Learning to Drive

When I was eighteen years old, I went fishing with my father, some friends, and their fathers. The fishing place was five hours south of my city near San Rafael. On the second day, I went to buy bread and vegetables with my friend. I was driving a Peugeot 505, which is a medium-sized car. I had beed driving only about one year. I was driving fast on a narrowd road between the lake and the mountain. On a curve, the car started to slide. It hit the mountain and turned over. Nothing happened to me and my friend, but the car was totally distroyed. I felt very bad. All the time, I thought about my parents, and I could not believe it. When my father and the others came and turned over the car, I told my father the truth. I was very nervous, but my father did not punish me. I do not know why, but he only said that I should think about what happened. Now I feel good, I will never forget this story and will never drive fast again.

Family and Friends

My Family

Sometimes I feel homesick for my family. There are five people in my family. They are my father, mother, two older brother and myself. My father is a government official. He tells funny jokes, cooks delicious meals for the family, and grows vegetables in his garden. His jokes and his cooking are two of my favorite things. My mother is a nurse. She is outgoing, hardworking, and still curious about learning new things in her profession. She has recently changed jobs, and her new hospital is a very difficult place to work. I will write about my brothers another time.
(100 words)
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My Dog Shorty

At home in Mexico, I have a little dog. She is an important part of our family. We call her Shorty. She is a little fat, but her shape is very cute. All my friends know her name and play with her. My father sometimes gets angry with her because she eats plants in his garden.. His tomatoes and flowers are her favorite snacks. I would like to pet Shorty right now.

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My Twin Brothers

Today I want to write about my two really wonderful older brothers. They are twins and were born on Christmas Eve. They are university students in Japan. One brother goes to a university in Osaka, and the other goes to a university in Kyoto. Therefore, they do not live at home with my family right now. They are majoring in geography. This year they will graduate from their universities and are thinking about graduate school. We usually keep in touch by email, but I sent them a beautiful postcard last week. I miss them very much and want to see them soon.

Letters and e-mail

January 5, 2004
Dear students,
Welcome to From Writing to Composing. We wrote this book to give you and your teacher a collection of interesting and useful activities. Together you and your teacher can use these activities to improve your writing in English. With practice, you will begin to write more fluently and confidently. Good luck and best wishes for a very productive course.
Sincerely,

Beverly & Carol

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Subject: Three More Facts about Me

Dear Maria,
I am very happy to have you as one of my classmates. I have many secrets to tell! Just kidding!
Let me tell you more about myself. The first new fact is that I have one younger brother who is studying the United States. The second fact is that my wife is studying for her Ph.D. The third fact is that this is my second visit to United States. I studied English for six month in Rhode Island, which is the smallest state in the United States.
That's all for now. Have a nice weekend. See you on Monday.
Sincerely,
Sang Kim

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Subject: Re: Three More Facts about Me

Dear Sang,
Thank you for your email. It is nice to meet you, too. I have one thing to common with you. I also lived in Rhode Island. I was a student at the Technical Community College for nine months. I lived in an American family's house, and I still write to them from time to time. Also, this is the third time I have visited the United States. The second time I was in Iowa for business, but it was only for ten days.
I hope you enjoy my email. I hope I did not make a lot of mistakes. Take care!
Best regards,
Maria Perez

P.S. Have a nice weekend!

The Snow From Astra Yanko (4 - end)

