Billy's favorite color is orange. But he can't see what orange looks like. Billy is blind.

    A month after he was born, his mother noticed that his eyes weren't quite as big as a normal baby's. “Billy would never be able to see.” the doctor told his mother. After that Billy's mother began talking to him, describing things she saw outside the window. She described everything to him.

    Billy does not only depend on his mother's descriptions to learn about the world around him. He sees with his cars and his hands, too. He has perfect hearing. When people make phone calls, he can tell the numbers they dial(拨).

    Billy loves computer science. He began teaching himself computer programming when he was just seven years old. His dream school would be Stanford University. He gets top grades in his classes, making that a real possibility.

    “You can't let excuses get in the way of your dreams, and if you do that you can't move forward and reach your goals, “said Billy.

    Max is one of my good friends. I first met him two years ago when he knocked on my door (敲我的门)."Hello," he said warmly. "My name is Max, and I've just moved in next door, so I'm your new neighbor."

    Max is a handsome, well-dressed young man in his twenties. He is quite tall and thin with brown eyes and black hair. He likes wearing sports clothes. He works in a hospital and goes to work early every day.

    He has a great sense of humor (幽默感). I love to listen to his interesting stories. What's more, he is a very kind-hearted person, and is always ready to help people in need. He often does volunteer work (志愿者工作) in an old people' s home. Because of him, more and more young people in our neighborhood want to help there.

    He enjoys dangerous sports such as bungee jumping (蹦极跳). He is a great dancer, too. He goes to the dance club every Tuesday and Saturday.

    All in all, life is never boring when Max is around. Who wouldn't be happy to have him as a friend and neighbor?

    There is a hiking trail (远足小径) near Sara's home. The trail begins at the foot of the mountain and leads all the way to the top. One day, Sara and her father planned to go on a hike. Sara had packed lunches earlier that morning. Her lather filled their backpacks with other things and they set out!

    As they started up the trail, Sara's father pointed out many different plants along the trail. He showed Sara the difference between the leaves of an aspen tree and a spruce tree. Sara was glad that her father knew so much! She always learned something whenever they went on a hike.

    "Look over there," Sara said in a low voice. They had just turned a comer on the mountain trail. Lying in the grass next to the trail was a small baby deer(鹿). It looked at them with wide eyes, but it did not move.

    "Where is its mother?" Sara asked. "Do you think we should stay here and watch it?"

    "That's a good idea," answered her dad. "We must not go any closer, though." As they sat down and unpacked their lunch, Sara asked her dad why they couldn't go any closer to the deer. He explained that sometimes, if the mother smelled humans too close to her baby, she would be too afraid to come back. Sara and her father agreed that they would wait for the mother to come back, but that they would not get too close to the deer.

    Soon a larger deer walked slowly up to the baby deer. The mother and baby ran quickly down the trail.

    Sara and her father packed up their things and continued up the mountain. They knew that the deer was now safe.

    Once upon a time, there was a family with 18 children living in a village. Two of the children, both boys, loved painting very much, but the family was so poor that it was impossible to send both of them to study at art school at the same time.

    After many discussions, the two boys finally worked out a plan. They would toss(抛) a coin. The loser would go down into the mines(煤矿) and, with his money, pay for his brother's college tuition(学费).Then, when the brother who won the toss finished his studies, he would pay Tor the other brother to study at the college.

    One of the brothers, Albrecht Durer, won the toss and his brother Jack went down into the mines. Durer worked with all his heart and his paintings were much better than those of most of his teachers. He was beginning to make a lot of money for his paintings.

    Durer returned. When he told Jack he could go to art college, Jack said softly: "The four years in the mines have done too much to my hands. It is too late. Now I can't even hold a glass."

    To show his great love and respect for his brother, Durer drew his brother's hands with palms(手掌)together and thin fingers towards the sky. He called his drawing The Praying Hands, which became very famous years later.

    The next time you see a copy of that touching work, take a second look. Let it be your reminder: No one can ever succeed alone!

    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.