Different people have different skin（皮肤）. Some have black skin. Some have yellow skin, and some have white skin. There was a woman in Alaska. Her skin was orange. It was almost the color of orange juice.

    How did her skin become orange? She ate lots of tomatoes, carrots, and squashes (南瓜). She ate too many orange things. That's why her skin turned orange.

    The woman didn't want her skin to be orange, so she went to see the doctor. The doctor said. “Stop eating orange things. Eat some green things.” The woman did so, and her skin wasn't orange any more.

    The snow lasted until last Friday. I opened the window this morning and saw the sun but I felt much colder.

    “You'd better go to work on foot, dear,” said my husband, “It is dangerous for you to drive.”

    I thought him right and agreed. It would take me about forty minutes to get to my hospital. There was about an hour left, so I started, with a bag of sandwich for breakfast. In the streets there was thick snow and ice and the traffic was less than before and people walked carefully. Suddenly I saw a car going fast. The driver tried to pass the crossing before the lights turned red. Maybe he didn't see two boys in the middle of the street. His car knocked down one boy and stopped just in front of the police box.

    People crowded around the boy at once. I rushed out of the gathering crowd(聚集的人群) and was going to look him over. But a man pushed me aside and said, “Step back, please. I^'ve had a course in first aid.”

    I had to stand and watch his ministrations(救助) for a few minutes. Then I said to him, “When you need a doctor, sir, I'm already here.”

    Alex, Nicole and Vickie are friends. They live in the same neighborhood. They want to make some money to buy Christmas presents.

    "We need to print out fliers（传单） and pass them around to all the houses, "says Nicole. Alex's dad helps them print out fliers. The three friends go to all the houses and put a flier in everyone's mailbox.

    "It's winter," says Vickie. "There is lots of snow on the ground. Maybe people will need us to sweep the snow for them."

    First, Mrs. Jones hires the children to sweep the snow from her driveway（车道）. She says, "I have twin baby girls. I am much too busy to sweep the snow myself."

    Then, Mrs. Smith calls them. She says, "I am very old, and the snow is much too heavy for me to move."

    Then, Mr. Lee visits them. He says, "My garden is much too big to sweep all by myself. Can you help me?"

    The children work very hard sweeping the snow. It is cold, but they also have great fun. They make 30 dollars in all. Now they can buy nice Christmas presents for their friends and families.

    Mandy Harvey is a 29-year-old singer from Florida. She lost most of her ability to hear when she was 18.

    Harvey became a singer in her teens. _________ But she decided to start singing after she learned how to feel a song's beat through the wooden floor of a stage or theater. She watches carefully to make sure her musical instruments are tuned correctly and she is singing in the correct pitch.

    Harvey is now a professional singer. But not many people in the United States had heard of her until Tuesday night. That changed when she appeared on the television show “America's Got Talent”The show has four judges who watch people perform and decide if they should continue in the competition.

    Harvey said, "I gave up singing after I lost my hearing. But I want to do more with my life than just give up." As she was singing, one camera cut away to capture images of people in the theater. Many were seen crying. At one point, everyone stood up and cheered. By Wednesday afternoon, a video of Harvey's performance had been played 46 million times.

    Why? Shortly after she finished singing, Simon Cowell, one of the judges, gave her a golden star into the air. That meant Harvey could move on to the final round of the talent competition. Cowell said," I've done this a long time, and that was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen and heard."

    Many people wrote online that Harvey's performance was encouraging, and they will not give up on anything they want to do, either.

    It was Sunday. I had one last patient to see. She was an old woman, sting on her bed. trying to put socks on her swollen (肿胀的) ft. I walked in, spoke quickly to the nurse, and saw from her chart that she was in a good condition.

    She asked if l could help put on her socks. Instead, I started a monologue (长篇大论): "How are you feeling? Your sugars and blood pressure are also good today. The nurse said you're anxious to see your son who's visiting you today from far away. I believe you really look forward to seeing him.

    She stopped me with a serious voice. "Sit down, doctor. This is my story, not your story."

    I was surprised and embarrassed. I sat down. I helped her with the socks. She told me that her only son lived around the corner from her, but she had not seen him for five years. She believed that the big stress of this was a big reason for her health problems. After hearing her story and putting on her socks, I asked if there was anything else I could do. She shook her head and smiled. All she had wanted me to do was listen.

    Each story is different. Some are detailed; others are vague (含糊的). Some are true; others not. Yet all those things do not really matter. What matters to the storyteller is that the story is heard.