The last part of "The Snow From Astra Yanko" by Teramura Teruo

(part 4 - end)
...
Night fell.
"Gosh, it's hot again," the king said, rising to his feet. As a matter of fact, though, the snowmoistened ground had a thing coat of ice, which crackeled underfoot.
"Guess I might as well get up."
(My oh my, how mixed up can you get?)
At this point, the snowmen dolls in the corner of the garden rustled and shuffled and stirred into life. They were singing a song.
Wobbledy hobbledy ho!
Ol' topsy-turvy king, ho ho!
When the sun sets, "Oh, it's morning!"
When the bugle blows, "Quiet, isn't it?"
When the bath water's cold, "It's boiling!"
Before sitting to eat, he washes his feet,
And when he gets sick, he's up and about.
Wobbledy hobbledy ho-ho!
As they sang and danced, the dolls formed a line. Then, with a wobbledy hobbledy, they merged into one. Without a pause in their singing they spun round and round like a top, in the course of which they formed into a solid ball of snow.
When this happened, the solid ball of snow burst open with a boom, and standing there was the Snow King of Astra Yanko.
"A-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
When the Snow King laughed, the North Wind blew mightily, whistling and howling like mad.
Then the Snow King spoke. "Greetings, Your Majesty. Sorry for being rude the other day. You cut quite a nice figure, standing on your hands. Since you're so fond of topsy-turvy things, I suppose you don't mind."
"......"
"Well, I just thought I would collect my children from here and take them back to Astra Yanko. Be seeing you."
"Wait!" shouted the king. "Please wait, Snow King Your Majesty. I'm so hot, so terrible hot! When you return to Astra Yanko, please make some colder snow and let it fall on us. Y'see, I can't take this heat."
Where upon, from somewhere came the sound of the song "Wobbledy hobbledy, ho! ho!" once again, and the king of Astra Yanko suddenly boomed out: "Stop wanting everything your own way! I won't be responsible for what happens."
His voice boomed so loud the palace shook. The king was so surprised he did a flip.
That is to say, he was standing on his two legs again, the way he was supposed to. His body, too, had returned to normal, and he was feeling cold again. And no wonder - he had only his undershorts on, remember?
"A-TCHOO!" He sneezed a mighty sneeze.
When he looked around, the Snow King from Astra Yanko was nowhere to be seen. He had returned to Astra Yanko riding on the king's sneeze.
But the one thing the Snow King did seem to do was grant the king his wish, for now cold snow started falling upon the palace the same as everywhere else.

(end)

The Snow From Astra Yanko (3)

Next, the part 3 of The Snow From Astra Yanko (Teramura Teruo)

(part 3)
...
The cold-hating, softy of a king was now completely topsy-turvy.
He walked on his hands.
Though it was midwinter, he went around in his undershorts.
"Golly it's hot! I wish it would get colder!"
Twenty pillars of ice had been set up in his room, and he himself sat soaking in a bathtub filled with ice. Still feeling hot, he went outside. he went walking about the palace garden... on his hands, of course. In one corner of the garden stood those 324 snowmen.
"I say, Snowman, old boy, let's play a game. I'm quite fond of you."
But when the king's hot body touched the snowman, it started melting away: drip, drip.
"Hey, how come you don't like me? Stay the way you are and let's play."
It was useless. The snowman kept on melting. In the end all that was left was a tiny snowman doll that looked like a small wad of cotton.
"...?..."
The same thing happended to the next snowman the king touched: drip, drip.
"Gee, I need something cold. Listen, Snowman, don't disappear on me, give me a hug."
Drip, drip; drip, drip;...
One after another, 324 snowmen melted down and turned into small dolls.
Finally the king jumped into the pond, over which lay a sheet of ice.
When the king landed in the pond, there was a loud hiss, and the water started warming up. There had been a layer of ice about four inches thick, but in less than ten minutes the ice was melted. The king's body had been very hot indeed.
Even so, at first the king enjoyed a pleasant swim. When he paddled with his arms and legs, instead of going forward he went backwards. That's because everything was topsy-turvy for him.
Before long, steam started rising from the pond.
The chief minister came up and said to king: "Your Majesty, please come out of the pond at once. The fish in the pond will all be boiled."
"Stop nagging!!"
The king came out of the pond. If he stayed in it too long, he'd get terribly hot again.
Just then there was a break in the clouds and the sun came out. The palace garden blazed into sunshine. The wind stopped, and at last the air felt warm.
How did the king react, thougt?
"What a relief! At last it has cooled off a bit!" he said, and he lay down where he could catch the full rays of the sun.
"All right, everybody, good night!"
What's this? It looks like the king's making some mistake. Aha, the sun came out, so he thought it was nighttime.
But the chief minister doesn't realize this, and he says to him, "Your Majesty, if you sleep there you'll catch cold." He tries to lead the king away, but the king won't even get up.
"Ha haa, I see. The king's all topsy-turvy," the chief minister realized. What strange things were going on!
In the warm rays of the sun - or should we say, the cool rays of the sun? - the king fell sound asleep.

(to be continued...)

The Snow From Astra Yanko (2)

