One day, a farmer was walking along a road with his son Thomas. The father said, "Look! There's a horseshoe 1 the ground. Pick it up and put it in your bag." Thomas said, "It wastes my time." His father said 2 but he picked it up himself. When they got to a nearby town, they had a rest. There the farmer 3 the horseshoe and with the money he bought some strawberries.
The father and the son went on walking. The sun was well up in the 4. They soon drank up their water, and there wasn't a house or even a tree for them to 5. Thomas felt too6 to walk on. At this time, his father gave Thomas a strawberry 7 he quickly ate it. After a while, his father gave him 8 strawberry and once again, his son lost no time in putting it in his mouth.
And so they9. The old farmer gave the strawberries and the son ate them. When Thomas had eaten up all the strawberries, his father said to him, "My dear son, if you picked up that horseshoe, you would have your own strawberries 10. Always remember the lesson: if you don't worry about the little things, you'll find it difficult to do the great things."
Bookstores are second homes for readers. Although many people can now buy books online, many readers still like the feeling in bookstores. They can touch(触摸) the books and smell the print.
In China, there are many special bookstores. Sanlian Taofen Bookstore became the first 24-hour bookstore in Beijing at the beginning of April. Popular Holdings in Shanghai is a film-themed bookstore. It has film books and posters. Eslite Bookstore in Taiwan often has activities like talks with famous writers.
At the same time, bookstores outside China can be very colorful, too. Scarthin Books is a small bookstore in the UK. It sells new and second-hand books. There are more than 100,000 books lying on the shelves of the store's 12 rooms. Bart's Books in the US is a good place to enjoy the sunshine(阳光) while reading books. It's an outdoor bookstore. Bookshelves are on the street. When the store is closed, people can still buy books. They just put money into the door's coin box. Where can you find a café, bar and bookstore in just one place? The answer is probably El Pendulo in Mexico. Books line(排列成行) the walls of the store. On the second floor, visitors can order everyday meals in the café and drinks from the bar. In order to keep cool, there are green plants and trees inside. Does it look like a park?
Washington was the first president of the US. He was very smart even when he was still a young boy.
Once a thief (小偷) stole some money from Uncle Post, Washington's neighbour. The door of the house was not broken, and things in the room were in good order. Washington concluded that the thief must be one of the villagers.
That evening at the villagers' meeting, Washington said, "We don't know who stole the money but God does. God sends his wasp (黄蜂)to tell good from evil (罪恶). Every night the wasp flies among us but few people notice it...” Suddenly Washington cried out, "Look! The wasp has landed on the thief's hat. It is going to sting (叮)!
Soon everybody began to look for the thief. They noticed a man who was trying hard to drive the" wasp" off his hat." Now we know who stole the money, Washington said with a smile.
Another time, a neighbour stole Washington's horse. Washington went to the neighbour's farm to get his horse back with a policeman. But the neighbour said that it was his horse.
Suddenly Washington had a good idea. He put both of his hands over the eyes of the horse and said to the neighbour, "If this is your horse, then you must tell us in which eye the horse is blind."
The neighbour first told the policeman it was the left eye and then he right eye. But in fact, there was nothing wrong with the horse s eyes. Finally, the policeman said," You have proved that the horse isn't yours. You must return it to the boy.
Doing experiments can be interesting, and you may try the following experiments at home. Make sure that you'll do them with an adult.
A. Which scientist do you like best? B. Wish you success. C. A scientist. D. Which sport do you like best? E. Do you like playing basketball? F. Why do you want to be a scientist? G. That's great. |
A:Look! He is Jeremy Lin. I want to be a basketball player like him.
B:Yes, I like playing basketball very much. But I don't want to be a professional player.
A:So what do you want to be when you grow up?
B:
A:To be a scientist?
B:Because I want to invent some useful things to protect the environment.
A:
B:My favourite scientist is Yang Zhenning. And I also want to win the Nobel Prize.
A:That's great. Keep trying.
B:Thank you.
We need to be responsible (有责任心的) for our environment. Being a frugal consumer (节俭的消费者) is one way to help. But, what exactly does that mean?
Use it up
You can use things up instead of wasting them. Press the last bit of toothpaste (牙膏) out. Use the last little piece of soap. Don't throw away any bits of the biscuit at the bottom of the box.
①_______
You do not always need to have new things. Suppose there are holes in your socks. Mend them and wear them longer. You don't have to have the latest mobile phone until the old one doesn't work anymore. Then you can get a new one. Think twice before replacing something that still works.
②_______
When something you want is not on hand, look for something else that you already have to take its place. Suppose you are preparing your lunch for tomorrow and want a butter sandwich. However, there is not any butter in your home. Have a cheese sandwich instead so that you can use all of the cheese. With a little thought, you can make something do, instead of buying something new.
Do without
Think about all those things that you would like to have. Do you really need them? How long will you really play with that new toy? Make a list of things that you want. Delete the things that you don't really need, so you can save a lot of resources (资源).
① ②
A. Wear it out B. Stop pollution C. Make it do
A mother and her daughter lived in a village. Every night, mother would lock the door with three locks, because she was afraid that a thief might come in.
As time went by, the daughter became tired of her (bore) life there, and dreamed to go to the city to see the outside world. One day, she left home without (say) goodbye to her mother. "Forget me, Mom." She thought.
But the outside world wasn't as good she thought. Ten years (late), she came back home with a tired body and mind.
When she got home, it was dark. She knocked at the door, but nobody answered. Surprisingly, she found that the door was (lock). She came in and saw her mother (lie) in bed, sleeping. Tears ran down her face. Hearing the cry of (she) daughter, the mother woke. They hugged and (cry). After a while, the daughter asked, "Mom, why haven't you locked the door I left?" Her mother answered, "I was afraid you wouldn't be able to get in when you came back."