Read for fun輕松閱讀等

Tree or house?

A house in Essex in England is covered in ivy（常春藤）so much that those who have been inside say they can’t look out of the windows. The house was built in 1920s. According to the local people， the ivy has grown unchecked for 20 years and there is even a tree growing in the dining room. Its condition means it is on the market with a price less than half that of neighboring homes.

Creative grooming shows for dogs

In the name of art， dogs have been sheared（修剪）and colored into a cow， a clown and a creature form outer-space at “creative grooming” shows around America every year. Animal photographer， Ren Netherland from Florida， travels thousands of miles every year taking photos of these surprising new looks.

The power of love

Heidi Solomon was making a sandwich for her son Daniel. It was an ordinary（普通的）April afternoon—as ordinary as any in the three years since she and her husband， Rick， had adopted（領養）Daniel.

Daniel had spent the first years of his life in an orphanage（孤兒院）. Though he was happy when the Solomons adopted him， his behavior had grown worse over time. He broke toys and was bad to other kids. He would keep hours long in bad temper（脾氣）， and throw anything he could get his hands on. He shouted at Heidi and even hit Heidi.

Mental（心理的）—health doctors， friends and relatives told Heidi there was no hope， that Daniel would never love her and that she should give up on him. But she wasn’t going to back out. “Though he didn’t like me， I didn’t give up on him，” she said. “I knew he needed a family. He’s my son. I never questioned that.”

Heidi took lot of measures. For two months， Heidi would stay within three feet of Daniel at all times. He wasn’t to ask for anything， only to get the food and clothes she handed him. Most important， her son was asked to make eye contact（接觸）every time with them.

Finally， Daniel began to change. His bad behaviors stopped and he stopped trying to hurt himself or anyone else. He began to appreciate（感激）his parents had done for him and to realize they loved him. He started to open up and made a few friends. With Heidi’s encouragement， Daniel also began to help others.

To everyone’s surprise， he received the award for most outstanding high school student. He got the award in a speech to 300 people. In it， Daniel told of his early life in the orphanage and thanked Heidi and Rick for everything. Then， he spoke the words he never said before， “I love you.”

If I am a Manager

One day in class， the teacher assigned his students to write a composition - If I Am a Manager.All the students began to write except a boy. The teacher went to him and asked the reason.

“I am waiting for my secretary. ”the boy said.

A special football match

Mike was late for school. He said to his teacher， Mr. Black， “Excuse me for my coming late， sir. I watched a football match in my dream.”

“Why did it make you late？” inquired the teacher.

“Because neither team could win the game， so it lasted a long time.”

文化漫步

在美國，很多人喜歡讓子孫沿用自己的名字，并引以為榮。如美國前總統富蘭克林·羅斯福和石油大王洛克菲勒，就為他們的兒子取了與自己相同的名字。為有所區別，美國人稱呼與父親同名的人時，常冠以“?。↗unior）”，如“小羅斯福”“小洛克菲勒”等。

熟人在相互稱呼時，習慣于稱名而不稱姓。名字被叫慣或表示親昵時，常常在發音上有所變化。例如，把詹姆斯（James）叫做吉米（Jim），把簡（Jane）叫做珍妮特（Janet），伊麗莎白（Elizabeth）叫做莉琪（Lizzy）。

有些美國人的姓名十分怪誕，以致鬧出笑話。曾經有一個學生到德克薩斯州大學圖書館申請工作，館長問他：“貴姓？”他答道：“你猜?！别^長十分惱火地說：“對不起我很忙，沒時間猜?！逼鋵嵾@個學生的姓名就叫做威廉·你猜（William Yo-gess），不料他竟因此失去一次工作的機會。又如曾有個警察在芝加哥（Chicago）街頭抓住一個喝得酩酊大醉的酒鬼，問他叫什么名字，他醉醺醺地回答：“我是酒鬼。”警察怒喝道：“誰不知道你是一個酒鬼，問你叫什么名字？”誰知那個醉漢也不示弱，嚷道：“我不是告訴你我是酒鬼嗎？”警察一查，才知道他果真叫酒鬼·卡特（Toper Cate）。

（肖燕玲）