Mary is an American schoolgirl. She is now in Beijing with her parents. Mary can't speak Chinese well. But she wants to learn and speak it. She often tries to speak Chinese to her Chinese friends, but sometimes they don't understand her because she can't speak it well.

    Today is Sunday morning. She wants to go to the zoo to see the birds and monkeys, but she doesn't know how to get there. She asks a Chinese boy. The boy can't understand her. So she draws a monkey on a piece of paper and shows it to the boy. Then the boy tells Mary the way to the zoo.

    While it is common for restaurant owners to connect with their customers, a restaurant owner in the U.S. is taking it to a whole new level. Tim Harries gives out free hugs（拥抱）to every customer at the end of each meal. The atmosphere（气氛）at his restaurant “Tim's Place” is so positive(积极的)that customers often call it the "World's friendliest restaurant”.

    "Tim's Hug” is in fact an item on the menu described as a "love” treat. Tim's hugs are doubly special because of everything he has achieved. The 26-year-old is probably the only Down syndrome sufferer(唐氏综合症患者)in the U.S. to own a restaurant，but he has several other things to be proud of— he's a skillful special Olympian, an excellent sailor, and all experienced fisherman. He was also chosen as Homecoming King and Student of the Year in high school! So when a man like Tim hugs you，it is sure to be a special and unforgettable experience

    When Tim expressed interest in opening a restaurant，Keith，a small businessman himself, supported him. Tim hired other people to manage the place and do the cooking, and he introduced the idea of free hugs. He realized that people want to feel at home at a restaurant. That is why he included "love” as all item on the menu. Customers can order the free hug from Tim，and even if they don't, he'll probably hug them anyway．

    The restaurant has been around since 2010，and Tim has given out over 19,000 hugs in the past five years — he keeps count using a special Hug Counter．Many customers love visiting "Tim's Place". "I've been coming here once a week." said Michelle Garth-Jones, a regular customer. "I love local restaurants, and this special one has a story that stays with you."

    A businessman was once deep in debt（债务）and could see no way out. He sat on a park bench, head in hands, wondering if anything could save his company.

    Suddenly an old man appeared in front of him. “I can see that something is troubling you,” he said. After listening to the businessman's trouble, the old man said, “I believe I can help you.”

    He asked the man his name, wrote out a check（支票）and pushed it into his hand, saying, “Take this money. Meet me here exactly one year from today, and you can pay me back at that time.” Then he turned and disappeared.

    The businessman saw his hand a check for $500,000, signed by John D. Rockefeller. One of the richest man in the world.

    “It can solve my problem at once!” the businessman realized. But instead, he decided to put the check in his safe. Just knowing it was there that might give him the strength（力量）to work out a way to save his business, he thought.

    With renewed optimism（乐观精神）, he did better in his business. Within a few months, he was out of debt and making money once again.

    Exactly one year later, he returned to the park with the check. At the agreed-upon（约定的）time, the old man appeared. But just as the businessman was about to hand back the check and share his successful story, a nurse came running up and caught the old man.

    “I'm so glad I caught him!” she cried. “I hope he hasn't been troubling you. He's always escaping from the hospital and telling people he's John D. Rockefeller.”

    And then she led the old man away by the arm. The businessman just stood there,________. Suddenly, he realized that it wasn't the money, real or imagined, that had turned his life around. It was his newfound self-confidence（自信心）that gave him the strength to achieve anything he went after.

    Miss Grey lived in a small house. She was old and did not like noise at all, so she was very pleased when her noisy neighbor moved out. A young man moved in and Miss Grey thought the man seemed to be quiet.

    But at three o'clock the next morning, the noise of a dog woke her up. She thought she had never heard a dog there before. It must be the young man's dog. So she telephoned the young man, said something bad about the dog and then hung up the telephone before he could answer. Nothing more happened until three o'clock the next morning. Then Miss Grey's telephone rang, and when she answered, a voice said, "You telephoned me twenty-four hours ago, now I ring you up to say that I don't have a dog."

    Sally was a student. Her mother's birthday is coming. She wanted to buy her a nice and cheap present(礼物).

    She went shopping after a quick and simple lunch. After she looked for half an hour, she found a shop. It was selling cheap umbrellas, and she decided to take a black one.

    She thought, "Mom can carry it when she is wearing any clothes." So she bought a lovely black umbrella and took it to school with her.

    On her way home on the train she felt hungry because she ate little for lunch. So she went to the buffet car(餐车). She left the umbrella on her seat. But when she got back. She couldn't see the umbrella!

    Sally began to cry. The other passengers felt very sorry for her and asked what was the matter. She told them she couldn't find the black umbrella, and she had to get off at the next station. After the three passengers heard this, they asked her for her mother's address(地址)so that they could send the umbrella to her if someone took it and brought it back.

    After a week, Sally got a letter from her mother. It said "Thank you very much for your lovely gifts, but why do you send me three black umbrellas?"