Matt jumped into bed. His father sat down beside him.

"What kind of day did you have?" he asked.

"It was a bad day for me," Matt answered. "I had a fight with Ned. The teacher sent a note home about me. And Mom talked about it with me."

"Yes, part of the day was bad," Mr. Gold said. "But there were good parts, too. Now it's time to go to sleep. So, tell me about the best thing today."

Matt smiled. "After school I went fishing," he said. "No one wanted to go with me. So I had to go alone. I didn't think I would have any fun. But I did! I caught a fish!"

"I'm glad you had a good time," Mr. Gold said. "Think about it until(直到)you go to sleep. Happy dreams!"

"Good night, Dad," Matt said.

His father kissed(亲吻)him good night.

Every night, Mr. Gold and Matt have a little talk like this.

Every night, Matt answers the same question. "What was the best thing that happened to you today?"

Every night Matt goes to sleep thinking about the best thing. He has many happy dreams!

Sometimes he has to think hard to find the best thing. Sometimes it is a very small thing. But he always finds one good thing to think about.

Matt's father taught his son a good way to end his day. You may want to try it. If you do, why not begin this every night?

    It was the summer before my third grade. Our girls' softball team was facing real pitchers (投球手)1the first time. Before that, we could just hit the ball on the tee (球座). When the coach started pitching, hitting became2for me. I missed every single pitch. From the side, I heard my teammate Emily laughing at3. My face got hot and my throat felt like it had a softball stuck in. At that moment, I was starting to4playing softball.

    The next afternoon, when Mum said it was time to play the game, I told her I was5. She allowed me to lie down for a while. So I went to my room and6myself in bed. This was difficult for me because I was fine and just7to avoid softball.

    Soon Mum came in and said, "Time to go!" She didn't even ask if I felt8. I imagined Emily laughing from the sideline, and9I really did feel sick to my stomach. I began crying loudly. Still, Mum pulled my team T-shirt over my head. She said, "You have to10for the rest of the season, and only after that we can talk about 11you'll continue next year." She added that practice was what I needed, not12. She promised to practise with me.

    I got two hits that afternoon, and Emily didn't make a13. Every week after that, I practised at home14I got to be one of the best hitters on the team.

    That15taught me that being afraid is part of life, and I can do whatever is expected of me if I keep working and practising.

The erhu is a traditional Chinese musical instrument. It is the most popular of the huqin family. In the Song Dynasty, musicians began to use this type of huqin to perform different kinds of music, and it became quite a popular instrument. With the rise of some forms of folk art, the art of the erhu developed quickly during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It became an important accompanying (伴奏) instrument in different folk music. Now it is used in both traditional and modern music. It has even become a solo (独奏的) instrument. One of the most famous musical pieces played on the erhu is Erquan Yingyue by Abing.

The erhu used to be mainly played by common people, As the playing skills were passed down by oral (口传) tradition, there are few written records about the erhu that can be found. To study the history and the development of the erhu, historians usually turn to ancient paintings, sculptures and murals (雕塑和璧画). The earliest pictures of this instrument were found in Yulin Caves and Eastern Thousand Buddha Caves in Gansu Province.

Because of so many people's effort, the erhu becomes more and more popular around the world. In fact, we can hear the familiar sound of the erhu in many Hollywood productions, such as Kungfu Panda in 2012 and most recently, the Oscar nominated(提名)film Up in the Air(《在云端》). When people watch these movies, they also enjoy the special music of the erhu. The erhu is also called "Chinese violin" by many westerners, but in many ways, they are quite different.

    Mr. Smith is from 1 , but he lived in London for ten years. So he can speak German and English. He also likes seeing the world. So far he has 2 to many big cities in the world, such as New York, Rome, Paris and so on.

    A few years ago, he came to China 3 the Great Wall. After that he fell in love with China and 4 to stay there.

    Now he works 5 a teacher in Beijing. He has taught English in a school 6 3 years. Mr. Smith is very humorous,7 he always makes his class interesting.8of his students feel bored in his class. He often encourages his students to speak English in class. The students also teach 9 Chinese. They are getting on 10 with each other.

Mr. Green has a fruit shop in the town. He is friendly to the people, so people like to buy fruit in his shop. 

One day, Mr. Green brings some grapes home for his grandson Steven because he knows his grandson likes eating grapes best. He puts these grapes in the kitchen. After lunch, he goes back to his shop. That afternoon Steven comes back from school. He looks around for something to eat and finds the fruit. "Great!I am so lucky today!Grapes are the best things in the world!"

Mr. Green gets home after he closed his shop in the evening. When he sees Steven, he asks, "Do you have the grapes?" His grandson answers, "Yes. And I eat all of them. "

"Do you wash them?"

"Oh, I forget. I am too hungry. What should I do?"

A few minutes later, Mr. Green finds that Steven is drinking water. 

"Are you thirsty? Why are you drinking so much water?" asks Mr. Green. 

Steven says, "I want to wash the grapes in my stomach(胃) with the water. "

Rock climbing（攀岩） did not become a sport until late in the 1900s. But now it has become a popular outdoor activity. While rock climbing may still be necessary for mountain climbing，most people just climb low mountains for fun. 

If you have ever done rock climbing，you will know that it is not a very easy sport. Indoor and outdoor rock climbing both need practice. What most people don't know is that rock climbing is one of the sports that depend on your body and mind（意志）. 

To climb successfully，one must use wonderful skills. One of the important rules is to always have three parts of your body on the rock face. Another important rule is that your arms only hold you close to the rock face while your legs are pushing you up，the closer you are to the rock face，the easier it is to climb. 

Rock climbing is a wonderful sport. Once you start to learn how to climb，you'll find more fun. People who like games such as chess playing or problem—solving may love rock climbing，because they are nearly the same in the way of thinking. For anyone who wants to get into beautiful shape，rock climbing is a fun and good way. Anyone who enjoys a difficult game and loves the outdoors should think of taking rock climbing as a new hobby.