Unit 1
A woman won a bucketful of quarters at a slot machine in Atlantic City. She found
two black men already in the elevator as she went back to her room to hide the quarters.
She hesitated to enter the elevator because she was afraid that the two men were going to
rob her. After she joined them in the elevator, she heard one man say,
鈥?/p>
Hit the floor
鈥?/p>
,
which was taken by her for falling on her knees to the floor. So she did.
The two men explained to her
鈥?/p>
hit the floor
鈥?/p>
meant
鈥?/p>
to push the button for the
floor they were going to
鈥?/p>
. The woman
鈥?/p>
s fear gave place to embarrassment. The two men
gathered up the scattered quarters with her and accompanied her to her room.
The next day the woman received a dozen roses and twelve 100-dollar bills given
by Eddie Murphy and Michael Jordan to thank her for the best laugh they
鈥?/p>
d had in years.
Unit 2
The
young
man
in
the
story
dreamed
of
sailing
around
the
world,
but
he
never
received any support or encouragement from people around him, not even his father, who
wanted his son to work like him in a factory. But the boy stuck to his dream and to make
his dream come true, he did two jobs to earn enough money for a sailboat. At long last, he
purchased a boat and was ready to sail when federal agents were preparing to confiscate
it for carrying drugs. He was even asked to pay for the docking fees of the former owner.
The young man couldn
鈥?/p>
t take the hard blow and in anger and desperation, he painted
鈥?/p>
Ill
Feelings
鈥?/p>
on the boat and sailed out regardless of the warning of an upcoming storm.
Soon he found himself in danger when attacked by the storm and asked the harbormaster
to harbor his boat. But to his dismay, he was told no
鈥?/p>
Ill Feelings
鈥?/p>
would be harbored in
this dock.
Unit 3
The
author,
as
a
college
sophomore,
shared
a
rented
apartment
with
three
of
his
schoolmates, for they didn
鈥?/p>
t want to live in a dorm. But they had much trouble sharing
the only bathroom as one of them was a taker, using up everything available; another a
polluter,
making
a
mess
in
the
bathroom;
the
third
a
monopolizer,
occupying
the
bathroom
for
a
long
time
regardless
of
others
鈥?/p>
urgent
needs.
With
the
example,
the
author thinks that the same is true of the world where some people or corporations take
too much or make wrong use of our planet
鈥?/p>
s resources for their own benefit at the cost of
other
people
just
as
his
three
roommates
did
with
the
bathroom.
To
solve
the
issue,
a
planet
policy including
compensations for the victims
is
a must for building a fair and
harmonious world.
Unit 4
Bartleby
was
a
new
clerk
I
employed
to
write
legal
papers
as
my
business
was
growing.
At
first,
he
did
an
extraordinary
quantity
of
writing
and
he
worked
just
like
a
machine, never looking or speaking. But later, he would refuse my assignments by saying,
鈥?/p>
I would prefer not to.
鈥?/p>
What was worse, he never ate out or went anywhere, and made
my
law
office
his
home.
In
spite
of
my
deep
sympathy
for
him,
I
had
to
dismiss
him.
However,
he
wouldn鈥檛
leave
and
locked
himself
in
my
office.
So
I
left
him.
He
was