Long long ago, there was a blacksmith(铁匠). He was always unhappy with his life. "I'm always hot as a blacksmith. I want to be a stone on the mountain. There it must be cool." A wise man could change everything. The blacksmith went to the wise man. The wise man said, "Be a stone!" The blacksmith became a stone. A moment later, a stonemason(石匠) came and saw the stone. "It's what I want," he said and began to cut it. The stone cried, "Ouch! I don't want to be a stone. I want to be the sun. That would be great." The wise man said, "Be the sun!" And he became the sun. But the sun was much hotter, so he said, "I don't like this. I'd like to be the moon. It looks cool!" The wise man said again, "Be the moon!" And he became the moon. "This is hotter than being the sun, because the light from the sun shines（照射）on me" he said, "I don't want to be the moon. I want to be a blacksmith again. That's the best life."

    But the wise man said, "I'm tired of your changing. You want to be the moon, now you are the moon, and you'll be the moon in the future."

    Betty and I are best friends. Our birthdays are on the same day, so every year we have a birthday party together. But this year, we had a costume party instead.

    While we were writing the invitations, my mum came in and asked, "Why not invite John?" John had been in our class for only a few months, but he was already getting better grades in Maths than anyone else in class. I wrinkled (皱起) my nose, "Mum, he wears the same pants to school every day. How could he even afford a costume?" Mum said nothing. The next day, mum gave me an envelope with a shopping certificate (凭证) in it. "I thought it would be nice for you to give this to John" Mum said. But how? We didn't want to make John embarrassed. We discussed it for a long time. Finally, Betty and I had a good idea.

    On the day of our party, kids arrived, dressed differently. John arrived, in an old sheet (床单), but still in the same brown pants as usual. We danced, ate snacks and played games in groups. Before eating the birthday cake, Betty said in a loud voice, "Now it is time for the great prize game. It is the following riddle…" It was a maths game. None of us was surprised when John came up with the right answer first and walked off with the envelope.

    Everything went on well as we planned. John wore a new pair of pants and a new shirt the next week. He felt happy. So did we.

    When we help others, we need to find a proper way, or we may hurt them in another way.

    Mary is from the USA. She has two brothers. Now her family are in China. Her father, Mr. Peterson teaches English in Xihu Middle School. And her mother works in the same school. She teaches English, too. Mary goes to school in her father's car with her mother every day.

    Mary is a nice girl student. She can speak a little Chinese. She is very lovely, so she has many Chinese friends. She teaches them English, and they teach her Chinese. Her two brothers are twins. One is Bob, the other is Bill. They look the same. They are only five. So their grandparents look after （照顾） them at home. Mrs. Peterson has many toys for the twin brothers. Bob likes to play with toy cars, but Bill likes to play with teddy bears. They are happy every day.

    When I first arrived on this island, I had nothing. But I've found the ship and made a small boat. I've brought back many things I can use—food and drinks, tools, knives and guns. Although I have lost everything, I have not lost my life. So I will not give up and I will wait for another ship. I have already cut down trees and built a house. I go out with my gun almost every day to kill animals and birds for food. I'm even learning to grow fruit and vegetables.

    A few weeks ago, I found the marks of another man's feet on the sand. Who else is on my island? Not long after that, I saw some cannibals trying to kill two men from a broken ship. One of them died but the other ran towards my house. I helped him kill the cannibals. This man now lives with me and helps me. I named him Friday because that was the day when I met him. He is smart and I have already taught him some English.

—from Robinson Crusoe