Mr. Clarke hated to do the housework. He wouldn't stay at home on weekends. As his wife always told him to do some washing or cleaning，or he had to cook for his family. So he always made some excuses (借口)on Friday evenings.

    Recently Mr. Clarke was interested in playing cards，but he was afraid to let his wife know. So every Sunday afternoon he brought some fish home. It made his wife happy and she never asked where he spent his weekends.

    One Saturday morning，Mr. Clarke left home at 7 o'clock. He took a bus and got off at a stop near a small town. His friends were waiting for him in a small hotel. They played cards there. Mr .Clarke didn't go home until 7 o'clock on Sunday evening. He went in the shop near the bus stop as usual. As soon as the shopkeeper saw him，the man said，“I'm sorry，Mr. Clarke. I have no fish today. What about some chicken legs？” “Don't be silly！” said Mr. Clarke，“I can't tell my wife that I have fished some chicken legs，can I？”

    Mr and Mrs Brown are from America. They are now teaching English in Beijing .Their son Jack is with them. Jack speaks English. They want him to learn some Chinese. Jack is in Grade Three in a Chinese school .He likes to play with(玩耍) Chinese children every day. He listens to Chinese, speaks Chinese, reads books in Chinese and writes in Chinese. He is good at his Chinese.

    It's Sunday. There are many people in the bus. And an old man is looking here and there. He wants to find an empty sea（t  座位）. Then he finds one. He goes to it. A small bag is on the seat. And a young man is sitting beside it.

    "Is this seat empty（空的）?" asks the old man.

    "No, it's for a woman. She goes to buy some bananas." says the young man.

    "Well," says the old man, "Let me sit here please. When she comes back, I will leave here." The bus starts（启动）.

    "She doesn't come, but her bag is here. Let me give her the bag." Then the old man throws the bag out of the bus window.

    The young man jumps up and shouts, "Don't throw（扔）! It's my bag!"

    Jane Austen(1775-1817), an English novelist, started writing from an early age and completed six major novels in her life. Today Austen's books are more popular than ever. Some of her novels have been made into films while her books continue to be best-sellers

    Richard Jenkyns, a professor of English from the University of Oxford says that her novels are about marriage, friendships and the family, which are still with us today." The stories are timeless," Jenkyns says.

    Pride and Prejudice(《做慢与偏见》)(1813) is Austen' s most famous work. It is a love story about Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. At first, they dislike each other. Elizabeth is pretty, smart and lively. She is proud because Mr. Darcy doesn't know about her and her family. Mr. Darcy is handsome, rich and has a better family background. So, he is proud as well. At the same time, Mr. Darcy holds a prejudice against the Bennet family. He has no understanding of why the family, especially the mother and daughters who try so hard to find wealthy and powerful husbands. He thinks they are vulgar. Anyway, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy finally fall in love and become a romantic couple but their families don't want them to do so.

    In Pride and Prejudice, some of the main things that Jane Austen wanted to teach people are as follows. Opposites can attract each other. Lovers should not only make each other feel relaxed or comfortable, but also educate and improve each other.

    Austen is often called the greatest romantic writer, so it is surprising she remained unmarried. "Maybe she was too romantic, waiting for the perfect man," Jenkyns says.

    A little boy almost thought of himself as the unluckiest child in the world because he was born with a lame (瘸的) leg. He seldom played with his classmates and always lowered his head without a word.

    One spring, the boy's father gave each child a small tree to plant." Whoever grows the best tree will get a favorite gift," he said to them. Seeing his brothers and sisters watering the trees happily in the garden, he had a terrible idea: he hoped the tree he planted would die soon. So he never cared about it.

    A few days later, he was surprised to find it not only didn't die, but also grew some fresh leaves, and it looked greener and healthier than the others. He got a favorite gift and was told by his father: from the tree he planted, he would become a great botanist (植物学家). One night, looking at the bright moonlight outside the window, he suddenly remembered what his teacher once said: most plants grew at night. Why not go to see the lovely tree? When he came to the garden, he found his father was watering his tree carefully. At that time, he understood: his father had secretly taken good care of his shall tree! He returned to his room with tears (泪水) running out.

    Many years passed. The little boy didn't become a botanist, but he was known as a great president of the United States. His name was Franklin Roosevelt.