“All our class must hand in compositions tomorrow. We must write 12 linesat least. But I can never write one. I'll have to go to school without acomposition, for I won't copy one from a book, or ask you or papa to write onefor me.”

    “That's right,” said her mother. “You'll be happier with a poorcomposition, if it's your own, than with a fine one written by somebody else.But cheer up. Run into the garden and play. I'll call you in half an hour.Don't think about your composition now. Just have a good time.”

It seemed just a few minutes to Susie before she heard her mother calling her. She wentinto the house immediately — her hands full of sweet flowers, and her face redwith exercise.

Then her mother asked her to sit by the window with a nice piece ofpaper and a pencil, and write something about what she could see. “Never mindyour composition; do this to please me, and we'll talk about that later.”

    Although Susie thought her mother's request was strange, she knew shealways had a good reason for everything she did. So she did as her motherrequested.

    As she looked out, she first saw the western sky and some bright, sunsetclouds. “Oh, mother, what a sunset!”

“Don't talk. Just write.”

The pencil began moving rapidly across the paper. She wrote about the sunsetclouds, the look of the distant hills, the streets, the river, the garden withits flowers, and the birds flying past the window. She forgot all about theterrible composition!

    Just as she had reached the bottom of the page, hermother came in and said with a smile, “Well, Susie, how does that compositioncome on?”

   “Composition! You told me not to think about it, and I've never thoughtof it once. I've had such a nice time writing about what I could see from thewindow.”

    Mrs. Smith took the paper and read what Susie had written. She said,“There, Susie, that's a very nice composition,really.”

   “A composition! Is that a composition?”Susie asked in surprise.

   “Yes, my dear, and a very good one, too, if we find a title for it,”replied her mother. Then she added, “I'm sure it will please your teacher, asit does me. You see, it's easy enough to write a composition if you have anything interesting to write about.”

Every year, when the Nobel Prize winner list is made public, there are some certain winners who are labeled as unexpected and surprised. This year, as an American musician, Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Undoubtedly, he made full expressions of that label as he is the first musician winning this prize.

On the contrary, the modern Japanese writer Murakami Haruki felt sad again even though there is strong support for him. As a favorite candidate(候选人), Murakami Haruki just narrowly missed the Nobel Prize again. Luckily, he is very positive—- readers are the most important and it doesn't matter whether winning a prize or not.

And Nobel Prize awards the words(授予颁奖词) for Bob Dylan—-for having created new poetic expressions in the great American song tradition.

    Up to now, Bob has released more than 30 albums. And he has won many other awards such as Oscar Award, Golden Globe Award, Pulitzer Prize and so on. Moreover, he is still a painter and poet.

Lately, the rumors(谣言)flew that Bob refused to accept the Nobel Prize in literature. But Bob doesn't officially respond on this matter. However, there is still time before the final Nobel Prize awarding day in December. No matter whether Bob will accept the prize or not, his music has already influenced many people across the globe!

    Most of the taxi drivers in Beijing can speak some simple English, so western tourists can communicate (交流) with them. If a foreigner is in a street in Beijing, and he wants to take a taxi, the friendly taxi driver will stop near him and ask him in a friendly way. Here is the usual dialogue in English between them.

The taxi driver:” Can I help you?”

The foreigner: “Yes, please.”

The taxi driver:” Please get on the taxi.”

The foreigner: “Thank you.”

The taxi driver: “Can you tell me where you would like to go?”

The foreigner: “I'd like to go to Tian Qiao Street.”

The taxi driver: “OK, I see.”

    During the ride, the driver will play the western music for the foreigner, and the driver will also begin the conversation with a small talk like the weather or the fashion.

    After getting off the taxi, the foreigner will give the driver some tips (小费) like the way in his country, however, the driver will say politely, “Thank you, but I only take what the ride costs.”

    Spiderman is one of the most famous comic book heroes of all time. He was created by Stan Lee in 1963 and was first introduced to the world in the pages of Marvel comic books.

    Spiderman's story is the story of Peter Parker, a child who lost his parents and lives with his aunt and uncle. Peter is a shy, quiet boy wearing glasses and has few friends. One day, on a high school class trip to a science lab, he gets bitten by a special spider. Soon Peter realizes he has amazing powers. He is as strong and quick as a spider and also has a type of sixth sense.  He no longer needs his glasses and he can use his super power to fly through the city streets! Remembering something his Uncle Ben has told him, that "with great power, there must also come great responsibility(责任 )," Peter decides to use his powers to fight enemies who do cruel things to people. And so, Spiderman is born.

    Life is not easy for Peter even though he is a superhero. He is in love with Mary Jane but cannot tell her about his amazing powers. Besides, his best friend Harry hates Spiderman! Peter' is also short of money and time. He has to sell photos of Spiderman (himself) to a newspaper and he keeps losing his other jobs because he's so busy saving people! Yet he has to fight different kinds of cruel enemies.

    A dog on a surfboard is something you might enjoy seeing in a funny video. But would you believe that a real surfing dog could help raise money for those in need? A dog named Lucky is using her special talents to do just that.

    Lucky's trainer started coaching her to become a service dog when she was a puppy. Lucky did well during training. She learned how to turn on lights, open doors, and do other jobs. These skills would be useful for her to help a person with special needs.

    Judy, the dog s trainer, concentrated (关注) on Lucky's positive qualities. Like most dogs, Lucky loved water, so Judy look her to the beach. Lucky quickly became good at surfing. Her talent got people's attention. Judy decided that instead of being a service dog. Lucky would become a" surfing" dog. The idea was that Lucky could use her surfing talent to raise money to help people.

    Lucky's first charity event was in 2009. She starred at an activity to help a teenager named Patrick. Patrick was unable to walk, but he had always dreamed of surfing. At the event, Patrick's and Lucky were supposed to use their own surfboards. Lucky decided to jump on Patrick's board, however. They surfed together and raised $10, 00. The money helped pay for Patrick's medical treatment and his own service dog.

    Encouraged by this event, Judy started the organization named Surfing for Paws-abilities. Lucky now travels to different places and surfs at events t0 raise money for the organization that helps people in need.

    Not only does Lucky raise money, but also what she has done inspires many other organizations to help both people and animals. She's surfed to make money to buy pet masks for fire departments. She's surfed al charity events to help fight human and animal cancer. She's even shown off her surfing skills to raise money to buy teddy bears for children in hospitals and people in nursing homes. As of 2012, this amazing dog has raised $250, 000 to help those in need.