I'm an office worker and work in a downtown(闹市区) office. I live on a small island(岛), so take a boat from the island to the city center on weekdays. The boat leaves at 6:20 and① it takes about 35 minutes to get to the city. Then I have a short walk to my office. Sometimes when the weather is bad, I can't get to my office on time by boat.(Tina Brown)

    I'm a teacher. ②I take the train to work every day. The train is quick and cheap and there are hardly any delays(耽误). The trains run every half an hour. The train station is near my home. It takes only 35 minutes from my home to the school.(Ms Jackson)

    I'm a college ( 大学)  student. I live in a college. The college is very big, so I usually walk a lot. Sometimes ③it takes 15 minutes to get from one building to another. When I want to shop with my friends outside the college, we take a bus. The buses stop running after 10：00 pm. So if we get back after that time, we take the bus to our school. (Maria Black).

Dear Liz，

    My stay in Thailand has certainly been the experience of my life．

    Life is busy and exciting．Bangkok is just like any other big city with a population of 10  million and heavy traffic．I'm very lucky because my host family is in a nice quiet area outside the city．There are Mr. and Mrs. Phairat, their son Sanan, who is 18, the daughter Chinda, who is 16, and Grandpa and Grandma．

    I go to an international school with Sanan and Chinda．The school teaches about 70 percent in English，and 30 percent in Thai. I've learned some spoken language，but Thai writing is very difficult．The cooking lesson is my favourite．I'm learning all about Thai food and culture People don't use chopsticks here，but spoons and forks．When I come back，I'm going to cook you a real Thai meal．

    Last weekend we visited some temples．We also drove to Pattaya beach near Bangkok．I thought it was great，but Sanan and Chinda say that next month they're taking me to Phuket  Island，where the beaches are even more beautiful．The month after next，we're going to travel to Mr．Phairat's hometown in the north of Thailand．The Phairats own land there，and they have two elephants．I'm going to ride those elephants — and even wash them．Sanan and  Chinda say it's really fun．I'm amazed by everything in this country，especially by the elephants．Elephants are an  important pan of Thai culture and way of life．They have been a traditional symbol(象征)of Thailand for many years in times of war and peace．In the seventh century，a Thai king trained 20,000 elephants for battle．

    I'll tell you all about my Thai boxing(拳击)lessons next time I write．

Love,

Mandy

    Mr. Smith made many tests (作试验) with different animals and the monkey was the cleverest of all the animals. One day Mr. Smith put a monkey in a room. He also put some small boxes in it. In one of the boxes there was some food. "How long will it take the monkey to find the food?" Mr. Smith said to himself. "Let me wait and see." He left the room and waited outside. Three minutes later, he put his eye to the keyhole (钥匙眼). What did he see? He saw the eye of the monkey. The monkey was on the other side of the door and looked at Mr. Smith through the keyhole.

    It is very cold outside. There comes a black car and it stops in front of a supermarket. A young woman is in the car. She is very hungry and wants to buy a hamburger to eat, but she doesn't want to go out on a so cold morning. At that time she finds a little boy playing in the street

    "Come on, boy!" she says to the boy. "Do you know how much a hamburger is in the supermarket?"

    "Two dollars each," the boy answers.

    She gives the boy four dollars and asks him to buy two hamburgers. "One is for you and the other is for me," she says.

    Some minutes later, the boy comes back. He is eating a hamburger. He gives the young woman two dollars and says, "Sorry, there is only one hamburger left."

    An Irish priest (牧师) loved going fishing. It was his favourite hobby. However, the weather was so bad this year that he didn't have a chance to go fishing.

    It was very strange that the weather was good every Sunday. But Sunday was the day when he had to go to work. The coming Sunday was good again according to the weather report, so he called another priest and told him that he lost his voice and was in bed with the fever. He asked him to take over his work.

    The priest drove fifty miles to a river so that no one would find him. An angel in Heaven was keeping watch and saw what the priest was doing. He reported it to God. He thought God would do something about it.

    With the first throw of us line, a huge fish bit down the fish food. For over an hour the priest was busy running up and down the river bank to fight the fish. In the end, he landed the large size fish. It was a world record — a Salmon (鲑鱼).

    The angel did not know what was happening and asked God, “Why did you let him catch that huge fish? I thought you were going to teach him a lesson." God replied, "I did. Who do you think he's going to tell?"