Maybe everyone likes dogs, and almost everyone likes to read stories about dogs.
　  I have a friend. He has a large police dog named Jack. Police dogs are very clever. Every Sunday afternoon my friend takes Jack for a long walk in the park. Jack likes these long walks very much.
　  One Sunday afternoon a young man came to visit my friend. He stayed a long time. He talked and talked. Soon it was time for my friend to take Jack for his walk. But the visitor still stayed. Jack became very worried. He walked around the room several times and then sat down in front of the visitor and looked at him. But the visitor paid no attention to Jack. He went on talking. At last Jack got angry. He went out of the room and came back a few minutes later. He sat down again in front of the visitor, but this time he took the visitor's hat in his mouth. The visitor saw it and was surprised. He laughed and left.

Which Is More Useful?

    Thomas is in Grade Two now. He goes to school from Monday to Friday. After school he must do some housework. He helps his parents on the farm(农场) on Saturdays and Sundays. So he doesn't have any time to play football in the daytime. He often plays with his friends in the moon(月亮).

    It's five in the afternoon. School is over. Thomas goes home and cooks for his family. After dinner he sees his friend Paul near his house and asks him to play football. The boy looks at the sky and sees the moon. Then he asks, "Which is more useful, the sun or the moon?"

    "I think the moon is," says Thomas. "We need light(光线) in the evening, but we can not see the sun, but the moon!"

    A man got lost in a desert. He walked for two days but he still couldn't find his way out. Dying for water, he found an empty house in the desert. There was a water pump(水泵）in the house!

    The man was so happy that he ran to draw water. But no water how hard he tried, no matter came out.

    He was sitting sadly on the ground when he saw a little bottle with a cork in it. On the bottle, there was an old note saying: You must add the water into the pump before you can draw water! Don't forget to fill it with water again before you leave! The man took the cork out and found the bottle was full of water!

    If I'm selfish（自私的）, as long as I drink the water, I can go out of this room alive, he thought. If I do as the note says, I might die of thirst. Should I take the risk or not?

    At last, he decided to do as the note said and began to draw water. Sure enough, lots of water started coming out from the pump!

    After he drank enough, he filled the bottle with water and added his words after the note.

    “Believe me, do as the note tells you!” he wrote.

    Think back to a time in your life when you tried something new.

    When I was a teenager I volunteered to pass out water at a local race. I was so excited to see all the different runners who passed by and quickly took a cup of water. Some ran past, some walked past and a few wheeled past.

    I saw so many types of people doing it. I thought maybe I could do it too! The next year I decided to run for the race, but I had little running practice. I just wanted to finish.

    On the day of the race, it was terribly hot. After running for about 5 miles, I was thinking, "I must be crazy. Why did I do this？What was I thinking?" And at one moment, I said to myself, "I will never do this again!"

    That first 10km race was quite an experience. I jogged (慢跑), I walked, and I jogged and walked. At times, I didn't know if I could finish.

    Near the end, a 70­year­old man ran past me, very fast, and I felt a little embarrassed (尴尬的) that I was more than 50 years younger than him and I couldn't even keep up with him. But then I realized something. He was running his race and I was running mine. How often in life do we compare ourselves to others when we really shouldn't？I decided that I would not give up, and that one day I would be one of those 70­year­old men who were still running.

    As I crossed the finishing line, I was proud of myself. I didn't regret (后悔) having such an experience.

    Cody and his sister April wanted a dog. They went to an animal adoption center. A nice old man, Mr. Smith. greeted（问候）Cody and April.

"How can I help you?" he asked.

    "We would like to adopt a dog," April said. "Ah, you have two dogs to choose from. One of them is a very big bulldog(斗牛犬)named Buster. The other is a very small Chihuahua(吉娃娃)named Teacup," Mr. Smith told her. April wanted Teacup. Cody wanted Buster. They walked outside to discuss(讨论)it, but they couldn't agree on which dog to get. April suggested they race (赛跑)home for it. The winner of the race would choose the dog. Cody thought it was a good idea.

    So they had a race. Cody ran very quickly. He really wanted that bulldog. He looked back. April was so far behind him. Cody finally won the race. He was tired but happy.

    They went back to the adoption center. However, they only saw Teacup, the Chihuahua. They asked Mr. Smith where Buster was Mr. Smith said that a few minutes after April and Cody left, two boys walked in and adopted the bulldog.

    Cody smiled sadly, "We'll adopt the Chihuahua, please."