A man made a nice talking machine（机器）.It could weigh people’s weight .The man wanted to try themachinebefore he could make a lot of machines.He put the machine into the waiting room of a station. There were always lots of people in and out.

The first one who used the machine was an Indian woman. She stood on the machine, the machine thought for a few seconds to decide which language to speak. “Good morning, Madam.” it said in Indian. “Your weightis 72 kilograms. That’s three kilograms more .If you eat more fruitandvegetables, you will be soon all right .Please have a nice day.”

The second one to use the machine was a Chinese girl .She stood on the machine and waited to hear her weight. “Good morning, Miss.” the machine said in Chinese. “Your weight is 45 kilograms. It’s all right for your age. Keep eating what you eat every day .Please have a nice day.”

The third one to use the machine was a very fat American woman. She thought for a long time to stand on the machine. The machine spoke quickly in English, “Good morning .Will one of you get off?”

Mr. White is a blind man who likes traveling alone. However, as a blind man, he has met a lot of troubles during his trips.

Once Mr. White traveled to Texas. It was his first time to go there. On the plane, he sat next to a woman who came from Texas. The woman told him that everything was bigger and better in her city. When Mr. White arrived, he found a hotel and decided to spend the night there.

After dinner, Mr. White went to a wine bar and ordered a glass of wine. When the waiter brought him one, he was surprised. “Wow! How big!” he said. Mr. White doesn’t drink often, so he was a little drunk after drinking the wine. He wanted to go to the restroom, so he asked another waiter for directions. “Turn right at the information desk and it is the second door on the right,” said the waiter.

When Mr. White walked past the first door, he fell down. He missed the second and went towards the third door instead. He walked forward and then fell into the swimming pool. At that time he remembered that everything there was bigger. “Don’t flush(冲洗)! Don’t flush!”He shouted as soon as he got his head above the water.

Every day I pass by a homeless old man on the street. He usually sat near where I go to school. Whenever I pass by, he says “hello” in a cheerful manner, and I always say it back. I give him any extra change I have.

The old man always wears an old watch. It is not an expensive watch by any means, but it serves its purpose. One day I noticed he wasn’t wearing it any more. I asked him why and he looked down and told me that the battery (电池) had died so he threw it away. I knew he couldn’t buy a new battery and he didn’t have enough money to buy a new watch.

He stayed on my mind all day, and I knew what I had to do. I went out to a shop and bought him a watch. It was not an expensive one, but that was very similar to the one he had.

When I saw him the next day, he was smiling and cheerful as ever. When I bent down to put some change in his cup, I also dropped the watch in. I didn’t say anything about it. I just smiled at him and kept on walking. He didn’t even notice it until I left. I looked back and watched as he pulled the watch from the cup. He looked at me and I just smiled and nodded. He put the watch on with a big smile on his face and I walked happily on my way.

A cup of coffee is a good way for many people to start their day. It can also pass on kindness.

Manyang Kher used to be a Sudanese child refugee (难民). When he was three years old, his village was burnt in the war. He was separated from his parents and never saw them again. He became one of the 20,000 young Sudanese who had to leave their home for Ethiopia’s Gambella area. He lived there as a refugee for 13 years.

When he was 16, Kher went to the United States. While he was in college, he started a program to help the refugees. Now, he owns a coffee company (公司) called 734, which is part of his program. The company has helped more than 200,000 refugees living in the Gambella area till now. Kher said, “I know the difficulties and pains they face every day. You see kids die from hunger. You see kids dying of illnesses. You see kids running away from the refugee camp to find a place to be home, but die on the way.”

Eighty percent of the money made by the coffee company is used to send more of the children to school. And, as Kher explains, the money helps refugees to help themselves. For example, a cup of 734 coffee can also buy one fishing net (网) for a refugee. They can fish fir themselves.

Kher sells the coffee online and to coffee stores. Megan Murphy owns a coffee store in Washington, D.C. She serves 734 coffee in her store and people love it. The coffee tastes delicious, so it’s a win-win on both sides.

