A young man woke up one morning under a bridge and checked his pocket. All he had left was less than ten dollars. He bought food and as he sat down to eat, an old man and two children came along. The old man asked him to help them with food as they had not eaten for almost a week.

The young man looked at the children—they were so weak that they could hardly stand. With the last bit of kindness he had he gave them all the food. The old man and children thanked the young man and then gave him a dirty old coin. The young man said, “You need this coin more than I do— just keep it.” The old man insisted(坚持) that the young man put it in his pocket—and finally he did.

    The old man and children sat down to eat. And with no money, no job and no food, the young man went back under the bridge to lie down. As he was about to fall asleep he saw an old newspaper on the ground. He picked it up and saw an ad inviting people with old coins to come to a store. He decided to go there with the dirty old coin the man gave him.

   When he arrived at the store, he gave the keeper the dirty old coin. The keeper cried loudly. It was part of a Spanish treasure ship that had never been found. This same old coin was worth 67,000 dollars. The young man was pleased. He immediately sold the coin for money and then looked for the old man and little children to thank them and share the money. By the time he got to where he left them eating, they had gone.

A

    Mrs. Brown is a woman about forty-five. Her husband has a factory in the town and gets much money. Her three children are all intelligent and they work in their factory. She has nothing to do at home and lives a happy life. Mrs.Brown likes meat and cakes very much. Her husband and children often buy some for her. And she doesn't like sports and often gets up at eleven o'clock in the morning. So she gets fatter and fatter and now it's difficult for her to walk. Sometimes she thinks something is wrong with her heart. She went to see a doctor one day. The doctor looked her over carefully and said, “You have got a heart disease, Mrs. Brown. It's bad for your heart to eat much sugar and meat. You'd better eat a piece of bread for each meal.”

    “That's easy, doctor,” said the woman. “But when do I have to eat the bread, before a meal or after a meal?”

    Emma's dream was to be a boxer. All her life, everyone said she couldn't be a boxer because she was a girl. They said that she should just get a normal job. Her parents told her that she would be killed one day if she kept boxing. It was hard to hear "you can't" all the time. Emma still decided to prove everyone was wrong.

    Emma's life was hard. Girls didn't like her, because they thought she was too manly (有男子气概的). Boys didn't like her, because they thought she wasn't as good at boxing as they were. Because of all these, Emma didn't have any friends at school. She always sat alone in the cafeteria (自助餐厅), and it was hard for her to find partners for group projects.

    However, Emma did have friends from her boxing class. They were all female (女人) boxers. They understood what Emma was going through because they were in the same situation. All they had was each other. They were a family. Because of this, Emma was always excited for boxing class. One day, she was going to be a famous boxer.

    Tyler was a troublesome student. He sat in the back row. Every time I called him to answer questions, he'd reply with a flip(轻率的)answer. If he got it wrong, he would get very angry.

    Usually kids could sit quietly in class. However, Tyler was just loud. One day, Tyler was talking while I was teaching. I said to him, "Tyler, why not join in our discussion instead of having one of your own?" He got up from his chair, pushed it over, and shouted something I can't remember. I sent him to the office and he received a week's out-of-school punishment.

    The week was a wonderful time for me, but when it came to an end, I began to feel worried. So I came up with a plan. On the day of his return, I told him I wanted to start over with him. If he felt like he was going to lose control in class, he could step outside the door for a moment.

    From then on, Tyler was a changed student in my classroom. In fact he was a smart child and he even stopped a fight between two students one day. And he never used the privilege(特权)to leave the class for a moment. I believe that just letting him decide for himself made all the difference. When the year was over, he wrote me a thank-you note about how good the year had been for him. I still have it today and find it very moving to reread when I get stressed about teaching.

    Jack Harris, an English teacher

    I always have eggs, milk and three pieces of bread for breakfast. For lunch, I usually eat rice, chicken and vegetables. I don't eat hamburgers because they are not healthy. I like to cat out on Saturday or Sunday. I like Chinese food.

    Oliver McShane, a computer game designer (设计师)

    I usually get up at 9 a.m. I don't have breakfast. I have an apple or a banana at ten in the morning. For lunch, I often have rice, fruit and vegetables. I work at home and usually stay up late (熬夜) working at night, so I always sleep (睡觉) for forty minutes after lunch. I'm busy with my work. I don't like playing sports.

    Anita Ramos, a tour guide (导游)

    I get up at 7 a.m.. I work in the morning and evening. It's too hot in the afternoon, so I'm often at home. For lunch, I usually have hamburgers, but my dinner is healthy. I usually have chicken, rice and vegetables. I always eat a lot of chocolate (巧克力) and it gives me energy (精力) for the day.