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明明的撲滿Ming-Ming’sPiggy Bank

明明的撲滿是一個可愛的小房子。Mingming’s piggy bank is a cute little house.

小房子有黑色的煙囪、紅色的門和兩個方方的窗戶。The little house has a black chimney, a red door, and two square windows.

明明常常把她的零用錢從煙囪放進小房子里。Ming-Ming often puts her allowance into the little house through the chimney.

有一天，小房子里的錢滿了，明明把門打開。One day, the little house was full, so Mingming opened the door.

明明開心地說：「哇！ 好多錢啊！」Mingming said happily, “Wow! That’s a lot of money!”(so much money)

小房子里有許多十分、兩毛五分和一元的硬幣，It took Ming Ming a long time to finish counting(to count all money).

明明數了半天才數完。It took Ming Ming a long time to finish counting(to count all money).

明明跟媽媽說：「媽媽，這裡一共有二十一塊錢！Mingming said to her mother, “Mom, there are twenty one dollars altogether in here!

我想把這些錢存進銀行，好嗎？ 」I want to deposit this money into a bank, is that okay? ”

媽媽說：「好啊！ 我現在就帶妳去吧！」Mom said, “Okay! I’ll bring you there right now!”

明明說：「媽媽，謝謝您！」Mingming said, “Mom, thank you!”

老鼠娶新娘The Mouse got married on the third day of the Chinese New Year

從前有一個老鼠市長，他的女兒又聰明又漂亮，許多老鼠都想跟他結婚。Once upon a time there was a mouse mayor. His daughter was smart and beautiful, and many mice admired her and wanted to marry her.

老鼠市長對女兒說：女兒，老鼠又小又沒有本事，你不要和老鼠結婚。Mouse Mayor said to his daughter: My daughter, mice are small in size and incapable, so don’t want you to marry a mouse. Continue reading

蠶絲的故事The Story of The Silk

青青說： 媽媽，這是我從學校帶回來的silkworm。

Qing Qing said: Mom, this is the silkworm I brought back from school.

Look! I took some silkworms back from school.

媽媽說：蠶寶寶，好可愛呀！Mom said (exclaimed): silkworm baby! They are so cute!

蠶寶寶每天都要吃好幾片桑葉，The silkworms consumed several mulberry leaves a day.

青青每天寫筆記，把蠶寶寶生長的情形記下來。Qing Qing kept a journal of the silkworms’ daily life.

(Write down the growth of the silkworm baby.)

過了兩星期，Two weeks later,

蠶寶寶吐出白色的絲把自己包起來，做成一個繭。The silkworms started to spin silk and wrapped themselves into cocoons,

青青說：Qingqing said:

今天老師告訴我們， 蠶絲可以做成布料，The teacher told us today that silk can be made into fabrics,

他的絲巾就是蠶絲做的。Her silk scarf is made of silk.

媽媽說：用蠶絲做衣服，是五千年前中國人發明的。My mother said: Clothing made of silk was invented by the Chinese five thousand years.

Actually, the technique was invented by a Chinese queen five thousand years ago.

我說個故事給你聽—-I’ll tell you a story—- (let me tell you the story)

有一天，皇帝的太太嫘祖在桑樹下喝茶，It happened five thousand One day when the queen was having tea under a mulberry tree.

有個蠶繭掉進他的杯子裡。A silkworm cocoon fell into her teacup.

嫘祖把蠶繭拿出來的時候，她看見一根又亮又軟的絲。When Leizu took out the cocoon out of her cup, and she noticed a shiny and soft sting.

嫘祖想，如果用這種絲做衣服，穿在身上，一定又舒服又好看。Lei Zu had an idea, she thought it would be comfortable and beautiful to wear an outfit made of this kind of material.

於是，嫘祖教全國人民種桑樹、養蠶和織布。Therefore, she started to teach all the people in China how to plant mulberry trees, breed silkworms and weave silk cloth.

古時候，全世界只有中國才有蠶絲。In ancient times, China was the first country to make silk fabrics.

那時候，外國商人帶著金子，走幾千里絲路到中國買絲。 At that time, foreign merchants would carry gold and Travel thousands of miles by foot to China to buy silk.

一直到現在，中國絲還是全世界最有名的。Until now, Chinese silk is still the best in the world.

青青說：媽媽，明天該我上臺說故事，我要把這個故事說給大家聽，

Qing Qing say: Mom, it’s my turn to do Show and Tell tomorrow in school.

I will share this story with my class.

老師一定說我很棒！I am sure the teacher will love it! (Must say that I am great!)

