Long ago, a wolf called Howler lived in a valley where lots of fruit trees grew. He often tried to climb up the trees to eat the fruit, but couldn't reach. In the valley, an old man named Martin also had a few fruit trees that he looked after very well. But as he was getting older, he noticed that he didn't have the strength to pick the fruit.Martin had the most beautiful fruit trees in the valley, which was why Howler had his eye on them. One day he decided to steal the fruit and started jumping up and down the tree.Martin looked out of the window and realized that the wolf was trying to steal fruit from his beautiful trees. Howler jumped and jumped, but he couldn't reach even the lowest branches of such a big tree.

    Seeing this, Martin had a great idea: he offered Howler a ladder to climb up, but in return the wolf would have to give him half of the fruit. Howler accepted the deal and began to collect the fruit. For the whole morning, he went up and down the ladder filling his basket with the fruit.

    Howler soon realized that he could eat all the fruit if he didn't give Martin some. He thought up a new and secret plan. Martin, on the other hand, trusted Howler and even began to think they would be friends forever.

    But the wolf stole the ladder and went off to other trees in the area for more fruit.Realizing that the ladder was missing, Martin went looking for it. Martin felt very disappointed at the trick and no longer trusted Howler. Though he wasn't angry with the wolf and they became friends again, he never made any more deals with him.

    At last, Howler learned that he shouldn't trick people and he should keep promises. He also learned that if he had been honest and not greedy, he would still have been able to enjoy more delicious fruit.

    Mum gave little Tom ten yuan. Then little Tom went shopping. He got on the bus and sat down next to an old woman. Then he saw the old woman's bag was open. There was ten yuan in it. He quickly looked into his pocket. The money wasn't there now! Little Tom was sure that the old woman was a thief（小偷）. He decided to take back the money from the old woman's bag. So he carefully put his hand into the old woman's bag，took the money and said nothing. Suddenly the old woman shouted，“Where is my money? I can't find it. There is a thief in the bus.” Little Tom felt strange. Then he saw his own ten yuan under his seat. Little Tom is thinking a question now，“Am I a thief ?”

    It's a crazy dream! Riding from Shanghai to London! Starting on March 5, Zheng Sheng spent 136 days travelling eleven countries and finally arrived in London on July 18.

    Having studied maps for four months and borrowed（借） some money from friends, he left the company（公司） in Shanghai where he had worked for just a few months "I was very confident at the beginning, but after I left China, I felt a little worried that I might meet bad men," he said. Luckily, the trip was a safe one. Zheng believes that the safest place to sleep is somewhere people don't know about, so most of the time he slept in forests（森林）. He rode more than 100 km every day, but most of his food was just bread, as the food in Europe was too expensive. Later he learnt to add some cheese to the bread. Zheng didn't tell his parents about the trip before he left for London, as he didn't want them to worry. After he arrived home in Yunnan Province at the end of July, he finally told his mum about it.

    "I'm very confident for the future," he said, "because I know very well that everyone can do what they decide to do."

    People say that one person can't really make a difference, but I don't believe that. If all of us just do "one" thing like the following three heroes, we will make a difference.

Super Girl

    When she was 7, Brooklyn Wright wrote The Adventures of the Earth Saver Girl. In the book, a girl learns she has the power to make the Earth free from rubbish. She calls her Super Girl and tries her best to save the Earth. Brooklyn Wright has visited more than100 schools to teach students about pollution. Last year, she received a Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes for her work.

A Voice for Elephants

    Many elephants are being killed for their ivory. After learning the facts, China's Celia Ho, 14, decided to take action. By making posters and writing letters to newspapers, she hopes more people will learn about the problem.

Turning Cooking Oil into Fuel

    Jane Lin didn't start out "to be green" .At first, she was worried about her neighbor who couldn't afford heat in winter. At a science expo, she saw someone turning old cooking oil into fuel. Suddenly, she came up with a plan to collect old cooking oil for the poor family. So far she has collected about 21, 000 gallons of fuel for 210 families. At the same time, she helps reduce the emission（排放） of CO₂  and other greenhouse gases.

    I used to think courtesy (礼貌) was a thing of the past. However, I changed my mind when I met a courteous man.

    Last Saturday, I went to a cafe with my daughters. It was crowded with the usual loud crowd and we had to climb up the stairs to find an empty table. After enjoying coffee and snacks, we were ready to come down the stairs, where the narrow space made climbing down only possible in a single line, with hardly any space for another person to either climb up or come down.

    Just as I was in the middle of my descent (下去), a man got to the main entrance (入口) of the cafe which was right in front of the staircase. I was sure I would be pushed by the man who would want to go up in a hurry. Anyway, I kept coming down as fast as I could. My daughters were already down, looking up at me worriedly, hoping I would get down before the stranger went up the stairs.

    Nearly getting down, I noticed the man still standing near the door. Later, I passed him at the entrance door which he kept holding open. I looked back thinking he was still at the door, deciding whether to go in or find another less crowded place. However, I saw him going up the stairs, two at a time.

    I told my daughters about it and all of us felt bad for we did not even thank the courteous gentleman.