Many years ago， there lived a very rich man who wanted to do something good for the people of his town. But first he wanted to find out if they deserved(值得)his help. So he put a very large stone in the middle of the main road into the town. Then he stood behind a tree waiting and watching.

Soon an old man came along with his cow. “Who put this stone in the center of the road?” said the old man， but he didn't try to move the stone away. He passed around the stone with some difficulties and continued on his way. Another man came along and did the same thing；then another came and another. All of them complained about the stone in the center of the road but nobody tried to move it.

Late in the afternoon a young man came along. He saw the stone and said, “It will be dark at night. Some people will come along later in the dark and will fall over the stone and get hurt.” The young man then began to move the stone. He pushed and pulled and tried everything he could to move it out of the road. But to his surprise， under the stone he found a bag full of money and this message, “This money is for the person who moves this stone from the road. The person deserves help.”

B

    Last summer, Mac Hollan, a primary school teacher, was cycling to Alaska with two friends. On the way, his friends had to stop for a bicycle repair, but they encouraged Mac to ride on, and they would catch up with him soon.

    Mac began to cycle alone. A few minutes later, Mac heard quick and loud breathing behind him. "Man, that's a big dog!" he thought. But when he looked to the side, he saw immediately that it wasn't a dog at all, but a wolf, quickly catching up with him.

    Mac's heart jumped. He searched and took out his can of bear spray（防熊喷雾）. With one hand on the bars, he fired the spray at the wolf. A bright red cloud enveloped the animal. To Mac's relief（宽慰）, it fell back, shaking its head. A minute later, however, it was again by his side. It even attacked the back of Mac's bike, tearing open his tent bag. He fired at the wolf a second time, and again, it fell back, only to quickly restart the chase（追赶）.

    Mac was riding hard now. He waved and shouted at passing cars without slowing down.

    At that moment, Paul and Becky were driving their car on their way to Alaska. They found a dog-like animal running alongside a man on a bike. As they got closer, they realized that the "dog" was a wolf. Mac heard a large car behind him. He kept waving and shouting as the wolf was catching up closer. And the car did stop in front of him at the right time.

A Teacher's Gift

    That day I arrived at my class in the morning. Immediately I felt upset and uncomfortable. Today was the day when our teacher would leave and move to another school.

    Mr. Smith was very easy to talk with and to have fun with. He was cool, relaxed, and was always friendly when you would see him. I couldn't even imagine how things were going to be without him.

    "Thank you everyone for my time here. I will forever keep these memories and friendships I've made in the past five years." He took a deep breath and said," As a moment for me leaving, please look under your seats."

    Confused, I slowly checked under my seat to see a yellow block of wood that read "Love" on it .I quickly got it and began to study it. After seconds of watching the block, I realized that it was a Jenga block（积木块）

    Tears ran down my face and fell on the Jenga block. I heard my classmates sobbing（抽泣）That was to say, everyone in my class had a Jenga block with the word "Love". We hadn't found a way to express our sadness and also we couldn't find a way to express our love to the respectable man. "This is a reminder to always love others." Mr. Smith said slowly.

    Maybe that day wasn't the worst day, and it was just a moment of my life and l was too young to understand Mr. Smith. What Mr. Smith taught us is that whenever and wherever we are. We should love others. The Jenga block acts as a reminder, encouraging me to give a hand to those in need of help. As time goes on, "Love" others has been a habit

    One day a young man was standing in a crowded place, shouting that he had the most beautiful heart in the world. Most of the people who saw his heart were amazed at the beauty of his heart. It had no little flaw (瑕疵).

    Suddenly, an old man appeared and said, "Oh, my son, your heart is not as beautiful as mine."

    The old man showed his heart to the young man. It was beating strongly, but full of scars. It had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in. But they didn't fit quite right, and there were gaps and rough(崎岖不平的) edges. Some places have never been filled in.

    The young man laughed, "My dear old man,   ▲   Comparing your heart with mine, mine is perfect and yours is full of scars."

    The old man said, "Dear boy, my heart is just as beautiful as your heart. You see, each scar shows where I have given my love. Sometimes people give me a piece of their heart back, and it fills the space as best it can. Other times, I give my love and get nothing in return. Those are the empty spaces. They hurt, but they show me that I can love and love again. "

    The young man stood still. His eyes were filled with tears. He walked up to the old man, tore a piece of his heart and gave the piece to the old man.

    The old man placed it in his heart, and then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the young man's heart.

The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever.

One day, a fox was walking through the tasty grapes hanging from a branch (树枝) high above him. He was quite hungry. 

 First, the fox tried to jump in the air and reach the grapes. But with each jump, he was just inches(英寸) away from getting the grapes. As he jumped and jumped, he was getting farther and farther away from the grapes. After a short rest, he tried taking a few steps back and doing a running jump at the grapes— but again, he could not reach them. 

 He even tried to climb the tree to reach the grapes, but his paws weren ' t strong enough for him to pull himself up the tree. How he wished he had the same paws as a monkey ! He sat and looked at the grapes angrily. 

 Just then, a bear happened to walk by the fox. He saw the fox look ing at the grapes. The fox turned to him and said, " Never mind. Those grapes probably don 't taste good anyway. " And with that, he turned once more and left. 

 The bear reached up, got the grapes and ate them. They were, of course, quite delicious. " Why not ask me for help?" the bear thought. 

I often felt shy in front of a group of people. So I didn't like speaking in front of others. And my first day at the new school made my classmate laugh. 

My teacher asked me1 my name on the blackboard. Of course, I knew my name and knew how to write it. But standing at the blackboard with the eyes of so many classmates on my back made2 nervous. I forgot all the things but those eyes. I wanted to cry. I didn't know what to do. I could not write a word. 

"Just forget us and write your name, " the teacher said3 and walked to my side, "What is your name?" 

I was too4 to answer. 

"Richard, " all the students answered5 me. Then they laughed loudly. 6 sad I was! 

After class, the teacher told me to go to her office. She told me that people might feel nervous7 they speak in front of many people. Then I8 that there was nothing. I just needed to do it as often as possible. 

Since then, I have become brave. I have tried my best to take part in some speech competitions. I used to think if I could not go on, life is nothing but an awful song. But now I know the9 of courage(勇气). I believe that I would be10 confident student.