A

    A class teacher, in my opinion, plays an important role in a child's development. Every year when my daughter moves to a new class, I have a usual big worry –her new class teacher. This year, she is moving to Class Three and I can't wait to see how things are going on.

    Last year, my daughter did not like her teacher at all. It was so bad that she did not look forward to school. It was a year full of trouble and worries.

    This year, Miss Purity is gentle and humorous. It's hard not to like her. Here are the changes in my daughter.

    She becomes an early bird. Last year, mornings were like a fight because I had to force Tasha to hurry up when she was preparing for school. I had to pull her out of bed, tell her to take breakfast and then drove her to school. But now, our mornings are like a party. She wakes up early, prepares everything at a high speed and then rushes to school to be with Miss Purity.

    She's happy. She enjoys school and school work and keeps talking about what they did at school when she comes home.

    She's responsible. She used to be careless and forgetful. But now she never forgets even her water bottle at school. She makes her bed and helps in the kitchen.

    Her diary is full of praises. The diary is the tool of communication between the teacher and the parents. Last year, her diary was always full of negative reports. One time, she poured water in a child's lunchbox, another time she threw another kid's textbook in the toilet. Now she began to share her snacks with those who did not have anything. She's always volunteering to clean the blackboard, the teacher's chair and desk.

    She does well in school. Finishing her classwork was such a big problem. She had to do it at home. But now, she finished both the classwork and homework at school.

    A man sat at an underground station in Washington, D.C., and started to play the violin. It was a cold day in January. He played six Bach（巴赫）pieces for about 45 minutes. It was rush hour and thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

    Three minutes went by and the first person, a middle-aged man, noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed down and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

    After a minute, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a young woman threw the money in the box and continued to walk. Then another few minutes went by and someone stood against the wall to listen to him, but the young man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

    During the musician's performance, only six people stopped and stayed for a while, twenty gave him money but continued to walk. When he finished playing, no one applauded（鼓掌）. No one knew the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world.

    This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing in the underground station was organized by The Washington Post（《华盛顿邮报》）as part of a social experiment. One of the conclusions from this experiment could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music, how many other things are we missing?

Stand Straight and Stand Tall!

    High school was wonderful, but I had always felt uncomfortable as one of the taller members of my class, standing a head above the other girls and bowing at the back of the line to avoid sticking out.

    I especially hated being around large groups of people, like during the social hour after the church services.

    My grandfather watched me grow increasingly uncomfortable, but he didn't laugh at me or try to comfort me. Instead, he would warn me. "Stand straight and stand tall, " he would say, as I tried to shrink（退缩）.

    And each time, I would obey him. Even at age 15, I understood that his advice was about more than just feet and inches. My grandfather grew up in war-torn（饱受战争摧残的） Europe. When German soldiers took his hometown, the beautiful and exciting city of Tarnow, Poland, he joined the Soviet army for his country's freedom. "Stand straight, stand tall" meant something else since then. I trusted my grandfather more than anyone else in my childhood. And whenever I was afraid of something, he would tell me stories of his life.

    After the war, he took a boat for America on January 27, 1947. All alone in a new country, he was frightened about his future. Soon he met other European immigrants（移民）, each of whom tried to find his or her own way.

    If they could do it, why couldn't he? "Stand straight, stand tall," he would tell himself. At first my grandfather refused to enter an American church. He was angry with God for the loss of his whole family in Europe. But soon he felt his self-confidence returning. When he walked into the church the first time, he walked in proudly.

    "Which meal do we all need most, breakfast, lunch or dinner?" Miss Baker asks. Boys and girls wave（挥动）their hands in the air. They know the answer.

    "What do you think, Jim?" Miss Baker asks.

    "Dinner. " he answers.

    "Dinner is the big meal of the day. " says Miss Baker. "But I don't think it is the meal we need most. "

    Tom puts up his hand. "Is lunch the meal we need most?"

    "No. " says Miss Baker. " Breakfast is the meal we need most. "

    "Why is this so?"

    "From night until morning is a long time to go without food. "says Ann.

    "That's right. "says Miss Baker. "We need food every morning. What may happen（发生）to us if we have no breakfast?"

    The class have many answers to give.

    "We may not feel like working. "

    "We may feel sick（生病）. "

    "Yes, you are right, "says Miss Baker. "Now, let's talk about what makes a good breakfast. Give me your answers. I will write them on the blackboard. "

    The first word Miss Baker puts on the list is milk. What else do you think she puts on the list?

    We go to school every day to become better people. How can we start to make big changes in our lives? Perhaps we can get tips from former US First Lady Michelle Obama. During a visit to China from March 20 to 26 in 2015, Obama shared her views on education and youth empowerment with students.

    The first lady encouraged Chinese students to aim high and get a good education. At Chengdu No 7 High School, she told students that having humble roots doesn't matter as long as you have perseverance (毅力). Obama said her family was not rich. Like many Chinese students, her parents had big dreams for her. She felt the weight of her parents' sacrifices (牺牲) on her shoulders and worked hard to make them proud. Persevering was not easy, though. Sometimes she had to wake up at 4:30 am and study late into the night. "But whenever I got tired or discouraged… I would remember something my mother always told me. She said: A good education is something that no one can take away from you.'"

    Mrs Obama also encouraged Chinese students to study abroad to broaden their horizons (开阔视野) in a speech at Peking University. "As the Chinese saying goes: It is better to travel 10,000 miles than to read 10,000 books," she said. It's not enough to get good grades in school. It's also important to have real experience with languages, cultures and societies that are different from your own, she noted. Studying overseas can also benefit future international relations. It can help young people from different countries work together to deal with shared problems like climate change, Obama said.

It is Sunday today. Ann is shopping with her mother. She wants her mother to buy a new sweater for her. In a clothing shop, she finds an orange one. She tries it on (试穿). It is too small. She wants a bigger one, but the bigger ones are not orange. Ann doesn't like other colours. Her mother asks:" Shall we go to another shop to have a look? " So they go out of the shop and go into another one.

 The second shop is bigger than the first, and in it there are many kinds of sweaters of different sizes and colours. Ann tries on an orange one. It is too big. She tries a smaller one. It is OK.

"How much is it ?" Ann's mother asks the women who sells clothes. Then they find it too dear (贵), and they don't have so much money with them. 

"Would you like a cheaper one ? " The women asks.

" No, we shall take this one. My daughter likes it. We will come back to buy it tomorrow. " Ann's mother answers.