Gifts of Love

One dollar of eighty-seven cents. That was all. Della had been saving for months, one or two pennies at a time, but there was only one dollar and eighty-seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas.

She sat down and cried. She had spent many happy hours planning a nice Christmas present for Jim, her dear husband, but there was not enough money to buy even a cheap necktie.

Della stopped crying and stood up. She turned and stood before the mirror. She pulled her down and let it fall.

Now, Jim and Della had little money, but they had two things that were like treasures. One was Jim’s gold watch, which had been his grandfather’s. The other was Della’s beautiful long hair. It looked like shining waves of water.

Della pinned her hair back up, then rushed out the door and walked quickly down the street. She stopped before a sign that read, “Beautiful Salon.” She ran inside.

“Will you buy my hair?” she asked. She unpinned it and let it fall down again.
“Twenty dollars,” the owner said, looking at the hair carefully.
“Give it to me quickly,” said Della.

For the next two hours, she looked in all the stores for Jim’s present. She found it at last: a fine gold watch chain.

Della returned home, then sat down and waited for her husband. “I hope Jim will think I ‘m still pretty,” she said to herself.

Soon, the door open and Jim stepped in. When he saw Della, he looked shocked. He stared at her, with a strange look on his face. Della jumped. He stared at her, with a strange look on his face. Della jumped up. “Jim, darling, don’t look at me that way. I sold my hair because I wanted so much to give you a Christmas present. Don’t you love me just at much anyhow?”

“Don’t make any mistake about me Della,” he said. “Your short hair doesn’t make me love you less. But if you open this package, you will see why I was so surprised.”

Her fingers tore open the paper. She gave a cry of joy --- but it quickly changed into tears. There lay the set of combs that Della had wanted for so long. They were beautiful, with jewels on the edges, and just the right color for her hair. But now she had no hair to wear them in.

She held the combs tightly and looked up. Her eyes were red, but she smiled and said, “My hair grows very fast, Jim.”

Then Della quickly gave Jim his present. “Isn’t it lovely? I looked all over town for it. Give me your watch. I want to see how it looks!”
But Jim just sat down on the coach, put his hands behind his head, and smiled. “Della,” he said, “let’s put our presents away. They’re too nice to use right now. I sold my watch to get the money to buy your combs. And now I guess it’s time for us to have our dinner.”

(adapted from “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Herry)

Attractions at Tucson

1. Old Pima county courthouse
2. Historic architecture: St. Augustine Cathedral, Fort Lowell, the Owls club, Steinfield mansion, Casa Del Gobernador, La Casa Cordova, J. Knox Corbett house, Edward Nye house.
3. University of Arizona
4. Pima air museum
5. Titan missile museum
6. Mission San Xavier Del Bac
7. Saguaro National Monuments
8. Sabino Canyon
9. Mt. Lemmon
10. Santa Catalina mountains
11. Old Tucson Studios
12. Tohono Chul Park
13. Biosphere 2
14. Arizona Sonora Desert Museum
15. Kitt Peak
16. Mission in the Sun
17. Colossal CaveReid Park Zoo

Making Telephone Calls

Communicating in English on the phone can be difficult. But it will be easier if you become familiar with some common expressions. Also, remember that most Westerners follow certain rules of politeness when talking on the phone. The following are some guidelines for American telephone manners.
1. When you call someone, introduce yourself first. Even if you know the person, don’t expect him or her to recognize your voice.
2. After introducing yourself, you might ask, “Are you busy right now?” If it is a business call, you can say, “Is this a convenient time to call?”
3. If the person is busy, you can say, “What time should I call back?”
4. When you answer the phone at home, you can simply say “Hello.” At an office, you should identify the name of your company. For example: “Formosa Plastics, may I help you?”
5. If you dial a wrong number, it is not polite to say, “What number is this?” Instead, you can say, “I’m sorry. Is this 2595-2345?”
6. When you want to end a phone conversation, you can say, “Thanks for calling” or “It’s been nice talking to you.” To be more direct, you can say, “I’m sorry. I have to go now.”
(From Far East English Reader)
Dialogeues:
1. A student in Taiwan is calling a school in the United States.
Operator: University of Oregon.
Student: Could I have the Language Training Center, please?
Operator: One moment, please.
Secretary: Language Center. May I help you?
Student: Hello, I’m calling from Taiwan. I’d like to get some information about your program.
Secretary: Just a minute. I’ll connect you with Ms. Barnes.

2. A man calls the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) AIT has a recorded phone message.
Recording: This is the American Institute in Taiwan. If you know the extension you want, please dial it now. If you need other information or want to speak to an operator, dial 0.
Operator: AIT. May I help you?
Caller: Could I have the visa office, please?
Operator: One moment.
3. Hua-ming makes a personal call to his friend Steve.
Steve: Hello.
Hua-ming: Hello, is Steve there?
Steve: Speaking.
Hua-ming: Hi, Steve. This is Hua-ming.
Steve: Hua-ming! How’ve you been? I haven’t heard from you for ages!
Hua-ming: I’ve been great. How have you been?

