C

    Have you ever wanted to achieve something really amazing in life? Well, Greg Mortenson wanted to climb a mountain, but he ended up helping thousands of people to have a better life.

    Greg's story began with failure. In 1993, he set out to climb K2, the world's second highest mountain. But Greg never made it to the top. After five days, he stumbled (踉跄) into the village of Korphe in northern Pakistan, injured (受伤) and hungry. The kind villagers there looked after him for several days.

    Greg saw that the villagers were very poor and hungry, and some of them were ill. Also, the village school didn't have a roof (屋顶) and the children wrote on the ground with sticks. Greg knew he wanted to do something to help. "I'll build you a school, " he told the villagers. "I promise."

    Greg went back home to the USA to raise money for the school. He even lived in the car to save money! Finally he went back to Korphe and built the school. But this was just the beginning of something bigger! Since then, Greg's organization has built around 80 schools and run many others in Pakistan and other countries, too.

    Greg hasn't finished yet. He does many other things to help people in poor countries. He has got many prizes, but it's the smiles of the children he has helped that make him happy!

    Greg has just written a best­selling book about his story called ThreeCupsofTea. It's an interesting and exciting book which tells us what ordinary (普通的) people can do with courage and determination (决心)!

    I found out one time that doing a favor for someone could get you into a lot of trouble. I was in the eighth grade at the time, and we were having a final test. During the test, the girl sitting next to me whispered something, but I didn't understand. So I leaned over her way and found out that she was trying to ask me if I had an extra pen. She showed me that hers was out of ink and would not write. I happened to have an extra one, so I took it out of my pocket and put it on her desk.

    Later, after the test papers had been turned in, the teacher asked me to stay in the room when all the other students were dismissed. As soon as we were alone she began to talk to me about what it meant to grow up; she talked about how important it was to stand on your own two feet and be responsible (负责任) for your own acts. For a long time, she talked about honesty and emphasized the fact that when people do something dishonest, they are really cheating themselves. She made me promise that I would think seriously about all the things she had said, and then she told me I could leave. I walked out of the room wondering why she had chosen to talk to me about all those things.

    Later on, I found out that she thought I had cheated on the test. When she saw me lean over to talk to the girl next to me, it looked as if I was copying answers from the girl's test paper. I tried to explain about the pen, but all she could say was it seemed very very strange to her that I hadn't talked of anything about the pen the day she talked to me right after the test. Even if I tried to explain that I was just doing the girl a favor by letting her use my pen, I am sure she continued to believe that I had cheated on the test.

    Sydney Fredette is very busy. Not only is she a high school student, but she has also set up her own organization（组织）, Beary Merry Christmas. She volunteers(志愿) to offer services to poor children and families in Orange Country in California, US.

    To remember her best friend who died of cancer nearly 10 years ago, Fredette decided to offer services to those in Orange Country who are less lucky than she is.

    She began with the easy idea of collecting donated(捐赠) Build-A-Bears, the popular toy animal that is made by children themselves in the stores' workshops. Fredette then gave them as presents to the homeless children in California during the holiday season.

    With donations at more than 100 bears a year, Fredette and volunteers hold activities every year, where volunteers not only give out the bears, but also clothing, meals, and other things.

    Not wanting to limit(限制) the giving to just the holiday months, Fredette held other activities for Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and Halloween, offering the chance to her volunteer team to make a difference through the year.

    "I love making friends with the people I offer services to," Fredette said. "It's so cool to hear their stories and see how happy they are."

    Fredette even built a public food bank and offered a self-development class to students in her school.

    She plans to stay local and continue to help out in her hometown.

    A young boy was playing with a ball in the street. He threw(扔)it too hard and it broke(打破)the window of a house and fell(掉)inside. A woman came to the window and shouted(大喊) at the boy. The boy was afraid and ran away. But he still wanted his ball back. A few minutes(分钟)later. The boy came back and knocked(敲)at the door and said, "My father is going to come and repair(修理)your window soon."

    After a while, a man came to the door with tools(工具)in his hand, so the woman let the boy take his ball away.

    When the man finish repairing the window, he said to the woman, "Please pay ten dollars."

    "But aren't you the father of the boy?" the woman asked, looking surprised(惊奇). "No," he answered, looking more surprised, "Aren't you his mother?"