Once upon a time in India, there was a town called Boring. It was by the side of Dull Lake. It was a strange town. The people of Boring never smiled; they did not know how to laugh—whether they were grown-ups or children.

No one knew how to smile, laugh or crack a joke. Life was really dull and boring. No one played any games, because there were no playgrounds in the town.

One day the town had a visitor. Ekta’s grandmother had come visiting. It was her first time in Boring. She had silvery hair and a smile that stretched（伸展）from ear to ear. Even her eyes smiled. The people of Boring found her very surprised.

Ekta’s grandmother decided to change it. She was good at telling jokes. She knew many jokes. The funny jokes made people laugh. Once they laughed together they felt warm towards each other. They made friends for life. Grandma was satisfied. Her work was done. She returned home. Since then, wherever children have laughed and played with each other, those villagers, towns and cities have never seen any unlucky things.

There are few families in the United States that do not have either a radio or television set. Both of them have become a necessary part of our daily life, keeping us filled with the news of the day, teaching us in many fields of interest, and making us happy with singing, dancing and acting.

Marconl, the Italian inventor, who gave us the radio, probably didn’t know how much his great invention would have done for the world in the years to come. Radio had, perhaps done as much as any other communication tool. Things of the world can be reported to people everywhere a few seconds after they happen. Travelers in out- of – the – way places, ships at sea even astronauts round the earth are able to keep in touch with each other by radio.

Television is another important invention. It lets us see as well as hear the actor. Since its appearance, TV has done a great deal in the daily life of people everywhere. Many programs are now televised in color.

Perhaps the most modern invention is “Telstar”, a “star” moving round the earth. It makes it possible for the people all over the world to be closer than ever before. Now a family in Chicago can watch on TV a motor – car race in Italy, a table tennis competition in Beijing or a volleyball match in Japan as these events are actually happening!

Once upon a time, a cat and a mouse were good friends. They lived a happy life in the same house. One day they went to the market and bought a big piece of cheese. They put it under a tree for winter.

A few days later, the mouse wanted to eat the cheese. He told the cat that he had to go to a babyˈs birthday party and then left. The mouse ate half of the cheese and returned home. When the cat asked him what the babyˈs name was, the mouse said “Half-gone”.

After a few days, the mouse wanted some cheese again. He told the cat he had to go to another babyˈs birthday party. He finished the other half and told the cat the baby was called “All-gone”.

When winter came, the cat went to the tree to get the cheese. But he found nothing. From then on, mice and cats were not friends any more.

 Many children like to watch TV. It's very interesting. The programs(节目) on TV tell us many things about the country and a lot of news about the world. Judy watches TV on Sundays. There is an English program Getting To Know America. It's her favorite program. It tells about the life of America, such as buildings, traffic, food, houses, movie stars. Why does she love the program? Because she likes English. She likes English best of all the subjects. When she watching the program, she can remember every word she sees on TV. That helps a lot, because she learn many new words, English really interests her(令她感兴趣). She likes learning English. On weekdays, she doesn't watch TV, but reads English story books every night before she goes to bed. She can learn a lot from the TV program and the story books.

For ten weeks , in a great house on the island of St Thomas , Dr John C. Lilly tried to teach a six-year-old dolphin to speak English . Margaret Howe , an experiment（实验）helper , would live day and night with Peter , a dolphin . And they would eat , bathe , sleep and play together from Sunday to Friday , so Margaret can only rest on Saturdays . She lived her life in swimming clothes – with a coat on colder evenings --- and cut her hair short so that she could get on with Peter more easily .

After a few days , Peter was becoming more and more interested in winning her attentions . He threw a ball against Margaret to get her to play . As time went by , he only wanted to play balls with her and not on his own .

The problem was that , just at the time Peter and Margaret began to get on well as two best friends , the experiment ended and the lab（实验室）was closed . After a few weeks , Margaret received the sad news that Peter had killed himself by refusing to breathe , and sinking to the bottom of his pool .

Dolphins may not speak English --- but , just like humans , they know all about broken hearts .