It was nearly dark, the sun was dropping down the mountains far away. Little Tom came back home, with tears in his eyes.

“What's the matter, Tom? How's your trip?" his mother asked with a big smile. “I failed. The mountain is so high and full of big or small stones on the way, I still go ahead. But I was tired and it was so late that I had to come back." Tom cried. “It doesn't matter, you are only 14 years old after all. You will have another chance.”his mother said. "But, standing at the top of the mountain is my dream!”Tom said. His father came over and asked, "Did you see the green trees on your way to the mountain?”"Sure, and there are a lot of beautiful flowers by the side of the road.” Tom replied. “Did you hear the birds singing?”his father asked. "There were many kinds of birds singing in the trees, and the sound was very sweet." Tom said. "Did you feel the beauty of nature?”his father asked. "Yes, the blue sky, the white clouds, the green trees and the colorful flowers made a nice picture." Tom answered. “That's enough!" his father smiled and said, "Please remember, son. For often, achieving what you expect is not the most important thing. Although you didn't reach the top of the mountain, you got a lot on the way.”

 It is true that not every goal will be achieved, not every job will end up with a success, and not every dream will come true. The most beautiful scenery (风景) is on the way.

C

    When my wife and I went to live in an Arab country, my friends told us to be prepared for a culture shock. Later, we realized that the advice given to us by our friends was correct.

    The culture shock started with the weather. Here, the burning sun can cook an egg in a minute! The hot weather made us feel so tired that we were falling asleep at mid-day!

    Another culture shock was the working week. We worked from Saturdays to Wednesdays, including Sundays. It was also strange to see people praying in a certain direction! They have strict rules for women. They do not let people see their faces in public. They do not let women drive cars, either. All dresses worn by women have to cover the body completely. They believe that women cannot be seen in public.

    At the weekends, we went camping in the desert. I will never forget watching the sun setting over the desert. We also enjoyed riding on the camels. In the end, we enjoyed living there, but their culture is very different from the American culture.

D

    Lisa likes going shopping very much. She often goes to clothes stores with her classmates on weekends. One day she sees a colorful sweater in the Fashion Clothes Store. It's a red-blue-yellow sweater. There is a card on it. It says 80 yuan. Lisa goes home quickly and collects(搜集) all her money. But she feels sad. She's only got 65 yuan.

    After two weeks, the Fashion Clothes Store has sweaters at very good prices——only 80%. Lisa thinks she can buy the sweater with 64 yuan. When she sees the card, it says 100 yuan.

    Some weeks later, the store says their sweaters are on sale. You can only pay(支付) 50% for the sweater. Lisa thinks she can get the sweater this time, because it only costs 40 yuan. But when she sees the card, she is very angry. It is 160 yuan.

    The story took place in a small town in winter. One day a man met an old lady standing by an expensive car. It was clear that her car broke down. So he stopped his old truck and got out. Although he was smiling, the old lady was worried. “Is he going to hurt me?”

    The man could see that she was frightened, so in his friendliest voice he said, “I'm here to help you, madam. ①Why don't you wait in the car to get warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson.” It took Bryan about forty minutes to repair the car. The lady felt quite thankful and she asked how much she should pay him.

    But Bryan wanted no money. ②对他来说，帮助别人很正常。He said, “If you want to repay me, next time you see someone in need, just give out your friendly hand.”

    After saying goodbye, the lady continued down the road till she reached a small café. She stopped for something to eat. As the pretty waitress stood next to her, the lady noticed she was nearly eight months pregnant (怀孕). Although she looked tired, she still served the customers with a smile on her face. As the old lady was going to pay the $10 bill, she remembered Bryan's words.

    The old lady paid one hundred-dollar bill. But when the waitress returned with the change, the lady was gone. On the table she saw a small note. ③Her eyes were filled with tears when she read it, “Somebody once helped me the way I'm helping you. If you want to pay me back, continue being kind to others. ” Under the note were nine more $100 bills.

    Was the old lady an angel? The waitress was so excited that she called her husband to tell the story. “Bryan…Bryan Anderson my dear… you're not going to believe what has happened… ”

    Love needs to be passed on. Everyone can be an angel.

请根据短文内容完成下列任务。

    Mrs. Brown lives in a small village. Her husband is dead. She has a son but no daughters. His name is John and he is twenty-five. After John finishes college (大学), he gets work in a big city, New York, and he lives there. It's quite a long way from his mother's home, and she is not happy about it. But John says, "There is no good work for me in this small village, Mother, and I can get a lot of money in New York. Then I can give much to you. "

    One day Mrs. Brown is very angry. She takes a train to her son's house in New York. Then she says to him. "John, why do you never call me?"

    "But mother," John laughs (笑) and says, "You don't have a telephone."

    "No," she says, "I haven't, but you have one."