袋鼠与笼子
One day the staff members of a zoo called a meeting to discuss the problem--how to deal with the kangaroos that were found out of the cage. They came to the conclusion that the cage was placed too low and decided to raise it from one to two meters high. But the next day the kangaroos were still at large and they again raised the cage to three meters.
Quite beyond their expectation the next morning they saw the kangaroos still free to go about. They were alarmed and determined to go to all the length by raising the cage to the height of ten meters.
Later a giraffe, while chatting with some kangaroos, asked them, “Do you think they will go on raising your cage?”
“Hard to say,” said a kangaroo, “if they continue forgetting to fasten the cage door.”
有一天，动物园的管理员们发现袋鼠从笼子里跑出来了， 于是开会讨论，一致认为是笼子的高度过低，所以他们决定将笼子的高度由原来的1米加高到2米。结果第二天他们发现，袋鼠还是跑到外面来，所以他们又决定再将高度加高到3米。
没想到隔天居然又看到袋鼠全跑到外面，于是管理 员们大为紧张，决定一不做二不休，将笼子的高度加高到10米。
一天，长颈鹿和几只袋鼠在闲聊，“你们看，这些人 会不会再继续加高你们的笼子?”长颈鹿问。
“很难说。”袋鼠说，“如果他们再继续忘记关门的话!”
词汇学习
staff members 职工，工作人员
a meeting会议
千镜屋的故事
Long ago in a small, faraway village, there was a place known as the House of 1000 Mirrors. A small, happy little dog learned of this place and decided to visit. When he arrived, he bounced happily up the stairs to the doorway of the house. He looked through the doorway with his ears lifted high and his tail wagging as fast as it could.
很久以前，在一个遥远的小村庄里，有一个地方叫做千镜之屋。 一个小而快乐的小狗了解到这个地方，并决定访问。 当他到达时，他愉快地上了房子门口的楼梯。 他抬起耳朵高高地看着门口，他的尾巴尽可能快地摇摆着。
To his great surprise, he found himself staring at 1000 other happy little dogs with their tails wagging just as fast as his. He smiled a great smile, and was answered with 1000 great smiles just as warm and friendly. As he left the House, he thought to himself, "This is a wonderful place. I will come back and visit it often."
令他非常吃惊的是，他发现自己盯着1000只其他快乐的小狗，他们的尾巴摇摆得跟他一样快。 他微笑着笑了起来，收获到1000张洋溢着温暖和友好的笑容。 当他离开家时，他自言自语道：“这是一个美妙的地方，我会经常回来看望它。”
In this same village, another little dog, who was not quite as happy as the first one, decided to visit the house. He slowly climbed the stairs and hung his head low as he looked into the door. When he saw the 1000 unfriendly looking dogs staring back at him, he growled at them and was horrified to see 1000 little dogs growling back at him. As he left, he thought to himself, "That is a horrible place, and I will never go back there again."
在这个村庄里，另一只不像第一只小狗那么开心的小狗决定去参观这座房子。 他慢慢爬上楼梯，低头看着门。 当他看到一千只不友好的狗正盯着他时，他咆哮着看着他们，惊恐地看到有一千只小狗在向他咆哮。 当他离开时，他自言自语：“那是一个可怕的地方，我永远不会再回到那里。”
乐观的小狗认为这是一个精彩有趣的地方，不乐观的小狗认为这是一个可怕的地方，为什么两只小狗会有不同的感受呢？那是因为他们本身的态度不同，镜子会真实地反映出他们的心情。世界上所有的脸都是镜子，在你所遇见的人的脸上你看到了什么？
词汇学习
Faraway 远离Known as 以...闻名，著名Decide 决定Lift 竖起Tail 尾巴Wonderful 精彩的，非常棒的Unfriendly 不友好的Growl 吠叫Horrible 可怕的
乡村老鼠和城市老鼠
Once there were two mice. They were friends. One mouse lived in the country; the other mouse lived in the city.
从前，有两只老鼠，它们是好朋友。一只老鼠居住在乡村，另一只住在城里。
After many years the Country mouse saw the City mouse; he said, "Do come and see me at my house in the country." So the City mouse went.
很多年以后，乡下老鼠碰到城里老鼠，它说：“你一定要来我乡下的家看看。”于是，城里老鼠就去了。
The City mouse said, "This food is not good, and your house is not good. Why do you live in a hole in the field? You should come and live in the city. You would live in a nice house made of stone. You would have nice food to eat. You must come and see me at my house in the city."
城里老鼠说：“这东西不好吃，你的家也不好，你为什么住在田野的地洞里呢？你应该搬到城里去住，你能住上用石头造的漂亮房子，还会吃上美味佳肴，你应该到我城里的家看看。”
The Country mouse went to the house of the City mouse. It was a very good house. Nice food was set ready for them to eat.
乡下老鼠就到城里老鼠的家去。房子十分漂亮，好吃的东西也为他们摆好了。
But just as they began to eat they heard a great noise. The City mouse cried, " Run! Run! The cat is coming!" They ran away quickly and hid.
可是正当他们要开始吃的时候，听见很大的一阵响声，城里的老鼠叫喊起来：“快跑！快跑！猫来了！”他们飞快地跑开躲藏起来。
After some time they came out. When they came out, the Country mouse said, "I do not like living in the city. I like living in my hole in the field. For it is nicer to be poor and happy, than to be rich and afraid."
过了一会儿，他们出来了。当他们出来时，乡下老鼠说：“我不喜欢住在城里，我喜欢住在田野我的洞里。因为这样虽然贫穷但是快乐自在，比起虽然富有却要过着提心吊胆的生活来说，要好些。”
故事读完了，乡下老鼠虽然居住条件差，没有可口的食物，但它过的安逸而愉快：城里老鼠住着漂亮的房子，享用着美味的食物，但却时刻面临着生命危险。如果是你，你会选择哪种生活呢？
词汇学习
country 乡下hole 洞made of 由...制成nice food 美味的食物noise 响声，噪音cried 喊ran away 逃跑afraid 恐惧的
