I first met Windy, a six-year-old girl, on the beach near where I lived. She was building a sand house there. She looked up, and her eyes were as blue as the sea. Every time when I felt unhappy, I drove to the beach.  

      "Hello, Miss Agnes," she said. I answered, but I didn't really want to stop her. "I'm building," she said. I saw that.

    "What is it?" I asked her. "Oh, I don't know. I just like the feeling of the sand." Oh, that's good, I thought, and took off my shoes to join her. A sandpiper (一种叫做鹬的水鸟) flew by. She told me that it would make me happy. I felt better then.

      A week later on my next visit, I learned that Windy lived in a cottage (小屋) and didn't go to school. Soon after that, my mother died, and I rushed to the beach to be alone. I didn't want to say anything when Windy came up to me. "Why?" she asked.

      I turned to her and shouted, "Because my mother died!" "Oh," she said quietly, "then today is a bad day."

      A month later, I went to the beach but couldn't find Windy. I missed her so much that I visited her house. I learned that Windy had died of leukemia (白血病), but she left a picture of a sandpiper for me.

阅读理解

    Rose's husband, George, was in prison for two years for stealing. While he was in prison, Rose had a very difficult time. She had two children, but no job. Her husband did not make any money either. She only had a small amount money from the government.

    “I don't know how we will manage. Life is so difficult for us,” she wrote to her husband in prison. “I get only enough money to pay the rent (房租). There isn't enough money for food. I have to plant vegetables in the garden. They will grow quickly. We can live on vegetables.”

    The garden was quite large, and much of it was covered with grass.

    When George received his wife's letter, he wrote to her immediately.

    “Don't dig up the garden,” he wrote. “That's where the money I stole is hidden.”

    All letters written by the prisoners were read by one of the guards (守卫) before they were mailed.

    When the guard read George5 s letter, he took it to the head guard. When the head guard read it, he telephoned the police. He told them what George had written to his wife.

    The police went to George's house at once. They dug up the garden, looking for the money, but they did not find anything.

    When they had gone, Rose wrote to her husband. “The police came today,” she wrote. “They dug up the garden. What should I do?”

    Her husband wrote back immediately, “Plant the vegetables.”

    A man made a nice talking machine. It could weigh people. The man wanted to try the machine before he could make a lot of these kinds of machines. He put the machine into the waiting room of a station. There were always lots of people in and out there.

    The first one began to use the machine. It was an Indian woman. When she stood on the machine, the machine thought for a few minutes to decide which language it should speak. "Good morning, madam," it said in Indian. "Your weight is 72kilos. That's three kilos more. If you eat more fruit and vegetables, you will be soon all right. Wish you a nice day."

    The second one who used the machine was a nice Chinese girl. She stood on the machine and waited to hear weight. "Good morning, Miss," the machine said in Chinese. "Your weight is 45 kilos. It's all right for your age and height. Go on to eat what you eat every day. Wish you a nice day."

    The third one to use the machine was a very fat American woman. She thought for a long time before standing on the machine. But as soon as she stood on the machine, the machine spoke quickly in English, "Good morning. Will one of you get off?"

    One day, a little monkey and a little fox went out to play. They saw an apple tree on the other side of the river. There were many big and red apples on it. But there was no bridge over the river. The monkey thought hard and had an idea. They pulled down a tree and put it over the river as a bridge.

    The monkey said, "My old friend, you go there first." But after the fox went to the other side, he kicked(踢)the tree into the river and ran to the apple tree. "How can I get there without the tree?" cried the monkey. The fox laughed and said, "You just stand there and watch me eating the apples." The monkey was very angry.

    Suddenly it began to rain. The water level(水位)in the river rose(上涨)and the tree flew away with the water. "You can eat all the apples. But you can't come back, "shouted the monkey. The fox stopped eating and looked at the monkey sadly.