Once upon a time in Greece, there lived a young man called Narcissus. He lived in a small village on the sea and was famous in the land because he was quite handsome. Villagers would turn up on the streets to stare at the beautiful child.   

    When he grew up, people always said "How handsome Narcissus is!" Villagers thought that Narcissus could not be any more handsome than he already was. But as years passed Narcissus became a teenager. His beauty grew and became so great that he was known all over country of Greece.

    As he grew, Narcissus was very proud of his good-looking face.

    "Oh! You are so handsome, Narcissus!" Narcissus said one day as he looked into a pool. "There's nobody more handsome in the whole world! I'd love to kiss you. And that's just what I'll do!"

    He leaned closer to the water. Suddenly he lost his balance and fell into the pool.

    Narcissus tried to reach the bank of the pool, but he could not swim and he drowned.

    Jehdi and Hassan were businessmen and good friends.

    One day they found themselves in a forest. They were tired so they sat down and Jehdi fell asleep.

    As Jehdi slept, Hassan saw a wasp (黄蜂) coming from his friend's nose. It flew toward a pine tree (松树), circled it three times, and then returned to Jehdi's nose.

    When Jehdi woke he said, “Hassan, What a dream! Imagine a big pine tree, like that one there. A wasp flies around it and its buzz (嗡嗡叫) seems to say,

    ‘You must dig here.' I dig and I find a big box of gold.”

    “Yes, a strange dream,” replied Hassan. “Why don't you dig around that tree and see if it's true?”

    “My friend, it was just a dream and anyway it's too hot to dig.”

    Hassan said, “If you do not want to dig, I will. Sell your dream to me.”

    “How much will you pay?” asked Jehdi.

    Hassan agreed to pay 300 coins.

    “Never have I made such a business deal. How naïve (天真的) you are, Hassan!”

    The two friends then went to the pine tree Jehdi had dreamed about. Jehdi stood there with a smile on his face to see Hassan start digging. But he laughed on the other side of his face when Hassan dug up a huge box of gold.

    After this, Hassan had so much gold that he lived a rich life until his death. Jehdi often visited him. He would say, “Well, Hassan, how are you? I have come to see my dream.” They would pat(轻拍) each other on the back and laugh. But each time Jehdi went home sadly. He could never buy back his dream.

    When I was 13 years old, a boy gave me an important gift. It was a smile.

    It was the early autumn of my first year at a junior high school, and my old school was far away. As a result, no one knew who I was. I was very lonely, and afraid to make friends with anyone.

    Every time I heard the other students talking and laughing, I felt that my heart broke. I couldn't talk to anyone about my problem, and I didn't want my parents to worry about me.

    Then one day, my classmates talked happily with their friends, but I sat at my desk unhappily as usual. At that moment, a boy came into the classroom. I didn't know who he was. He passed me and turned back. He looked at me and without a word, smiled.

    Suddenly(突然), I felt the touch of something bright and friendly. It made me feel happy, lively and warm.

    That smile changed my life. I started to talk with the other students and made friends. Day by day, I became closer to everyone in my class. The boy with the lucky smile has become my best friend now.

    One day, I asked him why he smiled, but he couldn't remember smiling at me! It doesn't matter because all the dark days have gone. Now I believe that the world is what you think it is. If you think you are lonely, you might always be alone. So smile at the world and it will smile back.

    It was Sunday morning. A butcher（屠夫） heard the doorbell and thought it must be a customer. But he was surprised to see that a dog was coming into his shop. The dog had $10 and a note in its mouth. The butcher took the note and read it. It said, "10 pork chops（排骨）, please." So the butcher took the money and put a bag of chops in the dog's mouth.

    Then he quickly closed the shop because he decided to follow the dog. He found the dog on the street. The dog was waiting for a green light. Then the dog walked across the road. The dog went to a bus stop. When a bus arrived, the dog checked the number and then got on the bus

    After a while, the dog stood up on his back paws（爪子） to push the "stop" button（按钮）.The bus stopped and the dog got off. Then the butcher followed it to get off the bus.

    The dog ran to a house and dropped the bag in front of the front door. It then began to beat its head against the front door. After a while, a big man opened the door and began shouting at the dog. The butcher ran up and shouted at the man, "What are you doing? Your dog is a genius（天才）."

    The owner of the dog said, "Genius? No way! I always tell him to take the keys when he goes to the stores. But he never listens to me! "

    After a while attention to Tom ended, and the usual school murmur(嗡嗡读书声) rose upon the boring air once more. Now the boy began to steal secret glances(偷看) at the girl. She noticed it, made a face at him and gave him the back of her head for the space of a minute. When she slowly faced around again, an apple lay before her. She pushed it away. Tom gently put it back. She pushed it away again, but with less animosity(敌意). Tom patiently returned it to its place. Then she let it remain. Tom wrote on his paper, "Please take it. I got more." The girl glanced at the words, but made no sign.

    Now the boy began to draw something on the paper, hiding his work with his left hand. For a time the girl refused to notice, but her human curiosity soon began to show itself by hardly noticeable(明显的) signs. The boy worked on, seemingly not aware. The girl made some non-committal(含糊的) efforts to see, but the boy did not display that he was aware of it. At last she couldn't bear it and whispered: "Let me see it."

    Tom partly uncovered the picture of a house with some smoke rising from the chimney(烟囱). Then the girl's interest began to fasten itself upon the work and she forgot everything else. When it was finished, she gazed a moment, then whispered:

    "It's nice! Draw a man."

    The artist created a man in the front yard. She was satisfied, and whispered:

"It's a beautiful man—now draw me in it."

    Tom drew an hour-glass(沙漏) as the body, a full moon as her head and some arms added to it. The girl said:

    "It's ever so nice. I wish I could draw. No one has ever taught me that."

    "It's easy," whispered Tom, "I'll teach you."

    "Oh, will you? When?"

    "At noon. Do you go home for dinner?"

    "I'll stay if you will."

   "Good, that's a deal. What's your name?"

I was once a fat girl. I weighed 336 pounds and looked as big as my fridge. I was never 1 it. But one day I had a medical examination（体检）. The doctor told me that I was having heart trouble. It 2 me up. I began to feel nervous. Then I decided to do something!

In a year and five months, I3 104 pounds. What a great thing I did ! I didn't have any expensive food, medical treatment（治疗）or camp-style（训练营式的）exercise. What was the secret to my success?

First I looked through the Internet for do-it-yourself 4 that people could follow on losing weight. Of course I saw countless(无数的) ads which tried to get me to buy their products. But I bought nothing. The only thing I did was to change my bad 5 . The following are what I have done. You can try these. Stop drinking something with too much sugar in it. Refuse(拒绝)sweet cakes. Eat green vegetables. Use only vegetable oil. Never eat after 6:30 pm. Also, do light exercise for 15 to 20 minutes five days a week. 

Then I kept doing what I should do. People sometimes say, "You don't need to tell me 6 to do. I know it already!" But the fact is that knowing what to do and doing what you know are totally7 . The important thing is to know what to do and then just keep doing it. 。