A man lived in a village. He had an old cat at home. The cat couldn't run fast and bite，because she was so old. One day, when she saw a mouse, she jumped and caught it. But she could not bite it. The mouse got out of her mouth and ran away.

    Then the man became very angry and began to beat the cat. The cat said, “Don't beat your old servant. I know I'm old and can't kill a mouse. But I have worked for you for many years, and I still want to work for you. Be kind to the old, and remember what good work they did when they were young."

    When the man heard that, he realized that he was wrong.

B

    Many years ago in Japan, a farmer and his wife had three children, two boys and a girl. The boys helped their parents on the farm. The girl was small and weak. She was often ill. She spent her time drawing cats. Her parents didn't like her, so they took her to the temple ( 寺庙 ) .

    In the temple the girl drew cats all day long. The other people in the temple tried to stop her, but she didn't listen. So they asked the girl to leave the temple.

    The girl came to a town. She didn't have any money, so she had to stay in an empty house outside the town. Inside the house, there was only a mat (垫子 ) on the floor, a light near the window, and a large paper screen ( 屏风 ) . The girl drew some cats on the paper screen. She drew cats of every kind. When the screen was full of cats, she lay down on the mat and went to sleep.

    The next morning, when the girl woke up, she was very surprised - there was a very large dead mouse in the middle of the house! People in the town said, "The girl's cat drawings came to life ( 复活 ) at night. They saved the girl from the large mouse."

    The girl left the town and went on her way. Everywhere she went, people wanted to buy her cat drawings. Soon, she became one of the most famous artists in Japan. When you visit Japan, you might be able to see one of her pictures.

    Mr. Brown got up late this morning. He was going to be late for work. It was raining hard and the streets were wet. He drove so fast that he didn't see the red lights. He couldn't stop his car and hit a car. An old man got out of the car and called out angrily, "What are you doing? How can you drive so fast?" "l'm sorry, sir," said Mr. Brown, "l didn't see the lights turn red." Then he brought out a bottle of wine and gave it to the old man. "It's cold today, sir," said Mr. Brown. "Please drink a little, and then you'll get warm." The old man drank some wine and became happy. He asked, "l'm feeling much better now. Why don't you drink any?" "l can't drink anything now, sir, "answered Mr. Brown "l'm waiting for the policeman. Only drunkards cause accidents, you know!"

Jacob Tremblay (雅各布•特伦布莱) : a promising young actor

    While you might not recognize the name Jacob Tremblay, you may have seen him in the movie called Wonder (《奇迹男孩》). He plays the role of Auggie, a boy with facial deformities (面部畸形). The director calls the eleven-year-old boy "a once-in-a-life-time actor of his generation". So what about some background information to explain all this success?

    Born in 2006, Jacob started appearing in TV dramas at the age of five. His breakthrough came in Room(《房间》) in 2015. In that movie, he plays Jack, a young boy who has been kept in a small room since he was born. His first-rate portrayal (角色的刻画) of this role won him a lot of praise and several important awards. People then really began to notice this very talented young actor.

    Jacob impressed people again with his acting skills in Wonder. Although the movie audience can see only his eyes under the heavy make-up, they can feel the emotions of the character. People also wonder how he was able to get inside the character so successfully without a shared experience in real life.

    The young actor had, in fact, done a lot of research on children with facial deformities before shooting began. He sent a video to children with facial deformities and asked them to send him letters telling him anything they wanted him to know. He always kept the letters by his side and read them over and over again between takes (录制). He said those letters helped him prepare for scenes with emotional content.

    Jacob's performance on screen has made him one of the most promising actors in his age group. Hopefully, we will see a lot more of him in the future—on the silver screen or on TV.

The Basket

    Two things changed my life; my mother and a white, pretty bike basket. My mother is a strict parent and I had to earn my pocket money by doing housework around the house.

    One day, my mother drove me to the bike shop to get a tire fixed, and there it was in the window; white, shiny, and decorated with beautiful flowers. It was so special and I knew I had to have the basket. "It's beautiful," my mother said when I pointed it out to her.

    "Mom, please, can I get it? I'll do more housework for as long as you say, but I need that basket. I really love it……"

    "You know," she said gently, "If you save up, you could buy this yourself." "By the time I make enough, it'll be gone!"

    "I'll buy the basket for you, but you have to work for it," she said.

    My mother bought the beautiful basket and put it safely in some secret place I couldn't find. Each week I eagerly counted my growing income. And then, weeks later, I jumped for joy. Oh, happy day! I made it! I finally had the exact amount we'd agreed upon.

    Days later, the unthinkable thing happened. A neighbor girl appeared with the exact same basket on her shiny, new bike. The eight-year-old me cried and ran fast back home to tell my mother about this terrible news.

    And then came the lesson I've taken with me through my life; "Honey, it doesn't matter that the baskets look the same. Your basket is extra-special," Mom said, gently drying my hot tears. "Your basket is special because you got the basket through your hard work."