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　　John sent his mother expensive presents on his mother's birthday every year．He liked to show her how rich he was．

　　"I must find something wonderful for her, and it must be the only one in the whole world．"John thought．

　　He advertised(登廣告)in the newspapers．" Wanted－the best present for the woman who has everything．"

　　For many days his telephone did not stop ringing．People phoned him from all over the world．They wanted to sell him "the best present"．But they did not have anything that was the only one in the whole world．

　　Then less than a week before his mother's birthday, a man came to his office．He was carrying a cage, and in the cage there was a large bird．

　　"This bird, "the man said, "can speak ten languages and sing any pop song．There is no other bird like it in the world．"

　　"I will listen to it, "John said．"If what you said is true, I will buy the bird from you．"

　　The man spoke to the bird．"Talk to me in French, " he said．The bird spoke to him in French．"Tell me a joke in Japanese, " he said．The bird told him a joke in Japanese．"Sing a famous pop song, "he said．The bird sang a famous pop song．

　　"I'll buy it, "John said．"How much do you want?"

　　"One hundred thousand dollars, "the man said．This was a lot of money but John paid him．Then he sent the bird to his mother with a birthday card．

　　The day after his mother's birthday he phoned her．"Well, mother, "he said, "Is the bird wonderful?"

　　"Oh, it was delicious, dear, "she said．

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　　Charles Chaplin was born in London on April 16, 1889．His parents were music hall actors．The Chaplin family were very poor, and life was difficult in London．Charlie, as he was called, used to do his mother's job in the theatre when she was ill．

　　When he was only 17 years old, Chaplin got his first real job as an actor．What he did was to do silly things to make people laugh in the theatre．Seven years later he went to the USA．And over the next four years, he formed his own way of art．He developed the character(~J ~,)of a homeless gentleman which became very popular．

　　From the 1920s to the 1950s, Chaplin made his most famous films．The film Modern Times(1936)shows his care about the modern industry workers．Many of his films describe the poor life and hard time of the working people during that period．

　　Although Charlie Chaplin was British, he lived in the USA until 1953．But he never got US nationality．Then Chaplin, his wife' and his five children had to move to Switzerland where he lived until he died．When he was 83 years old, he won his only Oscar for the music he wrote for the film Limelight．He was named Sir Charles Chaplin at the age of 85．Charlie Chaplin died in Switzerland on December 25th, 1975．

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　　What is your favorite color? Do you like yellow, orange, or red? If you do, you must be an active person who enjoys life．Do you like blue? Then you are probably quiet, shy, and would rather follow than lead．

　　Colors do influence our moods(情緒)．A yellow room makes most people feel more cheerful and more relaxed than a dark green one; and a red dress brings warmth and cheer to the saddest winter day．On the other hand, black is depressing(令人壓抑的)．There was a black bridge over the Thames River, near London．The number of people who killed themselves on that bridge used to be larger than on any other bridge in the area－until it was repainted green．

　　Light and bright colors make people not only happier but also more active．In the factory, the workers will work better, harder, and have fewer accidents when their machines are painted orange rather than black．

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　　Except for a few times, Americans are not big present-givers．There's no exchange of presents among business people, and if one American tries to give another a present, it may look like that he wants to bribe(賄賂)him．Americans have learned that in some other countries people like to give presents to others, but among ourselves we don't see the need for presents．

　　Even friends may never exchange presents．When I go to foreign countries, I try to bring back little things for close friends, but nobody would feel unhappy if I didn't．I don't often remember a friend's birthday, and few people outside of my family remember mine．If someone gave me presents too often, I'd get unpleasant．But a present from a foreigner - that kind from his or her homeland－won't go wrong, except to government employees(政府職員)who can't be given presents．

　　You usually open a present at once and in front of the person who gives it except Christmas and birthday presents．You should only say, "It's so nice．Thanks…" when you get Christmas or birthday presents．

　　You may want to bring a bottle of wine(葡萄酒)or flowers to a dinner party, but you're never asked to．Nobody will mind if you bring wine, but your friend may not use it that evening．

　　At Christmas we often give presents to our family and sometimes our friends．We also give presents to people who have been helpful during the year- doormen, babysitters, housecleaners, newspaper senders－anyone who has often helped us．

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　　In a surprising result, the No．69 Middle School girls' football team yesterday beat their school's boys' team．The boys' team often helped the girls with their training(訓(xùn)練)．They had never lost to the girls before, but this time the girls beat them 4－3．

　　After the game, Wu Nai, head of the boys' team, was very unhappy．"We all thought this would be an easy game," he said．"We never thought a team of girls could beat us．This is the saddest day of my life．"