I am going to tell you the story "The Snow From Astra Yanko" by Teramura Teruo

(part 2)
...
Our cold-hater and softy of a king did some thinking.
"All right, if this is how things are, we need to have a wind blow that's warm, sort of like steam, and a snow come down that's as warm as cotton. There must be some good way to..."
He went to the palace library and looked around in some books. (Have you ever heard of that before? The king studying without anybody forcing him!)
He looked through a book called The Book of Snow, and there it said that snow was made in the factories of Astra Yanko, from which it was sent by means of jet pumps to the clouds.
The king called for the chief minister at once.
"Chief Minister, old chap, I am going to Astra Yanko. Prepare the rocket ship. I am going to meet the king of Astra Yanko and ask him to have warm snow fall."
"Your Majesty. It can't be done. By it's very nature snow is cold. It's sort of like tiny droplets of ice, is what it is."
"No, it should also be possible to make snow that's warm, like cotton."
"No it isn't possible! If snow became warm, the heaters would be cold. And when you put on clothes you would feel colder. Everything would be topsy-turvy."
"Who cares if it is topsy-turvy?"
"Oh, for heaven's sake!"
"Don't stand there for-heaven's-saking me, you should be preparing the rocket ship, pronto!"
The chief minister had a real job on his hands.
The rocket ship, with the king aboard, blasted off, heading for Astra Yanko.
And, surprise, surprise, luckily it arrived at the snow factories of Astra Yanko.
The king met the king of Astra Yanko.
"Greetings, Snow King. The snow you are dropping is cold. Cold is no good. I'd like you to drop something warmer, something nice and fluffy, like cotton."
"Well, well, isn't this a curious request! Unfortunately, in my factories all we make is cold snow. Besides, snow is meant to be cold, in case you didn't know."
"You can think of some way to remedy that, I'm..."
"No, I can't!"
"Maybe you could just warm up some of cold snow before..."
"You seem to like having things topsy-turvy, eh? A-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
In the end, the king's request was not granted. There was nothing the king could do but board his rocket ship and go home.
But...
As the rocket ship lifted off and the snow king of Astra Yanko waved goodbye, the rocket ship began shivering. Just the same way that our cold hating, softy king shivered.
Next, the rocket ship started spining.
"Darn! A malfunction!" shouted the pilot.
Yet after a short while the malfunction seemed to be corrected. The shivering stopped, too.
But then they noticed something strange: the rocket ship was not facing forwards as it went through space, but backwards! Also, the king's body began to get very warm. Then warmer, even warmer, until finally it even became hot. Wearing the heavy space suit grew unbearable.
"I'm going to take off this space suit," he said.
The pilot stopped him. "Your Majesty, what are you talking about? If you take your space suit off now, your body will burst into pieces."
"But I can't stand it, it's so hot!"
"Wait just a little longer. When we get close to earth it'll be safe to take is off."
"Then hurry up! Give her more speed - speed, man!!"
Unable to stand it, the king kept saying, "Still not there? Still not there?"
The pilot had something more important to worry about: the rocket ship flying back-to-front.
Despite everything, with a bit of luck the rocket ship managed to get back to the palace.
In full view of the people who came to greet him with shouts of "Welcome back, Your Majesty!" the king disembarked from the rocket ship.
When the people saw him they all gasped. They couldn't believe their eyes. There was the king, in his undershorts, coming down the stairway walking on his hands.

(to be continued...)

The Snow from Astra Yanko (1)

This is a story from "Stories by Teramura Teruo"

THE SNOW FROM ASTRA YANKO

(part 1)
I'm going to tell you more about the king. He hated the cold, and he was a softy.
Because he hated the cold and was a softy, he wore about twenty layers of undershirts and clothes. As a result, he looked big and round, just kike a snowman.
"Brr, it's cold!"
As the king huddled, shivering, it started to snow.
The chief minister came to the king's room and said, "Your Majesty, it has started to snow. Let's go outside and have a snowball fight. That'll warm you up!"
To this the king replied, "You think I can go outside when there's snow on the ground?!? I'll freeze!"
But the chief minister still was worried.
"Your Majesty, if you just put on a lot of clothes and sit there by the stove all the time, your health will deteriorate."
"I'm doing it because I'm cold!"
"But you mustn't. If your health deteriorates and you get sick, you will have to drink some bitter medicine. And you will have to get painful injections."
Now, what the king liked most were omelettes, and what he hated most were injections. He couldn't stand being given an injection.
"All right, all right! I'll go outside. But then you have to warm up the palace garden for me."
"That can't be done, Your Majesty."
"You can put a lot of heaters out in the garden, can't you? Yes, that's it! Circle the whole garden with a ring of heaters. That's what we'll do!"
"Your Majesty. It can't be done. It's winter now. Winter is meant to be cold."
"In that case, hurry up and bring on spring."
"Your Majesty, it can't be done. The birds of spring are still asleep, for one thing, and the tulips still haven't even put out their buds. There aren't any buds on the cherry trees, either."
"Who cares? Go on, order the soldier to get rid of the snow from the garden first. After that they are to plant artificial tulips, glue paper flowers to the cherry trees, and then release into the garden all the birds we keep in the palace."
"Your Majesty, you're asking the impossibility!"
"Quiet!!"
Once the king has said something he won't budge. Helplessly, the chief minister did as the king said.
The soldiers started shovelling away the snow in the palace garden. The king was watching from his window. "All of you", he said, "are to make snowmen! You are to make snowman after snowman, untill all the snow is gone!"
They made 324 snowmen. The snowmen stood in neat rows, row upon row, in one corner of the garden.
As the king had commanded, vinyl tulops were planted. Paper flowers were glued to the cherry trees. All the birds kept in the palace were released into the garden.
"Well now, this should bring on spring," said the king, as he slowly, very slowly, went out into the garden.
But no nooner was the king outside that the North Wind came along, whistling and howling, and the king was sent flying. Dressed in so many layers of clothes that he resembled a round ball, the king went rolling along and finally came to a stop only when he bumped into a snowman.
"Yow! It's freesing out here!"
Then he saw the paper flowers that had been glued onto the cherry trees, flying about everywhere. When the wind blew them out of sight, the snow started falling again.
"Help me-e-e, somebody!!"
The king stumbled back to his room.
The birds flew away in search of a warmer land. The tulips, covered in snow, were all white.
...
(to be continued)