給外婆的一條絲巾，Giving Grandma a Silk Scarf

還有兩個星期， In two more weeks，

外婆就要從臺北來美國了。Grandma will come to the United States from Taipei

外婆在電話裡告訴我，Grandma told me over the phone,

他給我買了一件大衣，That she bought me a winter coat,

還給我買了一本西遊記，And bought me the book “Journey to the West”,

我聽了非常高興，I am very happy to hear that,

今天下午我買了一條絲巾，I bought a silk scarf this afternoon,

要送給外婆，To give to grandma,

這條絲巾是米色的，This silk scarf is in ivory color,

上面有許多金黃色和紅色的小花There are many little golden and red flowers on it,

非常好看。 Very beautiful.

我還寫了一張卡片，.I also wrote a card,

我在卡片上寫，I write on the card,

外婆Dear grandma

您是世界上最好的外婆，我愛您You are the best grandma in the world and I love you

青青敬上 Sincerely, Qingqing December First

我想外婆看了一定很高興。I think grandma must be very happy when she see these.

西游记之二 金箍棒Journey to the West II: The Golden Rod

美猴王离开花果山以后，After the Monkey King left Hua Guo Mountain,

他找到世界上最有本事的仙人当老师.He finds the most powerful immortal in the world as his teacher (master).

仙人给他取名叫孙悟空。The immortal named him Sun Wu Kong.

三年以后，Three years later,

孙悟空学会了七十二变和驾云的本领，Sun Wu Kong had learned the skills of seventy-two transformations and the ability to somersault drive clouds,

他非常想家，他就驾着筋斗云飞回花果山。He was very homesick, so he flew back to Hua Guo Mountain in the cloud somersault.

这时候，有一群妖怪没食物吃，At this time, a group of monsters had no food to eat,

他们就跑到花果山抓猴子吃，They ran to Hua Guo Mountain to catch monkeys to eat,

孙悟空正好回来把妖怪打跑。Monkey King just came back to beat the monster away.

孙悟空回来以后，天天带着猴子们练习武功，After Monkey King came back, he took the monkeys to practice martial arts every day.

有一天，孙悟空的大刀坏了。One day, Monkey King’s sword broke.

孙悟空知道海洋里的东海龙王有许多大刀，於是，孙悟空去找东海龙王借大刀。

Monkey King knew that the Dragon King of the East China Sea had many big swords in the ocean, so Monkey King went to the Dragon King of the East China Sea to borrow a big sword.

东海龙王叫乌龟抬出几把大刀，The Dragon King of the East China Sea asked the turtle to bring out some big knives,孙悟空看了一眼说：

不行！太轻了，像玩具一样！Sun Wukong took a look and said: no! So light, like a toy!

东海龙王又叫乌龟抬出最重的大刀，The Dragon King of the East China Sea also asked the turtle to carry out the heaviest sword,

孙悟空说：哈！原来海里的大刀都像玩具一样轻！Sun Wukong said: Ha! It turns out that the big knives in the sea are as light as toys!

东海龙王还不高兴，他说：The Dragon King of the East China Sea was not happy, he said:

哼，海底的金箍棒，谁都拿不动，Hmph, no one can hold the golden cudgel at the bottom of the sea,

如果你拿得动，我就送给你。If you can handle it, I’ll give it to you.

孙悟空站在金箍棒的面前，他一边看一边说：Sun Wu Kong stood in front of the golden rod, He look at it and said:

哎，就是太大了，如果小一点就好。”Well, it’s too big. It wish it could be smaller would be better.”

孙悟空刚说完，金箍棒就变小了，The minute he said that, the rod shrunk to a smaller size

他又说： 小！小！小！金箍棒变得比针还小。He said again: Smaller! Smaller! Smaller! Finally, the rod shrunk to a size smaller than a needle.

孙悟空把它放进耳朵里，Sun Wu kong gladly put the little rod in his ear,

他非常感谢东海龙王，He was very grateful to the Dragon King of the East China Sea,

可是东海龙王反悔了，But now the Dragon King of the East China Sea repented,

他要想办法把金箍棒抢回来。He had to find a way to snatch the golden Rod back.

海洋里的世界The world in the ocean

星期天,爸爸带中中去夏威夷的海边潜水。On Sunday, Daddy brought Zhong-Zhong to a beach in Hawaii to go scuba diving.

这是中中第一次潜水，他非常兴奋。This was Zhongzhong’s first time went scuba diving, so he was very excited.

中中和爸爸戴上潜水面具，Zhongzhong and Daddy put on diving their diving masks,

在清亮的海水里，他们看见许多热带鱼，In the clear water of the sea. they saw many tropical fish,

他们还看见石头边上的海马、海星、小虾等许多海底小动物。On the edge of the rocks, they also saw many small creature of the deep, like sea horses, starfish, and small shrimps,

中中想：海洋里的世界真美妙啊！Zhongzhong thought to himself, What a wonderful world it is in the ocean.!

