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    A young man once went to buy a pair of pants. When he got home, he went upstairs(上楼) to his bedroom and put them on. He found that they were two inches(英寸) long.

    Then he came out of his room to see his mother and his two sisters. They were washing something in the kitchen. “These new pants are too long, they need to be shortened(缩短) about two inches. Would one of you like to do this for me, please?” His mother and sisters were busy and none of them said anything. The mother went upstairs after she had finished washing and shortened the pants two inches. But she didn't tell her daughters about it.

    Later on, after supper, the elder sister remembered her brother's pants. So she went upstairs without saying to anyone, and shortened the pants two inches.

    The younger sister went to the cinema, but when she came back, she also remembered what her brother had said. So she ran upstairs, and took two inches off the legs of the new pants.

    When people find something valuable and return it to its owner，they are often given a reward．This is because the person not only found what was lost but also spent time finding its owner or taking it to the police station．

    There was once a young boy who found a woman's purse in a shopping center．Inside the purse there was some money and the woman's driving license．Her name and address were printed on the license，so the boy knew where she lived．That evening he went to her house and knocked on her door．When she opened it，he said，“I found your purse，''and handed it to her．

    “Thank you very much，”she said．She opened her purse and took out all the money．She wanted to give the boy a small reward，but there were only bills of$20 in the purse and she thought that$20 was too much to give the boy．“I'm sorry，”she said. “but I don't have any small change to give you．”

    The boy said，“That's all right，”and he went away．

    A few days later he found another woman's purse．It also had her driving license in it，so he knew where she lived．He went to her house and said．“l found your purse ,”and handed it to her．

    “Thank you very much，"she said．  She opened her purse and took out all her money．

    “That‘s strange，”she said．“Before I lost my purse l had a $100 bill and a $20 bill in it．Now I have a $100 bill ,a $10 bill and two $5 bills．''

    “Yes，"the boy said，and smiled．

    I arrived at my mother's home for our Saturday family dinner. The smells of food flew over from the kitchen. My mother was pulling out quilt after quilt from the boxes, proudly showing me their beauties. I knew they were all made herself. She was preparing for a quilt show on TV. When we began to fold and put them back into the boxes, I noticed something at the bottom of one box. I pulled it out.

    "What's this?" I asked.

    "Oh?" Mom said, "That's Mama's quilt."

    I spread the quilt. It looked as if a group of school children had made the pieces together. "Grandmother made this?" I asked in surprise. My grandmother was a master at making quilts. This certainly didn't look like any of the quilts she had made.

    "Yes, right before she died. I brought it home with me last year and made some changes," Mom said, "I'm still working on it. See, this is what I've done so far."

    I looked at it more closely. She had made a line straight. At the center of the quilt, she had stitched a piece of cloth with these words: "My mother made many quilts. She didn't get all lines straight. But I think this is beautiful. I want to see it finished. Her last quilt."

    "Oh, this is so nice, Mom." I said. I was sure now that by completing my grandmother's quilt, my mother was honoring her own mother. I realized that I held in my hands a family treasure. It started with the loving hands of one woman, and continued with the loving hands of another.

    On my recent trip to Sydney with my parents, we visited the Wildlife Park.

    The Wildlife Park has lots of different animals and birds. Some are native (当地的) to Australia and can only be found there. There are over 600 animals there, including kangaroos, koalas and crocodiles (鳄鱼). They are kept in their natural environment. I like the Wildlife Park better than a zoo where most of the animals are in cages (笼子).

We first spent some time with the kangaroos. We were allowed to touch and feed them. It was very exciting to be so close to them. There were koalas there too. They looked very cuddly (令人想拥抱的). Although we were not allowed to carry them, I got to take a photo with one. It is a wonderful souvenir (纪念品) of my holiday in Sydney.

    The Wildlife Park has plenty of freshwater and saltwater crocodiles. Some of them are really big and scary (吓人的) with huge teeth! I did not want to get too close to them.

There was also a bird show. The keepers showed us different species (种类) they had. I saw an old parrot which could "talk". It made a great impression on me.

    I enjoyed the trip very much. There was so much to see.

    Long ago, a wolf called Howler lived in a valley where lots of fruit trees grew. He often tried to climb up the trees to eat the fruit, but couldn't reach.

    In the valley, an old man named Martin also had a few fruit trees that he looked after very well. But as he was getting older, he noticed that he didn't have the strength to pick the fruit.

    Martin had the most beautiful fruit trees in the valley, which was why Howler had his eye on them. One day he decided to steal the fruit and started jumping up and down the tree.

    Martin looked out of the window and realized that the wolf was trying to steal fruit from his beautiful trees. Howler jumped and jumped, but he couldn't reach even the lowest branches of such a big tree.

    Seeing this, Martin had a great idea: he offered Howler a ladder to climb up, but in return the wolf would have to give him half of the fruit. Howler accepted the deal and began to collect the fruit. For the whole morning, he went up and down the ladder filling his basket with the fruit.

    Howler soon realized that he could eat all the fruit if he didn't give Martin some. He thought up a new and secret plan. Martin, on the other hand, trusted Howler and even began to think they would be friends forever.

But the wolf stole the ladder and went off to other trees in the area for more fruit.

    Realizing that the ladder was missing, Martin went looking for it. Martin felt very disappointed at the trick and no longer trusted Howler. Though he wasn't angry with the wolf and they became friends again, he never made any more deals with him.

    At last, Howler learned that he shouldn't trick people and he should keep promises. He also learned that if he had been honest and not greedy, he would still have been able to enjoy more delicious fruit.

    Erik Weihenmayer was born with an eye disorder. As a child his eyesight became worse and then, at the age of 13, he lost his sight completely. However, he did not lose his determination to lead a full and active life.

    Erik became an adventurer. He took up parachuting, wrestling and scuba diving. He competed in long-distance biking, marathons and skiing. His favorite sport, though, is mountaineering.

    As a young man, Erik started to climb mountains. He reached the top of Mount McKinley in 1995 and then climbed the dangerous 1000-metre rock wall of EI Capitan. Two years later, while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Kenya with his girlfriend, they stopped for a time at 13,000 feet above sea level－in order to get married. And on May 25, 2001, at the age of 33, Erik successfully completed the greatest mountaineering challenge of all. He climbed Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world two years after he climbed Aconcagua, the tallest mountain in South America in 1999．

    Erik invented his own method for climbing mountains. He carries two long poles: one to lean on and the other to test the way ahead of him. The climber in front of him wears a bell to guide him. Erik is a good team member. He does his share of the job, such as setting up tents and building snow walls.

    Although he could not enjoy the view, Erik felt the excitement of being on the top of Everest. He hopes that his success will change how people think about the blind．"When people think about a blind person or blindness, now they will think about a person standing on top of the world."