I never thought I would have a life-changing experience at Wal-Mart.

      Although my thoughts were only on speed, the checkout line I was standing in wasn't moving as quickly as I wanted, and I glanced toward the cashier.

      There stood a man in his seventies, wearing glasses and a nice smile. I thought, well, he's an old guy! For the next few minutes I watched him. He greeted every customer before scanning the items. Sure, his words were the usual, “How's it going?” But he did something different-he actually listened to people. Then he would respond to what they had said and engage them in brief conversation.

      I thought it was odd. I have grown accustomed to people asking me how I was doing simply out of robotic conversation habit. After a while, you don't give any thought to the question and just mumble something back. I could say, “I just found out I have six months to live,” and someone would reply, “Have a great day!”

      But that wasn't the end.

      He gave them the change, walked around the counter, and extended his right hand in an act of friendship. He looked at the customers in the eyes. “I sure want to thank you for shopping here today,” he told them. “Wish you have a great day. Bye-bye.”

      The looks on the faces of the customers were priceless. There were smiles and some sheepish grins. All had been touched by his simple gesture-and in a place they expected. They would gather their things and walk out, smiling.

      Of course, he did the same to me and I got to know his name, Marty.

      Who was the guy? It was as if Sam Walton had come back from the dead and invaded this old guy's body.

      I had never walked away from that shop feeling like that.

    "Why do I live? Why do I wish for anything, or do anything? Is there anything in my life that will not be destroyed by my death?" Like Leo Tolstoy, the famous Russian writer, many people ask these difficult questions. Tolstoy spent his whole life trying to answer these difficult questions.

    As a young man, he thought people could achieve perfection if they tried hard enough. So he worked very hard to be the best in everything. He thought that he would find meaning and truth in success.

    In 1850s. Tolstoy wrote his first stories. He wrote about his life in the army. He also told stories about his childhood. These works were published and Tolstoy became a well-known writer.

    He earned the respect he always wanted. Many rich and smart men met and talked with Tolstoy. Some of them were writers like him. They talked a lot about faith (信仰) and the meaning of life. But soon Tolstoy recognized that these men were not perfect. Now he knew they could not answer his questions about faith.

    So in the 1860s, Tolstoy tried a different way to find the meaning of life. He opened a school for the children of his serfs-the people who worked on his land. These workers were very poor. He wanted to help them because he thought they were more honest than the rich people he knew.

    Tolstoy learned a lot from his workers. He understood how they worked hard to support their families. He began to believe that marriage and family would give his life meaning. So in 1862, Leo Tolstoy married a young woman named Sonya Behrs.

    The next 15 years were the best years of Tolstoy's life. It was during this time that he wrote his most famous books-War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Many experts say that War and Peace is one of the greatest books ever written. In these books, Tolstoy believed humans should live a simple life and take care of their families. Tolstoy thought this would satisfy him and bring him happiness.

    Leo Tolstoy is still a very respected writer today. His faith and writings have influenced many people all over the world.

A beach trip can be fun and relaxing. To have an enjoyable beach trip, you need to make plans for it. Here is some useful information .

Decide which beach to visit. Have a discussion (讨论) with your family. Before you look for information online, sit down and talk with your family to learn about their ideas. Write down their ideas so that you won't forget them. For example, maybe your daughter wants to look for sea shells and your son wants to try some water sports.

____ One of the most important things to bring on a family beach trip is a cooler (冰桶) full of ice and things to eat and drink! Because you will spend a few hours on the beach, your family will need some food and drinks. It's better to bring lunch for everyone. Some good beach food and drinks are fresh fruit, sandwiches, juice and so on.

Plan activities for your trip. The best part of a beach trip is that your family can play together! Make sure that you bring things that your family want to use when they are on the beach, such as sand toys, frisbee (飞盘) and cards. If you want to stay by yourself, you can also bring some books to enjoy yourself.

With good preparations, you are sure to have a good time on the beach!

Jokes made by AI lack(缺乏)creative thinking. It seems you can ask artificial intelligence (AI)programs anything, and they'll give you an answer. So, can they tell jokes?This question was raised by a UK comedian(喜剧演员)Karen Hobbs in one of her shows in June. Instead of the usual jokes she created, Hobbs told jokes written by ChatGPT. 

When Hobbs asked ChatGPT for a joke, it gave one about a man joking about getting bored with his shopping-obsessed(痴迷于购物的)girlfriend. Even when she asked to tell it from a woman's perspective(视角), it was still a shopping-obsessed girlfriend but told in the first person

It's no surprise that many jokes by AI come from a man's perspective, as men are much more common in comedy. The BBC said that AI storytelling can only create stories based on what is already there

A good joke in real life can always change based on the audience's reaction(反应). This is a skill that often leads comedians to improvise(v. 即兴创作). That's something that AI can't do for now. 

For example, in improvise(n. 即兴创作), comedians don't make preparations. They depend only on their natural reaction to the audience. 

However, that could change. Research is being done to give Al a greater understanding of the world around it, which makes the future of AI jokes still uncertain. 

 People may often see robots in some movies. The robots in the movies are {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(strong), faster and cleverer than people. In real life, robots are helping humans in {#blank#}2{#/blank#} lot of ways. People can see many robots in {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(factory). They {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(usual) help people do many dangerous, difficult or boring jobs. There are already robots working in American hospitals. At one hospital, a robot {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(take) meals from the kitchen to sick people's rooms. It never loses its way {#blank#}6{#/blank#} it has a map of the hospital in its computer. Some people can't look after themselves at home and robots can help {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(they). For example, some people can't see clearly. They hope {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(move) around with the help of robots. Scientists are making robot dogs to help these people. {#blank#}9{#/blank#} the future, some robot dogs will appear in the street. People believe there {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(be) more and more robots in the near future. They' ll help people make the world more beautiful.