4. Mei-ling calls her classmate Ruth, who has an answering machine.
Recording: you have reach 2333-6633. We can’t answer the phone right now. Please leave your name and number after the tone.
Mei-Ling: Hi, Ruth, this is Mei-ling. Please call me back when you get home. My number is 2264-8878.

5. Amy calls her classmate Peter, but she dials the wrong number.
Answerer: Hello.
Amy: Hello, could I speak to Peter?
Answerer: I’m sorry, there’s no one here by that name.
Amy: Oh? Is this 2718-3357?
Answerer: No, it’s not. I’m afraid you have the wrong number.
Amy: Sorry!

Idioms and Phrases:
1. Even if: in spite of the fact that.
Even if you can do it by yourself, you’d better discuss it with us first.
2. Hear from: to receive a letter or telephone call from.

3. For ages: for a long time.

We haven’t seen each other for ages.

27 Dresses (2008)

Movie
Plot Summary:
Two things about Jane: she’s never says no to her friends (she’s been a bridesmaid 27 times and selflessly plans friends’ weddings), and she’s in love with her boss, George, nurturing dreams of lovely, romantic wedding of her own. She meets Kevin, a cynical writer who finds her attractive, and that same week, her younger, flirtatious sister Tess comes to town. Jane silently watches George fall for Tess, a manipulative pretender. Worse, Jane may be called upon to plan their wedding. Meanwhile, Kevin tries to get Jane’s attention and has an idea that may advance his career. Can Jane uncork her feelings? Then what? (Written by jhaliley)

American-born Jane is career-oriented and secretly in love with her employer, George. She spends most of her time as a bridesmaid, and has appropriate dresses as evidence, and also include a traditional Hindu wedding dress, complete with Bindi. Then her structured and ordered life comes unhinged when her younger sister, Tess, re-enters her life, a reporter, Kevin, who also has an alias, claims to be is attracted to her Kevin decides to publish Jane’s secret and her overwhelming wardrobe. Things get even more complicated when Jane find out she may end up losing George to none other than her very own sister. (Written by AjOo)

Cast:
Katherine Heigl: Jane
James Marsden: Kevin

Director: Anne Fletcher
Writer: Aline Brosh McKenna

Made of Honor(2008)

Movie
Plot Summary:
Made of Honor revolves around Tom and Hannah, who have been platonic friends for 10 years. He’s a serial dater, while she wants marriage but hasn’t found Mr. Right. Just as Tom is starting to think that he is relationship material after all, Hannah gets engaged. When she asks Tom to be her “maid” of honor, he reluctantly agrees just so he can attempt to stop the wedding and woo her. (Written by Orange)

Cast:
Patrick Dempsey: Thomas ‘Tom’ Bailey
Michelle Monaghan: Hannah
Kevin Mckidd: Colin McMurray

Director:
Paul Weiland
Writer:
Adam Sztykiel (screenplay), Deborah Kaplan(screenplay), Harry Elfont(screenplay)Adam Sztykiel (story)

Savages(2007)

Movie

Plot Summary:

Jon and Wendy Savage are two siblings who have spent their adult years trying to recover from the abuse of their abusive father, Lenny Savage. Suddenly, a call comes in that his girlfriend has died, he cannot care for himself with his dementia and her family is dumping on his children. Despite the fact Jon and Wendy have not spoken to Lenny for twenty years and he is even more loathsome than ever, the Savage siblings feel obliged to take care of him. Now together, brother and sister must come to terms with the new and painful responsibilities with their father now affecting their lives even as they struggle with their own personal demons Lenny helped create. (Written by Kenneth Chisholm)

Cast:
Laura Linney : Wendy Savage
Philip Seymour Hoffman : Jon Savage
Philip Bosco : Lenny Savage

Director: Tamara Jenkins
Writer: Tamara Jenkins

Plastic Money

Here is a situation that has happened to many people: You invite a friend to lunch, and after finishing the meal, you realize you did not bring enough money. What should you do? Turn to your friend and ask to borrow some? How embarrassing! Excuse yourself and rush down the street to the nearest bank? How impractical!
So what can you do to get out of this situation? It’s easy. Just take out your credit card and say, “ Charge it.” How convenient!
In fact, the conveniences of using “plastic money” are many. For one thing, you don’t have to carry a large amount of cash, which can easily be lost or stolen. This is especially important if you are traveling. Of course, a credit card can also be lost or stolen, but if it is, you just call the credit card company. After that, if anyone uses your card, you won’t have to pay the bill.
Credit cards are also useful for making large purchases. For example, if you want to buy a computer, but you don’t have enough cash, you can charge it and then pay off the bill over several months. Having a credit card is also an advantage if you want to order goods through the mail. To do so, you just give your credit card number to the mail-order company.
To enjoy the advantages of a credit card, however, requires responsibility. Often, when people first get credit cards, they go crazy. They buy everything they see; they take their friends out to eat; they live it up. When the statement comes at the end of the month, they suddenly realize they don’t have enough money to pay!
So, remember, it is easy to get a credit card --- even many students have them. But it is also easy to have it taken away! In this way, maybe a credit card is just like money: “Easy come, easy go!”