中中正玩得高兴，忽然一群小鱼游过来咬他的屁股，Just when Zhongzhong was having fun, all of a sudden, a school of fish swam by and started to bite his butt.

中中吓得马上又回岸上。Zhongzhong was so scared that he immediately swam back to the shore.

原来，中中的口袋里面有食物，他下水之前忘了拿出来。As it turned out that there had some food in Zhongzhong’s pocket, which he forgot to take it out before going into the water.

南瓜燈籠Jack-O-Lantern

去年的萬聖節， 中中用南瓜做了一個燈籠，Last Halloween, Zhong-Zhong made a lantern out of pumpkins.

鄰居們都說，中中家的南瓜燈籠最好看！The neighbors all said that Zhong-Zhong’s pumpkin lantern was the most beautiful!

過了兩個星期，下了一場大雨，It rained very hard a day after two weeks,

南瓜燈籠有點壞了，The Jack-O-Lantern became a little rotten.

爸爸把它放到後院牆邊的空地上。Dad put it in the back yard in an empty place close to the wall.

又過了幾天，A couple days later, (After a few more days,)

南瓜燈籠的表面長了一層，白白毛毛的東西。The surface of the pumpkin lantern has a layer of white fluffy things appeared.

Something fluffy and white appeared on the surface of the Jack-O-Lantern.

冬天到了，下了幾場大雪，Winter came, and there have been several heavy snowfalls,

厚厚的白雪把南瓜燈籠完全蓋住了。The thick white snow completely covered the Jack-O-Lantern.

一直等到春天來了，雪才融化。The snow didn’t melt until spring came.

中中發現南瓜燈籠不見了，Zhong-Zhong couldn’t find the Jack-O-Lantern anywhere,

地上有三顆南瓜的種子。But he found three pumpkin seeds on the ground.

中中把種子埋在土裡。Zhong-Zhong buried the seeds in the soil. Planted the seeds in the soil.

過了不久，地上長出三顆小芽。After a while, three sprouts appeared on the ground.

中中很高興，他每天都去澆水。Zhong-Zhong was very excited; he went to water them every day.

不久，小芽長出許多葉子，Soon (later on) the sprouts began to grow many leaves,

夏天到了，開了許多黃色的花，When summer came, they started to bloom yellow blossoms,

有公花也有母花。Some were male and some were female.

母花謝了，結了許多小瓜。When the female flowers wilted, little pumpkins were produced.

中中想：奇怪，這些南瓜怎麼是綠色的呢？Zhong-Zhong wondered: How come these pumpkins are green?

秋天到了，晚上很冷，每天早上，Autumn followed, it was cold at night, and every morning,

南瓜的表面都有一層白色的霜。The surface of the pumpkin has a layer of white frost.

有一天，中中發現南瓜全都變成金黃色了！One day, Zhong-Zhong found that all the pumpkins had turned golden yellow!

媽媽說：南瓜成熟了，現在可以收成了。Mom said: “The pumpkins are ripe and can be harvested now.”

今年的萬聖節，this year’s Halloween,

中中用院子的南瓜做了一個燈籠。Zhong-Zhong made another Jack-O-Lantern this year using one of the pumpkins from the yard.

他輕輕地拍著南瓜說：歡迎你回來了！He patted the pumpkin gently and said: Welcome back!

房子後面有塊地 There is an empty lot behind the house.

房子後面有塊，大家說要種東西。There is an empty lot behind the house. Everyone said we should plant something.

大哥說種南瓜，The eldest brother said we should plant pumpkin,

二哥說種黃瓜，The second brother said we should plant cucumber,

三哥說種西瓜，The third brother said we should plant watermelon,

四哥說種哈密瓜。The fourth brother said we should plant cantaloupe.

年年月月，說來說去，直到現在，房子後面 Year in， year out， month after month. After all this talk, Until now, behind the house,

還是一塊空地。still an empty lot.

種魚 Plant a fish

王老公公把豆子種在土裡，Old Grandpa Wang planted some beans in the field.

過了不久，他收成了許多豆子。After a little while, he harvested lots of beans.

王老奶奶把玉米種在土裡，Grandma Wang planted some corn in the field.

過了不久他收成了許多玉米。After a little while she harvested a lot of corn.

小貓看見了，就把小魚種在土裡，When the kitten saw it, she then planted some fish in the field.

小貓等了好久好久—–The kitten waited for a very very long time —–

奇怪，怎麼沒有小魚長出來呢？How strange, how come there were no fish growing from the field?