Even though I just had lunch not long ago, I was felling hungry again. I went to the kitchen to look for something to eat. That was when I discovered the pudding in the fridge. It was made from milk, sugar, eggs and fruits, and it looked so yummy. I noticed that there was only one left.

    I was putting the pudding on a plate when my brother came into the kitchen. He found the pudding and asked for it. “It's mine! I was the only one who found it!” I shouted. “You are my elder brother, you should give it to me!” said he. Then he started pulling the plate towards himself and I did the same.

    Suddenly, the plate moved to one side and the pudding slipped (滑动) out of the plate. It landed on the floor and turned into a yellow mess. My brother and I both looked at each other, feeling amazed and disappointed at the same time. It was such a waste!

    To my surprise, Ollie, our pet dog, walked over to the mess on the floor. It began to lap up the pudding happily, within minutes, the mess on the floor was gone. Ollie licked (舔) its lips when it was done.

    After watching Ollie finishing the whole pudding by itself, we realized      . If both of us had shared the pudding, we would both have got to eat half of it. It was because of our greed (贪婪) that we ended up with nothing. That day, my brother and I learnt a good lesson.

    In the ancient Arabic story called Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, the young hero Ali Baba said "Open Sesame" and a door to hidden treasures was opened to him. The old story had a special meaning for Ma Yun. He drew inspiration from it for Alibaba.com--Chinese largest ecommerce(电子商务) website.

    In 1995, Ma Yun was working for a US trading company when he was introduced to the Internet. "I know nothing about computers and has never touched a keyboard," he said. He searched the word "beer" and nothing came up about Chinese products.

    Ma Yun had an idea. Why not build a large Internet market to connect customers with companies from all over the world? They could do business online in that way. That was how Alibaba began. His company grew quickly. But that didn't mean everything went smoothly. In 2000, many Internet companies failed including Alibaba. But later, he was successful because he managed to attract investment(投资) into his company. "You should stick to your dream," he said. "Everyone thought I was daydreaming when I started. But the most important thing is that we believe in our dream from past to today and tomorrow. Of course we made many mistakes, but we never give up."

    Ma Yun is also smart. For him, success in business is like trying to catch a rabbit. "If there are nine rabbits, focus on catching one--don't try to catch them all," he said. "Change your ways if you need to, but don't change the rabbit. Get one first, put it in your pocket and then catch the others. "

    Do you have a vegetable garden? Have you ever watched a seed sprout(发芽) and grow fruit until it became the tomato on your plate? If you go to school in the USA, there is a good chance you have.

    At the moment, nearly 20 percent of schools in the USA have their own vegetable gardens that are planted and cared for by students. Next year, even more schools will have gardens and more USA kids will know the pleasure of growing their own food.

    Much of the growing interest in planting comes from the First Lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" project, which started in 2010. The First Lady wants to improve children's nutrition(营养) in the USA--and she began her project by planting a garden at the White House with the help of some local kids. The kids were more interested in eating the vegetables from their garden than in eating fast food. This gave the First Lady an idea.

    Because so many USA kids eat breakfast and lunch at school, the food should be healthy and good. Why not let kids grow the food for their own cafeterias (自助食堂)? Mrs Obama's project gives money to schools to start their own gardens, and more school gardens are sprouting up every day.

    Students also use the information from their gardens to study science and math, and they paint pictures of their gardens in art class. Many students choose to work in the garden instead of playing on the playground during their noon break. Sound like fun? Ask your teacher if there's room for a garden at your school, too.

    Little Tommy was doing very badly in math. His parents had tried everything-tutors, cards, special learning centers in short, everything they could think of. Finally they took Tommy to a catholic(天主教的) school.

    After the first day, little Tommy came home with a very serious look on his face. He didn't kiss his mother hello. Instead, he went straight to his room and started studying. Books and papers were spread(铺开) out all over the room and little Tommy was hard at work. His mother was surprised. She called him down to dinner and as soon as he finished eating, he went back to his room, without a word. In no time he was back hitting the books as hard as before.  This went on for some time, day after day while the mother tried to understand what was happening.

    Finally, little Tommy brought home his report card. He quietly put it on the table and went up to his room and hit the books. His morn looked at it and to her surprise, little Tommy got an A in math. She could no longer hold her curiosity(好奇心). She went to his room and asked, "Son, what was it? Was it the nuns(修女)?" Little Tommy looked at her and shook his head, "No." "Well then," she asked again. "WHAT was it?"

    Little Tommy looked at her and said, "Well, on the first day of school, when I saw that man nailed(钉) to the plus sign(加号), I knew they weren't joking."

    Mr. King lives in a city. He has some shops and makes a lot of money. His son, Mike, studies at a middle school. The boy likes everything but he doesn't like studying. He doesn't listen to his teachers in class and he never finishes his homework on time. He always plays football when he has any free time. He can never pass(通过) the exams.

    Mr. King is busy with his trade that he has little time to stay at home. He never cares about his son's studies, so he doesn't know how he is doing.

    One day Miss Read, Mike's teacher, calls Mr. King. On the telephone she tells him all about the boy's studies. She wants him to try to help his son at home. When the man hears this, he doesn't feel very happy.

    In the afternoon, when his son comes back from school, Mr. King gives him a good telling-off(责罚), but soon feels sorry for it when he sees Mike crying in the bedroom. The next morning, Before Mike goes to school, he says to him, "Study hard and I'll buy you a car when you pass the exam next year."

    Another term is over. Mike doesn't pass the exam once more. Mr. King looks at the grades on the school report for a few minutes. Then he asks his son," You don't pass the exam again, Mike. What did you do at school this term?" "I learned how to drive a car, dad" answers the boy.