Most of the taxi drivers in Beijing can speak some simple English, so western tourists can communicate (交流) with them. If a foreigner is in a street in Beijing, and he wants to take a taxi, the friendly taxi driver will stop near him and ask him in a friendly way. Here is the usual dialogue in English between them.

The taxi driver:” Can I help you?”

The foreigner: “Yes, please.”

The taxi driver:” Please get on the taxi.”

The foreigner: “Thank you.”

The taxi driver: “Can you tell me where you would like to go?”

The foreigner: “I'd like to go to Tian Qiao Street.”

The taxi driver: “OK, I see.”

    During the ride, the driver will play the western music for the foreigner, and the driver will also begin the conversation with a small talk like the weather or the fashion.

    After getting off the taxi, the foreigner will give the driver some tips (小费) like the way in his country, however, the driver will say politely, “Thank you, but I only take what the ride costs.”

    Mary is an English girl. She's six years old(岁). Her mother takes her to school in the morning and brings her home in the afternoon. She likes her nice school. She likes her teachers, too.

    One day, she says (说) to her mother, "Mum, we have a new girl in our class today, Her name is Kim. She's six years old, too. She's very nice, but she isn't English. She is German(德国人)".

    "Does she speak (说) English"?

    "No, but she laughs(笑) in English", Mary says happily(高兴地).

    Mary and Peter were having a picnic with some friends near a river when Mary shouted, "Look! That's a spaceship up there and it's going to land here. "

    Frightened by the strange spaceship, all the young people got into their cars and drove away as quickly as possible except Peter and Mary. They were more curious（好奇的）than frightened. They watched the spaceship land and saw a door open, but nobody came out, so they went to look into it. In the centre of the floor, there was a lot of food. Peter followed Mary into the spaceship and did not hear the door close behind him. The temperature fell in no time and very soon the two young people didn't know anything.

    When they came to, they were surprised to see that they were back by the river again. The spaceship had gone. Their car was nearby.

    "What happened?" asked Mary.

    Peter scratched（搔）his head, saying slowly, "Don't ask me. Perhaps we had a problem. Come on. It's time to go home."

    After driving about fifty metres, they found a thick wall made of something like glass stood in their way. On the other side of the wall, a few strange aliens were looking through the wall and reading a notice, which translated into（译成）English said, "New comers at the zoo, a pair of earth villagers in their house on wheels. "

    Tyler was a troublesome student. He sat in the back row. Every time I called him to answer questions, he'd reply with a flip(轻率的)answer. If he got it wrong, he would get very angry.

    Usually kids could sit quietly in class. However, Tyler was just loud. One day, Tyler was talking while I was teaching. I said to him, "Tyler, why not join in our discussion instead of having one of your own?" He got up from his chair, pushed it over, and shouted something I can't remember. I sent him to the office and he received a week's out-of-school punishment.

    The week was a wonderful time for me, but when it came to an end, I began to feel worried. So I came up with a plan. On the day of his return, I told him I wanted to start over with him. If he felt like he was going to lose control in class, he could step outside the door for a moment.

    From then on, Tyler was a changed student in my classroom. In fact he was a smart child and he even stopped a fight between two students one day. And he never used the privilege(特权)to leave the class for a moment. I believe that just letting him decide for himself made all the difference. When the year was over, he wrote me a thank-you note about how good the year had been for him. I still have it today and find it very moving to reread when I get stressed about teaching.