Last December it was very cold and it snowed a lot. One Saturday, John was playing on the hill near his house with some friends. Suddenly, he fell over and hurt his leg. His friends ran to tell his mother. His mother and brother took him to the hospital.

    The doctor said John had to stay in hospital for four to five weeks. John liked the doctors and the other children in the hospital because they were very friendly. At first he was happy because he didn't have to go to school. He laughed at all of his friends. They had to do a lot of homework. He enjoyed listening to music and watching his favourite television programmes all day.

    But soon the Christmas holidays started. John was still in hospital. He was tired of watching television and listening to his CDs and he wanted to go home. "This is ▲" he thought. He felt sad so he started to cry.

    But then a man came to his room with a bag of presents and a Christmas tree. John knew him from the television. He was a famous sports star who was visiting all the sick (生病的) children. And the man was not the only person who came that day. All the students from John's class came to visit him. And his maths teacher brought him his "favourite" present — some maths homework!

B

    Last summer, Mac Hollan, a primary school teacher, was cycling to Alaska with two friends. On the way, his friends had to stop for a bicycle repair, but they encouraged Mac to ride on, and they would catch up with him soon.

    Mac began to cycle alone. A few minutes later, Mac heard quick and loud breathing behind him. "Man, that's a big dog!" he thought. But when he looked to the side, he saw immediately that it wasn't a dog at all, but a wolf, quickly catching up with him.

    Mac's heart jumped. He searched and took out his can of bear spray（防熊喷雾）. With one hand on the bars, he fired the spray at the wolf. A bright red cloud enveloped the animal. To Mac's relief（宽慰）, it fell back, shaking its head. A minute later, however, it was again by his side. It even attacked the back of Mac's bike, tearing open his tent bag. He fired at the wolf a second time, and again, it fell back, only to quickly restart the chase（追赶）.

    Mac was riding hard now. He waved and shouted at passing cars without slowing down.

    At that moment, Paul and Becky were driving their car on their way to Alaska. They found a dog-like animal running alongside a man on a bike. As they got closer, they realized that the "dog" was a wolf. Mac heard a large car behind him. He kept waving and shouting as the wolf was catching up closer. And the car did stop in front of him at the right time.

    Brother Bear and Sister Bear know quite a lot about Bear Country. They know where the best honey trees are. They know the best places to see a rainbow (彩虹). But they don't know much about money. When they get some money, they run quickly to the Bear Country Mall and spend it. Sometimes, Sister puts her money in her piggy bank. But she usually spends it just a moment later. Brother doesn't even have a piggy bank!

    One day, Brother and Sister go to the mall. They see a new video game. It looks exciting. They run home to ask Papa to buy it. Papa gets angry. He shouts, "Video game! At the mall! You must think money grows on trees!" "You must make your money! Life is about working, making money and saving (存钱) for a rainy day!" Now Brother and Sister know how serious (严重的) it is. They begin to think about making money.

    In fact, Brother and Sister are very good at making money. They sell flowers by the side of the road. They sell strawberries door to door. They take visitors to see the most beautiful rainbow. They take care of pets for neighbours. Sister's piggy bank is full. Brother has to borrow Mama's sugar bowl to keep all his money.

    "I think that's enough. Look at them!" says Papa. "Yes. In the past, they didn't care about money. But now they care too much about it," says Mama. "Come here, children." says Papa. "Are you going to spend all your money?" "Yes!" Brother and Sister say together. "That's not good," says Mama. "You should spend only some of the money on useful things. And put some money there for a rainy day."

    Brother and Sister ask, "Where do we put our money?" "I think the Bear Country Bank is a good place, says Mama. "Good," says Papa. "The money can be your nest egg (存款)." That day the Bear family goes to the bank and opens an account (帐户) for Brother and Sister.