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.

     A farmer had a brother in town who was a gardener, and his brother had a garden full of the finest fruit trees. So his skill and his beautiful trees were famous everywhere. One day the farmer went into the town to visit his brother, and was surprised at the trees that grew quite well.

      "Look, my brother," said the gardener. "I will give you an apple tree, the best from my garden, and you, and your children, and your children's children will enjoy it."

       Then the gardener called his workmen and ordered them to take up the tree and carry it to his brother's farm. They did so, and the next morning the farmer began to wonder where he should plant it.

"If I plant it on the hill," he said to himself, "the wind might catch it and shake down the delicious fruit before it is ripe. If I plant it close to the road, passersby will see it and take away the apples--but if I plant it too near the door of my house, my children may pick the fruit." So, after he had thought the matter over, he planted the tree behind his barn (谷仓).

      Time passed, but the tree had no fruit the first year, nor the second-then the farmer called his brother. When the gardener came, the farmer said angrily, "You have cheated me, and given me a useless tree instead of a fruitful one. This is the third year and still it brings out nothing but leaves! "

      The gardener laughed and said, "See where the tree was planted, it has no sun or warmth. How could you expect flowers and fruit?"

    A man got lost in a desert. He walked for two days but he still couldn't find his way out. Dying for water, he found an empty house in the desert. There was a water pump(水泵）in the house!

    The man was so happy that he ran to draw water. But no water how hard he tried, no matter came out.

    He was sitting sadly on the ground when he saw a little bottle with a cork in it. On the bottle, there was an old note saying: You must add the water into the pump before you can draw water! Don't forget to fill it with water again before you leave! The man took the cork out and found the bottle was full of water!

    If I'm selfish（自私的）, as long as I drink the water, I can go out of this room alive, he thought. If I do as the note says, I might die of thirst. Should I take the risk or not?

    At last, he decided to do as the note said and began to draw water. Sure enough, lots of water started coming out from the pump!

    After he drank enough, he filled the bottle with water and added his words after the note.

    “Believe me, do as the note tells you!” he wrote.

    "Can I take your order?" Night after night, I had to say this as I worked in my family's restaurant. My father was a fantastic cook. He wanted me, his only son, to cook with him, but I didn't like cooking. Because of the restaurant, my father was always busy. He never had time to play football with me.

    During my high school and college years, I worked with my family at night. But I always avoided the kitchen. I couldn't wait to graduate (毕业)so that I could move away from the family business. Several days before my graduation day, my father and I started looking at new cars. Finally, we found the right car. I was sure that my father would give it to me as my graduation gift.

    On my graduation day, my father gave me a book as a gift. It was his old cookbook. I was so angry that I gave it back to him and ran out of the house. Several days later I moved away and started my business. Although I often saw my father during holidays, we never talked about the graduation gift. Then one day, I got a call that my father was ill. I went to see him because I was very worried.

    That night, I looked through my father's books and saw the cookbook that he had given me year before. I carefully opened the cookbook and went through it. Then I found something that made me cry. It was a check(支票)for$30,000 dated(注有日期) the day of my graduation. And the price of the car my father and I chose all those years ago was $30,000.

    Eric didn't know he was going to help a blue whale today. As soon as he finished his homework, Eric jumped onto his bicycle and rode off in the direction of the beach. While he was riding along, he thought about the blue whales. He hoped he would see them again today.

    After he got to the beach, Eric hid his bicycle behind a bush (灌木丛) so that no one could see it from the road. Then he ran down onto the sand. The sky was growing dark. Eric frowned (皱眉). If it rained, he wouldn't be able to see the blue whales because they would stay in deeper water. He hurried along the beach to the rocks. They were the best place to watch me blue whales because of their height. Before Eric reached the rocks, he felt a drop of water on his head. "Oh, no! Now the blue whales will stay in the deep water and l won't be able to watch them!"

    But just then he saw a large shape on the beach. It was a young blue whale! The whale had come too close to the shore and got stuck (被困) on the beach! At first the blue whale didn't move at all and Eric thought it was dead. Then he saw its tail move weakly. Eric turned and ran through the rain as fast as he could back to his bicycle. He had to get help to get the blue whale back in the water soon, or it would die and Eric couldn't let that happen…

    Mrs Smith is going shopping with her son. They are looking for a present for Mr Smith's birthday. Mrs Smith wants to buy her husband a new camera and Tom wants to buy his father a jumper.

    They drive to the department store on the high street. Mrs Smith uses the lift to go to the Electrical Department on the third floor and Tom goes straight to the Men's Clothing Department on the first floor.

    When Mrs Smith gets to the Electrical Department, she finds that cameras are sold in the Photography Department on the ground floor. So she takes the lift down and asks the sales assistant there for some help. She doesn't know much about cameras and needs some advice. The sales assistant recommends(推荐) an automatic camera by Olympus, but it is too expensive. She asks the assistant if he has anything a little cheaper and he tells her about a special offer on the Pentax range. It still seems expensive, so she thanks the assistant and decides to shop around first.

    Meanwhile, Tom is looking at the jumpers. He only has ￡10, so he can't buy most of them. He sees his mother and they decide to go to the smaller shops round the corner.