Bruce shook his money box again.

    Nothing! He carefully counted the coins that lay on the bed. All that he had was $24.52. The 1 which he wanted was at least $ 90. How on earth(究竟) was he going to get the rest of the 2?

    He knew that his friends all had bicycles. It was hard to hang out(闲逛) with people when you were the only one 3 a bicycle. He thought about 4 he could do. He couldn't get money from his parents, because he knew they had no extra(额外的) money.

    There was only one way to get money, and that was to earn(挣钱) it. He would have to find a job. He decided to ask Mr. Clay for 5.

    "Well, you can start right here," said Mr. Clay. "You see, my windows need cleaning and my car need washing."

     That was the beginning of Bruce's part time(兼职) job. For the next three 6 he worked every day after finishing his homework. He took dogs for walks and cleaned rooms.

     The day finally came when Bruce 7 his money and found $ 94.32. He wasted no time and went down to the shop to 8 the bicycle he wanted. He rode home proudly, looking forward to 9 his new bicycle to his friends. Bruce liked his bicycle very much because he had bought it with his own money. At last, his dream came true, and his parents were 10 of him.

Years ago, there was an old man who loved his young son very much. And the old man had a lot of art collections, such as the works by Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet and many others.

As war broke out in their nation, the son became a soldier and left to serve his country. Only a few weeks later, the old man received a message that his son died in the war.

On Christmas morning, a soldier knocked on the door and said, “I am a friend of your son. He saved my life before he died. I am also an artist, and I want to give you this painting that I drew in the war.” It was a portrait (画像) of the man's son.

The old man told his neighbors it was the greatest gift he had ever received. The following spring, the old man became ill and passed away. According to the will of the old man, all of the art works would be sold at an auction (拍卖会)  on Christmas Day, the day he had received his greatest gift.

On Christmas Day the auction began with the portrait of the old man's son, The auctioneer (拍卖师) asked for an opening bid (竞价), but the room was silent. Finally, a friend of the old man said, “Will I take $10 for the painting? That's all I have.” The gavel (小木槌) fell.

The auctioneer looked at the audience and announced that the auction was over. He explained, “It is very easy. According to the will of the father, whoever takes the portrait of his son gets all his art collections.”

    Mr. Turner liked fishing. It was his favorite sport. He often fished for hours without catching anything. But this did not worry him. Some fishermen couldn't catch fish. Sometimes they caught old boots or rubbish. Mr. Turner was even worse than the fishermen. He never caught anything - not even old boots. After he spent whole morning on the river, he always went home with an empty bag. "You must give up fishing!" his friends said, "It's a waste of time."  "But they don't realize one important thing. I'm not really interested in fishing. I am only interested in sitting in a boat and doing nothing at all. It can make me forget the noise of the city and live quietly for some time." he always said to himself.

Experiencing China