A little boy bustled(喧鬧，忙亂) into a grocery one day with a memorandum(便箋) in his hand.
″Hello, Mr. Smith,″He said, ″I want thirteen pounds of coffee at 33 cents.″
″Very good,″ said the grocer, and he noted down the sale.
″Anything else, Charlie?″
″Yes. Twenty-seven pounds of sugar at 9 cents.″
″The loaf? And whatelse?″
″Seven and a half pounds of bacon at 30 cents.″
″That will be a good brand. Goon.″
″Five pounds of tea at 90 cents, eleven and a half quarts of molasses at 8 cents a pint, two eight-pound hams at 31 cents, and five dozen jars of pickled walnuts(核桃) at 34 cents a jar.″
The grocer made out the bill.
″It's a big order,″ he said. ″Did your mother tell you to pay for it?″
″My mother,″ said the boy, as he pocketed the neat and accurate bill, ″has nothing to do with this business. It is my arithmetic(算術) lesson and I had to get it done somehow.″
一天，一個小男孩匆匆忙忙地走進了一家雜貨店，手裏拿着一張清單。
“史密斯先生，你好，”他說道：“3毛3分錢一磅的咖啡，請給我13磅。”
“好的，”雜貨店老闆馬上把這筆生意記了下來。
“還要別的'什麼，查理?”
“要的。再要27磅糖，9分錢一磅的。”
“麪包要不要?還要什麼?”“7磅半鹹肉，3毛錢一磅的。”
“這肉是名牌的呢，還有呢?”
“9毛錢一磅的茶葉，給我5磅，8分錢一品脫的糖漿要11夸脫半，3毛1分錢一磅的8磅的大火腿要兩隻，3毛4分錢一罐的醃核桃要5打。”
雜貨店老闆把賬單算了出來。“你買了很多東西，”他說：“你媽媽叫你現在把錢付清嗎?”
小男孩一面把那清楚準確的賬單放進口袋，一面說：“這和我媽沒關係，這是我自己的算術作業,我總得想辦法把它做出來!”