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    A young man once went to buy a pair of pants. When he got home, he went upstairs(上楼) to his bedroom and put them on. He found that they were two inches(英寸) long.

    Then he came out of his room to see his mother and his two sisters. They were washing something in the kitchen. “These new pants are too long, they need to be shortened(缩短) about two inches. Would one of you like to do this for me, please?” His mother and sisters were busy and none of them said anything. The mother went upstairs after she had finished washing and shortened the pants two inches. But she didn't tell her daughters about it.

    Later on, after supper, the elder sister remembered her brother's pants. So she went upstairs without saying to anyone, and shortened the pants two inches.

    The younger sister went to the cinema, but when she came back, she also remembered what her brother had said. So she ran upstairs, and took two inches off the legs of the new pants.

    Want to say "hello" from Disneyland? Send a post card!

    Beautiful scenes（戏剧）of paradise (乐园),wild animals, silly pictures — you can find them all in one place. Where? On a post card! Have people always sent post cards? No. Before post cards, people liked sealed letters.

    The idea for the first decorated (装饰) post card came to John P. Charlton in 1861. He thought a simple card with decorations would be a great way to send a note. Then in the late 1800s, post cards with pictures appeared. By law, people had to write their note on the front ——on the picture! The back was only for the address. Several years later, England allowed a divided-back post card. Then people could write their note on the back left side and put the address on the right. During the early 1900s, the golden age of post cards, picture post cards became a craze of the world. In 1908, Americans alone mailed over 677 million post cards. Today, post cards are the third most popular collection in the world after stamps and coins.

    A young woman turns around and around quickly, and jumps high. In the background, a young girl reads a rejection (拒绝) letter from a ballet school. You have the wrong body for ballet, 'it says,' and at thirteen, you are too old. This was one of the most popular advertisements (广告) of 2014 and it describes American ballet Theatre's principal (主要的) dancer Misty Copeland.

    This was not a real letter. But Copeland says it is very similar to letters from her childhood. While many dancers start at the age of three. Copeland only began to study ballet in 1995 as a thirteen-year-old. People often told her that she was too old, or that she didn't have the perfect body type (She is only 157 cm tall). Her family moved a lot, and it was sometimes difficult for her to attend ballet classes. But Copeland loved dancing and did not want to give up. She stayed with her ballet teacher during the week and spent time with her family only at the weekend. This was a difficult life, but she worked hard and won her first national competition when she was fourteen years old. Copeland joined the American Ballet Theatre in 2000 and performed in many ballets over the next few years. In 2007, she became a solo (单独的) performer, and in 2015 she became its principal dancer.

    Copeland is now a dancer, author and Broadway performer. She also stars in the 2015 film A Ballerina's Tale. So what's next? According to Copeland, anything is possible: "My career (职业) really is just now beginning.'

    An Englishman shows a foreign visitor around London. "What is that strange building?" asks the visitor. "That's the Tower of London." "I see. How long did it take to build it? ""About 20 years." "In my country, we can build it in 20 months," answers the visitor. A short time after that they come to St. Paul's Cathedral (圣保罗大教堂). "Very interesting," says the visitor. "How long did it take to build it?" "About forty years." "In my country we can finish it in forty days," says the visitor. This goes on all day. They visit most of the best known buildings in the city. Every time they see a new one, the visitor always asks the same question. Then he always answers that they can do the same thing much faster in his country. At last, the Englishman gets angry with the visitor but he tries not to show it. At last they come to the House of Parliament and the visitor asks his usual question "What is that?" The Englishman answers "I don't know. It wasn't there last night."