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!

    My father is tall and has short gray hair. He wears glasses with heavy black frames(框架). Today I find a picture of him in 1986. What a surprise! In the picture, he's 15 years old. He's short and he has glasses with small round frames. He has long black hair and it's really straight. He's wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt with the word “love”. I'm 15 years old now. I'm of medium height and I have short hair. My hair isn't black, it's brown. My dad thinks it's strange, but my friends think it's great. I wear glasses, but my glasses have square(方的)， red frames. They are so cool. I never wear blue jeans. I like big, baggy pants and long T-shirts. Most of my T-shirts have pictures of my favorite actors or singers on them.

    I'm Ben. Today was not a good day. First, I slept late and Morn shouted at me to wake me up.  When I went to the kitchen for breakfast, I found there was no hamburger. So I decided to have some bread, but I burned (烤糊) it. I had to eat it because there was no more bread. There was no juice, either. I just had a cup of water.

    When I was at the bus stop, I found that I forgot my wallet (钱包), so I had to go back home to get it. Of course, I missed my bus and had to wait for a long time.

    I was late for school. When I got to school, the first Class was over. I missed a math test. The teacher said there would be a test just for me after school two days later. Oh, it's Friday! I can't visit my grandma then

    After lunch, it was time to give the teacher my homework. I reached into my bag to get it but it wasn't there. I left it at home……

    After school, my father drove me home. When I got home, I went straight to my room to do my homework. Mom cooked fish for dinner. She knows I don't like fish, but she thinks it is good for me. What a bad day! I hope tomorrow Will be nice.

    Alan worked in an office in the city. He worked very hard and really looked forward to his holiday. He usually went to the seaside, but one year he saw an ad in a newspaper Enjoy country life. Spend a few weeks at William Farm. Good food, fresh air, horse riding, walking, fishing.

    "This sounds like a good idea," he thought, "I'll spend a month at William Farm. I'll go horse riding, walking and fishing. It'll be different from the seaside." Four days later, he returned home.

    "What's wrong with William Farm?" his friend Jack asked him. "Didn't you enjoy country life?"

    "Country life was fine, "Alan said." But there was another problem."

    "Oh, what problem?"

    "Well, the first day I was there, a sheep died, and we had roast（烤好的）mutton for dinner. "

    "Fresh meat is the best."

    "I know, but on the second day a cow died, and we had roast beef for dinner."

    "Lucky you!"

    "You don't understand, "Alan said." On the third day a pig died and we had roast pork for dinner. "

    "A different roast every day, "Jack said.

    "Let me finish, "Alan said." On the fourth day a farmer died and I didn't want to stay there for dinner. "

Mobile phones are becoming more and more popular not only with adults but also with students. However, they also have become a problem for middle schools in the last few years.

Some children have got mobile phones as Christmas or birthday gifts, and more will ask their parents to buy phones for them.

Many students like mobile phones because they are easy and quick. Some parents feel it convenient because they can get in touch with their children. Some teachers think using mobile phones is a distraction(分心的事)to students during school hours and mobile phones also give them much trouble in their classrooms. Sometimes students send phone messages to cheat(作弊)during exams. A new study says that some teenagers even hurt their fingers because of the over-use of mobile phones. They keep using mobile phones for more than ten hours during a day.

Many teachers suggest that students should not have phones at school, but if there is a good reason, they can leave their phones at the school office. Many people think they understand why parents would want their children to have them, but they agree school should let the students know when they can use their mobile phones.

Johnny, a lizard (蜥蜴), lived between some rocks in the country, where he liked sunbathing every morning. One day, he felt so 1 that he didn't notice some boys coming up behind him. The boys caught Johnny, and he could only escape from their hands by losing his 2 and running to hide.

The children watched his tail moving about, but they soon threw the tail away and left. Johnny came out to 3 his tail, but could find no 4 of it. Feeling so sad, he decided to 5 doing everything else in his life and spending all his time finding his tail. Days and months passed, and Johnny kept looking, asking everyone 6 they had seen his tail. However, there was 7 no news about it.

One day, he asked a boy and the boy 8 replied, "Why do you need two tails?" After hearing this, Johnny turned back and saw that he had grown a new, stronger tail. He suddenly realised how 9 it had been to waste so much time on a problem like it. Johnny headed for home.

10 , he suddenly found his old tail on the roadside. Although it 11 terrible, Johnny was still excited to have it back. He picked it up and was about to 12 his journey. Just at that moment, an idea hit him that he shouldn't look at the past and worry about it since it was not useful for 13 .

He then decided to 14 his old tail there leaving with it all his past worries. As he continued his journey, all he took with him were thoughts of the present and the dreams of the 15 .

As we know, it's not good to look at the past, unless it helps in the future. Let the past go with the wind.