James’s New Bicycle
James shook his money box again. Nothing! He carefully counted the coins that lay on the bed. $24.52 was all that he had. The bicycle he wanted was at least $90! How on earth was he going to get the rest of the money?
He knew that his friends all had bicycles. It was hard to hang around with people when you were the only one without wheels. He thought about what he could do. There was no point asking his parents, for he knew they had no money to spare.
There was only one way to get money, and that was to earn it. He would have to find a job. But who would hire him and what could he do? He decided to ask Mr. Clay for advice, who usually had opinions on most things.
“Well, you can start right here,” said Mr. Clay. “My windows need cleaning and my car needs washing.”
That was the beginning of James’s odd-job(零工) business. For three months he worked every day after finishing his homework. He was amazed by the variety of jobs that people found for him to do. He took dogs and babies for walks, cleared out cupboards, and mended books. He lost count of the number of cars he washed and windows he cleaned, but the money increased and he knew that he would soon have enough for the bicycle he longed for.
The day finally came when James counted his money and found $94.32. He wasted no time and went down to the shop to pick up the bicycle he wanted. He rode proudly home, looking forward to showing his new bicycle to his friends. It had been hard working for the money, but James knew that he valued his bicycle far more since he had bought it with his own money. He had achieved what he thought was impossible, and that was worth even more than the bicycle.

詹姆斯的新自行车
詹姆斯摇了摇他的存钱罐。什么也没有！他仔细的数着散落的床上的硬币，他一共有24.52美元，这是他的全部财产。可是他喜欢的那辆自行车至少需要90美元！他到哪去筹剩余的那些钱呢？他周围所有的朋友都有自行车，只有自己没有自行车将很难跟他们交往.他在想他该做些什么。跟他父母要是无济于事的，因为他知道他父母是没有多余的钱给他。
唯一一个能弄到钱的办法就是--去挣钱！他必须要找到一份工作，可是谁会雇佣他呢？他又能干些什么呢？他决定去问问Clay先生，听听他的意见，因为他通常在很多问题上都很有主意。
“那么，你正好可以从这里开始。”Clay先生说道，“我的窗子需要擦，我的汽车也需要洗。”
James从那就开始了打零工。三个月里他每天做完作业就去工作。他很惊奇地发现人们总是能找到各种各样的工作给他做。他遛狗或带婴儿出去散步，清理橱柜，修理破损的书。他自己都数不过来他曾经洗过多少车擦过多少窗户了，但是他的钱在一天天的增加，他知道他很快就有足够的钱去买那辆渴望已久的自行车了。
有一天当James在数他的钱时，他终于发现他已经有94.32美元了。他飞快地跑到楼下的商店，买回了那辆他想要的自行车。他骄傲地把自行车骑回家，急切地想要把他的自行车展示给他的朋友们。为了买这辆车他一直在努力地挣钱，但是James知道这辆自行车对于他来讲非常贵重，因为它是用他自己辛苦挣来的钱买的。他实现了他曾经认为不可能实现的梦想，这一点远比自行车本身更重要。