Robot Does It All (4-end)

I am going to tell you the story "Robot Does It All" by Teramura Teruo.

(part 4 - end)
...
Cry his heart out as he might, rant and rave as much as he pleased, there now no way the king could go to the neighbor kingdom with half his moustache gone.
He felt utterly miserable.
Only half a moustache left, his skin stinging like mad, he crawled into bed. But now he couldn't sleep.
Even if he hadn't been feeling so terrible he still wouldn't be able to sleep, since he hadn't done anything but lounge about all day long. He wasn't sleepy. He lay in bed till morning, unable to sleep. Sleeping had become a chore.
(Oh well, guess I might as well get up...). the thought passed through his mind, but the morning bugle would not sound untill 7:00.
The king did some thingking.
The following morning, about 5:00, the king went to wake the robot. Naturally though, being a robot, it's always awake.
What do you thing the king said to the robot? Let's eavesdrop.
"I say, Robot, old chap, how about teaching me horseback riding? I haven't had much exercise lately, and I've put on some weight."
And so, while everyone else was still asleep, the king slipped out and had a lesson in horseback riding.
The next morning after that the king said to the robot: "I say, Robot, old chap, how about giving me some school lessons? I've been neglecting the books, lately, and my memory's beginning to get rusty."
And the story goes that the king started brushing his teeth again, something he hadn't done for ages. And that he started washing his hands again before meals, something he hadn't done for ages. As for the rest of the ways the king changed, well, I'd be much obliged if you thought about them by yourself.

(The end)

Robot Does It All (3)

I start recording the story "Robot Does It All" by Teramura Teruo.

(part 3)
...
"Your Majesty, a letter has arrived from our neighbors, inviting you to come see a circus," sad the chief minister.
"All right! A circus... now that's something I'll go to."
The king was making the robot do everything; this was the only time he proposed to go himself.
"But Your Majesty..."
"But what?"
"If we compare Your Majesty... and the robot..."
"So you compare me and the robot, so what?"
"In Your Majesty's present state, I think you might be a bit unsightly..."
Taking the suggestion, the king did compare himself with the robot. Yes, he was absolutely filthy. Also, all he'd been doing was eat lots of food and lie on his couch, so he'd become fat and flabby, and the good suit made a short while ago fitted the robot perfectly but was tight on him.
"It's a pity, Your Majesty, but perhaps we should let the robot go in your place this time. When he comes back you can hear all about it from him."
".........."
The king felt hurt and angry, but there was nothing else that could be done.
"I'm going to bed."
The king crawled into bed. Still, what a pity. If there was only some way...
Out in the courtyard, preparations were under way for the robot's departure. They were polishing the automobile until it sparkled, and the soldiers who would accompany the robot seemed all assembled.
"That's it!" The king jumped to his feet. He shoulted from the window: "Hey, wait! I will go. I'll take a bath, shave, get all spiffed up, and be down in a jiffy. Wait for me!"
Now, wasn't that extraordinary!
He jumped into the bath, all on his own, and began scrubbing himself with a wash towel. He rubbed and rubbed, but he still couldn't get the dirt off. He poured and poured water over himself, but he was still dirty.
"Bring me a scrubbing brush!"
The dirt finally came off when he used a scrubbing brush. But with serious results. Now his skin stung him so much, it hurt something awful when he put on his underwear.
"Grin and bear it, grin and bear it..."
Next was a shave. The chief minister come and hurried him up.
"Your Majesty, if you don't get ready quickly, the circus will begin."
"I know! I know! I'll be quick, give me a little more time!"
The king took the razor and started shaving his growth of whiskers by himself.
"Hurry! Hurry!" said the chief minister again.
"Shut up!" shouted the king angrily - and in that instant shaved off one half of his precious moustache.

