Mrs. Brown goes to see her son in London. Her son works in a music club(俱乐部) there. Mrs. Brown doesn't know London well. And she can't find her way.

    She sees a man at a bus stop. She wants to ask the man the way. “Excuse me! But can you help me, please? Which bus goes to Miller's Shop?” Mrs. Brown asks.

    The man is very friendly. He smiles(微笑). But he can't speak English. He can speak French(法语). He is new in London. He puts his hand into his coat and takes out a small book. He opens it and reads something on it. “I'm sorry, I can't speak English.”

B

    Hans Christian Andersen was born in Denmark in 1805. He lived with his parents in a town   called Odense. They were a very poor family and they couldn't afford to send Hans Christian to school.

    As a little boy, Hans Christian enjoyed making up fairy tales（童话）and puppet（木偶）shows.

    When he was only eleven years old, his father died and he had to go out to work to make money to help his mother.

    Three years later, Hans Christian left home and went to the city of Copenhagen to be famous and rich. To begin with he didn't do very well there, but at last he was able to go back to school and then on to university to continue his education.

    He wrote fairy tales and stories and soon became famous. At first he wrote the stories that he had heard when he was a child and then began to make up new tales. During his seventy-one year life, Hans Christian wrote over three hundred stories.

    Many of his stories are still enjoyed by children today. Among his best-known stories are: the Emperor's New Clothes, the Ugly Duckling, the Snow Queen, the Princess and the Pea, and the Little Mermaid.

    A 50-year-old American officer(官员)came back to his school. The teacher asked him to give a talk to the small boys and girls there. The talk was about the love of their great country. All the little ones were sitting in a large meeting-room. The old officer went up and began speaking. He said, "Boys and girls, I studied in the school forty years ago. When l was your age, we were not as happy as you are today. Think about it and answer me, why are you so happy now?"

    No sound came from the children. The old marl waited for a long time. Then a short boy in the front put up his small dirty hand. "Good boy! Please answer me, dear, "said the officer.

    With a big smile on his face, the boy stood up and said. "If you speak long enough, we won't have math and biology(生物)lessons this morning."

    It was meant to be the holiday of a lifetime—my first trip abroad alone, without my parents. I had organized everything myself and I would show them how independent I could be.

    I had arranged to stay in a farmhouse outside a village in southern Italy. My schedule said that the plane would arrive in Italy at five o'clock in the afternoon and it was a thirty-minute drive from the airport to the village. I wanted to get to my destination before it got dark, so I could have a drink, watch the sunset and enjoy an evening meal.

    The problems began at the airport. My plane was three hours late taking off. I walked around the airport, looked in the shops, and drank coffee in the cafes. I didn't eat anything. That was a mistake! When the plane finally took off, they gave me a cold, tasteless meal which I could not eat.

    We arrived in Italy in the early evening and I was feeling lightheaded from the Lack of food. The sun was setting as I was collecting my bags! I missed it completely! I went to the desk to find my hire car and that was when I discovered the next problem. The receptionist couldn't find my name in the computer and there were no more cars. There were no buses or trains to the village, and the taxis were in strike.

    The receptionist felt sorry for me. She phoned her brother, Alessandro, who agreed to take me to the village. I waited for Alessandro at the front gate and he arrived driving a very old car with smoke pouring out of the engine. We set off. Fifteen minutes later we broke down. I was tired and depressed and very, very hungry. I began to think my parents were right. Maybe I was too young to travel on my own. Luckily, Alessandro was a mechanic. After an hour, he fixed the car and we started driving again.

    It was nearly midnight when we arrived at the farmhouse. A man opened the door and smiled. "Come in," he said. "We have been waiting for you." I sat with a group of the friendliest people I've ever met and had a meal that was absolutely wonderful. And I'm glad to say that the rest of my trip runlet out to be exactly the same.

    Today my aunt and uncle took me to see Niagara Falls! We went to the top first to see the falls from TableRock. The water ran very fast. We felt so tired that we took an elevator down through the rock and stood behind the waterfall. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the water. It was so powerful, and I felt I was so small.

    In the afternoon my aunt took me to the CN Tower. The view from the top was wonderful. It was very clear; I could see the whole city of Toronto and even into the US state of New York. After a while, I felt dizzy(眩晕的) from being so high. I read that lighting strikes(雷击) the tower about 75 times a year. I'm glad today was a clear day!

    Tonight we went ice-skating! I think everyone here in Toronto can ice-skate. At first I fell down a lot, but after a while, I was able to stay on my feet and move forward slowly. My aunt is really good at ice-skating; she took lessons as a girl. My uncle wasn't so graceful, but he could skate really fast. He used to play ice hockey(冰球) in high school. He skated around and around me. That made me laugh really hard, and then I fell down again!