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This melancholy kid doesn't seem to have very much luck with pets or siblings. <!--more-->

<img src="http://devenv.chinesereadingpractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/20120810-INLINE.jpg" alt="Mandarin Chinese Bginner Passages: Learning Mandarin Reading for Beginners" title="Learn Beginner Chinese Characters: Chinese Character Practice for Beginner Learners" width="100" height="100" class="imgborder alignleft" /> You may or may not have a little difficulty with the sentence 楼区不让养, which is said in regards to a pet dog. Looking at each word...

楼 - [pinyin]lou2[/pinyin] Building
区 - [pinyin]qu1[/pinyin] District / region / area
不 - [pinyin]bu4[/pinyin] No, not, doesn't
让 - [pinyin]rang4[/pinyin] Allow, let
养 - [pinyin]yang3[/pinyin] Raise, take care of (as in a child or a pet)

... the meaning isn't too hard to decipher "the building doesn't allow raising [of dogs]". But while the meaning isn't difficult, some of the words are used a little bit differently than they are in English. For example, in English, when we say someone "raises dogs", or "raises" any type of animal, it usually indicates some kind of professional or large-scale dedication to breeding that type of animal. When people casually keep a pet or pets, we say they "have a dog", or "own a dog". Not so in Chinese. The correct Chinese term for having a pet dog (or many types of pet) is "raising a dog" - 养狗. So, for example, saying "I want to raise a dog" (我想养一只狗) is the equivalent of saying "I want a dog" in English. 

The other question this raises is "what do they mean by 楼区, 'building district'"? You'd assume this means the area around your apartment building, and you'd be right - but why "区"? This is because in China, many older apartment blocks are much more like tiny districts or communities than they are in the western world. In one complex, there may be several buildings that make up your block, with little numbered sub-staircases (单元) that each contain 12 or so apartments, and they may include small playgrounds inside the block or have other amenities. 楼区 refers to all buildings in the apartment block, any outdoor areas or amenities for that apartment area. 

The Chinese title of this text is 我孤独.
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<h4>Click to Listen</h4>
独生子 - [pinyin]du2 sheng1 zi3[/pinyin] - Only child
养 - [pinyin]yang3[/pinyin] - To raise
解闷 - [pinyin]jie3 men4[/pinyin] - Relieve bordom
放走 - [pinyin]fang4 zou3[/pinyin] - To let go, to free (an animal)
陪伴 - [pinyin]pei ban4[/pinyin] - To accompany, be with
忠臣 - [pinyin]zhong1 chen2[/pinyin] - Loyal subject
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<div id="chinesetext">
我是个<strong>独生子</strong>，家里没有兄弟，只好<strong>养</strong>动物来<strong>解闷</strong>。可是，小黄狗，楼区不让养，只好<strong>放走</strong>；大白鹅，被人偷走了；小松鼠，不小心从窗台上摔了下来，死了。就这样，我的小动物死的死，放的放。现在只有两只小乌龟<strong>陪伴</strong>着我。我心想：你们俩可算得上“<strong>忠臣</strong>”了。
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I'm an only child, I have no brothers, so I have to raise pets to relieve my boredom. But as to the little yellow dog, the building [management] doesn't allow [people to have dogs], so we had to set it free; the big white goose was stolen, and the little squirrel accidentally leaped from the window ledge and died. In these ways, my pets have died, or been let go. Right now I only have two turtles to accompany me. In my heart I think: "You two are my only "loyal subjects".  
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