A Little Boy

A little boy selling magazines for school walked up to a house that people rarely visited. The house was very old and shabby and the owner hardly ever came out. When he did come out, he would not say hello to his neighbors or passers-by but simply just glared at them.

The boy knocked on the door and waited, sweating from fear of the old man. The boy’s parents told him to stay away from the house, and a lot of other neighborhood children were told the same thing from their parents.

Dusk found the boy lingering on and hesitating what to do. As he was ready to walk away, the door slowly opened. “What do you want?” the old man said impatiently. The little boy was very afraid but he had a quota (定额) to meet for school with selling the magazines. So he got up the courage and said, “Uh, Sir, I am selling these magazines and, uh, I was wondering if you would like to buy one from me.”

The old man just stared at the boy without a word. The boy could see inside the old man’s house and saw that he had dog figurines (小雕像) on the fireplace mantle. “Do you collect dogs?” The little boy asked. “Yes, I have many collections in my house. They are my family here and they are all I have.” The boy then felt sorry for the man, as it seemed that he was a very lonely soul.

“Well, I do have a magazine here for collectors. It is perfect for you. I also have one about dogs since you like dogs so much.” The old man was ready to close the door on the boy and said, “No, boy. I don’t need any magazines of any kind, now goodbye.”

The little boy was sad that he was not going to make his quota with the sale. He was also sad for the old man being so alone in the house that he owned. The boy went home and then had an idea. He had a little dog figurine that he got some years ago from an aunt. The figurine did not mean nearly as much to him since he had a real live dog and a large family.

The little boy headed back down to the old man’s house.

From that day on something changed inside the old man.

5 . After I made it to the city center, I started to feel it might be easy for a foreigner to deal with the great size of Beijing. With growing confidence, I decided to take the subway to the hotel, not realizing that the network didn’t go that far. Impressed with the cleanliness of the station, I bought a ticket and boarded the first subway that came along.

After a few minutes I asked in English a young man seated next to me where I should get off closest to the Friendship Hotel. Wearing a smart business suit and tie, he would surely speak English, wouldn’t he? Unfortunately, he couldn’t understand me but seemed very friendly. I showed him the room card with all the information of the Friendship Hotel in Chinese characters. He looked at it, and then his eyes moved quickly to the carriage (车厢) subway map. Next, he raised three fingers of his right hand.

In Australia, raising fingers at someone is not usually nice, but this man wasn’t smiling. At the next station he showed me two fingers. Now in Australia, that’s really rude, but I got the message. When we stopped at the third station, he didn’t just point to the door, but got up, took me out of the train, and led me to the top of the stairs, and out onto the street. Then he stopped a taxi and told the driver where to take me.

All this came from a man who couldn’t speak my language, and I couldn’t speak his. I was now speechless, especially when he refused my offer of money. I felt a little embarrassed having even thought he would accept a tip.

This experience made it clear I had to learn some Chinese quickly or my adventures might start turning into misadventures.

6 . We found him a few weeks ago, walking along the road in the countryside. He was jumping on cars, and we thought maybe his family was camping somewhere nearby, ________ we passed him by. A few hours later, on our ________ trip, he was still in the same place, again, trying to get people to ________ for him. When he saw us, he laid down in the middle of the road, so we were unable to ________ him.

We stopped the car and looked around for a few minutes, trying to find his owner. But we ________ . Then we took a good look at the dog. He had no collar (项圈) and he was really ________ . We decided he was abandoned.

My husband said, “ ________ he doesn’t bite me when I try to pick him up to put him in the car, then we have a new dog.” The dog ________ joined us with no fight at all. He kept sticking his head between the two front seats and ________ us for picking him up.

The dog must have been ________ on the road for some time. He was so thin. So, we ________ him a lot over the next two weeks and he gained over twenty pounds. We took him to the doctor for ________ , who said the dog appears to be in good health. The vet (兽医) ________ the dog is about two or three years of age, from the condition of his teeth.

