American learners

他們都很忙。我家有四口人：爸爸媽媽哥哥和我。我家還有一隻小黑狗和一隻大花貓。我父親是一個有名的大夫。我母親是中學英語老師。他們都非常忙。我哥哥是大學生，學中文。他個子很高、比較胖。他的同學都叫他胖子。他的女朋友很漂亮，是日本人。我的小狗叫黑黑。小貓的名字呢，是花花。你看，這是我們家。我們家的房子不大也不小。有四個房間。還有一個非常好看的小花園。我的房間不太大。裡邊有一張小桌子兩把椅子和一張床。

They are all busy. There are four people in my family: my parents, my older brother, and me. We also have a little black dog and a big tabby cat. My father is a renowned doctor, and my mother is a high school English teacher. They are both very busy. My older brother is a college student studying Mandarin. He is tall and chubby, and his classmates call him Fatty. His girlfriend is beautiful; she is Japanese.

Our dog is called Hei-hei, and the cat’s name is Hua-hua. Look! This is our home. Our house is neither big nor small. It has four rooms and a very beautiful little garden. My room is not big, but it has a small desk, two chairs, and a bed.

今天早上我有一節聽力課。大概昨天夜裡沒睡好，所以起晚了。這下我急壞了，因為開學才半個多月，我已經遲到過兩次了！老師不但記住了我的名字，而且還說，下一次我要是再遲到的話，他就不讓我進教室了。

我想去洗洗臉，哎？洗澡間的燈怎麽不亮了？算了，反正沒時間了。我又穿上昨天脫下的那身衣服，騎上車就往學校趕。

教室裡坐著很多學生，可是安靜極了，連一點兒聲音也沒有。看來老師還沒到。我趕快找到一個空座位坐好。這個時候，我忽然發現，周圍的人都是我的中學同學，每個人的面前還擺著一本數學課本。太奇怪了，這節課不是聽力嗎?怎麽會變成了我最討厭的高中數學課呢？還有，我跟同學們打招呼，他們都不答應，只是看著我笑。笑什麽？是因為我沒洗臉，沒梳頭，也沒刮胡子，還是因為我又穿了兩只顏色不同的襪子？正當我不知道該怎麽辦的時候，「叮鈴鈴」，上課鈴響了。

我一下子就醒了，睜開眼睛，看了看床頭的鬧鐘：六點半。我打開窗戶，天還沒亮呢。我呼吸了一口新鮮空氣，心裡得意地想，今天肯定不會遲到了。

I had a listening class this morning. I probably got up late because I didn’t sleep well last night. I was so worried—I’ve already been late for classes twice this semester! The teacher not only remembered me but also warned me that if I was late again, he wouldn’t let me into the classroom.

I wanted to wash my face. Why wasn’t the light in the bathroom working? Forget it. I didn’t have enough time anyway. I threw on the clothes I wore yesterday and rode my bike straight to school.

The classroom was packed with students, but they were all so quiet. I didn’t hear a sound. It seemed the teacher wasn’t there yet. I found an empty seat and sat down. At that moment, I realized the people around me were my high school classmates, and they all had math textbooks in front of them. I thought, That’s odd. Isn’t this supposed to be a listening class? Why is it the math class I hated the most in high school? My classmates didn’t reply when I waved at them. They only laughed. Why are they laughing? Was it because I didn’t wash my face, brush my hair, or shave? Or was it because I was wearing two socks of different colors? Just as I didn’t know what to do, Ding… The bell rang.

I woke up immediately. I opened my eyes and looked at the clock beside the bed: 6 o’clock. I opened the window. The sun hadn’t risen yet. I took a breath of fresh air and thought to myself proudly, I will definitely not be late today.