A few years ago, the company I worked for sent my wife and me to live in New York for a year. I've always loved running, so I was happy when I found out the house we lived in was next to Central Park. This means I could go to the park to run every morning before I went to work.

      A lot of people had told me to be careful of robbers in the park, so usually I didn't take any money with me. But one morning, my wife gave me a $10 bill and asked me to buy some bread on the way.

      While I was running through the park, another runner knocked into me. Just as I was wondering what was happening, he said sorry to me and went on running. I thought it was kind of strange, and suddenly I thought of my money, so I checked my pocket and found that my money was missing. Without thinking twice, I ran after that runner. The minute I held him by the arm, I shouted, “Give my money back! Now!” I'm not usually a hot-headed person, but I got really angry this time. He seemed to be afraid and he took out the money and gave it to me. Then he ran away as quickly as he could.

      I bought the bread and went home. As soon as I got home, I began to tell my wife my story. “You won't believe what happened to me.” I started. She immediately stopped me, “I know, you left the money for the bread on the kitchen table.”

    Samantha (her husband， John， called her Sam) left the doctor's house looking perfect， satisfied with her appearance.

    The year was 1862. It seemed that the war with the North would never come to an end. Sam's father had left as soon as possible， fighting for their land， for their new government， for the South.

    At last， Samantha reached the house that she and John owned. It was a cold， rainy night， and she was glad to be home. She stepped into the sitting room. John sat in an armchair， reading a book. When he saw her， he put the book down， and stood， reaching his arms out for her. They kissed briefly. He put a hand to her now slightly round belly(肚子) and asked， “What did the doctor say?”

    “He said the baby was fine and that I seemed healthy. Do you have any news?”

    “Surprisingly， yes.” John hesitated for a moment， as if deciding how he would stop what he was about to say， and then unwillingly continued， “I've been required to join the army.”

    Sam screamed， “What?” She was near tears. “But-but we're just starting out.” Her voice shook. “I thought that after two years of begging my mother to let the two of us get married that our life would finally be happy. Isn't there any way you can get out of this?”

    John answered， “I'm afraid not.”

        “Please. Please， John， if you love me， please get out of this. Break a leg or do something.” She began to cry. John comforted her， resting her head on his shoulder.

    “Sam.”

    “What?”

    “Name the child after me； name it John or Joanna. I'll come back as soon as I can. I promise.”

    Sam smiled， knowing that John never broke a promise. She put her hand to her belly， and， unknown to her， the baby was a girl.

    And unknown to both of them， the promise that John had just made would be the only promise he would ever break.

    Erden Eruc has been rowing across the Pacific Ocean in a rowboat since he left California on July 10, 2007. He has been heading for Australia with only birds, fish, and sharks ever since.

    Crossing the Pacific is only part of his journey. Eruc has decided to go all the way around the world using his own energy. He will row, bike, walk and climb the world without help from any motors(发动机) at all. His plan includes climbing the tallest peak on six of the continents(洲) along the way.

    For the first part of his trip, he bicycled 5,546 miles from Seattle, Washington to Mount McKinley in Alaska and back, walked 67 miles to base camp and climbed 20,320 feet to McKinley's peak. Now in the second part of his adventure(冒险活动), he is rowing to Australia.

    Why would he try to go around the world this way? He explains that he wants to encourage kids to dream their dreams and get to their own goals. He wants to show kids that there might be hard parts along the way, and sometimes they might not even get to that final goal. But they can have adventures and learn a lot along the way.

    When his trip around the world takes him across land, he enjoys meeting people—especially children. He has already visited many schools and shared his story. Eruc encourages all kids to set their eyes on a goal and not give up. He says, "with goals, we will make progress, and we will be farther along than when we started, even if we don't get to some goals. That's called life!"

    When Abe Lincoln was just a boy, he had to help his father to look after his farm. It was hard work and there weren't any interesting things for him. Abe wanted to go to school, but there was no school there. Abe was sad most of the time.

    Mrs Lincoln loved the boy very much. She tried her best to make Abe happy. One early morning, she got up early and went to the town. That was a long way and it took her a long time to get to the town. She bought something there and went back. And it was late in the evening when she got home.

    The next morning Mrs Lincoln said to Abe, "Today is your birthday. We're going to have a party. "She put some food on the table, and then brought out a present. "A book！"Abe cried. It was an old book, but he liked it. A smile came to his face. He looked up at Mrs Lincoln and said, "Thank you, Mum."

    The cartoon series Boonie Bears is popular with children in China. Logger Vick, a logging(伐木) team worker, came to the beautiful Heilongjiang forest to harvest logs with Boss Li's trust. But there were two hidden terrible rivals(对手) in the forest-the owner of the forest, bear brothers-Briar and Bramble!

    Seeing the forest being destroyed, bear brothers decided to fight with Logger Vick to protect the forest. Briar was so clever that he could beat Logger Vick easily. Bramble was not as clever as his brother but sometimes could also defeat Logger Vick with his brute force(蛮力) . But the cunning(狡猾的) head wouldn't leave so easily. The home defense lasted a long time and Logger Vick tried various ways to defeat bear brothers and cut down logs, but every time he failed. Finally Logger Vick lost Boss Li's trust and gained nothing. As the saying goes, "Doing good will be repaid and doing evil will be punished."

    The cartoon story shows us an active topic in laughter. The two bears facing the failure always feel hopeful. It tells us to protect forests, protect the environment and protect ecological balance in our everyday life.

    It's the Chinese New Year today. Sam gets a red packet from his grandma. That's his favourite part of the festival. He gets four dollars and goes shopping in Chinatown.

    There are a lot of interesting things on the streets — fireworks, lion dances and delicious foods. Then Sam sees an old man. The man sleeps in the street. He doesn't wear shoes. "He doesn't have a home. What a poor man!" Sam thinks.

    At a toy shop, Sam wants to buy a toy Monkey King. But it's six dollars. Sam wants to go back home and get more money. On the way, he sees the old man again. "Why not give the four dollars to him? He can use the lucky money to buy some hot food and drinks," Sam thinks.

    He gives the money to the old man and goes back home. His grandma knows his story and gives him a big hug (拥抱). What a good boy!