I work as a volunteer for an organization(组织) that helps the poor in Haiti. I decided to take my son Brain there for a week, hoping to educate him.

      Before getting out, I told Brain this trip would be tiring and hard. For the first two days, he said almost nothing. Then on the third day, when we were climbing over high rocky mountains, he turned to me and smiled, “Really hard.”

      After that, a five-year-old girl, wearing a too large dress and broken shoes, followed Brain around. Later he said regretfully(遗憾地), “I wish I could speak French.”I was surprised that this was from a boy who always hated French classes.

      However, the moment that really reached my heart occurred in a village deep in the mountains. I was interviewing a woman villager for an article. By working hard, she had learned to read and write and became part of the leadership(领导层) of the village.

      Learning her story, Brain was greatly touched. His eyes were wet and there was love and respect on his face. He finally understood the importance of my work. When leaving for home, Brain even offered to stay in as a volunteer. This trip was very meaningful.

    What comes to your mind when you hear the word "twins"? Born on the same day? Looking almost the same? Or having the same hobbies? Well, I have a twin brother who was born on a different day from me. We do not look very much alike and we are always interested in different things.

Twelve years ago, my brother, Wayne, was born at eleven fifty-eight on the night of May 28. Five minutes later, I was born一on May 29. Since we were born, I have always been heavier and stronger than Wayne, so people usually think I am the older brother.

    But Wayne is always smarter than L He loves reading and learns many things quickly. He knows a lot about animals, although he does not spend much time with our dogs and birds. He knows e lot about bicycles, but never likes to ride bikes as much as I do.

    Though we are very different, I love my brother very much. I hope both of us can have a happy life in the future.

    Long ago, there was a queen who lived in a palace. She felt bored and said to her advisor (顾问):

    "All the things around me are too boring. I need a different kind of beauty. Let everyone know that I will hold a competition for the most beautiful thing in the world. And the prize will be this crown(王冠)."

    Several days later, lots of people came to the competition and showed their things. The queen was not satisfied with what she saw. The advisor suggested, "What you are looking for cannot be brought to you. You must look for it by yourself. What about a journey?"

    The queen was interested in the idea, so she started immediately. As she was on top of the hill near her palace, she looked down and suddenly something cried in her heart, "Why have I never found my palace so beautiful?"

    The queen spent one year travelling. She saw beauty on the farm, in the forest and even in the stars twinkling (闪烁)at night on her journey. But what was the most beautiful thing? She thought it over. Suddenly, she under- stood beauty was everywhere. She should learn to enjoy the world. She left the pieces of her crown at different places that she had seen. As time went by, the queen's crown got smaller and smaller until nothing was left.

    She found the most beautiful thing at last. It was the world!

Jack is a twenty-year-old young man. Two years ago, when he finished high school, he found a job in a shop. Usually he works until ten o'clock in the evening. He is very tired when he gets home. After a quick supper he goes to bed and soon falls asleep. His grandma who lives downstairs is satisfied with him.

One day, on his way home, he met Mary. They were both happy. He invited the girl to his house. She agreed happily. He bought some fruit and drinks for her. And they talked about their school, teachers, classmates and their future. They talked for a long time.

"Have a look at your watch, please," said the girl. "What time is it now?"

"Sorry, something is wrong with my watch," said Jack. "Where's yours?"

"I left it at home."

Jack thought for a moment and found a way. He began to stamp his foot on the floor. "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The sound woke his grandma up. The old woman shouted downstairs, "It's twelve o'clock in the night, Jack. Why are you still jumping upstairs?"

Tomorrow I'll be one of the first students to travel into space. I'm so1 ! The spaceship will2 the earth at 9 a. m. It'll take us to the moon. I can't wait!

The moon is about 380,000 kilometers3 the earth. It'll take us about four days to4 there. There's no gravity(重力) in space, so we can5 around in the spaceship. We'll have to tie(绑) ourselves to our6 so that we won't float (飘浮) away in our sleep! Without gravity, our bodies may get7 , so we'll have to do exercise every day.

When we arrive, I'm going to walk on the moon. I'll have to8 a spacesuit(太空服) to help me breathe(呼吸)9 there's no air on the moon. I'm going to take many photos if my10 still works there. I'm looking forward to it.

A girl went to her father to ask for his advice. She was having a hard time in life. It seemed that when one problem disappeared，another one appeared. It was terrible!

Her father，a cook，took her into the kitchen. He took out pans and poured water into the pans to boil. 

After the water boiled，he put some carrots into the first pan，some eggs into the second pan and coffee beans into the last one. 

After 20 minutes，her father turned off the stove，took out the carrots and eggs and put them in a bowl. He poured the coffee into a cup. 

"Dear，what do you see? "he asked his daughter. 

"Carrots，eggs，and coffee，"she said. 

"Touch the carrots，"he told her. She did and felt that the carrots were soft. After that he asked her to take an egg and break it. She found that the egg was hard. At last，her father asked her to taste the coffee. 

"What's the meaning，Father? "she asked. 

"The strong and hard carrots became soft and weak after boiling. The fragile（脆弱的） eggs became hard in the boiling water. The coffee beans were very special，but they changed the water around them. " her father said，"As you can see，each thing reacted differently to the boiling water. "

"Who are you? "asked her father. "When you have problems，what will you do? Are you carrots，eggs，or coffee? "