Lester was walking in the street with two huge and heavy suitcases. A stranger walked up to him and asked, "Have you got the time?"

    Lester stopped, put down the suitcases and looked at his watch. "It's five fifteen,'" he said. "Hey, what a nice watch!" said the stranger. Lester smiled a little and said, "Yes, it's not bad. Look at this." Then he showed the stranger a time display for the 86 largest cities in the world. He hit a few buttons and a voice told the time in Chinese.  Lester continued, "Its voice can be set for different languages." The stranger seemed very interested in the watch. "That's not all," said Lester. He then pushed a few more buttons and a small map appeared on the watch. "The map can show where we are," explained Lester. "I want to buy this watch!" said the stranger. "Oh, no, I'm not selling it. I have spent nearly two years making it," said Lester. "I'll give you $1,000 for it!" "Oh, no, I've already spent more than that." "I'll give you $ 5,000 for it!"

    Lester stopped to think. The stranger quickly gave him a check(支票) and said, "$ 5,000. Here it is." Lester finally agreed to sell the watch. When the stranger was going to leave with the watch, Lester pointed to the two huge suitcases and said, "Hey, wait a minute. Don't forget your batteries."

    "Can I see my baby?" asked the happy new mother. When the baby was in her arms, she couldn't believe her eyes. The baby was born without ears.

    Time proved that the baby's hearing was perfect though he had no ears. He got on well with his classmates. But one day, he said to his mother, tears in his eyes, "A big boy called me a freak(畸形物)."

    The boy's father asked the family doctor, "Could nothing be done?"

    "I believe I could graft(移植)on a pair of outer ears if they could be gotten," the doctor said. They tried to find a person who would be helpful to the boy.

    One day, his father said to the son, "You're going to the hospital, son. Mother and I have found someone who will donate the ears you need. But we must keep it a secret who the person is."

    The operation was a great success, and a new person appeared. His cleverness and hard work made him a very successful person. He married and lived a happy life.

    He would ask his father, "Who gave me the ears? I could do enough for him or her."

    "I can't tell you," said the father. "The agreement says that you are not allowed to know…not yet."

    It was kept a secret for years, but the day did come. He stood with his father over his mother's body. Slowly, the father raised the thick, brown hair. To his surprise, the son found his mother had no outer ears.

    "Mother said she was glad she never had her hair cut," his father said in a low voice, "and nobody ever thought Mother less beautiful, did they?"

Many westerners find it interesting that Chinese people always carry a vacuum cup (保温杯) .If you go to a western restaurant, they usually serve you a cup of cold water with ice. And when you ask if they can change to hot water, you may receive a strange look from the waiter or people nearby. Hot water? Seriously?

So hot water VS cold water, which one is better?

By 1930s, the water supplies(供水) was polluted. In order to prevent people from diseases, the government suggested drinking boiled water, because they considered it a way to kill off bacteria (细菌).

People at that time always boiled water and stored it in vacuum bottle to keep it warm for the day. Even now, you can find hot water everywhere, in schools, factories, and offices across the country. While for western countries, many people died of the plague (鼠疫) .They took water quality seriously from then on, so that people can drink water directly rather than boil it.

You may also discover that Chinese people prefer hot meals. Some parents always teach their children to drink hot soup with meals, because they think mixing cold water with hot meals is really bad for the stomach, and cold water may cause digestive (消化) problems, while hot water helps digestion.

According to the eating habits in western countries, they prefer "raw" food, so they also prefer their water "raw". They also like hamburgers and fried food, which are all with high calorie (高热量), so they need cold drinks to cool them off.

Drinking hot or cold water also has something to do with medicine beliefs. In traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese people consider drinking hot water increases blood circulation (循环) and washes away the coldness in one's body, and thus eases pain. However, most westerners believe that drinking hot water may weaken your body. Drinking hot water too often will make your body unable to stand water below your body temperature.

You may find out that there is no answer to this question. The causes are various, so don't feel strange next time you see a Chinese ask for hot water, just show your respect.

Once there was a poor boy who lived with his mother in India.

One day, Mother asked the boy, "Would you like 1 from the market?" "More than anything else, I want a drum!" the boy said. Mother sold some grain at the 2 , but there was still not enough money for a drum. 3 , Mother gave the boy a stick she had found. The boy decided not to be 4 . "Thank you," he began to play with his new stick.

Next day, he saw his neighbor struggling to 5 a fire. "Please use my stick! "he said. In order to thank the boy, the woman gave him a large jug (罐). 6 , he heard someone crying. "Water!" an old man cried sadly. The boy ran to the well and filled his jug. The man drank and said, "I am a 7 , but robbers stole my goods." Two frightened horses stood by the trees. The boy held out the jug for them. "You can have my jug to trade," the boy offered.

8 his kindness, the boy was given a horse. What a rich gift! He climbed on the horse and rode down the street. He passed a group of men 9 under a tree. They looked worried. "What's the matter?" asked the boy. One young man said, "I'm going to my wedding, where this band will play. But if I 10 on foot, bride will laugh at me." "You need this horse 11 I do!" he said. "Thank you for being so kind," said one of the musicians. He handed the boy a beautiful 12 . That was exactly 13 he wanted. The boy shouted with joy.

When he got home, the boy told his mother the whole story. "When you are 14 , your good deeds come back to you," Mother said. It was a 15 the boy never forgot.

What a difference a day makes！My father and I {#blank#}1{#/blank#} to go to Penang Hill today. We wanted to walk up to the top, but then it started raining a little so we decided to take the train. We waited over an hour {#blank#}2{#/blank#} the train because there were too many people. When we got to the top, it was rainingreally {#blank#}3{#/blank#} . We didn't have an umbrella {#blank#}4{#/blank#} we were wet and cold. It was terrible！And because of the bad weather, we couldn't see {#blank#}5{#/blank#} below. My father didn't bring {#blank#}6{#/blank#} money, so we only had one bowl of rice and some fish. The food tasted great because I was so hungry！