SCENE I

One dollar a week

The doorway of the house where Chandler has a room. He is dressed in his best clothes, ready for his evening out. He is going out as his friend, Jeff White, comes in.

WHITE         What are you doing this evening, Towers?

CHANDLER      (Smiling) Tonight I'm going to live like a man with a million dollars!

WHITE         What are you talking about? You haven't got a million dollars!

CHANDLER      How much money are you and I paid each week, Jeff?

WHITE         Eighteen dollars. Why?

CHANDLER      And how much of that eighteen dollars do you spend each week?

WHITE         All of it, of course.

CHANDLER    Well, I don't. Each week I save one dollar out of my eighteen. Then, every ten weeks, I can buy myself an evening to remember.

WHITE         What do you do?

CHANDLER   I put on my finest clothes, go to one of the best restaurants in New York, eat the most expensive food on the menu, drink the best wine, and then take a taxi home!

WHITE          (Surprising) Why?

CHANDLER     Why? Because it makes me feel wonderful to sit with some of the richest people in America, and to make them think that I'm rich, too.

WHITE          You're crazy!

CHANDLER     (Laughing) Perhaps I am!

Mrs Black comes in.

MRS BLACK      Ah, Mr Chandler. I wanted to see you.

CHANDLER      Good evening, Mrs Black. What a lovely evening!

MRS BLACK   Lovely evening perhaps, but you haven't paid me for your room this month. When am I going to get the money?

CHANDLER     Soon, Mrs. Black. Very soon.

Mrs Black looks at Chandler's clothes.

MRS BLACK      You can spend money on expensive clothes, but you can't pay for your room. Is that right?

CHANDLER    (Hurrying away) Good night, Mrs Black!

    One day, my father and I were in line to buy tickets for the circus(马戏表演). And a family was standing in front of us.

    The family had eight children. Their clothes were not expensive but clean．The children talked about the clowns(小丑), elephants, monkeys and other things excitedly. It was their first time to go to the circus.

    The ticket lady asked the father how many tickets he wanted. He proudly answered, “I want eight children's tickets and two adults' tickets, so I can take my family to the circus.”

    The ticket lady said the price. The man's wife lowered her head and there was no smile on the man's face. He quietly asked, “How much did you say?”

The ticket lady said the price again. The man didn't have enough money. How could he tell his eight kids the bad news? My dad put his hand into his pocket and pulled out a $20 bill and dropped it on the ground．(In fact, we were not rich!) Then my dad said, “Excuse me, sir, this dropped out of your pocket.”

The man knew what was going on. He looked into my dad's eyes, held my dad's hand in his, and took the $20 bill. “Thank you, sir, thank you. This really means a lot to me and my family.”

    My father and I went back home. We didn't go to see the circus that night, but we didn't care.

    It was a Christmas night. I was an unlucky nurse who had to work on such a beautiful festival. When I was so tired that I didn't want to work any longer, three people came to my desk — a tired woman and two children.

    "Are you all sick?" I asked.

    "Yes," the woman answered and lowered her head.

    But when they started to tell their problems, things became unclear. One child had a fever, but his temperature was OK. The other child had an earache, but she could not tell me which ear hurt. It seemed that the mother was trying to cough.

    Something was wrong. But I only explained that it might take a while before a doctor could meet them. "Take your time, please," said the mother. I checked their information — no address. Suddenly I knew, they were homeless and the hospital was warm.

    The family stayed together under the Christmas tree, smiling and talking with each other sweetly. Quietly, I went back to the nurses' station and told them what happened in the waiting room. It was just like the God sending us a gift on Christmas Day. The nurses' station suddenly came back to life. All the nurses went into action for "a Christmas emergency(急诊)."

    We took out our meals for our Christmas "sick people". We also put oranges and apples together as presents. We tried to give them a warm place on Christmas night. Later, the little girl kissed me and said, "Thanks for being our angels"

My name is Tony. I' m a Canadian boy. I' m thirteen. I' m a high school student. I' m in Class Two, Grade Seven. Edna and Max are my good friends. They are from the USA. We'  re in the same class. They are twelve. Edna has big eyes, a big nose and a wide mouth. She has blond hair. And Max has black hair and a big nose. 

At Haiga Primary School in Liupanshui, Guizhou Province, Gu Ya, a 27-year-old rock singer, works1 a volunteer teacher who helps children in mountainous areas learn to read music and play the guitar, opening up their eyes to the outside world.

When he got there, he found the school was in2 condition and there were only 12students.3 of the kids were too shy to look at him. As time went by, Gu4 realized that they were lonely because their parents mostly worked in big cities. The headmaster of the school told him that they had to5 not only children's studies and lives, but also their mental state(精神状态), helping them learn to dream and be more confident.

One day, while Gu was playing the guitar during lunch break in his room, he noticed that the children who6 behind the door were staring at his guitar. At that moment, Gu felt like he was making a connection with the children through music, so the idea to teach7 guitar and music came to him. "I know the8 of music. Although I don 't know children very well, music can build a mutual (互相的) understanding and trust between us,"Gu said.

The school's headmaster and teachers tried hard to borrow guitars9 the children could learn music. "To my surprise, the children learn very quickly. They have changed a lot so far. It is the old10 that brings new life to Haiga Primary school," Gu said.