An eighty-year-old couple were having trouble with their memories. One day, they decided to see a doctor. The doctor told him that there was nothing serious, but he suggested that they should start writing things down to help them remember things. The couple thanked the doctor and left.

Later that night while watching TV, the old man got up from his chair and his wife asked, “Where are you going?”

“To the kitchen.”

“Will you get me an ice-cream?” asked the wife.

“Sure.”

Then his wife asked him to write it down.

“No, I can remember that,” replied the husband.

“Well, I also want some strawberries and cream on top. You'd better write it down, or you will forget that,”said the wife.

“No, I can remember that,” the husband got a little unhappy and went into the kitchen.

After about 20 minutes, the husband returned with a plate of fish. The wife laughed, “Haha! Your bad   memory! I wanted some bread with cream.”

    An old man died and left his son a lot of money. But the son was a foolish young man, and he quickly spent all the money, so that soon he had nothing left. Of course, when that happened, all his friends left him. When he was quite poor and alone, he went to see Nasreddin, who was a kind, clever old man and often helped people when they had troubles.

    "My money has finished and my friends have gone," said the young man. "What will happen to me now?"

    "Don't worry, young man," answered Nasreddin. "Everything will soon be all right again. Wait, and you will soon feel much happier. "

    The young man was very glad. "Am I going to get rich again then?" he asked Nasreddin.

  "No, I didn't mean that," said the old man. "I meant that you would soon get used to being poor and to having no friends. "

    There are many people on the bus. Some have seats, but some have to stand. At a bus stop, a woman gets on the bus. An old man hears the door and tries to stand up.

    "Oh, no, thank you," the woman forces(强迫)him back to the seat. "Please don't do that. I can stand.''

    "But, madam, let me……" says the man.

    "I ask you to keep your seat." the woman says. She put s her hands on the old man's shoulder.

    But the man still tries to stand up, "Madam, will you please let me……" "Oh, no." says the woman. She again forces the man back.

    At last the old man shouts(喊), "I want to get off the bus!"

    Two frogs lived in a village. One day they wanted to go and see the big 1 that was about ten miles away.

    They talked about it 2 a long time, and 3 they decided to see the city.

    It was a hot day, and they soon 4 to feel tired. They 5 went a little way when one said to the other, “We must be nearly there. Can you 6 the city?”

    “No, ”said the other frog, “but if I climb on your 7 I might be able to see it.”

    8 he climbed up on the back of 9frog to see the city.

When the frog 10 his head, his eyes could only see what was 11 , and not what was in front. “Can you see the city ?” asked the other frog. “Yes,” answered the frog that climbed up. “I 12 see it. It looks just 13 our village. ”

    So the frogs decided 14 the city, and went back home.

The two frogs 15 the others in village, “The city was just like our village.”

    In the United States, when one becomes rich, he wants people to know it. And even if he does not become very rich, he wants people to think that he is. That is what "keeping up with the Joneses" is about. It is the story of someone who tried to look as rich as his neighbors.The expressoion was first used in 1913 by a young American called Arthur Momand. He told this story about himself. He began earning $ 125 a week at the age of 23. That was a lot of money in those days. He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighborhood outside New York City. When he saw that rich people rode horses, Momand went horseback riding every day. When he saw that rich people had servants, Momand and his wife also hired a servant and gave big parties for their new neighbors.It was like a race, but one could never finish his race because one was always trying to keep up. The race ended for Momand and his wife when they could no longer pay for their new way of life. They moved back to an apartment in New York City.

    Momand looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with rich lifestyle of their neighbors. He saw the funny side of it and started to write a series of short stories. He called it "Keeping up with the Joneses" because "Jones" is a very common name in the United States."Keeping up with the Joneses" came to mean keeping up with rich lifestyle of the people around you. Momand's series appeared in different newspapers throughout the country for over 28 years. People never seem to get tired of keeping up with the Joneses. And there are "Joneses" in every city of the world. But one must get tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses because no matter what one  does, Mr. Jones always seems to be ahead.

By Anna Matteo

28 January, 2019

    A 3-year-old boy who was lost in the woods for two days is now safe at home with his family. But Casey Hathaway told his rescuers (救援者) that he was not alone in the rainy, freezing cold woods. He said he was with a friend — a bear.

    The child went missing on January 22 while playing with friends near his grandmother's house in North Carolina. When the other children returned but Casey did not, the family searched the area for almost an hour before calling the police.

    Police formed a search team to look for the young boy in the nearby woods. But two days went by and—no Casey.

    Then on January 24, someone called the police saying he heard a child crying in the woods. Police followed up on the information and found Casey at about 9:30 that night. He was in good health.

    Casey told the rescuers he had hung out with a black bear for two days, a bear he called his "friend".

    The police officer Chip Hughes spoke with reporters from several news agencies. He said Casey did not say how he could survive in the woods for two days in the cold, rainy weather. "However," the police officer said, "he did say he had a friend in the woods that was a bear with him."

    Hundreds of people helped in the search and rescue efforts, including some 600 volunteers, police and members of the army. Doctors at the medical center gave Casey some examination. He was then sent to his family on January 25.

    His mother talked with reporters and thanked everyone who joined the search for her son. "We just want to tell everybody that we're very thankful that you took the time out to search for Casey," said his mother. "He is up and talking He's already asked to watch cartoons."