Carol studies at Roosevelt High School. She is having a hard time passing exams. She has no interest in her homework, so she seldom finishes it on time.

     But there is one lesson she is doing well in. It is history. Carol always hands in her history homework on time. She respects the history teacher Mr Aragon. Carol feels that Mr Aragon treats her more than just a student. She feels other teachers look down on her.

      Carol's mother Maria told Mr Aragon that Carol wasn't doing well in her other lessons. Mr Aragon was surprised to learn that. "She is such a smart girl," he told Maria. Mr Aragon told Maria that he would talk to her daughter.

Carol felt embarrassed when Mr Aragon talked to her about the problems she was having in other lessons. But later Carol understood that Mr Aragon just wanted to help her. Mr Aragon and Carol had a discussion about what she could do to improve her marks in other lessons. They made a list of ways to help her to complete her homework on time, including setting a timetable for homework, cutting down some boring after-school activities, and having a friend help her with the homework. Carol decided to try these ways out to see which one would work best for her.

    My name is Bess Curle, but this is not my story. It is the story of my lady Mary, Queen of Scots. She wrote the story, and then she gave it to me. I am going to give it to her son.

    She began the story a week ago. It was January 1587, and we sat here in our cold room in Fotheringhay Castle, in the north of England. We couldn't see much from the window. One or two houses, a river, some trees, some horses, and a road. That's all.

    The road goes to London, the home of Queen Elizabeth of England. Mary sat with her little dog in her hands and watched it, all day long.

    No one came along the road. Nothing happened. I watched Mary, unhappily.

    "Please, Your Majesty, come away from that window," I said. "It doesn't help. No one is going to come. Queen Elizabeth can't do it-Queens don't kill Queens."

    "Don't they, Bess?" Mary said. "Then why are we here, in this prison? Why am I not free?"

    "Why, Your Majesty(陛下)? Because Queen Elizabeth is afraid of you."

    "That's right," Mary said. "She's afraid of me, and she hates me too. She hates me because I am beautiful, and she is not; because I had three husbands, and she never married. And because many people-good Catholic(天主教的)people in England France, Scotland, Spain-say that I, Mary, am the true Queen of England, not Elizabeth. And E}zabeth has no children, so, when she is dead, my son James..."

    She came away from the window and stood in front of me. "James," she said quietly, "my son, does he think about me sometimes? He was only ten months old when I last saw him. It is nearly twenty years..."

    A company wanted to get the best employee(雇员). After the competition, only three people were left.

    In the last competition, the three people entered a room with a monitor(监视器). Inside the room, there was everything they needed but no telephone and they couldn't surf the Internet. The three people just waited patiently for the exam questions.

    The first day, three people were very excited, watching TV, reading books and listening to music.

    The next day, because they still didn't know the exam questions, two of them were worried and often changed TV channels.

    Five days later, the winner was the one who could keep a happy life. The leader of the company thinks happiness is a kind of ability(能力). If you keep a happy heart, you will succeed finally!

    The class teacher thought that hobbies were important to children. So she encouraged all her students to have one, and sometimes she arranged hobby shows for their parents to see.

    One morning the teacher told the class to have a holiday and get their hobby things to school before 5:00 p. m. A hobby show would be held the following afternoon.

    So in the afternoon, the students with nothing to show did their lessons at school as usual, while the lucky ones had a holiday to go home for their hobby works.

    When the afternoon lessons began, the teacher was surprised to see that Tommy was not there. "I don't believe Tommy has a hobby, "she thought. However, at a quarter to five, Tommy arrived with a beautiful collection of butterflies(蝴蝶) in a glass case. The teacher liked the samples（标本） very much and put them on a desk in the classroom. But, to her surprise, Tommy picked them up again and began to leave.

    "What are you doing, Tommy? "she asked. "Those things must stay here until tomorrow afternoon. That's when the parents are coming to see them. "

    "I know that, "answered Tommy, "and I will bring them back tomorrow, but my brother doesn't want them to be out of our house at night."

    "But, aren't the butterflies yours?" asked the teacher.

    "No," answered Tommy." They are my brother's."

    "But Tommy, you should show your own hobby here, not somebody else's!"

    "I know that, "answered Tommy. What surprised her most was the answer, "My hobby is watching my brother collecting butterflies."

My Mummy and me

In a village,there lived a young man named James. He always felt pain because of his hard life. One day, he visited a wise old man and told1 about his troubles. 

The old man2 James patiently and then gave him a handful of salt. James was confused(困 惑的). He wanted to know whether the salt was magical and could wash away all the3 in his life. 

Then the man4 James to put some salt in a glass of water and drink it. James followed the man's instructions(指示). 

"How does it5 ?'asked the man. 

"That is awful,"said James as he spat(吐)out the salty water. 

The old man laughed and then led James to the nearby6 . "Put the same amount of salt in the lake and drink the water from it,"said the man. 

"It is perfect. I can7 taste any salt,"James said. "I am so8 . I can drink a lot!" This time,James enjoyed the cool water of the lake very much. 

The old man then sat next to James,took his hands and said,"The pain in life is just like salt. How it tastes depends on the container we put it into. So,when you are in pain,you can make your heart9 . Stop being like a glass and10 being like a lake. Then the troubles in your life will cause you less pain and you can enjoy your life better.