Grandmother's Problem

    There was once a grandmother living in her grandson's house. The man loved  1 grandmother very much. However, she had some strange habits, so the man thought she needed medical help. Perhaps, he thought, it was time for her to 2 the rest of her life in a special hospital.

    "I'd like you to examine my grandmother," he told a doctor, "then let me know 3 you think she needs special care."

    "All right," the doctor said, "send her to me next Tuesday."Tuesday came and the old woman went to see the doctor. She 4 in front of him and he asked her lots of questions.  She answered them all, and the doctor was 5  .

    "There's 6 with this woman," he thought."I don't understand why her grandson has sent her to me. Perhaps he's the one  7  needs special care."

    He decided to ask her one last question. "Why do you think," he asked her, "your grandson wants you 8 special care?"

  "I like hamburgers," she said.  The doctor laughed."I like hamburgers, too!"

    "You 9 ?"the old woman said, "I'm so glad. Then you must come to my house and have a hamburger 10 me.  I've got boxes and boxes of them in my bedroom."

    “What does 'doing the right thing' mean to you”? One Friday, my teacher asked our class to think about the question. We would hand in an article on it by Monday, and be prepared to do the things we will1.

    The whole weekend, I was trying to think about something that would2my teacher and be easy to follow. I talked to my parents, called my grandmother and asked my neighbor. Everyone had good3 but I didn't think I could achieve them.

    On Sunday afternoon, my parents said they were going to my Aunt Mary's house. That usually4that I would have to play with my four-year-old cousin Andrea5we visited. I showed her a cartoon, and then I sat down and started to write my article.

    Soon I felt two 6 on me. It was Andrea. “What are you doing?” she asked. “I have to write an article about what 'doing the right thing' means to me.” I answered. Andrea laughed. “That's easy,” she said. “Doing the right thing means being7 to your family and friends. Never lie. Eat lots of fruit and vegetables. Take a bath when you're dirty.”

    I looked at my little cousin with great 8.Then I jumped up and gave her the biggest hug. Not only had Andrea answered a very difficult question for me, but I could9follow them. All I had to do was to be nice, not to lie, to keep myself clean and healthy. So when I wrote my article, I10the story about Andrea and how she had answered my question.

    Two weeks later, I received my article with an A+ and a little note written by my teacher: “Always do the right thing and give Andrea an A+, too!”

    Ever since I was a child, my mouth has caused me trouble. I'm not a bad person, but I have a hard time learning when to stop saying things to others.

    My mum has told 1 again and again, "Robert, you bad words are hurting me. 2 you continue to be this rude, you will get into big trouble."

    It has been a problem at school several times too. One day, in English class, I was working on my homework when I heard a classmate 3behind me. It was Nathaniel, who liked doing that as usual.

    I thought of what my mother had said to me and 4 nicely, "Nathaniel, would you be quiet?"

    However, Nathaniel kept saying something to the boy next to him loud. I5shouted, "Nathaniel, shut up!"

    6the next five minutes, we threw hurtful words at each other.

    "At least I don't have an ugly lazy eye like you!" I cried out.

    I knew this would make him 7 and it would hurt his feelings and shut him up.

    What I said filled him anger. He ran to my 8 and tried to catch me as he shouted, "That's it! That's it!"

    Surprised at his reaction, I sat back in my seat. I had9seen Nathaniel act like this before. Later on, we were taken to the teachers' office. There, Mr. Black. Our English teacher, told us to 10the problem between us. Only then I finally found that 11I hurt someone physically(身上), he can finally get healthy again. But when I hurt someone with my 12, sometimes the pain never goes away.

    At the end of the discussion, I said 13to Nathaniel.

    When I went back to my room, I began to14 how often what I said hurt others. I'll remember what my mom said to me and learn when to keep my 15closed.

    When I was young, I had an old neighbor named Dr. Gibbs. He didn't look like any other doctor I'd ever known. He was very nice.

    In his spare time, he was always planting trees. The good doctor had some interesting views about planting trees. He didn't often water his trees and he often beat them with a rolled-up newspaper — to wake them up and push them to grow faster.

    I didn't understand why." Watering plants too often is bad for them," Dr. Gibbs explained when I asked him one day." You have to make things hard for them. Those trees that aren't watered enough will have to grow deeper into the ground for water, and then they will be strong."

    To be honest, I didn't believe what the doctor had told me. I planted a few trees several years ago. I still tried to water my trees and take good care of them every week. I wanted to make sure that my trees would grow much better than his.

    Twenty-five years later, when I came back to my hometown to check those trees, I was shocked. Dr. Gibbs' trees were extremely tall and big. My trees, however, were very weak. Dr. Gibbs' views suddenly came back to me. Hard conditions seemed to be good for Dr. Gibbs' trees.

    I used to try to make my sons' life comfortable and easy. Since then, I changed a lot. When children are growing up, they have to face lots of difficulties like Dr. Gibbs' trees, and difficulties can lead them to be strong and brave people to face everything.

    Time is very important in our lives, but it never had any importance in my life until1a watch from my father that made me responsible（负责任的）. It2me the importance of time in my life.

    I got this gift on a gray-sky day. I had to go to the3at 9：00 a. m. to pick up my uncle Ali and take him to my home. However, I forgot it4I was playing with my friends. Later on that day, around11：00am, I5my uncle, but I was late for him. He had gotten out of the plane and6a taxi to my home.

    I got home at 2：00 p. m. 7. My father looked at me angrily. I said "hi" to my father and my8uncle.  My father asked me to sit9him and handed me this watch which was a gift from10. It was made of gold. Then he said, "Essa, did you have fun11your friends today? What you did was not very nice and you should be sorry for your12. "I felt sorry and told my father that I wouldn't do it again. Then he said, “This watch will be a reminder（提醒物）for you. I hope you have learnt something13. "

    I learnt a lesson from my father：to respect（尊重）time and14be late. The watch is important to me, not because of its15, but because of the lesson that I learnt from it.

    Once a king loved music so much that he searched the world for the best instrument.（One day. a magic man1the king a harp(竖琴).

    The king took it to the palace, but2he played it, the harp sounded terrible. Many3people tried it. They agreed that the harp was4and the king had been fooled. The harp was thrown out as rubbish.

    A poor little girl5found the harp, and even though she didn't know how6it, she decided to have a try. She played and played, the whole day through, for months and years. The music she produced was never perfect,7each time it sounded a little better.

    Then one day, suddenly, the harp started to play the most beautiful music. It was in fact8magic harp, and could only be played well by someone who would put in the necessary effort.

    The king heard the music from his window, and called the girl to the palace. When the king saw that she was playing the harp, he was filled9joy. At that moment he made the girl his own private10, giving her and her family lots of money.