One day, a woman walked into a pet store to buy a bird for her Thanksgiving Day party. The guy said, “We only have one parrot. But I think you do not want it because it can talk…”

    The woman said happily, “That's great. I've always wanted a talking bird.”

    So the guy said, “Since you are a nice lady, I'll give it to you as a gift.”

    And the lady went home and put the bird on her bed and walked out of the room. But as soon as she walked into the kitchen, the bird started to speak dirty words as loud as it could. The woman walked back into the room thinking, “I can't have this at my party!” So she took the bird and put it in the fridge.

    A few hours later, while the woman was eating, she remembered that her bird was still in the fridge. Quickly, she opened the door and found it was shivering. Then she took out the bird at once. She said to the bird, “I'll keep you out of there if you don't use that language again. Do you agree with me?”

    The bird nodded and asked, “Can I just ask a quick question?” The lady nodded and said, “Yes, you may.”

    The bird pointed at the turkey behind him and asked, “What did he do?”

B

    People sometimes like to read stories of dogs very much. They think that dogs are much cleverer than cats, sheep, cows or other animals in their homes.

    One of my close friends, Bob, has a very large dog named Jack. Every Sunday afternoon, Bob and Jack have a walk in the park nearby. Jack likes these walks very much.

    One Sunday afternoon, I paid a visit to my friend. I stayed there for a long time and my friend and I had much more to talk with each other than ever before. Soon it was time for them to take a walk in the park. We forgot it. Jack became worried about it. He walked around the room several times and then sat down in front of me and looked at me. But we still paid no attention (注意) to him. I went on talking with my friend. At last, Jack could not wait any longer. He went out of the room and came back a few minutes later. He sat down in front of me again. But this time, he held my hat in his mouth. Suddenly, I understood what Jack meant and so did my friend.

    Marco Polo was born in Italy in 1254. When he was 17, he travelled across Europe and Asia with his father, who wanted to do trade with the Chinese. Finally they arrived in Beijing. They were guests at the Emperor^ Palace. Although Marco Polo was young, he was very clever and could speak some foreign languages. The Emperor was impressed by him. He asked Marco Polo to serve in his court (宫廷) and sent him to do many important tasks across the country.

    Marco Polo was amazed by the beautiful China. He was impressed by Beijing and the Emperor's Palace, especially the Summer Palace which he described as "The greatest palace that ever was..." The walls were covered with gold and silver and the hall was so large that it could easily seat 6,000 people for dinner.

    There were inventions and developments in China which were not used in Europe at that time. He was puzzled (困惑的) by the black stones people used to bum to produce heat. The black stones were coal, but Marco Polo had never seen coal before!

In 1295, after 17 years of service to the Emperor, Marco Polo returned to Italy. He was then a very wealthy man. A writer wrote down the stories that Marco Polo told him in a book called The Travels of Marco Polo.

    Although people enjoyed reading the book, many of them thought that Marco Polo's stories about China were too fantastic to be true. But Marco Polo always stood by his tales. Just before he died in 1324, Marco Polo was asked the question, "Were they all true?" And this was his answer, "I have only told half of what I saw!"

    Many students aren't getting enough sleep at night, which means they end up feeling sleepy during class. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}during the day may be a solution.

    According to Forbes, a mid-afternoon nap can {#blank#}2{#/blank#}, increase your energy and help you study even better. But {#blank#}3{#/blank#}should a nap last? The proper time should be between 10 and 30 minutes, Peter Venn, a sleep expert said.

    Sleeping for {#blank#}4{#/blank#}, such as five minutes or so, is not helpful. That's just not enough time to rest. But if you sleep for too long, you may {#blank#}5{#/blank#}feeling uncomfortable.

how life send red visit first easy gift love create

Chinese New Year begins on doors and walls. Spring couplets (春联) stand for people's wishes for a happier {#blank#}1{#/blank#}in the coming year. It has a long history.

The couplets are written on{#blank#}2{#/blank#}paper. They are very important during the Spring Festival. People are very busy before the Spring Festival, but sticking couplets is usually the{#blank#}3{#/blank#}thing to do. When I was a child, my mother would ask me to take some {#blank#}4{#/blank#}to people who wrote couplets for us. When they were writing, I would watch how they used the brush pen(毛笔) to {#blank#}5{#/blank#} these great works.

Later when I was a little older, my parents encouraged me to learn{#blank#}6{#/blank#}to write couplets. I became greatly interested in it. Every time when we{#blank#}7{#/blank#}relatives during the Spring Festival, I was always happy to collect the poems of their couplets. The poems are hopeful words. They{#blank#}8{#/blank#}good wishes like "health, wealth and longevity(长寿)".

Now we can{#blank#}9{#/blank#}buy all kinds of beautiful couplets on the street. But the best wishes of couplets are the same. The red paper and black words are not only for writing the couplets, but also carry our{#blank#}10{#/blank#}for traditional culture. They will never be forgotten.