Agatha Christie is undoubtedly queen of the detective story. Many people have fallen in love with her creations—Hercule Poirot, a famous Belgian detective and Miss Marple, an old lady who is also an amateur(业余的) detective.

As I am a big fan of Agatha Christie, let me share with you an interesting story about her. The famous writer never forgot that night when she met a robber many years ago. That evening, she was invited to a birthday party which lasted until 2 o’clock in the morning. Agatha walked in the quiet street alone. Suddenly from the shadow of a dark building a tall man with a sharp knife in his right hand ran out at her. “Good morning, lady,” the man said in a low voice, “I don’ t think you wish to die here!”

“What do you want?” Agatha asked.

“Your earrings. Take them off!”

Agatha suddenly had a bright idea. She tried to cover her necklace with the collar(衣领) of her coat while she used the other hand to take off both of her earrings and then she quickly threw them on the ground.

“Take them and let me go,” she said. The robber saw that the girl didn’t care for the earrings at all, only trying to protect the necklace. He thought the necklace would cost more, so he said, “Give me your necklace.”

“Oh, sir. It’s not worth much. Please let me keep it.”

“Stop talking rubbish. Quick!”

With shaky hands, Agatha took off her necklace. As soon as the robber disappeared, she picked up her earrings and ran as fast as she could to one of her friends. In fact, the earrings cost 480 pounds and the necklace the robber had taken away cost only six pounds.

Hot pot is very popular no matter in hot summer or cold winter in China. It has a history over 1,000 years and until now, it is still the most popular dish for social or family gathering. People put a metal pot in the middle of a dining table, and while the water in the pot is boiling (沸腾) , ingredients are put into it and cooked in the pot. They are usually thinly sliced beef, pork, chicken, lamb, leaf vegetables, tofu and seafood. Many Chinese people like eating hot pot. Liu Yang is one of them.

Liu Yang went to university in England. Three days ago, he arrived there. He had three days of hamburgers, sandwiches and potatoes. Yesterday he was very excited when he heard that there was going to be a meal of hotpot to welcome the new students.

He went into the room and sat next to an American girl. To his surprise, he saw potatoes and bread in front of him. Where was the hot pot?

When the American girl found that Liu Yang was very surprised, she made an introduction to him that hotpot is not hot pot. China has hot pot in two words but English hotpot is written in one word. Hotpot is made with meat, potatoes and onions. People put them into the oven all day in a heavy pot and over a low heat. It is easy to cook.

Hotpot tastes fine. But Liu Yang still misses hot pot, two words!