1Shumeihasmanypen-friendsaroundtheworld.Shelikeswritingtothemandreceivingtheirlettersinreturn.Shestatedwritingtoherfirstpen-friend,ThomasWrightfromBritain,whenshewastenyearsold.Theyhavebeenwritingtoeachotherfortwoyearsnow.Shumeienjoyswritingtopeoplefromothercountiesbecauseshefindsitveryinterestingtolearnmoreaboutthosecountiesandthedifferentthings.Shehopestovisitherpen-friendssomeday,butshewillcontinuewritingtothemandenjoyingtheirfriendship.Shewillalsotrytolookforpen-friendsfromothercountiessuchasJapan,ChinaandFrance.Shumei有很多世界各地的笔友。她喜欢写信给他们，喜欢收到他们的回信。当她10岁时，开始给第一位来自英国的笔友ThomasWright写信。他们互相写信至今已有两年了。Shumei之所以喜欢写信给外国人，是因为她觉得更多地了解那些国家和不同的事物是件很有趣的事情。她希望有一天去拜访她的笔友，但是她会继续写信给他们，分享他们的友谊。她也期待着来自外国的笔友，如日本，中国和法国的朋友。2Thebossfoundaboyinthestockroomjuststandingarounddoingnothing.“Howmuchdoyougetpaidaweek?”Heaskedtheboy.Theboyreplied,“Twentydollars.”Takingatwentydollarbilloutofhiswallet,thebossgaveittotheboyandsaid,“Here,takethis.Nowgetoutofhereanddon’tcomeback.”Astheboywalkedoutthedoor,thebosssaidtothemanager,“Howlonghasthatlazykidbeenworkingforus?”“Hedoesn’tworkforus,”repliedthemanager.“Hejustdeliveredapackage.”1老板在储藏室里看见一个男孩正站着，无所事事。他问这个男孩：“你一个星期得到多少报酬？”。这个男孩回答说：“20美元。”老板从他的钱包里拿出了20美元的钞票，给了这男孩，说：“收好了。现在，从这里滚出去，不要回来了”。当男孩走出门去，老板对经理说：“这么懒惰的孩子为我们工作多长时间了？”“他不适合为我们工作，”“经理回答说。“他刚才来送包裹的。3“Peterhasjustcomebackfromtheshops,”saidMrs.James.“Hewantedtobuysomenewfootballboots,buthewasn’tabletofindanythatwererightforhim.”“Weretheyallthesame?”Iasked.“Hesaidtheyshowedhimdifferentpairsbuthedidn’tlikeanyofthem.”“WhatisPetergoingtodoabouthisboots,then?”Iasked.“Well,theshoptoldhimtocomebackthenextweek.It’soutabigproblembecausehedoesn’tneedtohavethembeforethenewschoolterm.Buthealwaysbeginstogethisthingsreadyearly.Forexample,hehasneverbeenlateforschool.”“Mydaughterisdifferent,”Isaid,“Ihavetothrowheroutwhenit’stimeforschool.”“彼得刚刚从商店回来，”詹姆斯太太说。“他想买新的足球鞋，但他没能找到适合他的。”“球鞋款式都一样吗？”我问道。2“他说店员给他看了不同的样式，但他都不喜欢。”“那么，彼得怎么办呢？”我问。“嗯，店员告诉他下周再来。这不是个大问题，因为在新学年开始之前，他还不需要球鞋。但他总是提前做准备工作。比如，他从不迟到。”“我的女儿就不同了，”我说，“每到上学时间我都不得不‘扔’她出去。”4Theworldisfilledwithmanyinterestingsounds.Someareunpleasanttoourearswhileothersareverypleasanttohear.Inasingledayyouprobablyhearhundredsofdifferentsounds.Allsoundsaredifferent.Somemaybeloud.Somearehigh;othersarelow.Somesoundsareuseful.Withoutsoundwecannottalkorlistentooneanother.Theringingofthealarmclockwakespeopleup.Thehootingofacarwarnspeopleofdanger.Somesoundsareharmful.Whenplanesflylowovertheland,theveryloudsoundscandamagethehouses.Veryloudsoundscanevenmakepeopledeaf.Weknowsoundtravelaboutonekilometerinthreeseconds.Inathunderstormyouseethelightningfirstandthenhearthethunder.Thisisbecauselighttravelsmuchfasterthansound.Nexttimeyouseelightning;countthenumberofsecondsbeforeyouhearthethunder.Dividethisnumberofsecondsbeforeyouhearthunder.Divideth...
