In Japan, Luffy is more popular than Harry Potter．Luffy is the main character of One Piece(海贼王)．The book came out in 1997.

    One Piece tells the adventures of Monkey D．Luffy, a 17-year-old boy．He gets supernatural abilities by eating fruit．Luffy's dream is to find the world's biggest treasure, One Piece．Then he wants to become the next Pirate(海盗) King.

    To make his dream come true, Luffy has to reach the end of the most dangerous ocean: the Grand Line．Luffy travels with a group of pirates called the Straw Hats．On his way, more people join the group．It even includes a cook, a soldier and a musician．They also help Luffy fight with other pirates on the way.

    Many Chinese teenagers are One Piece fans．Yang Peiqi, 14, of Shenzhen, says he thinks reading One Piece is great fun and also he likes the themes of the story－dreams and friends．

C

    My name is Lin Tao. I am a Chinese boy. Now I'm studying in America. There are many kinds of clubs here. When I first come here, I don't know anything about clubs. I'm a shy boy, so I can't speak English well. In my first year in America, I don't like to speak to others. In my second year I have to change (改变) myself by doing some new things. I realize that school is not just about getting good grades (成绩), it's also about being part of a club. One day, when I go to the Media Center with my classmate Jim, he tells me something about the club. It's interesting, so I join it. I am in many clubs now. It's good to be part of a club. These clubs help me to make new friends.

    “Well, we're in our new house. Let's get a new pet to get along with it,” Mrs. Brown said to her husband.

    “That sounds like a pretty good idea. Do you want to see the ads in the newspaper?”said Mr. Brown.

    “Let's go to the animal shelter. Many pets there need homes. Since tomorrow is Saturday, we can both go,” she said.

    The next morning, the Browns met Mr. Snow at the animal shelter. “We want to be sure that the pets here can go to good homes,” Mr. Snow said, “So I need to ask you some questions.”

After they talked for a while, the Browns decided to get a small dog. It wouldn't need a big house or a big yard. A small dog would bark and warn them if someone tried to break into their house. After Mr. Snow gave the Browns a book on pet care, they chose one and wanted to take her home right away. But the animal doctor hadn't checked her yet. So Mr. Snow told them to return on Sunday.

    On Sunday afternoon the Browns went to the animal shelter. The animal doctor said, “Shadow has had all of her shots（预防针）. She will be healthy.” Then, the Browns thanked the doctor and took Shadow home.

    I felt very sad not to be able to get the ticket to the film Titanic last Friday. I learned in the newspaper that tickets could be bought at the cinema box office in Richland Hills every day between 10：00 a.m. and 4：00 p.m. Because I work from 9：00 a.m.to 5：30 p.m., the only time I could go to the cinema was during my 45-minute lunch time. It is a pity that the cinema is on the other side of the town, and the bus service between my office and Richland Hills is not very good. But if you are lucky, you can make the round(往返)trip in 45 minutes.

    Last Monday I stood at the bus stop for fifteen minutes, waiting for a bus. By the time I saw one coming around the corner, there was not enough time left to make the trip-so I had to go back to the office. The same thing happened on Wednesday. On Thursday my luck changed, I got on a bus right away and arrived at the cinema in twenty minutes. But when I got there, I found a long line of people at the box office. I heard one man say he had been waiting in line for fifty-five minutes. I found that I would not have enough time to wait in line. I caught the next bus and went back across the town.

    Then on Friday I understood my only hope was to make the trip by car. It was not cheap, but I felt it would be worthwhile to see the film. The trip by car only took 10 minutes, but it felt like one hour to me. When I reached the cinema, I was delighted to see that nobody was waiting in line. But I quickly found out that it was because they had already sold out all the tickets.

    One dark night, two blind men were going home from work. "I need to buy some 1." said one of them suddenly.

    "OK!" replied the second man, "I think I'll buy two or three pairs for 2, too"

    In the shop, the salesgirl asked them. "What size do you wear, sir, and what color would you like?

    "Size eleven. Give me one pair of black socks and two pairs of white, please, answered one of them. "And you, sir?" the salesgirl asked 3 customer. "The same for me. I wear size eleven, too, And the same color the same 4, said the second blind man.

    A moment later they were back in the 5 streets. But just then, a boy riding a bicycle bumped into (撞上) them.

    The blind men dropped all the socks on the ground! All the six pairs- black and white all mixed up. The boy quickly said sorry and left. The two blind men 6 all the socks but couldn't tell which were black and which were white. 7 could they be sure that each of them got one pair of black socks and two pairs of white?

    They tried to ask for help. But 8 else was in the streets.

    One of them soon 9 the problem Can your guess how he made it? They separated each pair of socks and both took one sock 10 each pair. When they got home, each of them had two black socks and four white ones —just what they wanted. Weren't they smart?