Three travelers, Allan, Carl and Paul were sitting on the chairs in a train station. They were waiting for a train that was late.

      To pass the time, they began talking to each other.

      At first, they talked about the weather and their work. Then Paul said, “Tell me-what would you most like to do if your doctor tells you that you have only three months to live?"

      The other two men thought about this for a while, then Carl spoke.

      "Well," he said, "if I have only three months to live, I'll take all my money out of the bank and go to foreign countries for holidays with my best friend, Erik. I'd like to travel to the places in the world as many as possible. And I'll stay at the best hotels and then eat the best food. I think I'll have a wonderful time."

      "That's very interesting." Paul said. With these words, he turned to the other man, saying, "And what about you?"

"I'll tell you a secret," Allan said. "I always want to be a racing driver. So if I have only three months to live, the first thing I'd like to do is to sell my house. With the money I'll buy the fastest car in the world. Maybe I can enter all the big motor races. " Then he laughed, "I might even end up with (以......而告终) a world champion."

      "Now it's your turn," Allan went on. "If your doctor tells you the bad news, what would you most like to do?"

        "Oh," said Paul with a smile. "I'll go and see another doctor."

    Tom arrived at the New York airport two hours before the flight to Paris. He was wearing three shirts, a jacket, two pairs of socks, a pair of shorts, and two pairs of jeans. He was carrying one small backpack, which was very full, but he didn't have any other luggage. Tom needed to meet a man named Tony before he checked in for his flight. He found Tony near the Air France counter. Tony gave him a round-trip ticket and a small package.

    “Give this package to Jean-Paul at the airport in Paris. He will have a sign with your name on it. I think you can find him easily,” Tony said, ”You don't have any luggage, right?”

    “Only this backpack,” Tom answered. ”You said I could bring one carry-on bag.”

    “That's right. One carry-on bag is fine. Have a good trip.”

    “Thanks.”

    Is Tom a criminal (罪犯)? Not at all. He is an air-courier(空中信使). And he paid only $110 for the round-trip ticket to Paris. Air couriers get cheap airline tickets because they take important packages and papers to foreign countries. Businesses sometimes need to get packages and papers to people in foreign countries by the next day. Often, the only way they can do this is to use an air-courier company. It is not cheap for a business to send a package with an air courier, but it is quick.

    Every year about 80,000 people worldwide travel as air couriers. The number of tickets for courier travel is growing by about 10 percent a year. However, air-courier travel isn't for everyone. But if you have very little money, can be flexible(灵活的) about your travel plans, and don't mind wearing the same clothes for a week, it can be a great way to take a vacation!

    It is fun being a vet (兽医). I like it because although it is hard work, every day is different! It all depends on what is wrong with the animals that come in.

    At my clinic(诊所), I work long days on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and short days on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Sunday is my day off so I can spend some time with my family.

    My day at my clinic begins at 7 am. My clerk opens the door, turns on some music, and makes everyone a cup of tea or coffee. My assistant (助手) cleans and feeds the animals. The phones start to ring and people make appointments. This is a very busy time of day!

    At 9 am, pet owners start to arrive with their sick pets. Appointments take up the whole morning. At midday, I stop for two hours. I don't examine（检查）any new sick animals. I use these two hours to have lunch and do all my paperwork.

    At 2 pm. I start to see sick animals again. At 5 pm, three students from a local school who love animals arrive to help out. They are very kind and warm-hearted. I am always happy to see their smiling faces!

From 5 pm to 7pm, I continue to see sick animals. Then, at 7 pm, we close our doors and the clean-up begins! We tidy the clinic, and feed and clean the animals. Of course, we also stroke (轻抚) them and give them hugs! Then, we turn off the lights and go home. This is the type of day I want to have.

    I'm very happy being a vet, though unexpected things sometimes happen!

    My friends and I joined a two-day survival(生存) training course in the mountains. The first day was really1—there was so much to do! Arriving at the campsite, we were divided into groups and given a tent, some food, a2and a compass(指南针). Standing next to a small river, Fanny3 camping in the grassy area nearby. However, our instructor, Mr.Lee, pointed out that it might flood(淹没) if it rained. In the end, we found a4area. Putting up the tent was very hard.5Mr.Lee helped us a lot.

    By the time we had put up the tent,6was really hungry. "We wouldn't have got this hungry if we had brought some snacks." Peter said. We all told him to7complaining(抱怨) and help us start a fire to cook our food8. Realizing we were having trouble making the fire, he finally9.

    The next day started early. Woken by a strange noise. Peter went to see what was 10.

    "Some cows have eaten our breakfast!" he shouted. "That's all because you didn't11the food properly last night." said Mr. Lee.

    Worried that Mr. Lee was angry with us, we tried very hard on our next12— using the map and compass to find a secret location. We made it to the location13the other group did.

    We all felt very proud of14.

    The survival training course was a great15. Now I feel I could survive anywhere!

    Do you remember when your grandma told you the story of Snow White? Ah, the happy days of childhood! But did you know that Snow White comes from Germany? It's just one story from the 20 in Grimm's Fairy Tales(《格林童话》).

    The Grimm brothers started to collect (收集) fairy tales in 1806. Six years later, their first book came out. Why are German fairy tales so interesting? Maybe it's because they comes from a great place famous for its stories—the Black Forest.

    The Black Forest is in southwest Germany. It's the largest forest in the country and one of the most beautiful. It's famous for its trees and lovely views. There are valleys and waterfalls there It's a good place to start a story.

    Don't forget to bring something back if you visit. People there are good at making clocks, musical instruments and watches.

Long ago, a young man often said that he was very poor and had nothing. One day, an old man walked past. He heard the young man's words and said, "Hello, young man! What are you talking about? You have nothing? That's not true! You have the most expensive things in the world, so you are a rich person." The young man was very surprised and asked, "Why do you say that? You can see I have nothing. What are these expensive things?" Then the old man said, "If you sell your eyes to a rich blind(盲的) man, you'll make a lot of money and can get everything you want. Would you like to sell them?" The young man didn't want to be blind, so he said, "No." The old man asked again, "Then what about selling your hands for some gold(金子)?" The your and shook his head for the second time. At last, the old man said, "Now you understand. You have the most expensive things in the world." So the old man taught both the young man and us a lesson—-health is the most important for us.