提要
西洋有句諺語：「If you can't beat them, join them.」（鬥不過人家，索性加入對方。）就是所謂：「適者生存，識時務者為俊傑。」在逆境中為自己開脫；但這並不表示：「打不過霸凌的惡徒，就跟著他一起做壞事！」而是要學習對方的優點、了解自己為何抵抗不了，然後可以「以子之矛、攻子之盾」，就可以終結被欺凌的慘狀了。
A man was going through a forest. He was tired and sat under a tree to rest.
Near the tree were some bushes. In the bushes he heard a whistle. The man got up and went to look. He saw a bottle lying under a bush. The whistle was coming from inside the bottle.
The man opened the bottle to look inside. Immediately a lot of black smoke came out from the bottle. The smoke rose high in the sky. Then the smoke turned into a ghost. It was a big ghost, as tall as a tree.
The ghost was red in colour. He had red eyes, and large golden earrings in his ears. He roared, "Give me some work or I shall eat you up." The man was very frightened. "W-what sort of work do you want ?" he asked the red ghost.
"Any kind of work," the red ghost replied. "You have let me out from the bottle, so you have to give me work to do. I must keep working, day and night. The moment you stop giving me work, I shall eat you up."
"Take me to my house," the man said. The red ghost picked up the man. In half a second he reached the man's house. Again he said, "Give me some work to do or I shall eat you up." "Make me a big palace," the man said.
In a few minutes the palace was ready. The red ghost again said loudly, "Give me some work or I shall eat you up."
"Get me plenty of gold and jewels," the man said. Soon the gold and jewels were there. "Give me some work or I shall eat you up." the redghost said again.
"Get me nice clothes to wear." At once the red ghost brought the fashion clothes. "Give me some work or I shall eat you up." the ghost said.
"Get me some food." In a second the man found the table loaded with delicious food. He tried to eat, but he got no time. The red ghost again said, "Give me some work or I shall eat you up."
The man kept on giving work to the red ghost. He could not eat at all. When night came the ghost would not let him sleep. "Give me some work or I shall eat you up." he said.
The man got very worried. How could he eat ? How could he sleep? If he did not find more and more work, the ghost would eat him up.
Then the man had an idea. He told the ghost, "Make me a tall pillar, as high as the sky. And be quick."
In just a few minutes the ghost was back. "The pillar is ready," he said. "Now give me some work or I shall eat you up."
"Now listen carefully," the man said. "Climb up the pillar till you reach the top. Then climb down till you reach the earth. Then climb up to the top and come down again. Keep on doing so till I tell you to stop. And mind you don't waste anytime."
The ghost was very happy, for he now had plenty to do. He went up the pillar, came down, went up, came down. He went on doing so.
The man watched for some time. Then he went inside and ate the food the red ghost had brought. After that he went off to sleep.
Next morning he got up and went outside. He saw the ghost going up and down the pillar all the time. The man was very happy.
Many days passed. The ghost kept on going up and down the pillar. At the end of a month he was still doing it. He now felt a little tired. "Please sir," he said to the man, "may I stop now ? I have been going up and down the pillar for a month."
"How can you stop ?" the man said. "You cannot stop till I tell you. So keep on going up and down the pillar."
Another three months passed, now the ghost was really exhausted. "Sir," he said, "I can't do it any more. I must stop now."
