Mr. Smith lives in a village, but he works in a big city. He goes to work by train every morning and comes home in the same way.

    This morning, when he is reading his newspaper on the train, a man behind him says "hello" to him and begins to talk to him, "Your life is not interesting, is it? "You take the same  train  every  morning,  and  you  always  sit  in  the  same  seat  and  read  the  same newspaper." "How do you know all that about me?"Mr. Smith says angrily （生气地）.

    "Because I always sit in the same seat behind you." the man answers.

    H. G. Wells lived from 1866 to 1946. He wrote many famous stories. He was best at writing stories about the future. One story is called The Time Machine. Here is the story.

    More than 100 years ago, there was an English scientist and inventor living in London. One day, four friends went to his house for dinner. The inventor was not there. Feeling hungry, they started dinner without him. Then they heard a sound. A few moments later, the inventor came in, looking dirty.

    He told his friends that he built a time machine. He could travel into the future.

    The inventor went thousands of years in the future. He met people called the Eloi. They were smaller than him. They had no machines. Growing fruit and vegetables was all that they did. They had no hobbies. Only one girl, Weena, spoke to him.

    Four days later, he met other people called Morlocks. They lived underground. They caught Eloi people and ate them! The inventor wanted to fight against the Morlocks. The Eloi didn't want to help him, not even the strong men. He tried to fight against the Morlocks. At last, Weena went underground with him. Unfortunately, Weena died.

    After that, he got in his time machine. He came back to his time. Seeing the future made him sad. The people in the future were worse. They were not clever.

    His friends didn't think it was a real story. But they never saw him again. Maybe he went to save the future.

    An eighty-year-old couple were having trouble with their memories. One day, they decided to see a doctor. The doctor told them that there was nothing serious, but he suggested that they should start writing things down to help them remember things. The couple thanked the doctor and left.

    Later that night while watching TV, the old man got up from his chair and his wife asked, "Where are you going?" "To the kitchen." "Will you get me an ice cream?" asked the wife. "Sure." Then his wife asked him to write it down. "No, I can remember that," replied the husband. "Well, I also want some strawberries and cream on top. You'd better write it down, or you will forget that," said the wife. "No, I can remember that," the husband got a little unhappy and went into the kitchen.

    After about 20 minutes, the husband returned with a plate of fish. The wife laughed, "Haha! Your bad memory! I wanted some bread with cream."

    Dick was born in a poor family. His father had a small boat and went fishing in the morning and sold the fish in the market in the afternoon. Then he bought some food for his family. When winter came, they were often hungry. One morning the hungry man fell into the river and wasn't found. Dick's mother left her three-year-old son without saying goodbye. His aunt had to look after him. Twenty years passed, Dick became a tall, strong man. He found a job on a farm. He worked hard and wanted to get more money. He often went to see his aunt with some nice presents. The woman was very happy but one day she died in a traffic accident. The young man was very sad. After he buried her, he decided to buy a beautiful tombstone(墓碑)for her. He went to the town and came into a shop, but all the tombstones were too expensive. He asked, "Do you sell an old tombstone, sir?" "Yes, we do, sir," answered the shopkeeper. "Is it as expensive as the new one?" "No, it's much cheaper," said the man. "But another name was engraved(刻)in it." "It doesn't matter," said Dick. "My aunt couldn't read."

    Dale is seven. He can go to school. On the first day, his teacher teaches him three words "I, you, he". The teacher says, "I am your teacher. You are my student. He is your classmate, "After class, Dale goes home. His mother asks him, "What does your teacher teach you today?" Dale says, "Listen, mom, I am your teacher. You are my student." He points at(指着) his father and says, "He is your classmate." His mother says, "No, dear. You are not right." Then she says, "I am your mother. You are my son. He is your father. "The next day, Dale's teacher asks Dale to make sentences. Dale stands up and says, "I am your mother. You are my son. He is your father." All the students in Dale's class laugh.