Time spent in a bookshop can be enjoyable. If you go to a good shop, no assist ant will come near to you and say, "Can I help you?" You needn't buy anything you don't want. You may just try to find out where the book you want is and read it. But if you fail, the assistant will lead you there and then he will go away.①It seems that he is not interested in selling any books at all.

There is a story which tells us about a good shop. A medical student found a very useful book in the shop. ②But it was too expensive for him to buy. He couldn't get it from the school library, either. So every afternoon, he went there to read a little at a time. One day, however, he couldn't find the book from its usual place and was leaving when he saw an assistant singing to him. To his③      , the assistant pointed to the book in the corner. "I put it there so that it couldn't be sold out."said he assistant. Then he left and the student went on with his reading.

    Mr. Brown got up late this morning. He was going to be late for work. It was raining hard and the streets were wet. He drove so fast that he didn't see the red lights. He couldn't stop his car and hit a car. An old man got out of the car and called out angrily, "What are you doing? How can you drive so fast?"

    "I'm sorry, sir," said Mr. Brown, "l didn't see the lights turn red." "Then he brought out a bottle of wine (酒)and gave it to the old man.

    It's cold today, sir," said Mr. Brown. "Please drink a little, and then you'll get warm."

    The old man drank some wine and became happy. He asked, "I'm feeling much better now. Why don't you drink any?"

     "I can't drink anything now, sir," answered Mr. Brown" I'm waiting for the policeman. Only drunkards(酒鬼)cause accidents, you know!"

①Most people who move to a foreign country may experience a period of time when they feel very homesick and have a lot of stress. This feeling is often called "culture shock (文化冲击)". It is important to understand it and learn how to deal with it if you want to adapt successfully to your new home's culture.

②There are four stages that you will experience after you move to a foreign country. The first stage is usually referred to as the "excitement" stage. When arriving in a new environment, you'll be interested in the new culture; everything will seem exciting and everyone will seem friendly.

③But it won't be long before you move from the "excitement" stage to the second stage. The excitement you felt before changes to stress. It seems that everything is difficult. The language is hard to learn, friends are difficult to make, and even simple things like shopping have become a challenge. It is at this "stress" stage that you are likely to feel worried and homesick. This is the stage which is referred to as "culture shock".

④However, culture shock doesn't last for very long. If you are one of those who solve it successfully, you'll move to the "recovery" stage. At this stage, you start to understand and accept the way things are done and the way people behave in your new environment.

⑤The last stage is the "home" stage. This is the stage when you start to feel at home in the new culture. You start to learn from your new home and to like something of the new culture better than those of your own culture.

⑥Culture shock is normal. Everyone in a new situation will go through some form of it. Continue to be brave! And overcoming culture shock will be a piece of cake.

Personally, there is nothing I love more than asking "stupid" questions, especially the ones that have no right answers. I remember once asking some kids what time it was, at home, in Singapore, and finally on the Moon. After a long silence, finally a shy girl ventured (试探地说) to say that it was "every time" followed by an energetic Einstein who shouted it was "no time". Both kids shared that week's Noble Prize because no humans live in that faraway world and time is created by humans.

As a matter of fact, we are all good at asking questions by nature, but sadly as we age, we get used to the world around us and take things for granted. We became more results-oriented (注重结果的) and concentrate our efforts on success. If something is working, don't fix it or worry about the cause; just relax and go with the flow. Common belief may work well, but that does not mean it is always right. Throughout history, it has been those who have questioned common belief and those who have challenged our common-sense ideas of the world that have been the ones to have brought about major progress in human civilization.

In 500 BC, the ancient Greeks wondered whether the Earth was round because sailors on the sea had noticed that the farther south they went, the more different stars they saw in the sky. Why was the sky changing? Nearly 2,000 years later, the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei became interested in this question and ended up demonstrating the "crazy" concept of heliocentrism (日心说), in which the Sun lies at the center of the universe while the Earth circles around it at 30 kilometers per second. But if the Earth is spinning around so quickly, why aren't we being thrown off of the surface of the planet? The answer to this question would not be clear for another century.

People like routine, but past performance is no guarantee of future results. While those who challenge common belief tend to be subjected to abuse, the progress of humankind would have otherwise been impossible without these persistent people and their "stupid" questions.

 Cats and dogs are some of the most popular pets. There is an old question-which one is better and why?

 If you ask me, I'm a cat person through and through. To me, there is nothing better than having a cat of your own. Every time I see a cat, I am filled with so much joy! Don't even get me started on all of the cute cat videos online. 

 Cats are very independent animals. They like to have their personal space. But this doesn't mean that they don't love their humans(人类). Cats may seem standoffish(冷淡的) at first, but they can quickly warm up to their owners and become their very best friends. 

 Cats can also be a lot of responsibility (责任) and hard work. For example, cats like to be clean. You usually don't need to give them baths, but you do need to keep their fur clean and clean their litter boxes every day. Not only this,    ▲    . Cats don't need to go outside for daily walks like dogs do, but it's important to give them a lot of exercise through playtime. 

 For me, cats are the perfect friends. There's nothing better than a cat sitting next to you after a long day of work. So why not choose cats as your pets?