Mary is four years old. She likes to ask questions. Her questions are often funny.

One day Mary goes to see her uncle with her father. Her uncle lives in another city. The city isn't near their city, so they take a bus to go there.

After many hours, they get to Mary's uncle's city. He is very happy to see them. The next morning, Mary's uncle takes her and her father out and shows them around(带领他们参观)。“Look at that big house,” says her uncle. “ It's the oldest(最古老的) house in the city.” “How old is it?” her father asks. “It is about 2100 years old,” her uncle answers.“How can that be?” Mary says. “It's only 2015 this year!”

    Mark Twain is someone Americans are taught to love. Older relatives, English teachers and the media always praise him. But when you actually take the time to read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, you find that his work is more wonderful than you could ever imagine.

    The novel describes a young boy named Tom Sawyer growing up in a small town along the Mississippi River. He explores the countryside on a riverboat with his friends, falls in love with girls, starts secret clubs and searches for treasure. Twain's idea of childhood is magical – a time of imagination, wonder and, of course, adventure.

    More importantly, through the eyes of Tom Sawyer, Twain cleverly makes fun of US culture. For example, Tom hates going to church, and Twain uses scenes of Tom there to mock religion and its old traditions.

    Twain's writing is full of these kinds of critical (批判的) points about culture and politics. That's why he is so loved in the US – he wasn't afraid to state his opinions, and he did so clearly.

    He also believed strongly in women's right to vote in elections and gave a famous speech on the subject, called "Votes for Women", in 1901.

    "Tom was a great hero once more – the pet of the old, the envy of the young," Twain writes in Tom Sawyer. But he could just as well be describing himself.

    Many expressions(表达方式) we use in American English come from movies and books. Today we will learn some expressions from Lewis Carol's famous book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. This book is better known as Alice in Wonderland.

    The story is about a young girl falling for a long time down a rabbit hole. When she finally lands, she finds herself in a strange world. In this strange world are some of the most popular characters in children's books. Many of the expressions from the book have found their way into American English.

    The first character Alice meets is the White Rabbit. The White Rabbit is not a usual rabbit. Alice chases (追赶) after him, and that is where her adventures begin.

    In English, "chasing a white rabbit" means to chase an impossible dream. "Following the white rabbit" means you are in the middle of an unusual situation. This situation often challenges your thinking and changes your life. Like "chasing a white rabbit", "falling down the rabbit hole" means we get interested in something else and lose ideas about time.

    Later in the story, Alice is the guest at a tea party— a crazy tea party! There she meets the March Hare. The hare seems to be truly crazy. To be "mad as a March hare" means that someone is completely mad or crazy.

Using expressions from popular books can add special flavor(味道). And when used properly, they also show you have a deeper understanding of the English language.

    Four years ago, Chinese skater Wu Dajing introduced himself to the skating world by winning a silver medal at the Sochi Olympic Winter Games. At this year's Pyeong Chang Olympics, Wu not only returned, but also made history.

    On Feb 22th, 2018, Wu won the gold medal in the men's short-track 500-meter race. He set a new world record with a time of 39.584 seconds. He also became the first Chinese man to take home an Olympic short-track gold medal. BBC said Wu's win was “flawless”, because he was much faster than all of the other skaters.

    “I didn't give them a chance and I kept my speed from the start,” he told the reporter after the match.

    But China's short-track teams didn't do well in general at the Games. Chinese skaters in the women's 500 meters, 3000-meter relay and men's 1500 meters all failed to take home the gold.  Wu was China's biggest hope, which put a lot of pressure on him. But he proved himself with his great performance.

    Wu is now known as a highly talented skater. But things were not always that way. When Wu joined the national team in 2010, he was seen as almost “nothing” compared to gifted skaters like Zhou Yang and Fan Kexin, as his coaches said at the time. Their words made him quite upset. But Wu didn't want to give up and worked as hard as he could. He practiced skating all year round. He even didn't return to his hometown for the holidays for 10 years. “I believe in myself,” he told the reporter after his match at the Olympics.

    One evening Tim is driving his car in the country and looking for a hotel. Then he sees an old man on the side of the road, so he stops his car and says to the old man, "Where is Sun Hotel? Will you please tell me how to get there?" "Yes," the old man answers. "I'll show you the way." He gets into Tim's car, and they drive for about 12 kilometres. When they come to a small house, the old man says, "Stop here." Tim stops and looks at the house. And he says to the old man, "But this isn't a hotel." "No," the old man answers. "This is my house. And now I'll show you the way to Sun Hotel. Turn back and go 9 kilometres. Then you'll see the hotel on your left. "