“Please take my penny,” said Maggie to old Dan, the fisherman, who sat on a bench repairing his nets.

    Her brother Andrew drew her back, whispering, “Maggie, he is not a beggar (乞丐)!”

    But Maggie paid no attention. “Please take it,” she said again. Old Dan smiled, and took it. “Thank you, little miss,” he said, “It is kindly meant.”

    After that, Maggie went to the beach to gather shells. She never thought how fast the hours were passing until being tired. She sat down on a rock. Soon she was scared because the sea water was going up. She wanted to go home, but she found the places she had gone down easily very difficult to climb up. The stones were wet and smooth. What could poor Maggie do? She felt sad and cried.

    Luckily, Dan's large dog Rover jumped down from a rock! Rover raised his loud bark. The fisherman had taken his nets to the top of the cliffs (悬崖), and was laying them out in the sun when he heard the loud barking of a dog. He felt sure that it was Rover, and Rover was in trouble, so he looked over. There he saw it all.

    “Bless her! It is the little one that was so kind-spoken to me this morning!” he cried, and he hurried to his sons' rooms.

    “Quick, boys, quick!” he said. “Get to the boat, and row fast to the sea. There is a poor child there just waiting to be helped.” The fishermen lost no time, and soon little Maggie and Rover were rowed safely to land! Old Dan was waiting there to lift her out to give her into her mother's arms.

    “It was the penny that did it, madam,” he said to Mrs. Weston later. “I saw Rover looking at her when she put the penny. And I am thinking he had been looking after her all the day.”

    Some years later, Rover came to Maggie's home with a little note, in which was written—“Will Maggie help Rover?—his master is dead.”

    Some British and American people like to invite friends for a meal at home. You should not be upset if your English friends don't invite you home. It doesn't mean they don't like you.

    Dinner parties usually start between 7 and 8 p.m. and end at about 11 p.m. Ask you hosts(主办人) what time you should arrive. It's polite to bring flowers, chocolates or a bottle of wine(酒) as a gift.

    Usually the evening starts with drinks and snacks. If you want to be very polite, say how much you like the room, or the pictures on the wall. But remember—It's not polite to ask how much things cost.

    In many families, the husband sits at one end of the table and the wife sits at the other end. They eat with their guests(客人).

    You'll probably start the meal with soup or something small, then you'll have meat or fish with vegetables, and then dessert followed by coffee. It's polite to finish everything on your plate and to take more if you want it.

    Did you enjoy the evening? Call your hosts the next day, or write them a short “thank you” letter. British and American people like to say “thank you, thank you, thank you” all the time!

    There was a very rich man named Mike. In his house, he had a very large room. "If anyone can fill my room in one day, I will give him 20,000 dollars." he said. Everyone in the town wanted to have a try.

    Mark tried to fill the room with stones. At the end of the day, he was very tired, but the room was still not full. Martin tried to fill the room with wood. He worked all day, but the room was not full. "That room is too big, no one can do this." he said. Alan said, "I can do it. It's easy." Everyone laughed. They thought he could not do it. Then, he went to the park and played all day. His friend asked him, "Why are you playing, you should be working." The man said, "Don't worry." At 8:00 at night, the man came to the room with a small bag. The rich man said, "That bag is too small. How will you fill the room?" The man took a candle out of the bag. He lit the candle and said, "You see, the whole room is filled with light!"

Eric has a new baseball hat. It is from his sister Kate. The hat is purple and it is beautiful. Eric loves it. He wears(戴) it every week. When he doesn't wear it, he always puts it on his desk. This morning Eric wants(想要) to go and play baseball with his friends. He wants to wear the hat, but the hat is not on the desk. Where is it? Eric looks for it under the sofa, under the chair, in the schoolbag, just everywhere.

____

"Do you see my hat？" Eric asks his family. No one sees it.

Eric is sad. Because his hat is lost. At that time, his dog Huanhuan comes. And the hat is on his head! He loves the hat, too.

Eric is very happy. He gets the hat and leaves home.

① On April 25, 2024, China successfully sent the Shenzhou-18 spaceship with three astronauts to Tiangong space station for a six- month mission (任务). Among the three astronauts, Ye Guangfu is the mission commander (指挥官), with rich experience. 

② Ye was born in Septembe, 1980 and grew up in a small village in Sichuan. At the age of eight, his father died. Ye remembered how difficult it was for his family to make a living. Although it seemed impossible for him to try out to become an air force pilot at first, his love for flying and hard work got him into the Air Force Aviation University of China. 

③ In 2009, Ye decided to reach even higher and applied to (申请) be an astronaut. Becoming an astronaut, one must face many challenges. Ye even trained in caves (洞穴) in Europe where he had to find his way through dark and wet caves. This made him the first Chinese person to finish this training. Ye never gave up his dream. And his hard work paid off when he made his first journey into space on the Shenzhou-13 mission on October 16, 2021. 

④ Ye is always thankful for all the difficult times because they help him keep going and stick to(坚持) his dreams. Ye is really a role model who shows us the importance of strong perseverance (毅力).