(A)

    “Well, we're in our new house. Let's get a new pet to get along with it,” Mrs. Brown said to her husband.

    “That sounds like a pretty good idea. Do you want to see the ads in the newspaper?”said Mr. Brown.

    “Let's go to the animal shelter. Many pets there need homes. Since tomorrow is Saturday, we can both go,” she said.

    The next morning, the Browns met Mr. Snow at the animal shelter. “We want to be sure that the pets here can go to good homes,” Mr. Snow said, “So I need to ask you some questions.”

    After they talked for a while, the Browns decided to get a small dog. It wouldn't need a big house or a big yard. A small dog would bark and warn them if someone tried to break into their house. After Mr. Snow gave the Browns a book on pet care, they chose one and wanted to take her home right away. But the animal doctor hadn't checked her yet. So Mr. Snow told them to return on Sunday.

    On Sunday afternoon the Browns went to the animal shelter. The animal doctor said, “Shadow has had all of her shots（预防针）. She will be healthy.” Then, the Browns thanked the doctor and took Shadow home.

 (C)

    Gift-giving is different from culture to culture and person to person.

    When people give gifts, sometimes color is important. For example, for many Chinese people around the world, red is a lucky color, and people often like to wrap gifts in red. However, do you know that in South Korea, red is a color of death? That is why you should not wrap your gifts in this color if you are giving a gift to a person there.

    What about Western countries? In Western countries, the color of wrapping paper is not really important. But color does matter when giving flowers, especially roses. You should not give red roses to a Western person you don't know very well because they are a symbol of love. You could give yellow roses instead, as these are a symbol of friendship. You could also send pink roses as gifts to say thank you.

    What other things should you remember when giving gifts to someone from a different culture? Well, one thing you should keep in mind is the person's religion (宗教). When choosing a gift for a Muslim (穆斯林的) or Jewish (犹太教的) friend, you should never get food including pork, or things made from pigskin. Another thing that you should not get for a Muslim person is alcohol (酒).