On a farm lived a father and a son. The father always got up early and read by the window. One morning, the son came up to him and said, Dad, I read books at night but forget most of them the next morning. What's the good of reading?

    The father didn't reply to his question at once. He passed him a basket that was used to carry coal (煤). He said, "Get some water from the river with the basket and then I'll tell you the answer."

    The son felt surprised but he did as his father said. He tried many times but every time the water leaked(漏掉) from the basket.

    An hour later, the son came back with the empty basket and told his father it was impossible to hold water with the basket. The father said with a smile, "Yes, you are right, my son. The basket can't hold water. But did you notice the basket was different?" The son found the dirty basket had become clean. The father continued, "Reading is like holding water with the basket. Although we can't remember all we read, we have changed while reading."

    Hello, I'm Jenny Brown, I'm 12. This is a photo of my family. Who are they? Can you guess? Yes, they're my parents. My mother's name is Jane Brown and my father's name is Jack Brown. My cousin Mary is in the photo, too. She is 8. Her telephone number is 548—3674. My sister Linda is in the middle of the photo. Where(在哪里) am I? I'm the girl in a yellow jacket. My telephone number is 976—8431.

    Four beggars (乞丐) usually met at an old shack (小窝棚) at the end of the day. One day, they were very upset because none of them had got much in their begging bowls.

    "I only got this piece of meat today," the first said. "I hardly got anything," the second said. "I just picked up these few vegetables outside the fruit and vegetable store." The third complained that all he was given was a handful of herbs(香草) that he couldn't eat on his own. The fourth beggar didn't do much better. "I only got the handful of old, dried beans, but they aren't very nice!"

    As they sat around the fire, one of them had a great idea. "Let's put all our bits together and boil them. In this way, we can make a tasty dish and share it." They all agreed.

    However, the first beggar thought, "I don't want to share. I'll just pretend (假装) to throw my meat into the pot. They'll never know and I'll eat my meat later." So he pretended to put the meat into the pot. Now the same idea had also hit the other beggars and the shack was so dark that no one could see what the others were doing.

    Finally, one of them suggested that the dish should now be ready and, in turn, each of them helped himself to a bowl. They drank the hot water in absolute(绝对) silence, learning that selfishness doesn't taste all that good.

Wang Hua is a twenty-year-old young man. Two years ago, he finished high school and found a job in a shop. Usually he works until 9 o'clock at night. He is very tired when he gets home. After a quick supper, he always goes to bed quietly. His grandma who lives downstairs (楼下) is happy with this. 

One day, on his way home, he happened to meet Zhou Weilun. They were both happy because they hadn't seen each other since graduation (毕业). They talked about their school, teachers, classmates and their future. They couldn't stop and went to Wang Hua's house together with some fruit and drinks. They went on talking there. 

"Have a look at your watch, Wang Hua. I left mine at home," Zhou Weilun said. "What time is it? Maybe I should go home. "

"Sorry, but there is something wrong with my watch," said Wang Hua. 

Wang Hua thought for a while and began to stamp (跺脚) his foot on the floor. "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The sound woke up his grandma. The old woman shouted, "It is twelve o'clock at night, Wang Hua. Why are you still jumping upstairs?"

Wendy is good at English and Chinese，but her math isn't good. She doesn't think it's useful. 

One day，the clothes at Wendy's mom's store are on sale，so there are many people. Her mom wants to teach her a lesson，so she asks her to help out at the clothes store. When a woman walks in，Wendy walks to her. The woman says she wants to buy a sweater. After some time，she says， "I'll take this yellow one. What's the price of it？" Wendy says， "It is 800 yuan，but it's on sale. You can take it at half price （半价）. Uh，you need to pay （支付） 400 yuan. " "I see. This is my VIP card. I can get a 20% discount （折扣），right？" "Oh，yes，" Wendy says. "Then，you just need to pay 80 yuan. " The woman looks at Wendy in surprise ， asking， "Are you sure？"

Then，Mrs. Black，Wendy's mom，comes and says to the woman， "I'm sorry. You need to pay 320 yuan，please. " Then，she looks at her daughter and asks， "Now，do you think math is useful？"