Dear Alice,
    I just received your letter. And I was very surprised to know that you decided to drop out of school and wanted to be a model（模特）.
Being a model for a living is not easy. In fact, a famous person like me has a lot of problems that you couldn't see. I can't eat what I like, even though I'm very hungry. Keeping thin makes me look more beautiful on the stage because no one would like to see a heavy model.
Besides, I have to wear a heavy coat in the hot sun, in a swimming suit in the cold air. And practicing walking nicely every day is tiring for me.
You might say I made much money from modeling. But my dear niece （侄女）, you have to know that money is nothing, knowledge is everything. School is important and everyone should go to school for a certain period of time. The longer they stay at school, the better they will be. Very often, I hope I can give up my job and continue my studies at school. But it is very difficult for me to go back to school again. I am too old to go back to school now.
    You are a pretty young girl with a bright future. You only have one year to finish your studies in high school. A year is really short. Please do consider my words carefully before you decide. Of course, there is only one thing I care about, and that is your happiness.
Love,
Emma

    One day, a farmer was walking along a road with his son Thomas. The father said. “Look! There's a horseshoe. Pick it up and put it in your bag.” Thomas said, “It isn't worth the trouble.” His father said nothing but picked it up himself. When they got to a nearby town, they had a rest. There the farmer sold the horseshoe and with the pennies he bought some grapes.

    It was very hot, and there wasn't a house or a tree where they could have a rest. Thomas felt too thirsty to walk on. At this time. his father dropped a grape on the ground and Thomas picked it up quickly and ate it. After a while, his father dropped another grape and once again. His son picked it up and put it in his mouth.

    And so they went on. The old farmer dropped the grapes and the son picked them up. When Thomas had eaten up all the grapes, his father said to him. “My dear son, if you had bent down early to pick up that horseshoe. It would not have been necessary for you to bend so many times for the grapes, always remember the lesson(教训):  A person who does not worry about the little things

    will find that he can not do the great things.”

Mr．Young worked in a hospital in the capital．He was busy all the time and little time to have a rest．And one day he felt unwell and couldn't go on working．He decided to spend a week's holiday in a quiet village where he could go swimming or fishing．He got off at a small railway station and soon got to the village．He took a room hotel and went to sleep as soon as he had a good meal．

    At first Mr．Young enjoyed himself there．He could do everything he wanted and went wherever he liked．Nobody disturbed（打扰） him and knocked at the door at mid﹣night．But on the fourth day he was in trouble．After lunch it was very hot．He went swimming in the river．Suddenly he saw a beautiful bird in a big tree．He wanted to catch it and walked to it，but it found him and flew away and soon was gone．He began to pick some flowers in the forest and before long he lost his way．

    The sun had gone down and night had fallen before Mr．Young found a small restaurant in another village．He came in and told them to bring him some bread，two eggs and a glass of tea．After a while his food was brought．

    Soon he ate up all the bread and eggs．When he was going to have the tea，he found there was a fly in the glass．

    "What's in my tea？"Mr．Young called out，"A fly？"It's impossible （不可能的），sir，"said the owner or the restaurant，"I had told them to pick all the flies out of your tea before they brought it to you!"

    On a sunny day of September, I sat with my friend in a well­known coffee shop in a neighboring town. As we enjoyed our coffee, a young man wearing glasses entered and sat at an empty table beside us. He called the waiter and placed his order, saying, “Two cups of coffee, one of them there on the wall.” We heard this order with rather interest and found that he was served with only one cup of coffee but he paid for two. When he left, the waiter put a piece of paper on the wall, saying “A Cup of Coffee”．

    While we were still there, two other middle­aged men entered and ordered three cups of coffee, two on the table and one on the wall. They had two cups of coffee but paid for three and left. This time also, the waiter did the same. He put a piece of paper on the wall saying, “A Cup of Coffee.” It was something special and perplexing for us. We finished our coffee, paid the bill and left.

    After a few days, we had a chance to go to this coffee shop again. While we were enjoying our coffee, a poorly­dressed man arrived at the shop. As he seated himself, he looked at the wall and said, “One cup of coffee from the wall.” The waiter served coffee to this man as usual. The man had his coffee and left without paying.

    We were amazed to watch all this, as the waiter took off a piece of paper from the wall and threw it into the dustbin. Now it was no surprise for us — what was happening was very clear. The great respect for the men in need shown by the residents(居民) of this town made our eyes in tears.

    It's Paul's twelfth birthday today. After breakfast, some of his friends come to see him. They give (给) him many nice gifts. Paul is very happy. At about 9:00 in the morning, they play basketball. They have lunch at McDonald's. In the afternoon, they go to the park (公园).

    At about 5:30 in the afternoon they come back home. Paul's mother buys a big birthday cake (蛋糕) for him. Paul's name and the words "Happy Birthday" are on the cake. Paul gets some nice presents from his family, too—a yellow T-shirt from his mother, a pair of sports shoes from his father, a CD from his sister Lucy, a basketball from his grandpa and a book from his grandma.

    How happy Paul is!