五十五. The Flower-beds Secret (1)
Once there was an English prince(王子). His name was Henry. Prince Henry liked to study languages, but smiles never came on his face. His father, the King, loved him dearly, and tried to make him happy in every possible way.
The King gave the boy a small horse, so that he might ride when he liked. The King also had a boat made for the Prince, so that he might sail on the lake.
Yet the young Prince was not happy. One day the King had an interview with a man named Sir Arthur. Prince Henry was also there, with an unhappy face, as usual.
Sir Arthur turned to the King, and said，I have a method to make Prince Henry happy, but you have to send him to the countryside At first, the King refused, but Sir Arthur insisted on taking the Prince to the country. Finally, the King agreed.
【汉语翻译】
花坛的秘密(1)
从前有位英国王子叫亨利。亨利王子喜欢学习语言，但他的脸上从来没有笑容。他的父亲即国王非常爱他，尽力用所有可能的方法让他快乐。
国王给这个男孩一匹小马(small horse)，这样他乐意时就可以骑马。国王还让人给王子造了一艘小船(The King also had a boat made for the Prince)，这样他可以在湖上(on the lake)航行。
然而（yet）年轻的王子还是不快乐。有一天国王会见(interview) 一位亚瑟爵士。亨利王子也在那里，一副不开心的样子，和平时一样(as usual)。
亚瑟爵士转向(turn to)国王，说，我有一个方法(method)可以让亨利王子快乐，但您必须送他去乡下(countryside)。起初(at first)，国外拒绝了，但亚瑟爵士坚持(insist)带王子去乡下，最后，国王同意了。
五十五. The Flower-beds Secret (2)
Prince Henry and Sir Arthur went to Sir Arthurs house. His big yard was divided into two parts-inside yard and outside yard, and the outside yard was a big garden with a flowerbed. Sir Arthur cancelled all his activities and stayed with the Prince at home. He told Henry, Do you know my flowerbed can talk, and it has a secret.The prince thought it very strange. Sir Arthur went on, it tells the secret only to those who watch it every day. If you learn the secret, you will be happy every day in the year.?
Prince Henry looked, but there was no flower, not even a leaf upon it. Then he circled the flower-bed every day. Even when a storm came，he didnt go inside, so he caught a cold and coughed badly.
Many days passed. The flowerbed was wet, and the warm sun shone upon it. At last, one fine morning, he saw tiny plants coming up.
Day after day he saw that these plants made lines, and that the lines formed some letters. He thought about the spelling and tried to translate them into his own language. At last, he got it: DO SOME GOOD TO SOMEONE EVERY DAY.
【汉语翻译】
花坛的秘密(2)
亨利王子和亚瑟爵士去了亚瑟爵士的家。他的大院子被分成(be divided into)两部分一里院和外院，外院是一个有花坛的大花园。亚瑟爵士取消(cancel)他所有的活动，在家里陪着王子。他告诉亨利，我的花坛会讲话，它有一个秘密。王子觉得很奇怪。亚瑟爵士继续说道，它只把秘密说给那些每天关注它的人。如果你知道了这个秘密，你会在这一年里每天都快乐。
亨利王子看着花坛，但上面没有花朵，甚至连一片树叶也没有。然后，他每天围绕(circle)花坛转，即使当暴风雨(storm)来临时他也不进屋，结果他感冒(catch a cold)了，咳嗽(cough)不止。
许多天过去了。花坛被打湿了，然后温暖的太阳又照在上面。终于，一个美好的早晨，他看到微小的植物长出来了。
日复一日，他看到这些植物长成一条条线(line)，然后这些植物线条构成(form)一些字母。他思考着将这些字母拼写(spell)成单词，然后翻译(translate)成他自己的语言。终于，他明白了：每天为别人做点好事。?
五十六. TVs Value
Many people who are alive today know what it is like to live in a world without television. Television is only about forty years old. Yet it has been an important part inour lives.
Some people think that the years before television were a better time. They believe that families talked more and did more things together. More books were read. People got more outdoor exercise.
But others disagree. They say that television is a good tool for education. It tells us what is happening in the world. It provides plenty of fun for us. It helps us understand how people live and work.
Although some people describe television as a great teacher, others say television has caused the poor reading and writing skills of our people. Television gets praise for helping us understand the people of the world. But it also has influence on family life.Television tells us the news of the day. But it can also make us lazy by giving only short news instead of telling the whole story.
Even people who love television are not happy with it. They think there are too many advertisements on television. People will probably continue to discuss about televisions value. But everyone agrees that it is one of the most important inventions of the twentieth century.
【汉语翻译】
电视的价值
很多现在还在世的(alive)人知道没有电视时人们的生活情形。电视出现至今只有40多年的时间，然而(yet)它已经成为我们生活中一个重要的部分。
有些人认为电视出现之前的日子更美好。他们说过去家里人花更多的时间在一起聊天，或一起做更多的事，他们会读更多的书，进行更多的户外锻炼(outdoor exercise)。
但有些人不同意。他们说电视是很好的教育工具，它让我们了解世界各地发生的事情，它为我们提供了很多娱乐(plenty of fun)，它帮助我们了解人们如何生活和工作。
尽管(although)有人把电视描述(describe)为了不起的教师，但也有人说人们读写技能(skill)的降低是电视导致的。电视因帮助我们了解世界各地而得到赞扬(praise)，但电视也对家庭生活有影响(influence)。电视让我们了解当今的新闻时事，也让我们变得懒惰(lazy) 我们只能获悉简短的新闻摘要，而不是整个事件的始末。
甚至连喜欢看电视的人也对它不满意。他们说电视里的广告(advertisement)太多了。人们很可能还会继续讨论(discuss)电视的价值(value)。但有一点人们已经达成共识，那就是电视是20世纪(the twentieth century)最重大的发明(invention)之一。