Once upon a time there was a man in a small town. He had two children, a boy and a girl. The boy was good-looking but the girl was not.

      One day they found a mirror (镜子) for the first time and they saw what they looked like. The boy was very happy and he said to his sister, “How handsome I am! I look much nicer than you!”

      The girl did not like what her brother said and gave him a hard push (推). “Go away!” she said.

      Their father saw what was happening. He went up to them and said to the boy, “You must always BE good as well as LOOK good.”

      Then to the girl he said, “My dear, if you help everyone and do your best to make him happy, everyone will love you. It does not matter that you are not as good-looking as your brother.”

    Many expressions(表达方式) we use in American English come from movies and books. Today we will learn some expressions from Lewis Carol's famous book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. This book is better known as Alice in Wonderland.

    The story is about a young girl falling for a long time down a rabbit hole. When she finally lands, she finds herself in a strange world. In this strange world are some of the most popular characters in children's books. Many of the expressions from the book have found their way into American English.

    The first character Alice meets is the White Rabbit. The White Rabbit is not a usual rabbit. Alice chases (追赶) after him, and that is where her adventures begin.

    In English, "chasing a white rabbit" means to chase an impossible dream. "Following the white rabbit" means you are in the middle of an unusual situation. This situation often challenges your thinking and changes your life. Like "chasing a white rabbit", "falling down the rabbit hole" means we get interested in something else and lose ideas about time.

    Later in the story, Alice is the guest at a tea party— a crazy tea party! There she meets the March Hare. The hare seems to be truly crazy. To be "mad as a March hare" means that someone is completely mad or crazy.

Using expressions from popular books can add special flavor(味道). And when used properly, they also show you have a deeper understanding of the English language.

    Steven Jobs, the designer of Apple Computer, was not clever when he was in school. At that time, he was not a good student and he always made troubles. When he went into college, he didn't change a lot. Then he dropped out（退学）. But he was full of new ideas.

    After he left college, Steven worked as a video game designer. He worked there for only several months and then he went to India. He hoped that the trip would give him some new ideas and give him a change in life.

    Steven lived on a farm in California for a year after he returned from India.

    In 1975, he began to make a new type of computer. He designed the Apple Computer with his friend in his garage（汽车库）. He chose the name "Apple" just because it could help him to remember a happy summer he once spent in an apple tree garden.

    His Apple Computer was such a great success that Steven soon became famous all over the world.

    I'm a Russian student. Last year I came to China for a holiday. It took me 8 hours to arrive in Beijing by plane. It was 11pm when I arrived at the airport. I was tired and wanted to find a hotel.

    The airport was big and black. I didn't know where a hotel was. I saw a Chinese girl in front of me. I studied a little Chinese before, but I couldn't speak well. I spoke to her in Chinese. She couldn't understand me. I asked again and again. At last, she understood. She asked me in Russian, "Are you from Russia?" She could speak Russian well. She told me where the nearest hotel was and sent me to the hotel. What a friendly girl she was!