"You can stop on one condition," the man said. "You must go away from here, and never come back."
"I promise," the red ghost said.
"Very well, you may stop now. And take away that pillar with you."
The red ghost picked up the pillar and ran like hell. The man never saw him again.
解說
一名男子經過森林，他覺得累了，坐在樹下休息。
樹附近有一些灌木叢。在灌木叢中，他聽到口哨聲，男人站起來察看，看到一個瓶子躺在灌木叢下，口哨聲來自瓶內。
男子打開瓶子看看裡面，立即從瓶裡冒出來大量黑煙。煙霧往天空中竄高，然後煙變成鬼魂。這是一個巨大、跟樹一樣高的鬼。
鬼是紅色的，眼睛也是紅的，耳朵還別著好大的金色耳環。他咆哮著：「給我一些工作做，否則我就把你吃掉。」男子非常害怕： 「你想要做什……什麼工作？」他問紅鬼。
「任何一種工作。」紅鬼回答。 「你把我從瓶子裡放出來，所以你必須給我工作做。我必須日以繼夜地工作，當你停止給我工作的那一刻，我就把你吃掉。」
「帶我回家。」男人說，紅鬼於是抄起了這個男人，只花了半秒鐘就到了這男人的房子。他又說：「給我一些工作做，否則我就把你吃掉。」「幫我建一座大宮殿。」男人說。
幾分鐘後，宮殿建好了。紅鬼再次大聲說：「給我一些工作做，否則我就把你吃掉。」
「給我很多黃金和珠寶。」男人說，黃金和珠寶很快就在一處堆好了。 「給我一些工作做，否則我就把你吃掉。」紅鬼又說。
「給我弄些好衣服穿。」男人才說完，紅鬼一下子就弄來流行服裝。 「給我一些工作做，否則我就把你吃掉。」他說。
「給我一些食物。」只過了一秒鐘，男人就發現美味的食物滿桌。他試圖吃些東西，但卻沒有空檔。因為紅鬼再次地說：「給我一些工作做，否則我就把你吃掉。」
這個男人不斷地幫紅鬼找些事做，紅鬼也總是火速地做完。他根本沒辦法吃飯，當夜幕降臨時，紅鬼也不讓他睡覺：「給我一些工作做，否則我就把你吃掉。」
男人很憂心，他怎麼才能吃飯、睡覺？如果他沒有找到工作給紅鬼，那鬼傢伙就會吃掉他。
那個男人有主意了，他告訴紅鬼：「幫我造一根柱子，要像天一樣高，快一點。」
在短短幾分鐘內，紅鬼就回來了：「柱子已經準備好了。」他又說：「現在給我一些工作，否則我我就把你吃掉。」
「現在給我聽好了，」 男人說：「從柱子往上爬，直到你碰到頂，然後爬下來，直到你碰到地；然後再爬上去、再爬下來……繼續這麼做，直到我叫停為止，別浪費時間，快開始爬！」
紅鬼很高興，現在很有事做了。他爬上柱子，再爬下來，上去、下來……上去、下來，他持續這個動作……。
男人看著紅鬼爬上爬下了一段時間。然後他進屋裡，享用堆了滿桌、之前卻沒時間吃的食物，吃飽後，睡大覺去了。
第二天早晨，睡到自然醒的男人起床走到外面，看到紅鬼一直上上下下爬柱子，覺得很開心。
很多天過去了，紅鬼仍不斷地爬上爬下，到了月底，他還在做同樣的這件事。他現在覺得有點累了：「請問先生，」他對那個男人說：「我現在可以停下來嗎？我上上下下爬一個月了。」
「你怎麼能停下來呢？」男人說：「在我叫停之前，你都不能停，所以繼續在柱子上爬上爬下吧。」
又過了三個月，紅鬼現在真的筋疲力竭了。「先生，」他說，「不能再繼續了，我現在必須停下來。」
「只有在一個條件下你可以停下來。」男人說：「你必須離開這裡，永遠不要回來。」
「我保證。」紅鬼說。
「很好，你現在可以停下來，把你的柱子也帶走。」
紅鬼拿著柱子，拔腿狂奔。那男人再也沒見過他。
對話……
Making Friends
Alex：Hey, how are you doing?
Bob：I’m trying to make friends.
Alex：Oh, that’s great!
Bob：But could you give some advice?
Alex：Yes, talk more often with the people who you want as friends.
Bob：Okay, thanks.
Alex：Your welcome.
Bob：I have one more question though.
Alex：Go on ahead and ask me. I’ll be happy to help you earn new friends.
Bob：Should I try to get their phone numbers?
Alex：Yes, of course. Friends need to communicate with each other.
Bob：Now I will ask them if they are available to go out somewhere.
Alex：That’s good. You can become friends with any type of person.
Bob：Oh really?
Alex：Yes, I became a friend to a senior citizen and to a young kid.
Bob：Wow, that’s amazing. I didn’t know making friends would be easy.
Alex：You shouldn’t have that much trouble making friends.
Bob：I’m determined now to make more personal bonds with others.
Alex：Friends are people who understand and enjoy being around you.
Bob：And right now, I’m going to eat somewhere with people I want as friends.
Alex：That’s very good.
Bob：I’m on my way to make more friends.
Alex：Good luck on that.
交朋友
亞歷克斯：嘿，最近好啊？
鮑伯：我想交朋友。
亞歷克斯：哦，那很棒啊。
鮑伯：你可以給些建議嗎？
亞歷克斯：行，跟你想做朋友的人多聊聊。
鮑伯：好，謝謝。
亞歷克斯：別客氣。
鮑伯：我還有個問題。
亞歷克斯：儘管問，我會很樂意幫你交新朋友。
鮑伯：我應該試著問他們電話號碼嗎？
亞歷克斯：當然可以，朋友應該溝通。
鮑伯：現在我會問他們有沒有空出來聚聚。
亞歷克斯：太好了，任何人都可以成為你的朋友。
鮑伯：哦，真的嗎？
亞歷克斯：是啊，我的朋友裡有老年人也有小朋友。
鮑伯：哇，太棒了，我不知道交朋友會這麼容易。
亞歷克斯：你交朋友應該沒啥問題。
鮑伯：我現在決心與他人建立更多聯繫。
亞歷克斯：朋友是了解你也喜歡與你相處的人。
鮑伯：現在，我要和準備當朋友的人一起去吃飯。
亞歷克斯：太好了！
鮑伯：我要去交更多的朋友。
亞歷克斯：祝你好運。
WOW!原來如此
turn into
「turn」是轉彎、「into」是進入，「turn into」是（改頭換面地）「變成……」，例如：
The caterpillar turned into a butterfly.（毛毛蟲蛻變成蝴蝶。）
We all think he’ll turn into a top-class player. （我們一致認為他會成為一流的選手。）
Water turns into ice when it freezes.（天氣極冷時水會凝結成冰。）
exhausted
exhausted是「能量耗盡，或筋疲力盡」，例如：
At the end of the interview she was dazed and exhausted.（面試到最後階段時，她頭昏腦脹、筋疲力盡。）
The exhausted troops surrendered.（那兵困馬乏的部隊投降了。）
The burning continues until the fuel is exhausted.（火一直燒到燃料耗盡才熄滅。）