Each of them was taking lessons: Joe with a famous art teacher, and Delia with a great pianist from Germany. Their teachers were the very best, so lessons were expensive, more than they could really afford, but…when you love your art, nothing is too much.

But soon the money began to run out, and they couldn't afford the lessons any more.

Then one day Delia came back home and told Joe that she had met a man whose daughter, Sally, wanted to learn the piano, and he was going to pay her $ 50 an hour.

“Delia,"Joe said, "I'll be much happier if you keep up your lessons," Delia said it didn't matter. “When I've had some money, I'll continue.” But Joe also decided to stop his lessons to draw pictures and sell them.

A few days later, Joe came home and proudly took $ 200 from his pocket. "I met a man from Vermont,”he said, "who bought one of my pictures. And he wants to buy more!”

_________________.They didn't have to worry any more about money.

Then, one day, Joe came home and saw that Delia's hand was wrapped in a bandage(绷带). He asked her what had happened. "Oh", said Delia. "My student, Sally, asked me to make some coffee for her. I dropped the coffee and burned my hand. Sally went straight to the drugstore and got this bandage for me. ”

“Delia, what have you been doing the last two weeks?Joe asked. She tried not to tell him, but the tears came. "Oh Joe, I couldn't get any students, so I worked as a waitress in a restaurant. Today, I burned my hand with hot water. So I can't work any more. But we'll still have money from the man in Vermont, won't we?”

Joe looked at her. "There's no man in Vermont, " he said. “I've been working in a drugstore, and today someone came in to buy bandages for a woman who's burned her hand. So when I saw you, well, I guessed.”

They both laughed.

    On May 12, a big earthquake in China hit Wenchuan, Sichuan. Buildings fell down and the city was destroyed. A lot of people lost their lives.

    Premier Wen Jiabao got on a plane to Chengdu 尽快地. He was leading rescue (救援) work there.

    During the earthquake, many school buildings fell down. Students were buried. But they didn't give up hope. Many got out with help. Here are some stories about the brave students.

    Jiang Dejia and Liao Li are both students from Shifang Yinghua Middle School in Deyang. They were buried in the school rubble(碎砖) for two days. Jiang and Liao didn't know each other before the earthquake. But they kept each other going during the two scary days. They were both rescued later.

    A Junior 1 girl called Deng Qingqing from Shifang Yinghua Middle School was buried under the rubble. She was cold and hungry. But the brave girl had a flashlight (手电筒). She used it to help her read books.

    Li Anning, 16, is from Beichuan Middle School. She and her classmates sang songs under the rubble to comfort each other. The PLA soldiers and policemen were trying to find people alive in the rubble.Helicopters (直升机) airdropped food, water and medicine. Medical teams went to the quake­ hit areas. People outside Sichuan were also offering money, blood and other things to help.

    Not only kids of Tiger Moms go to Harvard.

    Dawn Loggins of Lawndale, N.C. is on her way to Harvard, one of the eight world-famous universities in the eastern US. Nobody encouraged her to study or paid for her special classes. This girl created her own future.

    The teen was abandoned by her family last summer, when her parents and two sisters moved to Tennessee. She found herself homeless and had to spend the night on friend's sofas.

    The school bus driver learned about Dawn's situation and invited Dawn to move in with her family. Soon, Dawn had a job at Burns High School. She worked from 6 a.m. to 7:40 a.m. before the first school bell rang. she swept floors and picked up trash again in the afternoons, before diving(跳水)into her studies in the evenings.

    Dawn's hard work paid off, she finished school with a 3.9 GPA and scored 2,110 on the SAT.

    "There were times when I felt like it would be easiest if I gave up," the 18-year-old said." But it was never in me to give up, because I realized that I was never going to be successful unless I got an education."

    Even before Dawn's family left her, she led a difficult life. Her family was poor and cups of noodles were often the only food. Dawn "studied by candlelight" because her parents couldn't afford to pay the electricity bill(电费).

    Dawn has now reconnected with her family. They are proud of her accomplishments(成就) and are attending her high school graduation.

    When Jim was young, he liked watches very much. When he was 18 years old, he joined the army, and after a year, he began to teach himself to mend watches. A lot of his friends brought him their watches with problems and asked for mending. Jim was always glad to help.

    Jim's captain(土校) heard about this, and one day he brought Jim a watch and said, "My watch doesn't work, can you mend it for me?" "Yes, sir. I can. " Jim answered. A few days later, he brought the watch back to the captain. "How much shall I pay?" the captain asked. "Nothing, sir." Jim said. He took out a small box and gave it to the captain and said, "In the box are three wheels from your watch, I couldn't find any places for them when I put everything back."