Only a Ribbon

    In one of the London hospitals，a short time ago，there was a young doctor. He noticed one of the patients，a ten-year-old poor girl called Katie，who had a very painful illness.

    Katie lay in her bed，day after day，with nothing to help her forget her pain and cheer up. One day the doctor noticed her trying to make a doll of her finger, and speaking to it. But she was soon tired of it，and lay back into her bed.

    That afternoon，the young doctor saw a beautiful ribbon in a shop window. He thought that it might help cheer the little girl up，so he went in and bought it for her. When he handed the ribbon to the girl，she was too surprised to speak. There were tears in her eyes. This little gift made her feel rich and happy.

    The nurse later told the doctor that the girl played with the ribbon all day long. She twisted（盘绕）it round her head. She held it in her hand while she slept.

    Some weeks later，Katie's illness became worse，and it was necessary to perform a dangerous operation. When Katie was brought into the operation mom，she cried out for the young doctor. He was brought，and he held one of the girl's hands，while the other tightly held the ribbon.

    During the operation，the ribbon fell off Katie's hand. As soon as she woke up and opened her eyes，she looked at her friend and said in a low voice，“My ribbon.”The doctor gave it to her and she smiled happily.

    It was only a little gift，but it made the girl's stay in the hospital bright with beauty and love.

    A man once visited a temple that was still being built. He saw a sculptor making a sculpture(雕塑).As he watched the man work on the sculpture, he noticed that there was a similar sculpture lying nearby.

    He felt very strange and asked the sculptor, "Why are you making two same sculptures? Do you need two to put in different places?"

    "No, "the man said without looking up, "We need only one, but the first one became damaged before I could finish it, so I'm making a new one."

    The visitor picked up the damaged sculpture and examined it. But he couldn't find anything wrong with it.

    "Where is the damage?" he asked.

    "There is a scratch(擦痕)on the sculpture's nose." the sculptor said while continuing his work.

    The man then asked, "Where are you going to place the sculpture?"

    The sculptor replied that it would be placed on a 20﹣foot﹣high platform(平台)."If the sculpture is up that high, who is going to notice that there is a scratch on the nose?" the man asked.

    The sculptor stopped his work, looked up at the man and said, "I will know it".

    The sculptor chose to stick to a high standard of excellence in his work. Even if other people didn't notice it, it mattered to him that his work should be of the best quality. This is an attitude we should all work hard to keep.

    Ben lives in a big house in the country with his family. His house is not near a town. It is twenty miles away from the nearest town. There are a lot of people in his family. They are Ben, his two sisters, his brother and his parents. His house has two floors. There are four bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen and two bathrooms. He'd like to have his own bedroom but he shares a bedroom with his younger brother, Simon. His two sisters, Gina and Annie have their own bedrooms. Their house has a big yard with lots of flowers. He likes playing in the yard with his brother and sisters. At weekends his school friends often come to visit. They play in the yard, or in his room if it rains. Their house is a nice place to live in. He has a lot of fun with his family and friends in his house.