It was a village in India. The people were poor. However, they were happy. After all, their forefathers (祖先) had lived in the same way for centuries (世纪).

    Then one day, some visitors from the city arrived. They told the villagers there were some people who liked to eat frogs' legs. However, they did not have enough frogs of their own, so they wanted to buy frogs from other places.

    This seemed like money for nothing. There were millions of frogs in the fields around, and they were no use to the villagers. All they had to do was to catch them. They reached an agreement and people sent their children into the fields to catch frogs. Every week a truck (卡车) arrived to collect the frogs and give them the money. For the first time, the people could dream of a better future, but the dream didn't last (持续) long.

    It was not easy to notice (觉察到) the change at first, but it seemed like the crops (庄稼) were not doing so well. It was more worrying that the children fell ill more often, and there seemed to be more insects (虫) around lately.

    The villagers decided that they couldn't just wait to see the crops failing and the children getting weak. They would have to use the money got to buy pesticides (杀虫剂) and medicines. Soon there was no money left.

    Then the people found out the problem. It was the frog. They were not useless. They had been doing an important job—eating insects. Now with so many frogs killed, the insects were increasing (增加) more quickly. They were eating the crops and spreading diseases (传播疾病).

    Now, the people are still poor. But in the evenings they sit in the village square and listen to sounds of insects and frogs. These sounds of the night now have a much deeper meaning.

    Issumboshi was a one-inch boy, and he was so small that he could not do any useful work on the family farm. His grandfather became tired of feeding such a useless man and sent him away to the city.

    “Learn to become a warrior(武士),”he told his grandson.“Then perhaps you will grow into a man of normal height.”

    To help the little man on his way, his grandfather gave him a cup to use as a boat on the river, his mother gave him two long grains of rice to use as oars and his father gave him a pin to use as a sword.

    Issumboshi's journey was long and dangerous. However, because he was so brave and clever, he at last reached the city safely.

    To his surprise, the streets were empty. The people of the city were hiding in their houses from a powerful giant.

    Immediately, brave Issumboshi went out to meet the giant. The giant tried to pick him up and eat him, but Issumboshi was so small and quick that the giant could not get hold of him.

    Issumboshi struck again and again at the giant with his sword. Before long, the giant fell to the ground and died from a thousand wounds.

    “Oh, what a great warrior he is!”the people of the city shouted as they came out of their houses.“What a great hero this young man is!”Hearing this, Issumboshi felt so proud that he stood up straight. He told himself, “I am already taller than I was. How wise my grandfather was to send me to the city!

Tom gave up working and lived by himself a long way from town. He hardly ever left his home, but one day he went into town to buy some things in shops. After he bought them, he went into a restaurant and sat down at a table by himself. When he looked around, he saw some old people put on glasses before reading their newspapers. So after lunch he decided to go to a shop to buy himself some glasses too. He walked along the road and soon found a shop.

    The man in the shop made Tom try on a lot of glasses, but he always said, "I can't read with these."

    The man became more and more puzzled (迷惑的) until finally he said, "Excuse me, but can you read?"

    "No, of course I can't!" Tom said angrily. "If I was able to read, do you think I would have come here to buy glasses?"

    Mark and his brother Jason both were looking at the shining new computer enviously, Jason was determined not to go against their father's wishes but Mark was more adventurous than his brother. He loved experimenting and his aim was to become a scientist like his father.

    "Dad will be really mad if he finds out you've been playing with his new computer." Jason said. "He told us not to touch it."

    "He won't find out, "Mark said." I'll just have a quick look and shut it down."

    Mark had been scolded before for touching his father's equipment. But his curiosity was difficult to control and this new computer really puzzled him.

    It was a strange—looking machine--one his dad had brought home from the laboratory where he worked. "It's an experimental model, "his father had explained," so don't touch it under any circumstances." But his father's warning only made Mark more curious. Without any further thought, Mark turned on the power switch. The computer burst into life and seconds later, the screen turned into colors, shifting and changing and then two big white words appeared in the centre of the screen: "SPACE TRANSPORTER."

   "Yes!" Mark cried excitedly, "It's a computer game. I knew it! Dad's only been pretending to work. He's really been playing games instead. ''A new message appeared on the screen：

    "ENTER NAMES

    VOYAGER 1…

    VOYAGER 2… "

    Mark's fingers flew across the keyboard as he typed in both of their names.

    "INPUT ACCEPTED START TRANSPORT PROGRAM. AUTO RETRIEVE INITIATED(自动回收程序已启动). "

    The screen turned even brighter and a noise suddenly rose in volume.

    "I think we'd better shut it off, Mark, "Jason yelled, reaching for the power switch. He was really frightened.

    But his hand never reached the switch. A single bean, of dazzling white light burst out of the computer screen, wrapping the boys in its glow(光芒), until the)themselves seemed to be glowing. Then it died down Just as suddenly as it had burst into life. And the boys were no longer there. On the screen, the letters changed.

    "TRANSPORT SUCCESSFUL. DESTINATION：MARS. RETRIEVE DATE：2025."

    As usual, Betty was sitting alone during break. As she sat, she heard a quiet "meow" nearby and found a little cat with a band showing the name "Lucky".

    She picked up the cat and went to ask her teacher if she could help the cat find his home as a class project.

    "Are you willing to organize this project?" Mrs. Smith asked. She had tried for months to get Betty to speak up in class, but Betty had stayed quiet. Maybe this was her chance to shine!

    Betty thought for a moment and then said, "Okay, we need to put up signs around the neighborhood and call the local newspaper." Tony also suggested that they call the Animals' Home. Soon students were busy drawing posters. Two students were making phone calls. Mrs. Smith was surprised to find Betty was so confident and really showed an ability to lead.

    Betty, however, was not thinking about being a leader or being shy. Her mind was on finding this lost cat's home.

    The two students making phone calls came back and announced, "The Animals' Home said that a family reported a lost cat named Lucky! They said they'd call the family to come and get him!" The class cheered. Ten minutes later, a woman showed up and said with joy, "Thank you for returning Lucky! He was very 'lucky' to have been found by such a caring group of students!"

    The class celebrated their success. Mrs. Smith celebrated, too. Betty sat comfortably with her classmates for the first time, laughing and joking. Mrs. Smith believed it was indeed lucky that Betty had found the cat—lucky for both of them!