was helping him. He picked up the money, looked straight into my dad's eyes, and in tears replied." Thank you. This really means a lot to me and my family."
Although we did not go to the circus that night, we didn't go without.
a. The government stopped him from publishing books.
b. He wrote Diary of a Madman.
c. His father became ill.
d. He moved to Shanghai.
e. His writings were put into textbooks.
The Vieira family moved to the United States in 1981. At that time, they decided to stop speaking Spanish at home and only communicate in English. This was because they were now living in an English-speaking country.
Now the Vieira children are adults, and they sometimes travel to Spain to visit their family and friends. But they cannot communicate with them. Unfortunately this is common. When people move to new countries, they often leave their own customs and mother language behind. This is a mistake because there are many benefits to knowing more than one language.
One advantage of speaking more than one language is that you can communicate directly with more people around the world. You do not have to depend on others to talk for you, so you're more independent. People who know only one language must use others to help them communicate.
Furthermore, speaking a second language also allows people to experience other cultures and customs more effectively. Local expressions, vocabulary, and even jokes can have a powerful effect on a person's understanding of another culture. So, knowing more than one language increases your knowledge of other cultures.
Finally, having more multi-language speakers improves relationships between countries. If people from different countries can communicate well, the world can become closer. Countries will then have more respect for each other and better understand each other's problems.
The benefits of knowing more than one language are clear. In fact, there are no disadvantages. It is very sad that many people don't try to learn another language. It is even worse when people let themselves forget their mother language and become silenced.
PRIVATE ENGLISH LESSONS
An experienced teacher is offering private lessons in English.
Please email me at the address below and tell me:
Your age
Reasons for learning English
Your level of English
Areas that you need to focus on – grammar, listening, speaking, reading, writing, etc.
Mrs. Daniels( daniels_m@mail.com)
From: Li_Hua@gmail.com
To: daniels_m@mail.com
CC…:
Subject: English Lessons
Dear Mrs. Daniels,
I recently saw your advertisement on the university website offering private English lessons. I'm very interested in your private lessons and would like some more information.
I am a student at Aston College here in Hong Kong studying English, so my language level is already quite good.
However, I feel that I need to improve my listening and speaking skills. This is because I'm planning to study at London University in England next year and I think your lessons will help me to live and study abroad.
Could you send me some more information about the lessons offered, such as where and when they will be held and how much they cost? Also, I would like to know whether you teach students in groups or one-on-one.
I would be glad to supply any further information you might need.
Regards,
Li Hua
Jellyfish and Crocrodiles（水母和鳄鱼）
Hi, my name's Ben. My family, that's Mum, Dad and me, live in Broome in Western Australia. Western Australia is about 80 times larger than Italy, but only 1.5 million people live there. It has a population of about 12,000. It's right on the coast and is known for its famous Cable Beach, which is 20km long.
We live in the town in a house with a large garden. We drive to Cable Beach and look for a quiet place to swim or to fish. We don't go swimming from October to March because there may be box jellyfish in the water. The box jellyfish is one of the most dangerous jellyfish. If you are attacked by one, the best thing to do is to pour vinegar（醋）over the area of your body where you are hurt. That's why we always take a bottle of vinegar with us.
A year ago I went camping in the bush with my friend Bill and his dad. We wanted to do some fishing and set up camp about 20 metres from a river. Bill's father told us to get up and we quickly got out of the tent and ran to the car, which was only 10 metres away.
Bill's dad started the car and turned on the headlights. In the light, we could see a big crocodile pulling the tent into the river!
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A. In Australia, they kill up to 65 people a year. B. Broome is a town in the north of Western Australia. C. Another dangerous animal in Western Australia is the saltwater crocodile. D. At weekends I often go fishing or swimming with my friends or my parents. Suddenly, at 3 o'clock in the morning, we felt something pulling on our tent. |
