An old man was in a bank. He was arguing    1 how much money he had in the bank.   2 he was arguing, a young man came into the bank and said to the old man, "I've just come from your son. He gave me a letter and this piece of silver for you."

    He then gave the silver to the old man. Because the old man had weak eyes-he asked the banker to read him his son's letter.

    The banker read," I have  3  you a piece of silver that weighs 4 kilos."

    The old man was very 4 and asked the banker to give him some dollars for his silver. But when the banker weighed the silver, he  5 that it weighed 5 kilos.

    "The old man will never know," he thought. So he only gave him dollars for 4 kilos of silver.

  Later the banker examined the silver  6  and discovered that it was not silver. It was tin(锡).   7 he ran after the old man and shouted, "You have  8  me. You gave me tin,   9  silver."

  The old man then asked the banker to weigh the piece of tin. It weighed 5 kilos.

  "I am not robbing you, "said the old man. "You are trying to rob me! The piece of silver I gave you 10 weighed 4 kilos!"

    Do you ever watch old films？Maybe you will see one with Carole Lombard. She was a famous1in the 1930s.She died when she was only 34. In her2life she made 70 films！

    Lombard's real name was Jane Alice Peters. In about 1921, she was playing baseball in the 3near her home. A film director4her and decided to put her in a film. She was about 13 at that time. The film was one of the last silent films. She acted(表演)so well that she5the hearts of some people. At 16, she left school to act.

    In 1925, she had an agreement with a6studio, 20th Century Fox. The studio gave7a new name, and she acted in several films. Then, at age 18, she was in a bad car accident. The accident left scars(伤疤)on her face. The studio broke the agreement, but she did not8. She continued to act.

    It was Paramount Pictures that made Lombard a9. She made many films for the studio. She also married two of their stars. Lombard was married to actor William Powell for only 26 months.10seven years later, she married the great love of her life, actor Clark Gable. It was a great Hollywood love story.

"I killed the wrong goose (鹅), " a man complained in his letter about the Xinhua Dictionary. It was the 1970s. The man wanted to kill a male goose. He didn't know the difference between male and female goose, so he turned to the dictionary for help. It read, "The male geese have a yellow bump on their head."

The man chose a goose that matched the description. But when he opened its stomach, many eggs poured out, and the man was angry. 

The dictionary wasn't totally wrong. However, it didn't make it clear that all geese have a yellow bump on their head. Males have just bigger ones. The dictionary's editors corrected it in the next edition (版本) . 

Since its birth in 1953, the Xinhua Dictionary has been used as an encyclopedia (百科全书) by people across China. More than 600 million copies have been sold. 

In 1949, about 80 percent of China's population was uneducated. Xinhua Dictionary succeeded in opening up knowledge to millions of Chinese people. "I had no education when I was little. The dictionary helped me get into high school. " Said a woman in her 50s. 

Over the past 50 years, the dictionary has been improved in each edition. "鲟"was once explained as"can be eaten". Later editions made it clear that it was "an animal in danger". The meaning of "豹"is no longer "wild animals whose fur can be made into clothes". New editions have included many new meanings. The character "晒" (to dry something under the sun) , for example, now has a second meaning: to share. Popular expressions like "初心"have also been added to dictionary. 

In a way, Xinhua hasn't just explained words; it has shaped the way Chinese people think. According to an article in Southern Weekly, "When children write about a spring outing, the sky is always ‘cloudless for ten thousand miles'. They will always ‘sing and dance' on the way. " "Both sentences, " the editor added, " are from examples in the Xinhua Dictionary."

Here is a story: A man sees a butterfly (蝴蝶). The butterfly tries to get out of its chrysalis (蛹). Feeling sorry for it, the man decides to help. He cuts the chrysalis and the butterfly comes out easily. Surprisingly enough, the butterfly is unable to fly. If the butterfly doesn't struggle (挣扎，奋斗) to leave the chrysalis, it can't fly! The struggle develops the energy in the butterfly which makes it fly. Similarly, the challenges (挑战) of life bring out the best in young people and make them fly.

When people are young, meeting and overcoming (克服) challenges will make them strong and ready to face life. When we look at successful people, we see that the most successful of them are people who have had to struggle. One famous businessman, who now owns many supermarkets, used to carry clothes on his back and sell them from door to door when he was young. Another successful man is Dennis. His father died when he was only twenty. His father's death forced him to mature fast. He had to bring up a family of nine people. He took up the challenges and overcame them. Today his brothers and sisters are leading successful lives.

Sometimes challenges do not appear to us because we keep away from them. So some parents and teachers actively encourage young people to face challenges. They might organize some activities for young people which provide them with challenges, like rock-climbing, camping, volunteer work and so on. However, just passing exams will not prepare a person for life. We must meet and overcome challenges. The young people of today will become the leaders of tomorrow. For countries to continue to become successful, it is important that the young people learn to meet challenges and overcome them.

I dreamed of being a football star when I was a high school student. During my first year there I was a very 1 boy. I was only 50kg. I joined in some football games but spent most of my time 2 on the bench (替补队员席). So I decided to do 3 . Drinking a lot of milk made me much 4 . Before the football season started, I thought I could make 5 succeed in being stronger at last. But I was soon 6 when I saw that I was still smaller than most of the other boys. 

During one of the 7 of the season, the teacher let me play first. I was 8 and jumped up and down. But I still lost. 

I lost many times. I hoped to be a 9 player. But finally I found that I couldn't make it 10 . For a long time I was really unhappy about this and thought about giving up. 11 as time went by, I knew that enjoying the feeling (感觉) of working hard was necessary. In fact, the 12 wasn't the most important thing. Now, my friend is celebrating for me in a party because I 13 a football game this morning. I didn't succeed before. It is the 14 time that I have won a football game. I succeed after lots of 15 . I never give up and fight on. 

Do you like eating out? Well, eating out in Guangzhou is fantastic. Guangzhou has a number of really good restaurants, such as The Magic Steak(牛排), Fish House and Funny Kitchen. Many people think the best one is The Magic Steak. It's the best because it has the thickest steaks, the freshest salads and the best French fries. You need to get there before 7 p.m. to get a table, because it gets crowded after that. Of course, you can book(预订) a table in advance. And you can do that online or by phone.

If you want something cheaper, you can go to Fish House. It's better than many other restaurants, and it's really great for people who like fish. It has the best service in Guangzhou. And it's easier to get a table there than at The Magic Steak. But The Magic Steak is more convenient(便利的), because it's closer to the center of the city than Fish House. In that case, if you plan to go shopping, eating in The Magic Steak is your best choice.

Funny Kitchen, a fast food restaurant, is popular with teenagers, but elder people might like other restaurants. In fact, the food there is the worst in Guangzhou.