—300 yuan.

    George Wilson was the owner of a watch shop. One day he told his son James," I'll teach you all I know about watches."

    For the first few weeks, James looked after the front of the shop. He worked hard and was  to the customers(顾客). George was very pleased with(对...... 很满意) him.

    After about six months, James said to his father," "Is there anything else you want to teach me?"

    "Yes," said George," it's time for me to teach you how to make "

    "I know that," said James," you buy watches at one price and sell them at a  price. That's how we get so much money."

    "That's true. But we don't make most of the money from it." He picked up a watch from the counter(柜台)."What do you think of this watch?"

    "That's a cheap watch. We can only get few dollars from   it."

    "You are wrong, my son," George said," those cheap ones get  money to us than any other watch in the shop."

    "I don't understand," James said.

    "Because they are really cheap, they are always breaking, and we make our money from fixing them."

Jenny her grandmotherdinner in the kitchen.

    John, David and James were three brothers. Every year on their mother's birthday, they sent her expensive presents. They liked to show her how rich they were.

    The oldest brother , John, decided to give his mother a perfect(完 美的) present. He thought it must be more expensive than his brothers'.

    So he put an advertisement(广告) in the newspapers: WANTED THE PERFECT PRESENT FOR A RICH WOMAN. For many days people phoned him from all over the country. Each of them wanted to sell him" the perfect present". But John didn't like any of them.

    Then, less than a week before his mother's birthday, a man came to his office. He was carrying a cage with a large bird in it. "This bird," the man said," can speak ten languages (语言) and sing any popular songs. There's no other bird like it in the world." With these words, he asked the bird to speak to John in French, tell him a joke in Japanese and sing a famous popular song. John was very happy.

    "I'll buy it. How much do you want?" John said." 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 asked," what do you think of the bird?" "Oh, very delicious, dear," she answered.

    All over the world people enjoy sports. Sports help one to keep healthy, happy, and to live l. Many people like to watch or play games. They buy t to watch them at the stadium or turn on their TV's to watch them at home. Often they get very excited when "their" player or team w.

    Games and sports often grow out of people's work and everyday activities. The Arabs use horses or camels in much of their everyday life. They use them in their s, too.

    Football, for example, is played by more and more young people. It is very i be-cause people can get fun from it. Some sports or games such as running and jumping go back thousands of years. But basketball and volleyball are new. Neither one is two h years old yet.

    People are inventing new sports or games all the time. Water-skiing is one of the newest in the family of sports. Maybe people from different countries can't understand each other, but after a game together, they often become good f.

    Americans with small families have a small car or a large one. If both parents are working, they usually have two cars. When the family is large, one of the cars is sold and they will buy a van(面包车).

    A small car can hold four people and a large car can hold six people but it is very crowded(拥挤的). A van can hold seven people easily, so a family with three children could ask their grandparents to go for a holiday. They could all travel together.

    Mr Hagen and his wife had a third child last year. This made them sell a second car and buy a van. The sixth and seventh seats are used to put other things, for a family of five must carry many suitcases when they travel.

    Americans call vans motor homes. A motor home is always used for holidays. When a family is travelling to the mountains or to the seaside, they can live in their motor home for a few days or weeks. All the members of a big family can enjoy a happier life when they are travelling together. That is why motor homes have become very popular. In America there are many parks for motor homes.