SCENE I

One dollar a week

The doorway of the house where Chandler has a room. He is dressed in his best clothes, ready for his evening out. He is going out as his friend, Jeff White, comes in.

WHITE         What are you doing this evening, Towers?

CHANDLER      (Smiling) Tonight I'm going to live like a man with a million dollars!

WHITE         What are you talking about? You haven't got a million dollars!

CHANDLER      How much money are you and I paid each week, Jeff?

WHITE         Eighteen dollars. Why?

CHANDLER      And how much of that eighteen dollars do you spend each week?

WHITE         All of it, of course.

CHANDLER    Well, I don't. Each week I save one dollar out of my eighteen. Then, every ten weeks, I can buy myself an evening to remember.

WHITE         What do you do?

CHANDLER   I put on my finest clothes, go to one of the best restaurants in New York, eat the most expensive food on the menu, drink the best wine, and then take a taxi home!

WHITE          (Surprising) Why?

CHANDLER     Why? Because it makes me feel wonderful to sit with some of the richest people in America, and to make them think that I'm rich, too.

WHITE          You're crazy!

CHANDLER     (Laughing) Perhaps I am!

Mrs Black comes in.

MRS BLACK      Ah, Mr Chandler. I wanted to see you.

CHANDLER      Good evening, Mrs Black. What a lovely evening!

MRS BLACK   Lovely evening perhaps, but you haven't paid me for your room this month. When am I going to get the money?

CHANDLER     Soon, Mrs. Black. Very soon.

Mrs Black looks at Chandler's clothes.

MRS BLACK      You can spend money on expensive clothes, but you can't pay for your room. Is that right?

CHANDLER    (Hurrying away) Good night, Mrs Black!

    For his eleventh birthday, Lin was given a gift that would shape his life. On that day his father took him to the Children's Activity Centre and said he could choose any course that interested him. There was just one

Requirement: Lin would have to promise to study it for at least one year.

    To that point Lin had had many hobbies, but none kept his interest for more than a week or two. His mum once gave him a bag of stamps to encourage stamp collecting. That hobby lasted a week. Then his father got him some paints hoping that Lin's artistic side would shine through. Those paints were now under his bed, still unopened. This time Lin's parents would let him decide.

    Lin's eyes moved down the noticeboard that listed all the courses on offer. He stopped at "Photography". He liked the idea of taking beautiful pictures but the notice said that each student needed their own camera. Although Lin's family weren't poor, they weren't rich either, and a camera cost a lot of money. He continued looking.

    The next course to catch his eye was "Language Art". He didn't even know what that meant. His father explained that it taught people how to make public speeches. Lin, a shy boy, could think of nothing worse.

    Then he saw it. "Cooking" sounded like something he'd like to do. It was inexpensive and convenient. It could be done alone and it was also creative.

    Based on Lin's hobby history, his dad had doubts, but he agreed. Much to his parents' surprise, Lin kept his promise. He studied cooking at the Centre every Saturday, and practised at home, making delicious meals for his family. Everyone looked forward to birthdays, when they could eat his cakes. Lin got great satisfaction from the pleasure his food brought to others.

    The months turned to years but his hobby never changed again.

    Now Lin is an adult and runs a successful restaurant. When customers say they enjoy his meal, he still gets the same pleasure he did as a child, and remembers the special gift he received "all those years ago.

Once upon a time, there was a man who kept several sheep. One morning, the man found that one of his sheep was missing. It turned out that, during the night, a wolf stole his sheep through a hole in the sheep pen (羊圈).

His neighbor suggested to him, "You should mend the hole right away." But the man said, "The sheep is already lost. So I don't need to mend it."

The next morning, he found that another sheep was missing, too. Once again, the wolf stole the sheep through the same hole. The man regretted not taking the neighbor's advice.

So he mended the hole at once.

From then on, no more sheep was stolen by the wolf. It is never too late to mend.

Yang Zhen was an honest and clean（廉洁的） government officer during the Eastern Han Dynasty. 

One day, Yang met his old workmate Wang Mi on a trip. They had fun talking about their life experiences and good wishes for the nation. In the past, Wang's ability and political ideas were not accepted by the people around him. At that time, Yang saw Wang's talent and promoted（提拔）him. 

The chance helped Wang to be successful. Wang never forgot Yang's help and invited him to stay over for the night. 

It was near midnight when Wang knocked on the door of Yang's bedroom. He handed Yang a bag and said, "This is to thank you for teaching me and helping me become who I am today. "Yang looked at the bag. It was full of gold. "Do I look like a person who takes presents from others? I thought you knew me well! "Yang said angrily. 

"It's late now. No one will know if we keep it a secret. "said Wang. "What do you mean no one will know? Heaven（天） knows! Earth knows! You know and I know! "said Yang. "You can lie to anyone but not your own heart. " The door was closed and Wang left the room in shame. 

With the help of the Internet, shopping is not a difficult job. Just click your mouse to choose the article (物品) you like, and you can finish shopping. You don't need to walk out of the room. It seems easy and quick. But there's a trap(陷阱) online sometimes. If you are careless, it will bring your some trouble. You may find the colour of the article is different from what you want, or the size is too small or too big. If you want to be different, you'd better not buy clathes online. Once you put on the clothes you buy online and go out, you will find many people wear the same clothes in the street.

 My elder sister, Isabel, is good at sports. She's a wonderful soccer {#blank#}1{#/blank#} . I wanted to play on Isabel's team. So I practiced hard with my dad. He taught me {#blank#}2{#/blank#} to play the ball. We didn't tell Isabel because we wanted to surprise her. We kept {#blank#}3{#/blank#} a secret. 

 One day Isabel came home from soccer practice. She was {#blank#}4{#/blank#} about the next day's game. "Our best player can't come, " Isabel told Dad. 

I knew this was my big chance! The next day, I went to the practice {#blank#}5{#/blank#} the game. "Can I join you?" I asked the teacher. She looked a little surprised {#blank#}6{#/blank#} she handed me a red shirt, "Practice during the warm-up. You' ll play on the red {#blank#}7{#/blank#} , and Isabel is on the blue team. "

 The warm-up started. I took the ball down the field. Isabel tried to {#blank#}8{#/blank#} me. I ran past her with the ball. I took the ball back very fast. I scored a goal!"Wow! It's a big surprise, " said Isabel. Soon the game started. Our team pulled together, and we {#blank#}9{#/blank#} the game!

 After the game, Isabel looked excited. "We have another player in the family! Now we can play {#blank#}10{#/blank#} . " Chances are given to everyone who is prepared.