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.

    Liu Wei is very famous in China because he can play the piano with his toes(脚趾).

    One day when Liu Wei was only 10 years old, he played a game with some friends. He lost both his arms because of electricity.

    Liu Wei was very sad when both his arms were cut off after the accident. But soon he had to make a choice.

    "For people like me, there were only two choices. One was to give up all the dreams, which would cause a quick death. The other was to work hard without arms to live an excellent life, " says Liu Wei.

    Liu Wei's dream was to be a pianist. He learned to play the piano with his toes. And teaching himself to play the piano with his toes was very hard. Many times he wanted to give up, but his parents went on encouraging him and he wanted to make his parents proud.

    Maybe you cannot believe that Liu Wei is able to play well only with his toes. The audience(观众) were deeply moved and very excited when they watched his performance.

    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).

    Gregg's dream was to travel around the Americas(美洲). He got the idea after he finished a long bike ride. Gregg's friend, Brooks, also liked riding a bike. The two friends talked and made a plan，they would travel from Alaska to Argentina by bike.

    To pay for the trip, Gregg and Brooks worked to save money for a long time. When they were on the road, they often camped outdoors and ate cheaply. In many places, local people opened their doors to the two friends and gave them food.

    On their way, there were deserts, rainforests and mountains. They visited modern cities and ancient ruins. And they made many friends from all over the world.

    Two years later, Gregg finally reached Ushuaia, Argentina in May 2007. (Near Guatemala, Brooks had to go back and Gregg continued without him.)

They both learned a lot about traveling. Here are some of Gregg's suggestions.

Travel light. You shouldn't carry many things with you.

    Be flexible(灵活的)• Don't plan everything. Then you'll be more relaxed and pleased. Be polite. One traveler told Gregg, "Nobody wants to cheat a nice man." It's true.

    Tomas Edison was born in 1847. Edison was in school for only three months, but he asked a lot of strange questions. His teacher did not understand him and said that he was not bright and was not worth teaching. His mother took him out of school and taught him herself. The boy was soon reading books for grow-ups. He showed special interest in science.

    Once his mother was ill. The doctor said she needed an operation at once. But it was night and the oil lamp in the room gave poor light. Edison thought hard and had an idea. He put all the oil lamps he could find on a long table. Then he placed a big mirror behind them. The room became quite bright. So the doctor could operate and his mother was saved.

    At the age of twelve, Edison began selling candy, sandwiches and newspapers on a train. In his spare time, he printed a newspaper on the train and sold copies to the railway workers.

    One day in August, 1862, Edison saw a boy playing on the tracks at a station. A train was coming near quickly, and the boy was too frightened to move. Edison rushed out and carried the boy to safety. The boy's father was the station master. He was so thankful that he taught Edison telegraphy(电报学). Edison soon became very good at it and later he left home to work in different cities. This gave him a start in his life. He was then just a boy of sixteen.