A

    Jim, with his father, goes to see his grandfather. In the train Jim often puts his head out of the window. His father says, "Jim! Don't put your head out of the window!" But Jim goes on putting his head out of the window.

    So his father takes Jim's cap quietly (悄悄地), hides (藏) it behind his back and says, "You see your cap is gone." Jim is afraid.

    His father says, "Well, whistle (吹口哨) once. Maybe your cap will come back." Jim whistles. His father puts quickly the cap on Jim's head.

    Oh! It is wonderful. Jim laughs. He quickly takes his father's cap and throws (扔) it out of the window. "Now it is your turn to whistle, Dad!" He says happily.

B

    A man bought a donkey (驴子) at the market one day and took him home. Now the man has owned several donkeys already and he knew them very well. One of the donkeys was very strong and brave, another was moody(喜怒无常的). One donkey was very lazy, he hated going to work in the morning and he did as little as he could all day long. When the other animals were being loaded(装载) up, he always tried to be the last so that he would get the lightest load.

    The man took the new donkey into the yard. For a moment he stood there, looking at his new friends. Then, without thinking, he walked up to the lazy donkey and began eating comfortably at his side.

    Though it was late in the day, the man immediately took the new donkey out of the yard, straight back to the market. "You cannot do like this," said the merchant (商人), "It is only ten minutes since you bought him."

    "I don't need him any more," replied the man, "I know just what he is like from the friend he chose for himself. Take him away and give my money back. I don't need donkeys like him."

    Do you think there is a ghost in the world? More than 20 years ago, a student jumped from the top of the clock tower in the University of Birmingham. He did this only because he failed his final exam.

    After his death, a superstition（迷信） began: Anyone who walks under the clock tower will have bad luck in his exam. Years later, students there still remembered the story of the tower. Although Birmingham is the second largest city in Britain, the university is green and quiet. The grass around the tower has been worn away by the feet of students who refuse to pass underneath the tower.

    The university had to pave（铺） extra paths, so students could walk to their classrooms without passing under the most terrible area. But, one day just before an important exam, a top student in the university walked under the clock tower because he was lost in thought. However, he got high marks in the exam the next day. Quickly students all knew about it. Then they realized that the most important thing is working hard.

    Whenever I go under the clock tower, I will tell myself, "Working hard is the key to success."

    July is the time for some students to say goodbye to their mother schools. Every time it comes, I will think of my old deskmate, Xiaowei. She is the most unforgettable classmate in my junior high school life. It has been many years since I graduated, but she is still in my mind clearly.

    Xiaowei was a lovely girl with long black hair. On hot days, her hair was sometimes seen to be tied up. She was always wearing a sweet smile. She was an artistic(文艺范的)girl who showed up before me every day. She loved reading novels and drawing.

    She liked reading different kinds of novels, especially on history. She could finish reading a historical novel as thick as our Chinese textbook at an amazing speed.

    Whenever she had free time, she would take out a drawing note and start drawing cartoons with a pencil. She drew from characters' heads to eyes and to faces, but the characters were always long-haired and wide-eyed. One day I couldn't help asking," Why don't you colour them?" She answered simply, "Because I don't have enough time." She kept her works as a secret and never talked about them with others. When we were told that she had won a prize in the drawing competition in her group, my classmates felt surprised.

    There is a folk song called My Old Deskmate, which is sung widely among people of different ages. It was created because the creator, Gao Xiaosong, had never forgotten his deskmate. Whenever I hear it, I will think of Xiaowei. How are you, my old deskmate?