D

    Mike Myers is a teacher at Chauncey Rose High School in Terre Haute, Indiana. Last year, he taught his students about the world's rain forests. They learned that rain forests are important because the plants and animals of the rain forest give us food, wood, and medicine.

    Destruction of the world's rain forests is a serious problem. Unluckily, rain forests are disappearing at a rate of 80 acres per minute! As part of a class project, Myers' students bought three acres of rain forest in Central America. They paid $25 per acre. The students hope that the land they bought will be protected and not destroyed. The students became so interested in rain forests that they decided to get a closer look at a real rain forest.

    So last June, Myers and four of his students took a boat ride down a river. They saw alligators and crocodiles. In the middle of the week, a guide took Myers and his students into the rain forest. "The monkeys were not happy that we were in their forest. They broke small branches off the trees and threw them at us," one of the students said. "It was a great learning experience for all of us," said Myers.

    Each student chose something specific about Costa Rica to study involving the plants, animals, food, and culture. During the last few days the group had time to do fun activities. They went whitewater rafting and horseback riding, and visited Costa Rica's active volcano.

    Myers hopes to make the trip every year with a different group of kids.

Our village carpenter（木匠）, John Hill, came one day and made a dining table for my wife. He made it just the right size to fill the space between the two windows. When I got home that evening, John was drinking a cup of tea and writing out his bill（账单）for his job.

My wife said to me quietly, “That's his ninth cup of tea today.” But she said in a loud voice, “It's a beautiful table, dear, isn't it?” “I'll decide about that when I see the bill,” I said. John laughed and gave me his bill for the work. I read:

One dining table                        10^th November, 2011

      Cost of wood                  ＄17.00

      Paint                         ＄1.50

      Work, 8 hours(＄1 an hour)       ＄8.00

      Total                         ＄36.50  

When I was looking at the bill, John said, “It's been a fine day, hasn't it? Quite sunny.”

“Yes,” I said. “I'm glad it's only the 10^th of November.”

“Me, too,” said John, “you wait—it will be a lot colder by the end of the month.”

“Yes, colder—and more expensive! Dining tables will be ＄20 more expensive on November 30^th, won't they, John?”

John looked hard at me for half a minute. Was there a little smile in his two blue eyes? I gave his bill back to him.

“If it's not too much trouble, John,” I said, “please add it up again. You can forget the date…”

I paid him ＄26.50 and he was happy to get it.

    Years ago, I lived in a building in a large city. The building next door was only a few feet away from mine. There was a woman who lived there, whom I had never met, yet I could see her seated by her window each afternoon, sewing or reading.

    After several months went by, I began to notice that her window was dirty. Everything was unclear through the dirty window. I often said to myself, "I wonder why that woman doesn't wash her window. It really looks terrible."

    One bright morning I decided to clean my flat, including washing the window on the inside.

    Late in the afternoon when I finished the cleaning, I sat down by the window with a cup of coffee for a rest. What a surprise! Across the way, the woman sitting by her window was clearly seen. Her window was clean!

    Then it dawned on me. I was always criticizing(批评) her dirty window, but all the time I was watching hers through my own dirty window.

    That was quite an important lesson for me. How often had I looked at and criticized others through the dirty window of my heart, through my own mistake?

    Since then, whenever I wanted to judge(评判) someone, I asked myself first, "Am I looking at him through my own dirty window?"

    Then I try to clean the window of my own world so that I may see the world around me more clearly and correctly.

    John and Bobby joined the same company together just after they completed their university studies the same year. Both of them worked very hard. Several years later, however, the boss promoted(提拔) Bobby to manager but John was still a worker. John could not take it, and gave his resignation(辞呈) to the boss. He complained that the boss did not think much of those who were hard- working, but promoted only those who flattered(奉承) him.

    The boss knew that John had worked very hard for the years. He thought a moment and said," Thank you for what you said, but I hope you will do one more thing for our company before you leave."

    John agreed the boss asked him to go and find anyone selling watermelons in the market. John went and returned soon. He said he had found a man selling watermelons. The boss asked how much they cost every kilogram. John shook his head and went back to the seller to ask and returned to tell the boss $1.2 every kilogram,

    The boss told John to wait a second, and he called Bobby to come to his office. He asked Bobby to go and find anyone selling watermelons in the market. Bobby went and returned, saying. Boss, only one person is selling watermelons. $1.2 every kilogram, and $10 for 10 kilograms. The seller has 340 melons. On the table there are 58 melons, and every melon weighs about 2 kilograms. They were brought from the South two days ago. They are of good quality.

    Hearing what Bobby said, John realized the difference between himself and Bobby. He decided to stay and learn from Bobby.

    Jerry has a happy family — his parents, his sister and he. They live in a small town, and it is not far from the city.

    One day, Jerry goes to a shopping centre in the city to buy a new pair of trousers. There are too many people in the shop, so he doesn't want to try them on there.

    He goes back home and tries on the trousers in his bedroom. They are too long for him and he wants to ask his mother or sister to shorten (剪短) them for him. When he goes to his mother, she is cooking lunch and doesn't have any time to help him. He goes to his sister, but she is washing clothes and shoes. "The new trousers are too long. Can you help me to shorten them five centimetres?" His mother and sister are busy, and they don't say anything. Jerry goes out to fly kites with his classmates.

    Jerry's father is not busy, so he helps his son to shorten the trousers and plays computer games again in the study. When his mother finishes cooking, she goes to Jerry's bedroom and helps him to shorten the trousers five centimetres, too. But she doesn't tell her daughter about it and goes out.

    After an hour, Jerry's sister remembers her brother's trousers. So she goes quietly into the room and also helps her brother to shorten the trousers five centimetres.

    Can you guess the look on Jerry's face when he wears the trousers next time?