Prana was a beautiful dog, whose name means “breath of life”. Although he died several years ago, I can still remember the days we spent together and what he has taught me about love.

    I have two apple trees in the garden. Prana loved apples. When he went outside, he'd catch an apple and take it into the house to eat later. The apples had been on the ground and were often dirty so I wasn't always happy that Prana had brought them into the house.

It was an autumn day in America, but it was very cold. A big snow fell and we had not done anything for its coming. On that special day, Prana went outside and I watched him through the window. I noticed that he was madly digging(挖) holes and bringing the apples to the ground so they could be seen above the snow. I did not know why he was doing this. He seemed to want to do something special.

    When I called him back, he had his usual one apple in his mouth. About five minutes later, I looked outside. The garden was completely covered with birds. Prana had dug up all those apples for his bird friends to eat. He knew that they wouldn't have stored enough food for the coming winter!

    An old man was going home late one night with his horse and cart after a day's hard work. When he was not far away from his house, the light on the cart went out. He tried but could not repair it. He was near his home, and so he went along the road without a light. When a policeman saw this, he stopped the old man.

    "Where is your light?" asked the policeman. "No man may take a cart along the road at night without a light. You know that. You have broken the law." "I had a light, but it has just gone out," said the old man.

    "I don't believe that story. What's your name and where do you live?" asked the policeman. "Please don't write down my name," said the old man. "My home is just there. You can see it from here. I had a light nearly the whole way."

    "You came all the way without a light. What's your name?"

    The old man quickly took the policeman's hand and put it down on the top of the light. The light was still hot and burnt the policeman's hand. The policeman jumped and he was very angry. "Now, what do you think?" said the old man. "Did I come all the way without a light?"

    I stood in the doorway, watching my older brother carefully putting clothes into his bag. I coughed uneasily. Finally 1 that I was there, Rocky turned towards me with a sad smile.

    "I'm leaving tomorrow," he said.

    "I know." My 2 was almost a whisper (低声). I was 3 with myself for being so weak, but I wasn't about to cry.

    "My flight is early, but there is still enough time to the airport," he said. Seeing the 4 look on my face, he quickly added, "I promise I won't leave without saying goodbye."

    I tried to say 5, but I didn't. It's always 6 to keep quiet if you're about to cry. "You promised you wouldn't cry," he said to me, thinking that I was close to 7.

    I remember the day he taught me how to ride a bike. At first I thought he was always right behind me, holding the seat to keep me from 8. I was happy with this, but he knew he couldn't hold me up all my life. He told me that one day he would have to let go.

    His coughing stopped my thinking. What was left to say? How could I say goodbye to the person who taught me everything?

    The next morning I 9, looked at my alarm clock, and realized he had left hours ago. We never even said goodbye.

    Goodbye, Rocky! 10 he may have been many miles away, I knew he heard me, even if it was only an answer in his heart.

    Esperanza lives in a poor Latino(拉丁美洲的) neighbourhood in Chicago, America. She dreams of having her own house one day. Her parents told her that when they moved from their last house, they would have a new and shiny(亮闪闪的) house. But the house is small and old.

    Many people live in Mango Street, in a big old house, Esperanza lives behind it with her family. A lot of the people who have come from Mexico don't speak English. Many miss their home country. Esperanza understands their sadness, but she also feels at home in America. She is an American, but her roots(根) will always be Latino.

    Esperanza is young. Like her friends, she has to grow up fast. She is stuck between being a girl and being a woman. In the poor and dangerous area where she lives, this is difficult for her. Mexican people usually live in a close neighbourhood. This means that people live packed(挤塞的) in together. Everyone knows everyone else. So Esperanza knows other older girls that do things she is not comfortable doing. It is just a fact of her life.

    But Esperanza has good friends too. She becomes friends with two sisters named Lucy and Rachel. They ride bikes and have adventures(冒险) together. Esperanza is also friends with a girl named Alicia. Alicia is afraid of the rats in her apartment. She shares her poems with Esperanza.

    We never forget when Perronet came to us. It was on a spring afternoon. We never knew who drowned Perronet, but David pulled him out of the water and saved his life, People sometimes asked us what kind of dog he was, but we never knew, except that he was the nicest possible kind. Mother said we could not afford him because of the tax(税) and his keep. The tax was five shillings(先令), but it was nearly a year before the time when it must be paid. At last, we decided that all three of us would give up sugar toward saving the cost of his keep. It was the hardest for David because he was fond of sweet things, but then, he was fond of Perronet. So we all gave up sugar, and Perronet was allowed to remain.

    We were very happy that summer. The boys were especially happy. The only thing that vexed me was Perronet's tax money, for months and months went on and we didn't save it. One day, I found David alone with Perronet in his arms. He was crying, and feeding Perronet with cake. I can't bear to see boys cry. I begged of David to stop, and told him I should certainly think of something.

    One day, we were all in school. The schoolmaster told us that there was to be a flower show for the school children this year, and that an old gentleman would give prizes to the best arranged wild flowers. There was to be a first prize of five shillings, and a second prize of a half crown, for the best collection of wild flowers, with their names upon them. I squeezed(挤) David's arm, and whispered, "Five shillings!"

    I thought I could never get my lessons that day, for all day I was thinking about Perronet's tax money. At night, I said to them, "Look here! I'll make a collection of flowers. You two can make a collection of mosses(苔藓). There are ten kinds of mosses by the river, and we have names of our own for them." The boys agreed. Richard made me a box. We put wet sand at the bottom, then feather moss, and into that I stuck the flowers. I got all the flowers and all the grasses ready and printed the names on pieces of cardboard, to stick in with them. I didn't like it when it was done, but Richard praised it and that cheered me. I thought their mosses were beautiful.

    The day of the flower show was very hot. When we reached the tent, it was filled with grown-up people. It was very hard work getting about and trying to see the stands with flowers. We kept seeing tickets with "First Prize" and "Second Prize". It made me feel sick with heat and anxiety, to think of them. We had walked slowly all round the tent. We had seen all the cucumbers, onions, lettuce, grapes, long potatoes, round potatoes and everything else. At last we saw my collection! It had a label on it, marked "First Prize", and next to it came the boy's moss, marked "Second Prize". We cried "Perronet is paid for!"

    Today my aunt and uncle took me to see Niagara Falls! We went to the top first to see the falls from TableRock. The water ran very fast. We felt so tired that we took an elevator down through the rock and stood behind the waterfall. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the water. It was so powerful, and I felt I was so small.

    In the afternoon my aunt took me to the CN Tower. The view from the top was wonderful. It was very clear; I could see the whole city of Toronto and even into the US state of New York. After a while, I felt dizzy(眩晕的) from being so high. I read that lighting strikes(雷击) the tower about 75 times a year. I'm glad today was a clear day!

    Tonight we went ice-skating! I think everyone here in Toronto can ice-skate. At first I fell down a lot, but after a while, I was able to stay on my feet and move forward slowly. My aunt is really good at ice-skating; she took lessons as a girl. My uncle wasn't so graceful, but he could skate really fast. He used to play ice hockey(冰球) in high school. He skated around and around me. That made me laugh really hard, and then I fell down again!