Sarah stood in front of the mirror(镜子). "It looks like a raincoat on me," she said.

    "Perhaps the blue," said Mama, gently.

    "Sure," the shopkeeper said. But when she took the blue coat, there on the shelf behind all of the dark coats, hidden like a spring flower in winter darkness, there, as if by magic, was a pink coat.

    "A pink coat!" Sarah cried. "I want the pink coat."

    "That coat is smaller than the other ones," Papa said.

    Sarah spoke up. "I'm small, too. Papa, please let me try it on, Mama? Please?"

    "It wouldn't hurt to let her try it on," Mama said.

    Without a word, the shopkeeper took the coat from the shelf and held it for Sarah.

    "Ohhh!" Sarah said. The coat was smooth and shiny inside like her sister Sylvia's blouses. "Ahhh!"

    Sarah stood very straight and looked in the mirror. She looked for a very long time. In the pink coat she looked like a spring flower.

    "Sarah!" Mama said.

    Sarah looked up. Mama was standing behind her. She was holding the brown coat.

    "I'm afraid the pink coat will only fit one year," Mama said, taking a step closer.

    "And there's no one to pass it on to," said Papa.

    And the shopkeeper said, "It's wise to save money."

    Sarah backed away. No one was going to put her into a raincoat again. She wanted to be a flower.

    "Sarah!" It was Papa. He came over to her. "You're old enough to know that you can't always have your own way," he said seriously.

    "Wise and true," said the shopkeeper.

    Sarah took off the pink coat, slowly.

    "It is her colour, though," Mama said.

    "Ahh," said the shopkeeper. "Anyone can see how the pink of the coat brings out the roses in her face."

    Papa looked thoughtful for a moment.

    "We are lucky." continued Mama, "that it is only one little coat for Sarah and not also new coats for Sylvia and Susan and Sally."

    Papa looked from the brown coat to the pink coat. "The cows will give milk soon enough," he said "And how can we let Sarah wear a brown coat when she looks like a flower in this one?"

    "Papa!" Sarah cried, putting on the pink coat back, quickly. She threw her arms around Papa's neck. "        " she whispered.

    "Like a rose in spring," Papa said.

    Lisa was a single (单身的) mother who lived with her little son. She lost her job two years ago and they had a very hard life. Her heart was broken every time her son asked, "Can I have some more bread and butter please, Mommy?"

    One day, when her son asked the same question again, she decided to prepare a big meal for him with the only 6 dollars in her hand. She went to the supermarket, bought some food and cooked at home. Lisa was a shy mother, but she was strong-minded. "It's time to make a change," she thought. She was good at writing. To make some money, she began to write articles for magazines day and night.

    Things went better. The food bank started to give her some free vegetables every month. Her son finally had enough to eat. Once he told Lisa that the dishes she made were delicious. Suddenly. an idea came to Lisa's mind, "Why not share my recipes (食谱) on the Internet?" She did. Many people liked her recipes and she became popular.

    Soon after that, some reporters interviewed(采访) her and asked her to write a book on cooking. When Lisa got the money for the book she wrote, she had a good sleep for the first night during the two years. Now Lisa has a well-paid job and a beautiful home, but she'll never forget the days when she worked hard for a good life.

    Jack Harris, an English teacher

    I always have eggs, milk and three pieces of bread for breakfast. For lunch, I usually eat rice, chicken and vegetables. I don't eat hamburgers because they are not healthy. I like to cat out on Saturday or Sunday. I like Chinese food.

    Oliver McShane, a computer game designer (设计师)

    I usually get up at 9 a.m. I don't have breakfast. I have an apple or a banana at ten in the morning. For lunch, I often have rice, fruit and vegetables. I work at home and usually stay up late (熬夜) working at night, so I always sleep (睡觉) for forty minutes after lunch. I'm busy with my work. I don't like playing sports.

    Anita Ramos, a tour guide (导游)

    I get up at 7 a.m.. I work in the morning and evening. It's too hot in the afternoon, so I'm often at home. For lunch, I usually have hamburgers, but my dinner is healthy. I usually have chicken, rice and vegetables. I always eat a lot of chocolate (巧克力) and it gives me energy (精力) for the day.

①"I will think of it." It is easy to say this, but do you know what great things have come from thinking? Though we can not see, or hear, or feel our thoughts, they are powerful.

②Isaac Newton was seated in his garden on a summer evening when he saw an apple fall from a tree. He began to think, and tried to find out why the apple fell. Then he discovered how the earth, sun, moon, and stars are kept in their places.

③James Ferguson once saw the inside of his father's watch, and he wondered,"Why should I not make a watch?" This set him thinking and it led to a wooden clock which kept good time.

④Walt Disney, the famous American film-maker, was often thinking of new ideas. One day, when he was in a meeting, he suddenly stopped talking, deep in thought. He looked and looked at a place high up in the room. This continued for a long time, and then he got an idea for a new cartoon.

⑤Ideas come at any time, and the important thing is to think. When you meet with any difficulty, don't lose heart. Try to think of it before asking someone to help you. Think and by thinking you will learn how to think creatively.

One day, Mrs. Green asked her class, "Does anyone think that they have changed since last year?" Danny put up his hand. 

"I was very lazy when I was in the fourth grade, " he said. "I 1 did my homework. I didn't bother (花费时间精力) going to the 2 because I didn't like to read books. But a park cleaner changed me. One morning, I was playing football in the park. The ball rolled (滚动) away and I ran to3 it up. I saw a cleaner sweeping up the leaves nearby. When he saw me, he stopped and said, 'Young man, doesn't the park look much cleaner now? I always work hard to make sure the park is clean. I don't waste my life and don't waste4 either. ' I thought about the man's words on my way home. I said to myself, 'I' m going to work hard to get good results at school. I won't be5 anymore. '"

Everyone gave Danny a big clap (鼓掌). 

At the age of 9, I heard about Lu Xun's name for the first time. One afternoon, my mother asked me to 1 From Baicao Garden to Sanwei Study (《从百草园到三味书屋》). "The 2 is Lu Xun. Chairman Mao once called him 'the sage (圣人) of modern China',"she said. I still remember there were many3 Chinese characters (汉字) for me. But I could understand the main 4 . When I finished reading it, I told my mum, "I also want my Baicao Garden 5 Lu Xun's. It's a (n)6 place for fun. " My mum asked, "What do you 7 the Sanwei Study?"I answered, "It is like a school, but 8 are there only a few students in it?" My mother smiled, "You can try to find the answer by 9 when you grow up."

As I 10 older, I got to know Lu Xun is his pen name. His 11 name is Zhou Shuren. He was born in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province in 1881. He 12 in the Sanwei Study from the age of 12 to 17.13 , the Sanwei Study was a famous private (私人的) school in Shaoxing at that time. At first, Lu Xun hoped to be a doctor,14 he went to Japan to study medicine (医学). But he started writing short15 a few years later because he wanted to tell people about society. 2 of such novels are A Madman's Diary and The True Story of Ah Q. 

Now students can find some of Lu Xun's works in their textbooks.