We do ________ this dog. He has been mistreated and yet, he still is so very sweet. He had no manners, but he is a ________ learner. He no longer tries to get on the bed, but he does like sitting in chairs. Since then, he has become a member of our family.

I was in my room, feeling unwilling to head to the community theatre with “my brother” Henry. He had recently been adopted by my parents and I was not in the mood for being on stage with him.

“Kirstie, come here,” my mom called. Following her voice, I found her outside the bathroom, holding a wet book. She gave the book a shake. “Henry’s book was in the bathtub. Did you put it there?” She glared at me, something she had never done before Henry came to our home. I hadn’t wet his book on purpose. Raindrops fell from my eyes. To make matters worse, she promised to buy him a new copy. My heart ached. Henry was stealing my mother’s love. He was ruining my life.

Meanwhile, Henry was nearby, absorbed in working on a complicated rope knot (绳结), something he liked to do. Why did a boy like him like doing girly work? It seemed far from manly (男子汉气概).

Soon, it was time to set off to the community theatre. As Henry walked ahead of us to the car, my mom took me aside and said in a low voice, “It will be Henry’s first time onstage. Be kind to him, honey.” I nodded but sighed (叹气). I hadn’t always found it this difficult to be kind. But since Henry had moved in, everything felt different. The theatre used to be a special place for my parents and me. With Henry involved, it didn’t seem so special any more. Finally, it was our stage time. My heart beat wildly. I forgot my annoyance at Henry for a while. As we kids lined up, ready to act out our short play, I realized how loosely I had tied the drawstring on my skirt. Sure enough, my skirt began to drop. I could hear the audience laughing. Even though I was wearing shorts under my skirt, I could feel my face burst into flames. However, my hands were full. If only someone could help me out.

Right then, Henry sensed my embarrassment.

After the performance, I found Henry and tapped him on the arm gratefully.

8 . Now he is 22 years old and has become an example of young people because of his story of ________.

Michael was born in a very ________ family. His parents worked in Vietnam before they ________ to Britain in 1980. They couldn’t find jobs in Britain because they ________ little English.

The whole family had to live on ________ and they lived in a small house in Hackney, a poor area in East London. Growing up is not easy for Michael, but he never ________.

At the age of ten, he made up his mind to go to Cambridge University. It was not easy, ________. Michael studied at a school, which used to be ________ “the worst school in Britain”.   However, young Michael made up his mind to try his best, no matter what kind of school he was studying at. The smart boy studied very hard and did ______ in every subject at school. Once he made a bet (打赌) with his friend to learn further ________. As a result, after just spending four months ________ himself from a textbook, he got an A in further maths.

Now Michael is the ________ medical student in St John’s College, Cambridge and has just won a(n) ________ for his excellent grades. He ________ he will be an example for other ________ people from poor families.

9 . I was never very neat, while my roommate Kate was extremely organized. Each of her objects had its place, but mine always hid somewhere. She even labeled (贴标签) everything. I always looked for everything. Over time, Kate got neater and I got messier. She would push my dirty clothing over, and I would lay my books on her tidy desk. We both got tired of each other.

War broke out one evening. Kate came into the room. Soon, I heard her screaming, “Take your shoes away! Why under my bed!” Deafened, I saw my shoes flying at me. I jumped to my feet and started yelling. She yelled back louder.

The room was filled with anger. We could not have stayed together for a single minute but for a phone call. Kate answered it. From her end of the conversation, I could tell right away her grandma was seriously ill. When she hung up, she quickly crawled (爬) under her covers, sobbing. Obviously, that was something she should not go through alone. All of a sudden, a warm feeling of sympathy rose up in my heart.

Slowly, I collected the pencils, took back the books, made my bed, cleaned the socks and swept the floor, even on her side. I got so into my work that I even didn’t notice Kate had sat up. She was watching, her tears dried and her expression one of disbelief. Then, she reached out her hands to grasp mine. I looked up into her eyes. She smiled at me, “Thanks.”

Kate and I stayed roommates for the rest of the year. We didn’t always agree, but we learned the key to living together: giving in, cleaning up and holding on.