Little Old Lady

    A young man was walking through a super market to pick upa few things when he noticed an old lady following him.
    "Pardon me," she said. "I'm sorry if my staring¹ at youhas made you feel uncomfortable. It's just that you lookjust like my son, who died recently.""I'm very sorry," replied the young man, "is thereanything I can do for you?""Yes," she said, "as I'm leaving, would you say'Goodbye, mother?' It would make me feel so much better.""Sure," answered the young man.
    As the old woman was leaving, he called out,"Goodbye, Mother!"  Then, as he stepped up to thecheckout counter², he saw that his total was $127.00.
    "How can that be?" he asked.  "I only purchased³ a few things!"The clerk replied, "Your mother said you'd pay for her."

1 staring   

adj.目不转睛的；凝视的；显眼的；（毛发）竖立的v.凝视，瞪视( stare的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She lay on her back staring up at the ceiling. 她仰卧着凝视天花板。
• She was staring into space, her mouth slack. 她双唇微张，失神地望着前方。

2 counter   

n.柜台；计数器；adj.相反的；adv.与…相反地；vt.反对，反击；vi.反对，反击

参考例句：

• This counter is closed now.这个柜台现在已停止营业。
• Set the counter to zero and you'll know where the recording starts.把计数器拨到零，你就会知道录音从哪儿开始。

3 purchased   

购买的，买到的

参考例句：

• Copies of the CD can be purchased at cost price. 这光盘可按成本价购买。
• All of those parts can be purchased off the shelf. 所有这些零件都有现货供应。