"Listen carefully to what I say," the time traveler said, "I shall tell you something that you will not agree."  

 "Why will we not agree?" I asked.

 "Because the science and mathematics you know are not correct,"  he said. "You believe there are only three dimensions(三维空间)-length, breadth(宽) and thickness." 

 "There is nothing to argue with that, " the youngest member of our little group said.

 "Exactly!"  the time traveler answered, "But there is also a fourth dimension - time."   

 "We all know about time, " another member of the group said. "Time passed."

 "I do not agree,"  the time traveler said, "Length, breadth and thickness do not pass. They stay in the same place in space.  We move about them. I can prove that time is the same. It does not pass. We move in time the same way that we move in breadth, length and thickness."

 None of us believed the time traveler, and we argued with him for many hours.

 "If we could travel back in time,"  the scientist said, "We could do things to change the future." 

 "If we could travel forward in time," the doctor(博士) said, "we could do things that change our present." 

 The time traveler smiled, "It is clear," he said, "that there is only one way I can show you that I am right. We must do an experiment. Please wait here." 

 He left the room and soon returned, carrying what looked like a clock.

 "This is a model of a time machine. It took me two years to make it," the time traveler said. "I want all of you to understand that when I start the machine, it will immediately travel in time and disappear from the present." 

 He turned to the youngest of all. "Give me your hand," he said.

 The young man put out his hand. The time traveler took it and placed it on the machine. Immediately, there was a sudden wind, and the little machine disappeared.

 I was certain this was not a trick, but the doctor was not so sure.

 "Are you asking us to believe," he said, "that the machine is now in a different time?" 

 "Certainly! In my laboratory, a full-size machine is almost complete. As soon as it is complete, I shall send myself on a journey through time. Would you like to see my machine?"

 "Are you serious about this?" the doctor asked.

 "I have never been more serious about anything," the time traveler said, "Come." 

We followed him to his laboratory. There, we saw the actual machine, not quite complete, but large enough for a man to sit in.

    In fact, at the time they seemed to be ordinary events, but now everything seems different. I had spent 10 years away from the place where I was born. Even though I made the decision to leave my country by myself, I miss a lot of things now. The person that brought me the happiest memories is my best friend. She is the greatest person in the world, and I am not exaggerating(吹嘘). She is kind, funny, polite, and always willing to listen,  and has been a great friend. I always recall (回想) events from our childhood. I think about the school where we met in the first grade and went on until the 5th grade. I think about the talks we had and the things we did together. If someone wants me to describe our friendship, I'd say we have been close friends for 17 years and we never got angry with each other. It's amazing,  isn't it? I haven't been able to do that with anybody else. Sometimes I even feel guilty(有罪的). I miss her more than my own brothers and sisters. And of course besides those memories, my kids are number one in my life. I have plenty of beautiful memories with them, especially when they were born, which also turned out to be a sad moment for both of them, because they were premature babies(早产儿). Anyone, who has had an experience with a premature baby, can figure out what I mean.

C

    A young man once went into town and bought himself a pair of trousers. When he got home, he went to his bedroom and put them on. He found that they were about two inches too long. He went to the kitchen. His mother and sisters were washing up the tea things there. "The new trousers are too long," he said. "They need shortening by about two inches. Could one of you do it for me, please?" His mother and sisters were busy and none of them said anything.
    After his mother finished washing up, she went to her son's bedroom and shortened the trousers by two inches.

    Later on, after supper, the elder sister remembered her brother's trousers. She was a kind-hearted girl, so she went quickly to his brother's bedroom without saying anything to anyone, and shortened the trousers by two inches. The younger sister went to the cinema, but when she came home, she also remembered her brother's trousers. "I nearly forgot that." She thought. Then she shortened them by two inches.
    The younger sister went to the cinema，but when she came back，she，too，remembered what her brother had said．So she ran upstairs and took two inches off the legs of the new trousers．

    We walked all afternoon with Infadoos and Scragga. Their men walked about a hundred metres ahead of us.

    “When did your people, the Kukuana, come to this place?”

    “They came from the north many thousands of moons ago,” Infadoos explained. “When they reached the mountains, they could go no farther. They stayed here where the land is good and there is water.”

    “Do you live here in peace?” I asked.

    “There have been two wars. Once an army came down from the north, but we killed most of them. Soon after that, we fought among ourselves.” He said, “The king at that time had two sons—twins. When he died, both young men wanted to be king. One of the twins, Twala, killed the other and became king.”

    “Did the dead man have a wife and children?” I asked. I knew that if he did, the fighting could start again one day.

    “Yes. He had a wife, Imotu, and a son, Ignosi. They ran away.” He pointed to a village a short way ahead. “That is the village where Imotu and Ignosi first hid,” he said. “We shall stay there tonight.”

    As soon as we were within a mile or so of the village, an army of men came out. As we passed them, they shouted a welcome.

    Their women were in the village. They stopped whatever they were doing to watch us pass by, but they were not rude. As soon as we were comfortable in a hut, they came with milk, honey, and cooked food.

    A young man brought a fat young ox which he killed and cut into pieces. We took a few pieces for ourselves and gave him the rest. We don't want them to think we were selfish.（选自《所罗门王的宝藏》，有删节）

When you look at me now, you won't believe that I once weighed over 300 pounds. Yes, I used to be a really 1 girl. I never worried about it until I had a medical examination one day. 

The doctor told me that I was having heart trouble. He said it would be 2 if I could lose some weight. Then I decided to make a 3 .

After a year and five months, I lost 104 pounds. I didn't have any expensive food, medical treatment or camp- style exercise. So what was the secret to my 4 ?

First, I looked through the Internet for some 5 on losing weight. Of course, I saw many advertisements(广告), but I bought nothing. The only thing I did was change my bad6 . I stopped having drinks with too much sugar and 7 my love for sweet cakes. Now I have got used to eating a lot of green vegetables and using vegetable oil only. I 8 eat after 6:30 p. m. because it's unhealthy to have a late dinner. Also, I 9 for 15 to 20 minutes five days a week to keep fit. 

People sometimes say, " You don't need to tell me what to do. I've known it already!" The fact is that knowing what to do and doing what you know are completely 10 . The important thing is to know what to do and then keep doing it. 

During the Warring States Period(战国时期), there lived a man called Zou Ji. One day he put on beautiful clothes and a hat, and looked at himself. He asked his wife, "Between me and Mr. Xu, who is more handsome?"

His wife said, "Of course, you are far more handsome!" Zou Ji could not believe what he heard, as Mr. Xu was widely known in this country for his handsome looks.

He then asked a concubine(妾), "What do you think?" His concubine said, "How can Mr. Xu be compared with you, sir?"

Two days later, a guest came to visit, and Zou Ji asked him the same question. The guest also said, "Mr. Xu is not as handsome as you."

A few days later, Zou Ji met Mr. Xu and compared himself with Mr. Xu secretly. Then he found Mr. Xu was better. But why did all the other people think he was more handsome?

From doubt to being sure, Zou Ji realized his wife preferred him, his concubine feared him and his guest needed his help. So with this thought, Zou Ji bravely went to meet the King of Qi and shared this with him. To his surprise, the King of Qi then added a new requirement: those who could speak to him about his mistakes face to face would receive a top prize; those who could write a letter of offering him some ad vice would receive a middle prize; those who openly criticized(批评) him would receive a small prize as well. Then the whole state followed it