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      I never thought I would have a life-changing experience at Wal-Mart.

      Although my thoughts were only on speed, the checkout line I was standing in wasn't moving as quickly as I wanted, and I glanced toward the cashier.

      There stood a man in his seventies, wearing glasses and a nice smile. I thought, well, he's an old guy! For the next few minutes I watched him. He greeted every customer before scanning the items. Sure, his words were the usual, “How's it going?” But he did something different-he actually listened to people. Then he would respond to what they had said and engage them in brief conversation.

      I thought it was odd. I have grown accustomed to people asking me how I was doing simply out of robotic conversation habit. After a while, you don't give any thought to the question and just mumble something back. I could say, “I just found out I have six months to live,” and someone would reply, “Have a great day!”

      But that wasn't the end.

      He gave them the change, walked around the counter, and extended his right hand in an act of friendship. He looked at the customers in the eyes. “I sure want to thank you for shopping here today,” he told them. “Wish you have a great day. Bye-bye.”

      The looks on the faces of the customers were priceless. There were smiles and some sheepish grins. All had been touched by his simple gesture-and in a place they expected. They would gather their things and walk out, smiling.

      Of course, he did the same to me and I got to know his name, Marty.

      Who was the guy? It was as if Sam Walton had come back from the dead and invaded this old guy's body.

      I had never walked away from that shop feeling like that.

       “Our aim is to take our art to the world and make people understand what it is to move,” said David Belle, the co-founder of parkour(跑酷).

      Do you love running? It is a good exercise, yet many people find it boring. But what if making your morning jog a creative one? Like jumping from walls and over gaps and ground rolls? Just like the James Bond in the movieCasino Royale? Bond jumps down from a roof to a windowsill and then runs several blocks over obstacles on the way. It is just because of Bond's wonderful performance that the sport has become popular worldwide.

      Parkour is an extreme street sport aimed at moving from one point to another as quickly as possible, getting over all the obstacles in the path using only the abilities of the human body. Parkour runners dash around the city, they may jump over fences, run up walls and even move from rooftop to rooftop.

      Parkour can be just as exciting and charming as it sounds, but its runners see parkour much more than that. Overcoming all the obstacles on the course and in life is part of the philosophy（哲理）behind parkour. You must determine(决定) your destination, go straight, and jump over all the barriers as if in parkour and never fall back from them in your life, to reach your destination successfully. Another philosophy we've learned from parkour is freedom. It can be done by anyone, anytime, anywhere in the world. It's a kind of expression of trust in yourself that you earn energy and confidence.

     Teaching your child to read can be one of the most rewarding(值得的) experiences you have as a parent.

      Nothing can replace the head start(起步时的优势)that a child receives from becoming familiar with books and the way that the written word sounds when read aloud. If your child sees that reading is important to you, then he will be much more likely to want to learn how to read himself.

       If your child shows interest in learning letters and looking through books, he may be ready to begin learning to read. Learning how to read cannot be rushed. If your child has no interest in learning his letters, then wait a month or so and try again.

      You can make this fun, such as saying “I see a [k]-[æ]-[t]-cat” whenever you see a cat. The sound of a letter is much more important than a letter's name because the child will need to combine the letter sounds to make words.

      Some children learn their letters faster by seeing or hearing them, while other children learn letters by using their bodies. Encourage your child to draw the letter and then paste pictures of something that begins with that sound onto the letter. Sing songs about the letter. Read your child a story that repeatedly uses that letter sound.

      Rather than try to teach a child 26 new letters at one time, focus on one letter a day or a week. This enable the child to master each letter sound and feel proud of himself/herself for doing so.

      A jobless man wanted to apply(求职)for the position of “office boy” at Microsoft. The staff manager interviewed him and then gave him a   1 : clean the floor. The man pass it: he cleaned the floor very well.

      “You are hired(雇佣),” the manager told the man. “Give me your email address, and I'll send you the form to    2  . I shall also send you the   3    you should report for the work. ”The man replied, “I don't have a   4   , or email!”

      “I'm sorry ,” said the manager. “if you don't have an email, that means you do not exist(存在). And we can not  5   person who do not exist. ”

      The man was very  6 . He didn't know what to do. He only had 10 dollars with him. Once that was   7   , he wouldn't have any money to buy even food. He went to the supermarket and bought a box of tomatoes with his 10 dollars. He went from door to door and   8     the tomatoes in small bags. He doubled his money.

      He  9 this three times, and return home with 60 dollars. He realized that he could continue to live this way. He started to go earlier every day, and return later. He doubled or made even three times his money every day. Soon, he  10  a cart, then a truck. In a very short time, he had his many delivery trucks.

      Five years later, the man became one of the biggest  11   sellers in the country. He started to plan his family's future. He called an insurance(保险) broker, a man who sells insurance. At the end of the  12  , the broker asked him for his email address. The man replied, “I don't have an email.”

      Hearing that, the broker felt very   13 . “You don't have an email, and yet have succeeded in becoming so  14 . Can you imagine what you could have been if you had an email?” he said aloud. The man thought for a while, and replied, “an office  15 at Microsoft! ”

      If you just lost your job or just failed an interview, don't worry, think of the positive…Good days are on the way and something better will happen to you.

      The bank of England has made plans to introduce plastic banknotes to the UK.

      Paper notes, meaning pieces of paper money,       (use) in England for more than 300 years, but replacing them with plastic ones could be better.

      Plastic notes were      (one) introduced to Australia back in 1988. Since then , other countries, including Romania, Mexico and Malaysia, have also begun using money      (make) in this way.

      Fans of water sports find this type of money more useful and easier, as they can take it with them in the water and won't worry that it will fall apart. It is also good for people      by mistake put clothes in the washing machine      a note in the pocket.

      It is more hygienic(卫生的) than paper money as it absorbs       (little) bacteria(细菌). And it is stronger, too. According to a survey,       usual 5 note in the UK lasts around six months,       the $5 Australian bill lasts for an average of 40 months.

      A downside of plastic cash is that it costs more money      (produce). Cash and money-counting machine will also have to be adapted to accept the new money.

      It is expected that the Bank of England, who started printing plastic notes from 2015, will  introduce the money       (slow), using the most common notes first.

参考词汇：civilized  a.文明的    pedestrian  n. 行人     feature  n. 特征

Dear mom and dad,

    I've already been in Hangzhou for about half a year. I really can't afford to wait to tell you something about it. Not only does it have famous Qiangtang River ……

I miss you and look forward to your reply.

Love you

Peter