　　But Mr Hu, the boys' PE teacher, said he thought the girls should win．"The boys were too confident(自信)," he said．"I told them before the match that they needed to play well．They all thought that girls' football was a joke．Now they know better．They didn't play carefully, and they lost．"

　　The match had started well for the boys．After 30 minutes, they were winning 2－0．Their best player, Lu Ming, scored in the thirtieth minute．Earlier, the mid-field player, Ma Zhengquan, had scored the first goal in only the second minute of the match．

　　After the first half hour, the boys seemed to become too confident．At first, the girls had felt a bit nervous(緊張), but then they became more and more confident．Just before half time, Li Xiaolin made the score 2－1．

　　In the second half, the boys were the first to score．It was from Lu Ming．After that the boys became lazy, but the girls kept on working hard．Hao Meiling scored in the 68th minute, to make the score 3－2．Then Li Xiaolin scored twice in the last six minutes to make the last score 4-3．It was a surprising finish．

　　The girls' PE teacher, Miss Wang, was very pleased with their work．"They were great!" She said．"I told them they could win．I told them that the most important thing was teamwork．The boys' team had some good players, but my girls were a better team!"

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　　Most people in Britain live in small family groups．More than a quarter of houses in Britain have only got one person in them．Some of these are old people but some are people of twenty to thirty who choose to live alone．35％ of houses have two people in them, and another 17％ have three people．15％ have four people in them, and the other homes have five or more．

　　The families in Britain are small．It is unusual for parents to have more than two children．When children are about eighteen or nineteen, they leave their parents' home, and they often go to a different city．Sometimes they only visit their parents two or three times a year．

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Train-spotting

　　Many people around the world have seen Danny Boyle’s movie Train spotting starring Ewan McGregor, but how many of us really know what train-spotting is all about?Now this is not considered cool in town and the word “train-spotter” in Britain is related to “geek” or “nerd”(someone who seems very ridiculous)．But is this reputation really deserved?

　　First of all, let’s see what train-spotting is．It is said that there are some 100, 000 train spotters in the UK．Exactly as the title suggests, they spot trains, that is, they stand in train stations, look at the number of each train that leaves and arrives and write it down．The eventual aim is to have seen every train in the country．

　　Being crazy about railways and trains is not modern and it dates back to 1804．As the number of trains grew and they got faster and faster, so did the interest in them grow?Is this any stranger than people who love cars?

　　So, what do you need to be a train-spotter?Well, all you really need is a pen or pencil and a notebook to write down the train numbers．Other equipment(裝備)includes hot tea in a thermos, a camera and some sandwiches for those long afternoons spent on train platforms when you don’t want to risk the delights of railway station food．

　　It’s interesting to note that despite the “bad name” of train-spotting, there have been famous railway lovers in history, such as Alfred Hitchcock, who filmed them regularly, especially The 39 Steps．There is evidence, too, that being a train-spotter is not necessarily a strange phenomenon(現(xiàn)象)in Britain．

　　One glance at the US train stations should be enough to convince you that train-spotters there are alive and well．In America, they try to call rail lovers “train-fans” and talk of “train-fanning”．Don’t let this fool you－these people are train spotters and there are a lot of them．Each month, two million pages are visited on the website TrainWeb．org．

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　　My name is Lin Hui．I like to tell stories about people who work together．What is even better is when countries help each other and build a good friendship．An excellent example of this happened when Britain and China worked together to bring the Milu deer back to China．

　　Milu deer, a kind of animal with large horns(角), used to be common in China long ago．Like other deer they lived together and ate grass and the soft parts of trees．Milu deer were often killed for food or sport．The Ming and Qing dynasties(朝代)did not protect them and many were killed．That is how the Milu deer disappeared from China．

　　Luckily before all of them were killed, some were taken to Britain to improve the environment of the beautiful park which belonged to the Duke of Bedford．He liked them so much that he took them from China to Britain．Milu deer liked the cool, wet weather in England and their number increased year by year．As a result, when in 1985 the government of China wanted to bring back the Milu deer, the Duke of Bedford was able to help．The first deer came back to China to the Nanhaizi Milu Park 20 kilometers south of Beijing and the centre in Dafeng, Jiangsu province．

　　The deer certainly seem happy to be back in China because their number has grown quickly．There are now so many of them that a new park has been opened for them in Hubei Province．At the moment the Milu deer live in centres where they are being well protected and cared for．It is hoped that one day there will be enough animals to let them live in the wild again．

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