1. We can’t stop an earthquake, but we can do things to make sure that earthquakes don’t destroy whole cities. First, it is not a good idea to build houses along lines where two of the earth’s plates join together. Second, if you think there may be an earthquake, it is better to build houses on rocks , not on sand. Third, you must make the houses as strong as possible. Weak buildings will fall down in an earthquake, but strong ones may stay up.
Scientists are afraid that one day an even bigger earthquake will hit the part around San Francisco. They call it “The Big One”. However, people today are still building more houses. The population in and around San Francisco is now ten times more than it was in 1906. This means that if there is another earthquake, a great many houses and buildings will be destroyed.
2. Jimmy’s grandmother loves him very much. She takes good care of him. She always helps him with his homework, too. Jimmy studies in a middle school. His homework is very difficult. When he can’t solve problems, he asks his grandma for help. She often tells him he should try his best to solve the problems himself. But he thinks it is too hard.
One day, when Jimmy came back from school, he couldn’t find his grandma. Then his mother told him his grandma went to New York to visit an old friend. He was very surprised at that. He needed her because his homework that day was very difficult. Jimmy said to himself, “It’s going to be a bad day.” Then he took his homework out and began to do it. I t was hard to finish it without help. But he didn’t give up. He thought and thought, and it took him two hours to finish it. He felt very happy that he could do it by himself.
3. One day, when three men walked into the Thirteenth Street Station, they were told the three o’clock train to New York was going to leave an hour later that day. Then, they went to a bar to wait. About an hour later, they returned to the station laughing and talking. When they arrived at the platform, they saw the train was already moving slowly out of the station.
All three men ran after the train shouting, “Wait! Wait! Come back!” Two of them caught up with the moving train. By this time, the third man had stopped running. As he hopelessly watched the train pull out of the station, he could still see his friends wave and hear them call. At first he had a confused look on his face. Then after a short moment, he laughed.
A man standing nearby asked, “What’s so funny? After all, your two friends made it and you didn’t.”
The man was still laughing so hard that he had tears in his eyes as he replied, “You don’t understand. Those two friends came to see me off.”
4. The Bird of Happiness
A boy left his home to find the Bird of Happiness. He wanted the bird to bring warmth, flowers and trees to his village.
Before long, he met a monster with a black beard (胡子).The monster asked him where he was going. The boy told him.
“I’ll tell you where it is,” the monster said, “but you must kill someone for me. If you won’t, I’ll take all your food and drink.” The boy refused, so the monster took them all.
Before long, the boy was very hungry and thirsty. Then he met a monster with a white beard.
“I’ll tell you where the Bird of Happiness is,” the monster said, “but you must blind (使失明) someone for me. If you won’t, I’ll blind you.” The boy refused, and the monster blinded him.
At last, the boy reached the top of the mountain where the Bird of Happiness lived. He lay before the Bird, near death.
Then the Bird touched his eyes and he could see again. The Bird fed him, built up his strength and carried him home.
As soon as the Bird landed in the boy’s village, the countryside all around turned green. Flowers and other plants grew and everyone lived in peace. It was all because the brave boy brought the Bird of Happiness home to them.
5. There is a special festival in Thailand that people and animals celebrate together. It’s the festival for Thailand’s elephants, which takes place in the third week of November. In many parts of Thailand, people there are good at training elephants. The festival aims to show the importance of elephants and people’s relationship with them. Many tourists go to Thailand to watch it. First of all, there are elephant parades. More than 300 elephants will join the parades in the festival. People dress up in different kinds of Thai clothes. They also decorate their elephants beautifully. After the parade, the elephants come to a certain place to enjoy breakfast. The elephants will eat the fruit up very quickly. There are quite a few activities in the festival. For example, soccer matches and dancing are held between elephants to show their strength and skills. Elephants have played an important part in Thailand’s history and culture. People used to use them in battles in the past and they are now important for the tourism. An elephant can also carry 500kg of wood. They are more environmentally friendly than machines.
6. The greatest saleswoman in the world doesn’t mind if you call her a girl. That’s because Andrew made more than 80,000 pounds by selling cookies when she was 13 years old. Andrew and her mother shared a dream of travelling around the world. Once, while reading a magazine, Andrew found that the person who sold the most cookies would win a free trip for two people around the world. She decided to give it a try. To make her dream come true, Andrew went from door to door every day after school and repeated, “Hi, I have a dream. I want a trip around the world for my mum and me by selling cookies.” Then she asked, “Would you like to buy one or two boxes of cookies?” Andrew kept asking for a whole year, whether it was raining or snowing heavily. Her hard work brought good results. She sold 42,000 boxes of cookies that year and she won the trip. Andrew is as ordinary as other people. The success is that she has found the secret of selling: Ask, ask, ask! Many people fail before they even begin because they fail to ask for what they want.