I was the typical“ I can't” child-whatever my mother told or asked me to do was immediately followed by my cry，“I can't．”As a result，very few tasks or goals that I set out to achieve were ever completed．

    One evening，my mother called me into the family room．“I want you to read this article，”Mother began．“It's about Marlo Thomas．She tells how a simple poem that she was forced to learn by her father changed her life • She went from saying 'I can't' to 'I can' •According to this article，she was able to reorganize her life and her career by learning the principles（原则）in the poem．”

    I took the small magazine from Mother and looked down at the pages．There was Marlo-my idol．Beside her photo was the poem my mother had spoken of，a simple poem entitled，“I Can”．

    “I want you to memorize that poem，”Mother said firmly．“Mama，”I belly-acheD． “I can't learn that poem．It's too long．”

“It's not too tong and you can learn it.1 want you to know it perfectly by this time tomorrow，”said my mother．Unwillingly，I went back to my bedroom with the magazine．With a heavy heart，Ithrew myself into the bed and began my task．

    “Can't is a word that is the enemy to ambition，”I began．I repeated the line．I repeated it again and again．“An enemy ambush to shatter your will…”I continued the process until I proudly recited the poem the following evening．It has now become my principle．Marlo 1 homas did not know me，but her story forever changed my life．

    Saying “I can”helped me to get through the worst moments of my life: Saying “I can” encouraged me to complete things I would have otherwise seen as out of my reach．A simple poem learned at seven is a poem that will support me to seventy-seven，maybe even longer．

    A young queen was given a magic box by a wizard (男巫). The box would bring happiness to the whole country whenever it was opened in a place full of the spirit of generosity (慷慨).

    The queen traveled all over the country, looking for the most generous people. If she collected them all, she would open the magic box. The queen felt disappointed because nothing special happened.

    One day when the queen decided to return to her palace, she saw a poor little boy begging. She would like to give the boy some money, but she didn't have any with her. So the boy asked her if she could give him the old box. Then he could sell it for a little money. At first the queen hesitated (犹豫), because she had been told the box had magical powers. But seeing how poor the boy was, she gave it to him. The boy took the box and opened it.

    Immediately, all the most wonderful things one could imagine started flying out of the box and a voice said, "Why look for it in others? Goodness always starts in yourself. "

    While enjoying all the wonders of the magic box, the queen learned to set an example to others, and she became the best queen ever in history.

    "I have some exciting news, class," said Mrs. Pike.

    It was almost lunchtime, and Jenny Archer was hungry. She drew a piece of apple pie in her notebook. Sometimes Mrs. Pike's news wasn't very exciting.

    Once, Mrs. Pike had said it would be exciting to watch a filmstrip (幻灯影片) called Tommy Tooth and the Whole Truth about Teeth. But it wasn't.

    "We're going to have a contest(竞赛)," said Mrs. Pike.

    Jenny put down her pencil.

    "The whole school will take part," Mrs. Pike went on. "We're going to collect empty tin cans to sell. We'll use the money to buy a video camcorder and a TV monitor for' the school. "

    "What kind of contest is that?" asked Clifford Stern. "Just collecting cans?"

    "The class that collects the most cans," said Mrs. Pike, "will use the camera first. We will make our own class movie. You could all be star!"

    "Me, a movie star!" Jenny said to herself. Now, that was exciting.

    "The person in the class who brings in the most cans will direct the first movie," Mrs. Pike finished.

    Wow! Directing a movie might be even better than starring(主演) in one. The director could make up the whole story. He/She would choose the actors and tell everybody what to do. Jenny loved to make up stories. And she was good at telling people what to do.

    She was sure she'd be a great director.

    The whole class was noisy at once. She looked over at her friend Beth. Beth's eyes were bright.

    "You can be the star of my movie," Jenny whispered to her.

    "Your movie? What do you mean?" Beth asked.

    "I mean when I win the contest," Jenny said.

    "What if I win the contest?" Beth said.

    "But I have to win," answered Jenny. "I've always wanted to make a movie."

    "Since when?"

    "Well, I realised it just now," Jenny admitted. "But don't you think I will make a good director?"

    “I think I might make a good director," Beth said.

    Beth was one of Jenny's two best friends. Jenny didn't want to fight with her. But she really wanted to direct the class movie.

    "Let's not fight." Jenny said. "We will both be good directors."

    "You're right," Beth said. "We won't fight. Let's just say, may our friendship last forever. "

    Jenny shook Beth's hand. "May our friendship last forever," she repeated.

    In the state of Qin (秦国), there was a man called Shang Yang (商鞅). He was a statesman (政治家) and worked out many reforms(改革) for the state, like paying more attention to farming and giving rewards (报酬) to soldiers who were successful when at war.

    But these reforms were not easily carried out (执行) at first. Most people didn't trust Shang

    Yang. In order to solve this problem, Shang Yang came up wiIh an idea. He put a thin wooden pole at the south gate of the Qin capital. Many people came to see him and the pole.

    Then, in front of the crowd, Shang Yang said loudly, "The man who takes this pole to the north gate will get 10 gold pieces."

    It was a sample job and the reward was so large. However, some time passed and no one stepped forward. They all thought Shang Yang was making a joke.

    Hearing no answer, Shang Yang stepped forward and said, "The reward now goes to 50 gold pieces."

    This reward was unbelievably large. Finally, a man from the crowd came forward. He put the pole on his shoulders and walked to the north gate. True to his word, Shang Yang gave the man 50 gold pieces.

    After that, the people of Qin were all talking about what Shang Yang did about the pole. They believed he was a man of his word. So when Shang Yang began carrying out his reforms, the people followed him.

    Under these great reforms, Qin grew stronger and stronger. Al last, Qin made all the seven states into one empire (帝国).

    Somebody says that it is raining cats and dogs. We know it means it is raining heavily. Here you can know why people say like this.

    There are many large rats (老鼠) in a country. People need cats. But there are many mountains in the country. It's hard for a plane to land. So the cats come down by parachute (降落伞). In another country, the people need dogs to help people to find the people in the snow. Where can they get them? You can guess. The dogs come down by parachute. Both cats and dogs are coming down by parachute, just like the raindrops coming from the sky. So there is the saying "It is raining cats and dogs".

    These cats and dogs help the people. And the people often say it rains cats and dogs. This kind of old saying is very interesting.