Mike gets up at half past seven. He has an egg and some milk for breakfast. Then he goes to school. When he is on his way to school, he is thinking, “I told my teacher that my mother w as ill on Monday. I told him my bike didn't work on my way to school on Tuesday. What should I say today? Mike thinks it over, but he doesn't have a good idea.

  “May I come in?” says Mike at the door.

  “Oh, my boy,” says Mr. Brown. “Please look at the clock on the wall. What time is it now?” “It's eight ten,” says Mike. Mr. Brown is not happy and says, “You are late for class three times this week. If all the students are like you, the clock is no use, I think.” “You are wrong, Mr. Brown,” says Mike. “If I don't have the clock how do I know I am late for school?”

Jim comes from America．He has lots of good friends in his class，and Su Ling is one of them．Today is Ling's birthday．She has a birthday dinner at home，and she asks Jim and other classmates to her house．Ling's mother cooks Chinese food for them．The food is so delicious，and Jim likes it very much．

In America，Jim usually has hamburgers，potato chips，bread and ice-cream like many Americans．Some people think that's why Americans are so fat．After he comes to China，he knows about Chinese food．At first，he really doesn't like Chinese food．It is different from American food．But later，he loves it! Now he usually has porridge and eggs for breakfast，some vegetables，rice and chicken for lunch，and noodles and fruit for dinner．His favorite Chinese food is dumplings．He thinks they are really delicious．“People in America don't eat them．What a pity!”Jim says．But Jim doesn't eat meat often．He doesn't want to be fat．

    Every evening at six o'clock an old man goes to a restaurant near his house. He eats dinner. After dinner, he drinks coffee and talks to the people at the restaurant.

    The old man's name is Bill. Bill eats at the restaurant every evening because he is lonely. His wife died and he has no children.

    Every evening the same waitress(女服务员)brings Bill to his dinner. Her name is Cara. She is 17 years old. Cara is kind to Bill. She knows he is lonely, so she talks to him. If Bill is late for dinner, she calls him on the telephone. “Are you OK?” she asks him.

    One evening Bill doesn't come to the restaurant. Cara calls him, but he doesn't answer the phone. Cara calls the police. “Please go to Bill's house.” Cara tells the police. Later the police call Cara at the restaurant. “Bill died in his sleep,” the police tell her. Bill was 82 years old.

    A week later, a man comes to the restaurant. “I have something for Cara,” the man says. The man gives Cara a check(支票) for $500000. The money is from Bill.

“This money is for me? From Bill?” Cara asks the man.

    “Yes,” the man answers.

    “But…why?” Cara asks the man.

    “Bill liked you,” the man says. “You were kind to him”

    One day a big red hen is playing with her chickens in the garden. After some time, she wants to eat something and she takes out her chickens to look for food.

    When they are eating, she finds a grain of wheat(一粒小麦). So she asks her chickens to plant it in the back garden. But no one wants to do it. The big red hen has to do it herself.

    After a few months, they get a lot of wheat. She says to her chickens, “Who will take the wheat to the store to get some flour(面粉)?” But they don't want to do it. So she takes the wheat to the store and brings the flour home.

    After she gets home, she says,“ Who will make some bread with the flour? ”They all say they are very busy, so they can't do it.

    When she makes the bread, she says to her chickens,“ Who wants to eat the bread?”

    “I will,” they say. “No, you can't. You don't want to do anything before I make the bread. You must know ‘No pains, no gains（不劳无获）'.”She doesn't give any bread to her chickens and she eats the bread herself.