There was a poor woman. Her husband was dead, and she lived with her two daughters in a small house a long way from the nearest town. There were two rose(玫瑰)trees in her garden. One rose tree had white flowers. One of her daughters was as beautiful as a white rose. Her name was Snow-white. The other rose tree had red flowers. The other daughter had dark hair and was as beautiful as a red rose. Her name was Rose-red.
The two girls were very good. Snow-white was quieter than Rose-red. Rose-red liked running about in the fields(田地)and looking for flowers and birds. Snow-white liked staying at home and working in the house with her mother. The girls were good friends, and they were always together. Snow-white said, "We're always going to stay together." And Rose-red said, "We're never going to go away from each other."
In summer Rose-red put flowers at the side of her mother's bed very early in the morning. She always took a rose from each rose tree and put them together. In winter Snow-white made the fire each morning. At night Mother often read some storybooks and the children listened to her.
There are many TV programs on Chinese dishes, but few are like A Bite of China(舌尖上:的中国). The seven-part documentary(纪录片) tells us something interesting about what Chinese at in different cultures and places.
The different kinds of foods on TV are from sixty different places. You can see so much delicious food which can catch your eyes and stomachs. And you can also learn how to make the food. That's why the program becomes so popular.
What's more, the program is not only about food. There are also many great stories between food and people. Liu Wen, a worker of CCTV-9, says the stories also show social changes.
"As the program works as a window, the documentary wants to help people around the world know more about Chinese dishes and its cultures," he says.
You can see the documentary on CCTV-1 or listen to it on CCTV-9 if you like it.
Tony was a doctor. He worked hard at work. Every day when he got back home, his wife liked telling him something interesting. He felt too tired to talk with her. So he often made his wife angry. One day, Tony went home early. So he decided to stop his car by the side of the road near his house. He was very tired and wanted to get some sleep. Just when he lay down on the seat, a man came and asked him the time. He looked at his watch and said, "It's 4：15 p. m. "Tony tried to sleep again, but there was another knock（敲）on the window of his car. "Sir, do you know what time it is, please？"A woman asked. He had to look at his watch again and told her, "it's 4：30 p.m. "
Tony couldn't sleep well so he wrote a note and put it on the window of his car. It said, "I don't know what time it is！"
Once again Tony tried to get some sleep. Just at that time, an old man knocked at his window and said, "Hi, young man！It's 4：45 p. m. now！"
Welcome to my hometown( 家乡 ) It's a newer city near a river. But it is smaller than the other cities. It is quiet, clean and nice. So most people think it is a good place. When you come to my hometown , I will show you around a big and beautiful park. It is in the center of the city. lt is my favorite place. I usually go to the park on Sundays with my family or friends. Many people exercise in it every day. Kids can play games in the park and they can also play sports in it. There are pay phones , a library , a supermarket , a bank and restaurants near it. The library is open from8:00 am to 9:00 pm every day. People can read books, watch videos (录像带) and learn new things in it. People can buy things in the supermarket. If people are hungry, they can go to the restaurants for a meal. Do you like my hometown?
Mike's grandfather came to America from a farm in Thailand. After arriving in New York, he went into a cafeteria(咖啡馆) in Manhattan to get something to eat. He sat down at an empty table and waited for a waiter or a waitress to take his order. Of course, nobody did. Finally, a woman with a big plate full of food came up to him. She sat down opposite(在……对面) him and told him how a cafeteria worked.
"Start out at that end," she said. "Just go along the line and choose what you want. At the other end they'll tell you how much you have to pay." "I soon know that's how everything works in America," the grandfather told Mike later. "Life's a cafeteria here. You can get anything you want as long as you want to pay the price. You can even get success, but you'll never get it if you wait for someone to bring it to you. You have to get up and get it yourself."
There was a small village. There were only more than two hundred people in it. The village was in the south of a city.
The village was special because in this village everybody was wealthy. They all had beautiful houses and very nice clothes. They were good at business so they were rich.
A young man wanted to know why, so he came to the village one day. He walked for a long time but he didn't find the reason. So he went to the market place and he started to talk with a businessman in a white shirt.
"Look, "he said, "the people in your village are very famous. You are all good businessmen. What is the secret?" "What is the secret?" answered the businessman, "The secret is this. We eat a lot of fish and the fish is good for our brains. It makes us clever. ""I see, "said the young man. "and what is the name of the fish?" "I don't know." said the businessman, "But if you give me $10, I can send you some. "The young man thought that was a good idea. So he gave the businessman $10 and left. Soon, the young man received a box. In a box, there were three fish.
After about a month, the young man met the businessman again. "Thank you for the fish, "he said, "but listen, S10 is too much for the three fish" "Ha! You see!" said the businessman, The fish is beginning to have an effect（效果）. You are becoming clever. "
About 37% of the people choose(选择) fast walking as their favorite exercise. Over 23% choose running and more than 14 % choose riding bikes. Fast walking is the exercise between walking and race walking. A study shows that fast walking has become the most popular exercise in China and many people walk more than 5.000 steps(步) a day. The results of the study are from QQ users.
Fast walking and running are easy, cost little and work well, so they are popular. And many people would like to do exercise in nature. It's best to walk fast for at least 10 minutes at one time and walk up to 6.000 steps every day.
The study also shows that people in Guiyang, Guizhou love sports most. On average(平均)，everyone there walks 5,941 steps every day." It seems that people in places with better environment and air are more willing to(更愿意) do sports.
One day when I was 12, I went to a restaurant for dinner with my family. It was a cold day, and the wind was blowing hard.
When my mom and I walked into the restaurant from our car, a girl about my age and her mother came up to us. They asked if we had any spare change（零钱）. My mom immediately (立刻) asked where they lived. "That old car across the street," said the girl. "Six of my family live in it."
My mom said she had something to do, and after handing them a few dollars we said goodbye. Then my mother sent me inside the restaurant with my dad. But she didn't come in.
About an hour later, my mom came. She said she went home and brought some food and clothes to the girl. I asked why she helped those people. She told me that we were lucky and the girl's family wasn't so lucky. "Mom really did the right thing," I thought to myself.
Until now, I still remember that night. On that night, my mom taught me one of the best lessons I have ever learned.
I am Nick. When I was a middle school student. I didn't know what I wanted to be. My father asked me to be an engineer like him, but I didn't like science. My mother is a violinist. She wanted me to play the violin or the piano, but I wasn't interested in them.
At the age of 16, I got my goal(目标). I got a part-tine(兼职的) job at a story telling club at school. I found it was very interesting. I loved to tell some interesting stories about the life, the future and special food. I kept doing the job during the next six years. When I left the university, I got a full-time(全职的)job at the radio station. Every day l share some interesting stories on the radio. Lots of people like to listen to my program. My program is very successful. I enjoy my life and job now.
What will our life be like in 100 years? No one can truly know the answer, but we are sure that it will be very different from the life today. My brother David makes some predictions. Here are some of his ideas.
First, people will have less work to do. People will spend most of their time playing sports and traveling. So people will become stronger and healthier, and they will live longer as well.
Second, computers will control the cars and people don't need to drive. So there will be fewer and fewer traffic accidents on the road. Planes will be very popular, and most people would like to take a plane for their trips. As for robots, they'll be very popular with human beings. Every family will have a robot. Robots will do dangerous and heavy work for people.
Third, people will be able to live in the sea, on the moon or on other planets. The earth won't be crowded or noisy any more. So there will be much place for people to plant trees. There will be less pollution, and the air will become much fresher.
Finally, water shortage (短缺) will become one of the most serious problems. If we don't save water now, people will start wars for water in 100 years.
