It was nearly dark, the sun was dropping down the mountains far away. Little Tom came back home, with tears in his eyes.

“What's the matter, Tom? How's your trip?" his mother asked with a big smile. “I failed. The mountain is so high and full of big or small stones on the way, I still go ahead. But I was tired and it was so late that I had to come back." Tom cried. “It doesn't matter, you are only 14 years old after all. You will have another chance.”his mother said. "But, standing at the top of the mountain is my dream!”Tom said. His father came over and asked, "Did you see the green trees on your way to the mountain?”"Sure, and there are a lot of beautiful flowers by the side of the road.” Tom replied. “Did you hear the birds singing?”his father asked. "There were many kinds of birds singing in the trees, and the sound was very sweet." Tom said. "Did you feel the beauty of nature?”his father asked. "Yes, the blue sky, the white clouds, the green trees and the colorful flowers made a nice picture." Tom answered. “That's enough!" his father smiled and said, "Please remember, son. For often, achieving what you expect is not the most important thing. Although you didn't reach the top of the mountain, you got a lot on the way.”

 It is true that not every goal will be achieved, not every job will end up with a success, and not every dream will come true. The most beautiful scenery (风景) is on the way.

    A well-dressed man goes into a restaurant one day. He sits down at a table near the window. A waiter comes up to him and says, “Can I help you, sir?”

    The man says, “Can I see the menu?” “Certainly.”

    The man wants a good meal and he wants a lot of nice dishes. The waiter gets them for him. The man is having his meals. At this time, a boy comes in and sits beside the man. He asks the man to give him an ice cream. The man does so.

    Now the boy is eating his ice cream. The man says, “I go out for a newspaper.” The man goes out.  After the boy eats his ice cream up, he stands up and goes to the door.

    “Excuse me. Your father doesn't give the money for the meal and your ice cream,” The waiter stops him and says.

    “Father? You are wrong. He isn't my father. I don't know him. I meet him in the street. He says he will give me an ice cream if I come here at 12 o'clock.”

    Jack is a twenty-year-old young man. Two years ago, when he finished middle school, he found work 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 (满意) him.

    One day, on his way home, he met Mary. They were both happy. He asked 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 (未来). 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?"

    Mike always loves ships. When he was older, he said, “I'm going to be a soldier.” But his eyes were not very1and he did not get in.

    Then he said, “I'm going to2a small boat and I'm going around the world.” But boats were very expensive, and Mike did not have enough3

    Last summer Mike found a swimming4near his house. The lessons did not cost very5 and Mike began going to the school at every end of the week and having6. Now he is a good swimmer.

    Last week a little boy said to him, “You're a very good swimmer. How do7learn to swim so well?”

    “I'm not good at all,” Mike said and he smiled. “8 I'm in the water, I say to myself, “There are 9fishes behind me!” Then I'm very afraid, and I10quickly.”

    A very new, young officer（军官）was at a station. He was on his way to visit his mother in another town, and he wanted to telephone her to tell her the time of this train, so that she could meet him at the station in her car. He looked in all his pockets, but he did not have the coins（硬币）for the telephone, so he went outside and looked around for someone to help him.

    At last an old soldier came by, and the young officer stopped him and said, "Do you have change for ten pence（便士）?"

    "Wait a moment,' the old soldier answered. He began to put his hand in his pocket, "I'll see if I can help you."

    "Don't you know how to speak to an officer?" the young man said angrily. "Now let's start again. Do you have change for ten pence?"

    "No, sir," the old soldier answered politely and quickly.

    I graduated from a college recently and moved to Washington by myself.  While I was in college, it was really easy to meet new people. But “out in the real world”, I was finding it really hard. I live in a big city, and it seems like everyone around me is busy or already has all the friends they want. I was feeling so discouraged (沮丧的) and I didn't know what to do, so I called my sister for some advice.

    My sister is five years older than I am, so she's been though all this already. She's been helping me with my problems all my life. When I explained my problem, she understood completely. She said, “Why don't you try meeting people online?”

  “Online? Are you kidding? ” I asked, “A friend of mine chatted with a guy online, and when she finally met him face to face, he was nothing like what he said.”

    My sister laughed, “You don't have to look for dates online,” she said, “But you can find other people like you—people who have just moved to town and want make some new friends. When I first moved to New York after college, I found a book club and a football team online. I met a lot of people that way. ”

    “But you don't even like football!” I said. 

    “I know,” she replied, “But that didn't matter. I still had a lot of fun. You played volleyball in college. Why don't you look for a volleyball team to join?  Or an art class? ”

    “Yeah! I saw a website about volunteering the other day,” I said, “I could volunteer for an organization here in Washington. I bet I could meet a lot of really nice people that way. ”

    “Good idea!” my sister answered excitedly. “Hey, you might even meet the perfect guy.”

    “OK, now you're starting to sound like Mom,” I said. “Thanks a lot for the advice. I'm going online right now. I'll let you know what happens. Will you be home tonight?”

    “No, but I'll be here all day tomorrow, so give me a call,” my sister replied. “Good luck!”