(to be continued...)

Robot Does It All (2)

I start recording the story "Robot Does It All" by Teramura Teruo, this story is from the book "Stories by Teramura Teruo".

(part 2)
...
Well, now there were two kings in the palace.
When the chief minister would call, "Your Majesty, it's 'Study Time,'" the real king would say, "Fine, I'm on my way." Then he would send the robot to the study room, where the famous teacher would give the robot lessons.
The king would sprawl out on his couch.
"Your Majesty, your hair has grown. How about a haircut?"
"Fine, I'll go at once," the real king would reply, but the royal barber's scissors would go "snip, snip, clip" over the robot's head. The king would be sprawled out on his couch.
"Your Majesty, the tailor has arrived. Let's have him make you a new suit of clothes."
"Fine, I'll be there in a jiff." And the tailor would make a suit of clothes to fit the robot's measurements. The king stayed sprawled on his couch.
"Your Majesty, it's "Exercise Time.' Today's the day for horseriding."
"Oh yes, good. Prepare the horse at once." The robot mounted the horse and it galloped off, while the king lay sprawled on his couch.
Sprawling on his couch, only getting up to have some sweets, then lying down again, he watched television. The only time he would get up was to eat something.

******
It was amazing.
Everything the robot did, it did well.
in horseback riding, for example, it was possibly more skilful than the teacher. For it never took a spill.
It loved study. Japanese classes, maths, music, handicrafts... in all these subjects it did better than the king. It may have been better than the teacher, even. For it never made a mistake.
And the robot never complained. No matter what it was told to do, it never said "No!" It always answered "Yes, sir!" and did as it was told.
In never roared out anything like "I have a headache!" and then start crying or the like.
But the real king, now... Well, once the robot came on the scene, the king didn't wash himself once, didn't shave or have his hair cut, didn't bother to change his clothes. All he did was lie on his couch all day long, like a sack of potatoes. And he became as dirty and filthy as a sack of potatoes.

(to be continued...)

Robot Does It All (1)

I start recording the story "Robot Does It All" by Teramura Teruo, this story is from the book "Stories by Teramura Teruo".

ROBOT DOES IT ALL

Allright, pay attention now. This story's about a king.
Every morning at seven it's rise-and-shine time for the king.
Ta-ra ta-ra-ra, ta-ta ta-rara
ta-ta ta-rara ta-raa
A bugle blows in the palace. Then the chief minister comes to the king's room.
"Your Majesty, the bugle has sounded. Get up please," he says.
"Don't bother me. It's not seven yet."
"No, no mistake. The bugle has sounded."
"The palace clock is fast, that's why."
"It is not fast, it's right on time."
"What!?! How dare you talk that way to your king!!" cried the king as he stood up in bed.
"Good morning, Your Majesty! There, you're up. You mustn't go back to sleep now."
The chief minister bowed to him, a smile on his face. This made the king wide awake.
"... makes me so mad..." And in a thoroughly bad mood.
"I wish I could sleep as long as I want in the morning. And go to bed at night only when I'm sleepy..."
The king's "Washing-Up Time" had arrived.
"Oh, bother! I hate brushing my teeth."
Next it was "Light-Exercises-Before-Breakfast Time"
"Ooh! bother!! I wish I didn't have to do stupid exercises."
When these were finished, it was "Washing-Hands-Before-Meals Time."
"Ooh, bother!!! I wish I didn't have to wash my darn hands every single time. If only somebody would wash his hands instead of me..."
(Somebody... instead... That's it!) The king had a bright idea.
Summoning the chief minister, he told him: "Make me a robot that looks exactly like me. Now! At once!"
Once the king says something he won't change his mind. Was such a robot really possible? Well, even if it wasn't, they would have to make one.
"Ye...yes, Your Majesty!"
The palace wise man at one set about studying how to make one.
The king grinned. "When the robot is finished, I can make it do all the irksome things, and all I will have to do is sleep, and eat."
At which point the king's "Breakfast Time" began.

(to be continued...)

Introduction

Hi there,
I am Le Hoang-Hiep, 28, from Viet-Nam.
I like to learn English very much!
I hope I can fluently "english" for my study and my job!