A 50-year-old American officer(官员)came back to his school. The teacher asked him to give a talk to the small boys and girls there. The talk was about the love of their great country. All the little ones were sitting in a large meeting-room. The old officer went up and began speaking. He said, "Boys and girls, I studied in the school forty years ago. When l was your age, we were not as happy as you are today. Think about it and answer me, why are you so happy now?"

    No sound came from the children. The old marl waited for a long time. Then a short boy in the front put up his small dirty hand. "Good boy! Please answer me, dear, "said the officer.

    With a big smile on his face, the boy stood up and said. "If you speak long enough, we won't have math and biology(生物)lessons this morning."

    Once upon a time, a proud (骄傲的) Swallow lived in a large tree. He liked his colorful feathers (羽毛) and his long tail so much that he believed nothing could be better than them. One day he saw a Crow and thought. "How silly this bird is! All his feathers are black." He looked at himself lovingly and enjoyed his own feathers.

    Just then, the crow flew and sat on the same branch as the Swallow. The Swallow said, "All your feathers are black and your tail is so short." The Crow smiled and said. "But they help me fly." The Swallow said. "So do mine. But look at how beautiful they are!" He spread (展开) his wings and flew a little closer to the Crow. The Crow saw that the Swallow had lots of blue feathers and some white and pink ones, too. He looked at his own feathers and thought, "It's true. The Swallow's feathers are much prettier than mine."

    The Crow said, "Swallow, you're right. You have lovely feathers and a long tail, but only in summer. Your little feathers cannot keep you warm in winters at all. While you shiver (颤抖) in the cold, my thick feathers keep me warm in the cold winters."

A bus stops at the bus station. It's 8:30 a.m. Mr.Green looks out of the window and he sees a young woman. The woman is selling cakes. People from other buses buy a lot. He also wants to buy one. He doesn't have breakfast at home this morning. But the woman is far from his bus. And he doesn't want to go out.

At that time, he sees a boy. He is not far from the bus. "Come here, boy!" Mr. Green calls to him.

"Do you know how much those cakes are?"Mr. Green asks the boy." Thirty cents for one," the boy answers.

Mr. Green gives sixty cents to the boy and asks him to buy two cakes. Mr.Green says,"One cake is for you and the other is for me."

After five minutes(分钟), the boy comes back with one cake（蛋糕）. He eats the cake and gives thirty cents to Mr.Green and says, "There is only one left."

A gentleman needed a young man to help him in his office, so he put recruitment(招聘)information in a newspaper. Nearly fifty people came to apply for the job. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} the gentleman in a short time chose one and sent the rest away.

"I really want to know," said a friend, why did you like that young man who didn't bring a recommendation(推荐信) with him {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(good) among all the people?"

"You are mistaken," said the gentleman. "He had {#blank#}3{#/blank#} great many."

"I noticed the young man wiped(擦拭) his shoes at the door and closed the door {#blank#}4{#/blank#} him, showing that he was tidy and orderly."

"He took off his cap when he came in and answered my questions without delay(延迟), showing that he was polite and a quick {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (think) ."

"He lifted the book which I had purposely{#blank#}6{#/blank#} (lay) on the floor,and placed it on the table, while all the rest stepped over it, or kicked it aside, showing that he was careful."

"And he {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(polite) waited for his turn instead of pushing the others aside, indicating that he was modest(谦逊的)."

"When I talked with him, I found that  his shirt {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(wash) carefully, his hair in nice order, and his {#blank#}9{#/blank#}( tooth) as white as milk. When he wrote his name, I noticed that his fingernails were clean."

"Don't you call these qualities letters of recommendation? I do and what I can tell about by using my eyes for ten minutes {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(be) more important than all the fine letters he can bring to me."

I love traveling. I've been to many cities in China and Sanya is my favorite. Last Spring Festival, instead of visiting {#blank#}1{#/blank#} and friends, we decided to pay a visit to Sanya.

 We left for Sanya as soon as our holiday began. We really enjoyed ourselves there. We played on the beach and {#blank#}2{#/blank#} fireworks.

 Then we went to Nanshan Temple. A large {#blank#}3{#/blank#}of people visited it every day. According to the local(当地的) {#blank#}4{#/blank#}people should eat rice cakes during the Spring Festival, so we went to a local restaurant. Its rice cakes {#blank#}5{#/blank#}good and tasted delicious. We didn't return until our holiday was about to be over.

 Want some advice? Keep in mind that the best time to visit Sanya is from December to January in the dry season when the weather isn't too hot.

One morning, when I was leaving for my business, a middle-aged man came up and asked me for help. He said he had no1   to get food for his large family.

"You look strong.  2 don't you work?" I asked. "Just because I can't get work, sir." If I give you work, what pay do you want?"" 3 I can get bread for my family, sir," he answered.

I decided to find out if he 4 meant what he said. "OK. I'll give you one pound an hour  5  you can carry a brick(砖) under your arm and walk around the square for five hours without  6  ,"I said. "Thank you, sir. I will," he said.

I found a brick and started him walking before I went to my business. I  7  thought he would do what he had promised (承诺).

When I came back five hours later, I saw him  8  walking, with the brick under his arm. I stopped him and gave him9 pounds. He  10  me and told me that some people offered to help him when they knew why he was doing all this. He would go and ask  11 for work. Before leaving, he asked if I would give him the 12  . I did.

Several years later, a well-dressed man greeted me on a train. He said that he was the brick man and had his own business now. "You know, I still keep that brick and always value (重视) it as the most 13  thing I have. Because it has brought me 14 and success."

In fact, it was not the brick that made the man 15 , but his faithfulness (忠诚) in doing even a very little thing.