2 . In many families today, both the mother and the father have jobs outside the home. This can make it difficult to take care of the children. To help, some companies are changing the work rules. These companies are trying to be more family-friendly.

What are companies doing to become family-friendly? Many companies are allowing their employees (雇员) to work flexible (灵活的) hours. With flexible hours, people can work full time, but they don’t have to work to a nine-to-five schedule. Some employees choose to come early and leave early. Some employees choose to work ten hours one day and six hours the next. Most companies say that flexible hours increase productivity. In the United States, about one-third of full-time employees have flexible work schedules.

Family-friendly companies also allow two employees to share one job. Each employee does half the job and gets half the salary. In the United States, 27% of the companies offer some kind of job sharing.

Many family-friendly companies also give paid leave to both parents when a baby is born. In many countries, employers have to give female workers time off before and after the birth of a child. In the United States, for example, female employees get 12 weeks of unpaid time off. New mothers can stay at home, but they don t get their salary. In some countries, employers have to give all workers paid leave for the birth of their child. In Finland, for example, both male and female employees get paid leave. Women get 105 days of paid leave and men get 42.

The way people work is changing. For many people, that is a good thing.

3 . One Saturday, Mary and 1 were playing with a ball and suddenly the ball went into a big man’s house. We went to his house and asked him if he could let us in to get our ball. He said, “No.” We felt helpless. Then I had an idea. There was a water tank (水箱) behind the man’s house. I looked at it and told Mary that we could climb onto the water tank and jump over the wall. Mary agreed, but we were both wearing skirts. So we decided to get our ball the next day.

The next morning Mary and I went to the water tank very early. We were both wearing shorts. Mary first climbed down into the man’s house by herself and I followed her. We looked for the ball and found it under a bed. Along with the ball were some gold bars! In a rush, we climbed back with the ball.

When we reached Mary’s house, the TV was on. It was news time. We couldn’t believe our ears when we heard that 20 gold bars were stolen from a gold shop. They showed a picture of the gold bars which were exactly the same as the ones we had seen under the big man’s bed. We rushed to tell Mary’s mother about the gold bars and she called the police immediately. The police came at once and caught the man. They found the gold bars in his house.

Several days later a police officer came and said, “Thank you children for helping us catch the thief. Here is the reward for you.”

We opened the gift box and were greatly surprised. There were some detective (侦探的) storybooks.

4 . Yesterday I was walking along a busy road when I noticed a young man standing near the pedestrian crossing, selling toys.

Usually I would _________and hurry past such sellers before being approached to buy something. But I found this young man was _________, so I stood for some time without crossing the street. I wanted to see _________he sold his toys.

_________, a young mother with a small child came by and the child was _________by one of the toys in a large box that made a noise. The young mother asked for the _________and it was charged at only one dollar. She _________a 10-dollar note from her purse and told the young man that she was giving him 10 dollars and wanted the _________back. I was wondering how he was going to give it back. He told the young mother to put the money in the bag _________his neck and take out __________change he owed her. She then put her hand into the bag and took out the balance while I was __________her like a hawk (鹰).

I realized that this young man depended on __________people not to cheat him. There was no __________of him knowing if someone took out more than they should have done. I was so __________by how this disabled man believed in people that I bought a toy from him I didn’t __________at all.

He said it cost one dollar and I, too, told him that I had only a 10-dollar note. He told me to do the __________thing. So I put my 10 dollars in his __________. I put my hand in, but didn’t take any change. I hope he will find that he has more __________than he should when he gets home. As I walked down the street, I saw another kid walking with his father, __________I gave him the little toy. Then, I walked on, hoping that two people would have a __________smile on their faces that day.

5 . With Alibaba outsizing other IT giants such as Facebook, and Google in terms of its IPO valuation, Jack Ma might just have become one of the most popular English majors of all time. When his IPO road show video, delivered to shareholders in the US, went viral, for many, it was the first time they’d heard Ma speak English. Ma learned English in an academic setting, but here he adapted his language skills to cross the threshold into the financial and business contexts. This speech released last week finds Ma’s tone spot on as he tries to tell the tale of a Chinese business pursuing its dreams, big and small.

“Hello, I’m Jack Ma, founder and chairman of Alibaba Group. Fifteen years ago, 18 founders in my apartment had a dream that someday we can build up a company that can serve millions of small business. Today, it remains our mission to make it easy to do business anywhere.

At Alibaba, we fight for the little guy, the small businessmen and women and their customers. Our role is simple: through our ecosystem, we help merchants and customers find each other and conduct business on their terms and in ways that best serve their unique needs. We help merchants to grow, create jobs and open new markets in ways that were never before possible.

Today, 15 years has passed. We’ve grown so significantly and have become a household name in China. And soon, we’ll be ready for the world to know us.

You will hear details from our business later. But first let me take you on a journey around China, to see some of the real people, real stories that Alibaba has an impact on.

[Personal stories of small businesses]

I am proud to share with you these stories that show the heart and spirit of Alibaba. I’m proud that we ignite(激发)innovation, create jobs benefit customers and help entrepreneurs fulfill their dreams.

With Alibaba’s platforms, people are improving their lives today, and have hope for a better tomorrow. From our humble beginnings and throughout the past 15 years, Alibaba has changed commerce in China. Our business has grown, but we never lost sight of our customers, focusing on solving their problems, leading to the best outcome for our business.

Alibaba has come a long way, but we want to be a company that can last 102 years. We still have 87 years to go, and we believe one thing, ‘Today is difficult, tomorrow is more difficult, but the day after tomorrow is beautiful’ . So we have to work very hard in order to survive the long journey.”

6 .

The American seafood staple of Maine lobster, or “lobsta” as they say in Maine, is becoming very popular on Asian dining tables. Maine lobsters were a featured course at last year’s state dinner when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the White House. Now, the creatures with claws are becoming a big export to Asia.

The lobster’s home is in the Atlantic Ocean, anywhere from Newfoundland in Canada to North Carolina in the United States. But nearly 90 percent of the fishery activity happens in the state of Maine.

And the prices for fresh lobster have risen to a higher level. “Three years ago, the price was mediocre. We averaged around $2.50 to $3 per pound (or nearly half a kilogram) for the year,” said Chris Welch, a lobster boat captain. “This year, the price has been excellent. It’s better than I can remember in a lot of years.”

During one morning, a lobster order was being prepared for shipment to Hong Kong. The biggest challenge in shipping was logistics. Shippers have only 36 hours from the time lobsters are packed until arrival in China. Any lobster arriving after that time loses quality.

American shellfish (水生有壳动物) exports have grown rapidly in recent years. More than 23,000 kilograms of that type of seafood is exported to Asia every week via air. “We primarily export lobsters to Asia; probably about 80 percent to China and the other 20 percent to some other Asian countries,” said lobster dealer Stephanie Nadeau. “The countries of Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Korea and Japan are big lobster fans,” he said.