We walked all afternoon with Infadoos and Scragga. Their men walked about a hundred metres ahead of us.

    “When did your people, the Kukuana, come to this place?”

    “They came from the north many thousands of moons ago,” Infadoos explained. “When they reached the mountains, they could go no farther. They stayed here where the land is good and there is water.”

    “Do you live here in peace?” I asked.

    “There have been two wars. Once an army came down from the north, but we killed most of them. Soon after that, we fought among ourselves.” He said, “The king at that time had two sons—twins. When he died, both young men wanted to be king. One of the twins, Twala, killed the other and became king.”

    “Did the dead man have a wife and children?” I asked. I knew that if he did, the fighting could start again one day.

    “Yes. He had a wife, Imotu, and a son, Ignosi. They ran away.” He pointed to a village a short way ahead. “That is the village where Imotu and Ignosi first hid,” he said. “We shall stay there tonight.”

    As soon as we were within a mile or so of the village, an army of men came out. As we passed them, they shouted a welcome.

    Their women were in the village. They stopped whatever they were doing to watch us pass by, but they were not rude. As soon as we were comfortable in a hut, they came with milk, honey, and cooked food.

    A young man brought a fat young ox which he killed and cut into pieces. We took a few pieces for ourselves and gave him the rest. We don't want them to think we were selfish.（选自《所罗门王的宝藏》，有删节）

    A poor farmer had a friend who was famous for the wonderful apple trees he grew.

    One day, his friend gave the farmer a young apple tree and told him to plant it.  The farmer was pleased with the gift, but he did not know where to plant it.

    He was afraid that if he planted the tree near the road, strangers would steal the fruit.  If he planted the tree in one of his fields, his neighbors would come at night and steal some of the apples.  If he planted the tree near his house, his children would take the fruit.  Finally he planted the tree in his wood.  But without sunlight and good soil(土壤), the tree soon died.

    Later the friend asked the farmer why he had planted the tree in such a poor place.  “What's the difference?” the farmer said angrily and then told what he had thought.

     “Yes,” said the friend, “but at least someone could have enjoyed the fruit.  Now you not only have robbed everyone of the fruit, but also you have destroyed (毁掉) a good apple tree! ”

    Ray Charles，a black singer and pianist of the USA．He had won 12 Grammy Awards （格莱美奖） and performed at 10，000 concerts around the world．Many musicians called him simply"the Genius"（天才）．

    Ray Charles was born into a poor family，without a father．When he was 5 years old，his younger brother died. And around the same time，Charles started to lose his sight．By the age of 7 he was completely blind．He had already been learning the piano for a year. And when he went blind，his mother knew this would be the only way he would make any money in the future．All his life，Charles remembered her saying："Do it right，or don't do it at all．"

    Later he went to a school for blind and deaf children．There the teachers also encouraged him to study music．Sadly，while he was still at school，his mother died．He left school and in the early 1950s Charles organized a group of players．He sang，played the piano and wrote music．

    He made many classical CDs with famous artists such as Elton John and the Beatles．

    In 2003 a film of his life Ray was made．The part of Charles was played by a younger actor and musician called Jamie Foxx．The film director brought Foxx to meet Charles．After they had been playing together for two hours，Charles，then aged 73，jumped up and said："He's the one…he can do it．"A year later Charles died aged 74．The film of his life has been as popular as his songs and means that the memory of Charles' music will live on．

    I think that a great friend is a great artist who can change my feeling about life greatly. When I talk about the person who influenced me most, I must think of my best friend quickly.

    When I was in my university, one of my classmates sat beside me. His name is Wang Tao. He is my unforgettable friend in my life. He is good at study and handsome. Everyone knows that he is a genius (天才) of my university.

    He is kind-hearted and is always ready to help others. But he doesn't like others praising him, because he thinks what he did is common. There is an old saying: A friend in need is a friend indeed. Wang Tao sets a good example in many parts in my life. I remember that my mathematics was mediocre at that time, but he was excellent in solving mathematics problems. He often received high scores. I wished I could reach his level. We talked all day long, and he was patient and polite to answer my mathematics questions. Slowly, I made great progress in mathematics. I passed the examination finally. Then we became friends naturally. And now, I still remember his strong will to study.

    We know that we live in a society, so we all need a lot of friends. There are two kinds of friends, good ones and bad ones. Bad friends may make our life unsuccessful, while good ones make our life successful. To me, Wang Tao is a very good friend. I learned so many advantages from him, and I became more and more excellent.

    We separated three months ago. Now I miss him very much, and I hope that our friendship will continue.

Billy's favorite color isorange. But he can't see what orange looks like.

A month after he was born, his mother noticedthat his eyes weren't quite as1asa normal baby's. "Billy would never be able to see, he is2."the doctor said. Even so, with the hope to help Billy learn all about the worldaround him, his mother kept talking to him and describing3shesaw.

Billy does not only depend on his mother's descriptionsto learn about the world around him. He sees4hisears and his hands, too. He has perfect hearing. When people make phone calls,he can5the numbers they dial (拨).

"He is very confident and his disabilitydoesn't stop him from being an important part of the class," his teachersaid, "The students love him, and he is just one of them."

Billy loves computer science. He began teaching6computerprogramming when he was just seven years old. As a young boy, he7goingto study in Stanford University. And for years of efforts (努力), he got the best grades in his classes, he finally8hisdream. Many people wanted to find out the9ofhis success. Billy explained, "Move forward! Don't let any difficultiesget in the way of your dreams."

You cannot choose what you are given10youcan choose how you make use of it.