A funny thing happened to my sister Tina last month. She lives in Japan and teaches English. In Japan, people don't usually wear their outdoor shoes in the house or in school, and a lot of buildings have places for shoes. So her school has a special place for shoes. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}
Tina teaches English in the evening. One Friday, she went to school, and she put her shoes in the shoe box as usual. Then she had an interesting spoken English class with her students. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} But to her surprise, her shoes weren't in the box. There was only one pair of those there, and they weren't her shoes! She had to get home in a hurry. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}
On Monday, at her next English class, her shoes were in a shopping bag on her desk! There was a note that said, “I'm so sorry. I took your shoes by mistake!” {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Somebody felt a lot of shame!

阅读理解

    Yesterday my son, daughter and I went to the grocery store. In front of us in line was a little girl with her mother. The little girl was asking her mother for a box of Smarties. The polite way she was asking almost broke the mother's heart, “I'm sorry, Honey, but we have no money to buy it.”

    My son was watching that dialogue. By the way, he had been raking(用耙子耙)leaves our garden to raise himself some money to buy a bike. As he watched the mother and daughter leave the store, he ran to the candy counter(柜台)and bought a box of Smarties with the money .

    He turned to look at me and I just nodded. He ran out after the little girl and her mother and he gave them the box. He came back and told me what he told them. “Every kid should have a pack of Smarties because they can make you smart.”

    I was so excited that I bought a pack of Smarties for my son. I told him that I was proud of him, and that was for his act of generosity because he gave his own Smarties to others. Quickly, he replied, “But you do nice things for people and you never get anything for it .”I explained, “when you do something nice for someone, you shouldn't expect to get anything. When you get something you should be very thankful.”

    I was feeling really down because my long-time friend had died. Then I started a six-week volunteering at a nursing home all day even Saturday. My duty was to serve the meal and clean up. One day I was told to go to Room 117 to make sure the patient was all right. I found a boy of eight sitting in bis bed watching a movie. I was shocked to see a child in this seemingly forgotten nursing home for the old. He was so small and weak that you had to look closely to find him. I grabbed his medical chart and found out :he had a terminal（绝症的) illness.

    We started to talk, and I found out that his family rarely visited, and all he did every day was watching TV I wanted to cry for him, and for my lost friend. As we talked, he had a smile on his face, and I asked him why and how he still managed to stay happy.

    He thought for a moment, and then said that too many people were dead even before they died. They walked around feeling that God had cursed(诅咒) them and they had nothing to live for.

    The boy said that he would not be like that. He woke 'every morning thankful to see another sunrise. He kept his window open so that he could smell the flowers and feel the heat of the sun. He also said that he had hope.

    "Too many people haven't seen much of that around here." He said, "Life is full of hope and we need to live life before it is gone."

    I don't know what happened to him. I guess he passed away, but his lesson lives on. I now wake up and live each day to the fullest. The key to life is not money or fame, but the lesson we learned from it.

    Some British and American people like to invite friends for a meal at home. You should not be upset if your English friends don't invite you home. It doesn't mean they don't like you.

    Dinner parties usually start between 7 and 8 p.m. and end at about 11 p.m. Ask you hosts(主办人) what time you should arrive. It's polite to bring flowers, chocolates or a bottle of wine(酒) as a gift.

    Usually the evening starts with drinks and snacks. If you want to be very polite, say how much you like the room, or the pictures on the wall. But remember—It's not polite to ask how much things cost.

    In many families, the husband sits at one end of the table and the wife sits at the other end. They eat with their guests(客人).

    You'll probably start the meal with soup or something small, then you'll have meat or fish with vegetables, and then dessert followed by coffee. It's polite to finish everything on your plate and to take more if you want it.

    Did you enjoy the evening? Call your hosts the next day, or write them a short “thank you” letter. British and American people like to say “thank you, thank you, thank you” all the time!

    On the first day in her new house，Mouse wrote a letter to her old friend.

    On the way to the post office, Mouse saw Beaver. He gave Mouse a big smile.

   "Perhaps I should say hello, "thought Mouse." Beaver's teeth are so long and sharp（锋利的）. Beaver wouldn't make a good friend. Not like Vole, whose smile was kind." So Mouse left without saying hello.

    After lunch, Mouse heard a knock on her door. Then she peeked（偷看）out the window. It was Squirrel.

   "Perhaps I should invite her in for tea, "thought Mouse." But Squirrel talks a lot. Squirrel wouldn't make a good friend. Not like Vole, who always listened." So Mouse didn't open the door.

    That night, Mouse looked at a picture of herself and Vole. She thought back to the first time she met Vole. She remembered feeling afraid-afraid of Vole's eyes and Vole's large size.

    In fact, Vole had seemed so different that Mouse almost decided Vole wouldn't make a good friend.

    Mouse realized something." I made a mistake!" she cried.

    The next morning, Mouse made some cakes and put them in a basket.

    She went to Beaver's house first, and next to Squirrel's house.

    When Mouse returned home, she was smiling. She went to her desk and wrote a letter to Vole.