Mrs. Hunt comes back from work. She tells Mr. Hunt about a nice dress. “I see it in the shop every day,” she says “and…”

    “And you want to buy it?” says Mr. Hunt. “How much is it?”

    “Two hundred and sixty dollars.”

    “Wow, two hundred and sixty dollars for a dress? That's too much!”

    But every evening when he comes back, Mrs. Hunt only speaks about the dress, so at last he says, “Oh, buy the dress! Here is the money!” She is very happy.

    But the next evening, when Mr. Hunt wants to have a look at the nice dress, Mrs. Hunt says “I don't want to buy it.”

    “Why not?” he asks.

    “Well, it's still in the window of the shop after a week. So I think no one wants this dress. And I don't want it, either.”

    Jane is a school girl. She is twelve. She studies at a middle school. She is in Grade Seven. She is a good girl. Jane gets up at seven in the morning. Then she has her breakfast. For breakfast she has eggs and a cup of milk. She doesn't have tea for breakfast.

    After breakfast Jane goes to school. At twelve she comes home from school. She has lunch with her mother. For lunch she has hamburgers and salad. She likes salad, but she doesn't like hamburgers.

    At seven she has supper with her father and mother. They have chicken and vegetables. Her father likes chicken, but Jane doesn't.

    Hello! I'm Tom. Here is a photo of my friend. His first name is Mark. His last name is Hand. He is English. His school ID card number is 19922.My school ID card number is 12299. That's interesting(有趣的). Look at the photo! He is in a black and red jacket. His backpack is blue, and his watch is yellow. A baseball is in his hand(手).His telephone number is 235-3577.

I went home one Saturday afternoon in the autumn of 1993 to get some work done in the garden. While sweeping leaves on the ground, my five-year-old son Nick came over and asked me to write something on a piece of paper to make a sign for him.

    "What for?" I asked.

    "I'm going to sell some of my stones," he answered.

    Nick was fascinated with stones and had collected many stones from all over. "I'm too busy to do that for you. Go and ask your mum for help," I said.

    A short time later, Nick, returned with a sign, reading, "Stones, One Dollar Each". He took the sign, a small chair and 4 of his best stones and walked to the road in front of our garden. There he put the stones in a line and sat down on the chair.

    After half an hour, nobody passed by. I walked to him and asked him to go back, but he didn't. Another half hour later, a small car came down the road. I watched as Nick stood up, holding his sign up. A woman rolled down a window and read the sign. I couldn't hear their talk, but I saw the woman turn to the driver and the man reach for his pocket.

    I sat in the yard, as Nick ran to me. Waving the dollar, he shouted, "I told you I could sell one stone for a dollar—if you believe in yourself, you can do anything."

B

    Maria Montessori is a famous Italian educationalist, whose method of teaching has influenced people all over the world.

    Born in Italy in 1870, Montessori became the first woman doctor in her country after she graduated from medical school in 1896. Later, working with poor children, she set up a “Children House” in Rome in 1907. The rooms were bright and colorful. This was the place where she developed the Montessori Method, which was formed during 1908-1913.

    Maria thought that children must be free to learn without being criticized(批评) or limited. She let the children make their own choice of what they wanted to do and work with their own speed, not the rest of the class or the teacher. As a result, children enjoy learning and this gives them confidence and makes them happy. The Montessori Method also teaches children skills to help them become independent. Very young children learn to dress themselves, to cook and to put their toys and clothes away. It's a way of teaching which encourages children to learn by doing and experimenting. Children are encouraged to repeat activities as often as they wish, and they develop their observation(观察) skills by doing different activities. In addition, the Montessori Method thinks that teacher is a guide, not a leader of the classroom, helping to open students' eyes to wonder around them.

    A typical room in a Montessori school has many things children can use. The furniture is light so they can arrange it as they wish. Because the environment offers many activities, children like to work together and they develop a social life based on cooperation(合作)rather than competition.

    Maria Montessori travelled around the world to train teachers to use her method. In 1950, she received the World Peace Education Badges.