Most of us have ever imagined the life on a desert island. We sometimes imagine a desert island to be a sort of paradise(天堂) where the sun always shines. Life there is simple and good. Ripe fruit falls from the trees and you are free to sit around without any work. This is really a beautiful picture, isn't it? However, the other side of the picture is quite the opposite. Life on a desert island is awful. You either starve to death or live like Robinson Crusoe, waiting for a boat which never comes.

    Perhaps there is some truth in both these pictures, but few of us have had the chance to find out. We can only experience it in the story like the following.

    Many years ago, two men spent five days on a coral island and they wished that they could stay there longer. They were driving a badly damaged boat from the Virgin Islands to Miami to have it repaired. During the journey, their boat began to sink(下沉). They quickly put food, matches, and cans of beer into a rubber dinghy(救生筏) and rowed for a few miles across the Caribbean until they arrived at a tiny coral island.

    There were hardly any trees on the island and there was no water, but this did not seem to be a problem. The men collected rainwater in the rubber dinghy. As they had brought a gun with them, they had plenty to eat. They caught lobster and fish every day, and they thought they lived just like a king. Five days later, a tank passed by and saved them. However, they felt sorry that they had to leave.

    Winnie the Pooh is about 100 years old. It is my favourite, and I'm sure it's also yours. Do you know how it came to our life?

    Winnipeg is a place in Canada. Many years ago, Harry, a soldier, went to Europe from here. When he stopped at train station, he saw a man selling a little black bear. Harry bought it and named it Winnipeg. The name became Winnie in short later.

    Harry went to a lot of places. When he got to London, he left Winnie in the London Zoo. He thought they could look after Winnie.

    Near the zoo, there was a boy named Robin. He loved to visit the London Zoo with his dad. Winnie was his favourite animal. Robin's father was a writer. He wrote the bear in one of his poems for the first time. Later he wrote stories about Winnie and Robin. Slowly, the father wrote more characters(角色) like Piglet, Rabbit, Roo and Tigger and so on in his stories.

    Li Ming is staying with the Wang's family for the weekend. Today it is warm and fine. The family are having dinner in the garden. They often have dinner in the garden on a warm and fine spring day. Now Mr. and Mrs. Wang are sitting at the table with Li Ming under a tree.

    "It's great to have dinner out here on such a lovely day," Mrs. Wang says. "What's the weather like in your hometown, Li Ming?" Mr. Wang asks. "It's not very warm in spring. But I like the spring there best." "Help yourself to some cakes, Li Ming,"Mrs. Wang says. "Thanks," says Li Ming. "The cakes are very nice. I enjoy the dinner very much."

    It was Day 1 of our vacation on Cortes, a beautiful quiet island. "iPhone, iPhone, iPhone," my son kept moaning (呻吟). In front of him was a big window facing the blue ocean. And a cool gentle wind was coming in from the door. Clearly, he saw and felt none of it.

    Back at home, I'd soon give up and hand the phone over to him after five minutes of listening to this kind of moaning.

    But not here. Before we left, I had told my 10-year-old son the rule—no emails, no Facebook, no video games, and no iPhone. We came here to get away from them all. Here we were on our first day and already, he couldn't stand it.

         ▲      I walked down the grass road to the beach and looked out to the sea. My 6-year-old daughter and my husband were drawing on pieces of wood. They were doing just fine.

    On Day 2, we spent the whole morning digging for shells (贝壳). This time, my son joined us. He collected shellfish and other sea treasures. When we got back to our little wood house, I gave my son a book, and put him on the lovely garden chair. It was almost dinner when he looked up.

    The next few days passed in peace.

    On Day 6, my son was lying beside me on the beach, watching the sun going down. He was playing with the sand. And there was something shining in his eyes. I realized how time slowed down for both of us. It was exactly what I wanted. Finally, we were able to sit quietly without thinking about screens, phone calls and e-mail.

    A week away from all the electronics arid Lile is good.

On the day of the interview, I got up at 6:00 in the morning. I got to the interview place without having1. l was the 24th interviewee(应聘者) and the 22nd was a short ordinary- looking girl. I greeted her by2my head. I asked her where she graduated. She told me in a low3, "I graduated from a junior college， the only one without getting a bachelor' s degree(学士学位) among the 50 interviewees.

I didn't4he interview would last so long. As I didn't have breakfast, my stomach started to ache. I had to sit by the table for a5. Just at that time, the girl asked me6happened, I told her, "I didn't have breakfast this morning, so my7comes to me.

    After a while, a worker came in and8me a bottle of milk and a piece of bread. It was certain that they were bought by the girl. I felt9all over my heart because I hadn't imagined she would be so nice to help me- her rival(竞争对手).

Luckily, I got the job. The first day I went to work, I was10to see the girl there. She also got the job. Later I asked her why she got the job. She said11a smile, "That day when I bought you the12, an interviewer went to the toilet with papers in hands. He asked me13I could help him to copy those papers while he was in the toilet. I helped him. After I came back to him, he asked me why I took the food in hands. I told him the14. Then I got the job." At that moment, I came to know that when the girl helped me and the interviewer, she also helped15.

    Helping others will benefit yourself as well.