On a rainy day, about 150 volunteers worked for eight hours to clean up Carson Creek that is near a river. About nine tons of trash was taken out from there.

    “We did a good job,” said Alan Specter, the organizer of the event. “We're planning to come back here one more time, three years from now. Of course, we hope that there won't be so much trash next time.”

    The trash came in all shapes, sizes, and colors: cans, bottles, bicycles, batteries, furniture, clothing, plastic bags, dolls, and even a golf bag with a full set of golf clubs (球棒).

    The dirty and tiring work was done by two volunteering groups — Save the Bay and Watch the Whales. Most of the volunteers came from a local police station and a fire station. And some of them were old people who had already retired (退休).

    That day, it rained a little. All of them wore boots, gloves and raincoats. They did the work along a two-mile river with over 500 big yellow trash bags everywhere.

    No one found anything that cost much. A five-year-old boy found an earring which he thought might be worth a million dollars. He said he'd sell it. Then he'd donate half of the money to Watch the Whales, and use the other half to buy his favorite ice cream every day.

    Many people laughed at the boy's story. However, it was easily found that the environment there did become better.

    In 1989, an 8.2 earthquake killed over 30,000 people in less than four minutes. A father rushed to his son's school, only to discover the building was as flat as a pancake.

    But he remembered that promise he had made to his son, "No matter what, I'll always be there for you!" Tears began to fill his eyes. As he looked at the pile of debris(瓦砾)that once was the school, it looked hopeless, but he kept remembering his words. He rushed there and started digging.

    Other parents tried to pull him off what was left of the school. They tried saying many different things: "It's too late!" "They're all dead!" "Come on, face reality, there's nothing you can do!"

    A firefighter also tried to pull him away, saying, "Fires are breaking out, explosions(爆炸) are happening everywhere. You're in danger."

    The police came and said, "You're endangering(危及)others. Go home."

    To which he replied, "Are you going to help me?" And then he went back to his digging, stone by stone.

    He went on because he needed to know, "Is my boy alive or is he dead?"

    He dug for eight hours ...12 hours…then, in the 38th hour, he pulled back a large stone and heard his son. He screamed his son's name, "ARMAND!" He heard back, "Dad? It's me, Dad! I told the other kids not to worry. I told them that if you were alive, you'd save me and when you saved me, they'd be saved. You did it, Dad!"

    "What's going on there?" the father asked.

    "There are 14 of us left out of 33, Dad," his son replied. "We're afraid, hungry, thirsty, but thankful you're here."

    "Come on out, boy!"

    "Let the other kids out first, because I know you'll get me! No matter what, I know you'll always be there for me!"

    Uncle Li and Uncle Wang are good friends．They live next to each other and their farms are both at the foot of the mountain．So they can help each other．But neither of them likes to use his head．They're both poor though they work hard．Most villagers have built new houses，but they still live in the low and broken houses．They never find out why．

    Once Uncle Li went to town to buy some medicine for his wife．In the town he heard the apples in a city were expensive．He told Uncle Wang about it as soon as he went back．They decided to carry some apples to the city．They borrowed some money from their friends and bought nearly 1，000kilograms of apples in the villages and carried them to the city on a tractor．Bad luck!A lot of apples has already been carried there when they arrived．A few days later they had to sell them at a low price （价格）．They felt unhappy and returned to their village．

    "I can't understand why we sustained （蒙受） losses in business while others always profit （盈利）"Uncle Li asked one day．

    "The tractor was too small"Uncle Wang said without thinking．"We'll carry more apples on a truck next time!"

    "I agree!"said Uncle Li．"How foolish （傻的） we were!"

    It is over a year now since Cathy came to China. She is now living in Nanjing and has worked in a computer factory for six months. The factory is in the north of the city, and her flat is in the south. But, she has never been late for work.

    Cathy is very popular in the factory. She is kind to everybody and gets on well with the Chinese workers. After work, in the evenings they visit each other and talk about almost everything.

    However, Cathy has made up her mind to leave the factory. She is going to find a job in a travel agency(旅行社). “If I work in a travel agency, I'll be able to meet more people. I can learn more about China，” she told her friends.

    One day last week she had a talk with the manager of the travel agency .He seemed pleased with her Chinese. At the end of the talk, he said, “I'll give you a ring in a week and tell you the result.” Now Cathy is waiting for the answer.