A beautiful and very successful actress played the lead role in a new musical show. Her home was in the countryside, but she did not want to go back there every night, so she bought an expensive house in the centre of the city, she got some beautiful furniture(家具) and had a man to paint the rooms in new colours.

    It was very difficult to get tickets for her show, because everybody wanted to see it. So she decided to give the painter two of the best seats. She hoped that this would make him work better for her. He took the tickets without saying anything, and she heard no more about them until the end of the month, when she got the painter's bill (帐单). At the bottom of it were these words: “Four hours watching Miss Hall sing and dance : 3 pounds,” with this note: “ After 5 p.m. I get 15 shillings (先令) an hour instead of 10 shillings.”

    Tom arrived at the New York airport two hours before the flight to Paris. He was wearing three shirts, a jacket, two pairs of socks, a pair of shorts, and two pairs of jeans. He was carrying one small backpack, which was very full, but he didn't have any other luggage. Tom needed to meet a man named Tony before he checked in for his flight. He found Tony near the Air France counter. Tony gave him a round-trip ticket and a small package.

    “Give this package to Jean-Paul at the airport in Paris. He will have a sign with your name on it. I think you can find him easily,” Tony said, ”You don't have any luggage, right?”

    “Only this backpack,” Tom answered. ”You said I could bring one carry-on bag.”

    “That's right. One carry-on bag is fine. Have a good trip.”

    “Thanks.”

    Is Tom a criminal (罪犯)? Not at all. He is an air-courier(空中信使). And he paid only $110 for the round-trip ticket to Paris. Air couriers get cheap airline tickets because they take important packages and papers to foreign countries. Businesses sometimes need to get packages and papers to people in foreign countries by the next day. Often, the only way they can do this is to use an air-courier company. It is not cheap for a business to send a package with an air courier, but it is quick.

    Every year about 80,000 people worldwide travel as air couriers. The number of tickets for courier travel is growing by about 10 percent a year. However, air-courier travel isn't for everyone. But if you have very little money, can be flexible(灵活的) about your travel plans, and don't mind wearing the same clothes for a week, it can be a great way to take a vacation!

    Rose is a student from the U. S. She is in Shanghai with her parents now. She doesn't know Chinese, but she is trying to study and speak it. She often tries to speak Chinese with her Chinese friends. Sometimes they don't understand her, because she can't speak Chinese well.

    It's Saturday morning. Rose goes out. She is on her way to the park. She is going there to see a flower fair(展销会). But she doesn't know how to get there. She asks a Chinese boy the way. The boy can't understand her. Then she takes out a pen and a piece of paper. She draws flowers on it, and then gives the picture to the boy and says something about it. The boy smiles and then shows Rose the way to the park.

    You may have heard of people who are allergic (过敏) to seafood, smoke or pets. But did you know that some people were allergic to Wi-Fi signals(信号)?

    Rose White, a 44-year-old woman from Britain, first found herself being allergic to Wi-Fi signals in 2015. She had a cough, heart trouble and great pains in her head when she stayed at the places covered with Wi-Fi signals.

    Rose has tried many ways to keep away from Wi-Fi signals. In the past six months, she either slept in her car or in tent which she had put up in the woodland and in the fields. She even tried sleeping in a shed(棚子). Being completely tired, Rose had no choice but to quit her job and moved 370 kilometers away from her home to avoid Wi-Fi signals, but failed. Because of the hard life, she got a stomach problem.

    She is now living in a small house in the rural (乡下的) area in England. There is far fewer Wi-Fi signals. However, the house, which belongs to her friend, will be sold to others, so she has to move again soon.

    Rose is planning to move to a more rural area. She is also planning to buy a camper van (野营车) so that she can drive away from Wi-Fi signals whenever she is feeling uncomfortable. As she can not work to make money, she has to raise money online. She is hoping to raise 15, 000 pounds. So far, she has raised over 1, 600 pounds. She still has a long way to go.

    One day a farmer took his horse to the town for sale and hoped to bring some money home. On his way he saw an old woman. She looked weak, so the farmer carried her on his horse. Before the woman said goodbye, she gave the farmer a ring. She told him that the ring had magic power and could make any dream come true. But he could make only one wish.

    Later the farmer sold his horse and began to walk home. Then he met an old friend and went to his friend's house to take a rest. After drinking some wine, the farmer talked to his friend about the ring. The friend asked him to drink more wine to celebrate his good luck. The farmer drank too much and then fell asleep. The friend took the ring away and put another one in its place. After the farmer woke up and left, the man took out the ring and said, "Fill the house with gold." 

    Lots of gold fell down like a heavy rain and killed the man. When the farmer got home, he thought he should wait until his children grew older to decide what wish was the best. So he hid it and forgot about it after several years.

    In 1996, Subaru Takaiashi sailed alone across the Pacific Ocean. Many other people did this before Subaru, but he was special. At 14, he was the youngest person to sail across the Pacific by himself.

    Subaru left Tokyo on 23 July, 1996. His boat was 30 feet (9 metres) long. In the boat, he had a two-month supply of food and water. He also had a radio and other modern equipment for sailing.

    The beginning of this trip went very well. Subaru often talked to his parents by radio. He didn't have any problems with his boat. Then on 11 August, the engine in his boat quit. This affected his navigation(导航)equipment. Then five days later, his radio quit. So he wasn't able to communicate with anyone. And he was still 2,770 miles (4,490 kilometres) away from his destination-San Francisco.

    By the end of August, many people believed that Subaru was lost. No one was able to contact him by radio. His parents expected him to arrive in San Francisco on 3 September, but he didn't. Then, on 13 September, Subaru sailed into San Francisco. After 55 days in his boat, his trip was finally over.

    Many people believe that Subaru was too young to sail alone. They say that parents shouldn't allow children to make such dangerous trips. However, other people say that children should have adventures, too.