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Though this post is beginner-level, it's also very condensed. I'd say you'll have to stop and remind yourself what something means every few words or so. <!--more-->

<img src="http://chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/20100510-INLINE.jpg" alt="Learning to Read Mandarin: Simplified Essays for Learners" width="100" height="100" class="imgborder alignleft" />A few notes: 

- There's a proper noun in here you probably won't find in the dictionary: 江东 is a place, [pinyin]jiang1 dong1[/pinyin], it's a district of Ningbo in Zhejiang Province (south China). So 江东公园 is "JiangDong Park". 

- 小朋友 [pinyin]xiao3 peng2 you5[/pinyin], literally "Little Friend", actually just means "small children", often used when one child is referring to a other children he or she doesn't know. 

Source: <a href="http://www.zuowen.com/e/20120522/4fbb17e8c23c9.shtml" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.zuowen.com/e/20120522/4fbb17e8c23c9.shtml</a>
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<h4>捉青蛙</h4>
　　前几天，我做了一件不<strong>光彩</strong>的事。说出来真<strong>难为情</strong>。晚上，我去江东公园玩，看到有几位小朋友在捉青蛙，我也赶忙<strong>捉青蛙</strong>，捉了青蛙就把它们带回家。在家里养了几天，青蛙<strong>渐渐</strong>瘦了下来，它们好像在对我说：“把我们放回<strong>大自然</strong>吧，我们一定会多捉<strong>害虫</strong>。”我听了感到真不好意思，晚上，就悄悄把它们放回了大自然。
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In the last few days, I did a not-so-illustrious thing, and I'm ashamed to say it. In the evening, I went to JiangDong Park to play, and I saw that there were a few other children catching frogs, so I also hurriedly started catching frogs, and after I caught them I brought them back to my house. At my house I took care of them for a few days, but the frogs gradually became thinner and thinner, it's like they were saying to me: "Put us back in nature, and we can catch more insects." I listened to this and was truly embarrassed0 so that night, I secretly put them back outside. 
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