Lasting a Lifetime

      Sidney Wilson's watch was old and it did not work well. It was either too fast or too slow. It spent more time in the repair shop than on his wrist (手腕). So he decided to buy himself a new watch.

      He went into a jewelry shop and said to the saleswoman behind the counter.

      “I want to buy a new watch, please. Show me the best watch you have.”

      The saleswoman smiled happily. This was the kind of customer she liked.

     “Certainly, sir,” she said, and showed Sidney a gold watch.

      “This watch is made of gold and has twenty-four jewels,” she explained.

      “How much is it?” Sidney asked.

      “$5,000,” the saleswoman said.

      “Oh,” Sidney said. “I'm sorry. You did not understand me. I want to see the best watch you have for under $100.”

      The sales woman now lost interest in Sidney. She pushed some cheap watches at him. “Choose one from these,” she said rudely.       “They are all under $100.”

      Sidney picked up one of the watches, “Will it last me a lifetime?” he asked.

     “Of course,” the saleswoman said.

     “Then I'll buy it,” Sidney told her. He paid for the watch and left the shop.

      Two days later the watch stopped. Sidney could not make it work again. He took it back to the shop.

      “This watch is broken,” he said to the saleswoman. “You told me it would last me a lifetime.”

     “When you bought it, sir,” the saleswoman said, “you didn't look very well.”

Choose the best answer to each question about the story.

    Yang Jiang，the famous woman writer and translator is well-known to us all．

    She was born in Beijing in 1911．originally named Yang Jikang．As a baby she liked laughing．Her parents let every daughter develop their character freely．which is rare at that time and even at present．Jikang，therefore，had a happy childhood in the 1920s．

    She graduated from university and went to Tsinghua University as a postgraduate(研究生)in the 1930s．There she met Qian Zhongshu：they fell in love and married．

    In the l940s，she started to use the name Yang Jiang as her pen name．Since then she was commonly known as Madam Yang Jiang．

    In the l950s，she worked for Peking University，and started to learn Spanish．She was the first to translate Don Quixote《堂吉诃德》)into Chinese．

    She began to write short novels in the 1980s．The novel The Old Wang(《老王》)written in 1984 was selected as the passage in our middle school text book．

    Besides，her famous works After Baptism(《洗澡之后》)and We Three(《我们仨》)also became a household name in China．

    Sorry to hear that Madam Yang died at Peking Union Medical College Hospital in Beijing，on May25，2016．

    Such was Madam Yang，the best wife and the most talented woman!Her legend is still continuing!

    Once there lived a rich man called King. He loved chatting(聊天) very much. Every day he had his men do all the housework, so he had enough time to chat with others.

    One summer afternoon, his friend Bruce invited him to his birthday party. King kept on chatting at table. Later, all the other friends had left, but he didn't notice it. Bruce was worried, because he had just received a call from his sister and he would go to the station to meet her. But King didn't say goodbye to him, and he went on chatting.

    At that time, King's wife came in and asked her husband, "Would you like a roast(烤制) bird, dear?"

    "Of course," King answered, "but where is it?"

    "I heard a bird singing in the big tree outside just now," said the woman. "I want it to be the last dish. I'll cut the tree down. "

    "But I'm afraid it will fly away when you begin to cut the tree," said King.

    "Don't worry about it, dear," the woman said with a smile. "It is a foolish(愚蠢的) bird. It doesn't know when to leave."

    John is thirteen now. He began to study in a middle school two years ago. His home is in a village and it's nearly five kilometres away from the school. He has to get up early in the morning. After quick breakfast he has to run to school and get there on time. His father hopes to borrow some money to buy a bike for him, but John knows his mother is always ill and that his father spends much money on medicine. He doesn't agree with his father and keeps running there every day. Now he's very strong. He is never late for class and his teachers often praise him.

    Last week there was a sports meeting in his school. John ran faster than any other boy in the boys' 800—metre race, 1, 500—metre race and 3, 000—metre race. The whole school knew him. He was happy. He told his grandma about the good news as soon as he got home.

    "I broke two school records today, Granny, "called out the boy.

    To his surprise, the old woman wasn't happy. She thought for a while and I'm sorry to hear that. But we have no money to pay for them, you know!