Yesterday afternoon Mr. Brown wanted to catch the 1:30 flight to New York to have an important meeting. At 4:30, Mrs Brown, his wife, got his phone call and he said that he was still at the airport.
"What happened to you?" Mrs Brown asked in surprise.
"Well," Mr. Brown said. "Everything was fine at first. I got my ticket checked, took my bags and waited in line to get on the plane. While I was walking across the runway to the plane, I saw my friend Jack Scott—he was a flight attendant. I shouted to him and a policeman caught me."
"But why?"
"I don't know. As soon as he heard my shout, he ran towards me and caught me."
"What did you shout to your friend?"
"All I said was 'Hi, Jack' ; you know that's the usual way we say hello to our friend."
"But the sentence 'Hi, Jack' also means to take control of a plane by force(武力). Don't you know?"
We know music is very important in our daily life. Do you notice music playing at any of those places when you go somewhere? Today most stores, stations, restaurants and other places play music. You might even hear music in an office or on a farm.
Scientists believe that music influences(影响) the way people behave(表现). They think that the sound of western classical(古典) music makes people feel richer. When a restaurant plays classical music, people spend more money on food and drinks. When the restaurant plays modern music, people spend less money. Without music, people spend even less.
Scientists also believe that loud, fast music makes people eat faster. Some restaurants play fast music during their busy hours. This makes people eat faster and leave quickly. Restaurants can make more money in this way.
Some scientists think that music makes you think and learn better. They say that music helps students to be more active. It is true that people learn better when they are relaxed. And listening to music can help you relax.
The next time you hear music somewhere, be careful. It might influence the way you do things.
Once upon a time in a land far away, there was a wonderful old man who loved all kinds of small animals, such as spiders, insects and butterflies and so on.
One day while walking through the woods, the nice old man found a cocoon（茧） of a butterfly. He took it home.
A few days later, a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to make its body out of that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared it could go no farther.
Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then got out of the cocoon easily.
But it had a swollen（肿胀的） body and small shriveled（枯萎的） wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge to be able to support the body, which would contract（收缩） in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings.
What the warm-hearted man in his kindness did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were Nature's way of forcing fluid（体液） from the body of the butterfly into its wings, so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If we were allowed to go through our life without any difficulties, it would be bad for us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. And we could never fly.
My 10-year-old Donna said,“Mom,I had a new friend at school today.Can she come over tomorrow?”Donna was a shy girl and I wanted her to make some friends to bring her out of her shell.
“Sure,honey,that sounds great,”I said,thinking back to my own best friend,Lillian.We lived across the street from each other in Washington Heights,New York.We met at the age of 10,too.Like my daughter,I was shy,but Lillian drew me out.She was one of the friendliest people in school,with shiny black hair and a mile-wide smile.
In senior high school,Lillian went on a trip to Florida.This was the first time we had to be away from each other for a few days.“I'll be back soon,”she told me.But three days later,Lillian's sister told me that she had fallen into a river and hadn't come out any more.Soon,my family moved to New Jersey.Whenever I thought of her,tears came into my eyes.
The next day Donna brought her new friend home.“Hi,Mrs.Loggia,”the little girl said.Her hair was so shiny and black and she shot me a big smile.“My name is Laura.”
My daughter's new friend was so much like Lillian.I was still puzzled (迷惑) when Laura's mom came to pick her up later that afternoon.I opened the door to let her in.“Judy!” she cried.“It's me,Lillian's sister,from Washington Heights.”Yes,my daughter's friend looked familiar.She was Lillian's niece.
Mrs. Yao is a wonderful teacher. She tried to make learning fun for us, so she added singing and dancing into our class. On the other hand, she was very strict with us. If we didn't finish our homework, we should get a detention (放学后留校) .
In our life, Mrs. Yao was also a teacher that we all trusted. Once we took a trip to Shanghai. I fell down on the wet hotel bathroom floor. My hand got hurt. One of my roommates quickly got Mrs. Yao while another stayed to help me stop the blood. Mrs. Yao came with a few hotel workers. Clearly, the workers were very angry because I made the towels and the bed dirty. Mrs. Yao, like a bear protecting her baby, asked to speak with their boss. Soon the boss showed up. Being the super teacher that we trusted, Mrs. Yao soon had the problem solved. Mrs. Yao came back to me later. She checked my hand carefully and said, "Don't be worried. I will always be here for all of you."
Also she saw my potential (潜能) for learning Chinese. I felt thankful to her.
How did we help to save our earth this week? Let me tell you.
First, my family tried to save electricity (电). We never left the lights1 when leaving the room. We2the TV when nobody was watching it. Mum only used cold water in the washing machine.
Second, we started recycling (回收) this week. We tried to write on 3of our paper, not just on one side. We also divided our rubbish into4bags for bottles, paper and food. Mum kept the plastic shopping bags from the supermarket to use them again as rubbish bags.
Third, my family started to save5. We stopped6long baths and had short showers (淋浴) 7. We washed toilet with used water. Mum and dad used less water to do the washing. My sister and I didn't leave the tap (龙头) running when we brushed our teeth.
At last, mum and dad began to save gas (汽油). Mum used to 8 us to school, but now my sister and I started riding our bikes to school. It's hard work 9good exercise! This week dad and a few of the people in his company also started to go to work in one car and share the 10.
These are great ways to help protect our environment.
When I first arrived in America, I was (惊奇的) by the honesty of my classmates. Over my first month at school, I didn't see (或者) hear anyone cheating. I found two (原因) for this.
First, if any student cheats, he or she will get (惩罚). My school has a rule (称作) the Honor Code. It asks students not to steal, lie or cheat. If someone goes (违反) the code, he or she will have to leave the school. (在……期间) my first year in the school, seven students left the school because of cheating.
Second, American students don't care about scores as much (与……一样) Chinese students do. They know that colleges will look at their all-round abilities (而不是) of only scores. So they have (更少的) reasons to cheat.
