Years ago, there was an old man who loved his young son very much. And the old man had a lot of art collections, such as the works by Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet and many others.

As war broke out in their nation, the son became a soldier and left to serve his country. Only a few weeks later, the old man received a message that his son died in the war.

On Christmas morning, a soldier knocked on the door and said, “I am a friend of your son. He saved my life before he died. I am also an artist, and I want to give you this painting that I drew in the war.” It was a portrait (画像) of the man's son.

The old man told his neighbors it was the greatest gift he had ever received. The following spring, the old man became ill and passed away. According to the will of the old man, all of the art works would be sold at an auction (拍卖会)  on Christmas Day, the day he had received his greatest gift.

On Christmas Day the auction began with the portrait of the old man's son, The auctioneer (拍卖师) asked for an opening bid (竞价), but the room was silent. Finally, a friend of the old man said, “Will I take $10 for the painting? That's all I have.” The gavel (小木槌) fell.

The auctioneer looked at the audience and announced that the auction was over. He explained, “It is very easy. According to the will of the father, whoever takes the portrait of his son gets all his art collections.”

For years I wanted a garden. I'd spend hours thinking of different things I could plant that would look nice together.

    But then we had Mathew， and Marvin， and the twins -- Alisa and Alan， and then Helen. I was too busy raising them to grow a garden.

    Money was not enough. Neither was time. Often when my children were little， one of them would want something that cost too much， I'd have to say，"Do you see a money tree outside? Money doesn't grow on trees， you know."

    Finally， all the children got through high school and college and were off on their own. I started thinking again about a garden.

    Then， one spring morning， on Mother's Day， I was working in my kitchen. Suddenly， I looked out of the window and there was a new tree， planted right in my yard. There were things blowing around on it. Then I put my glasses on and I couldn't believe what I saw. There was a money tree in my yard!

    I went out to look. It was true! There were dollar bills， one hundred of them， hanging all over that tree. There was also a note among them， "Thank you for your time， Mom. We love you!"

    Later， my children bought me tools， ornaments（装饰品）， a sunflower stepping stone and gardening books. A new page started in my life.

    That was three years ago. My garden is now very pretty， just like I wanted. When I go out and take care of my flowers， I don't seem to miss my children as much as I once did. It feels like they're right there with me. Now every year when winter comes， I look out of my window and think of the flowers I'll see next spring in my little garden. I think about what my children did for me， and I get tears in my eyes -- every time.

    I'm still not sure that money grows on trees. But I know love does!

    Sarah is thirteen years old. She comes from Manchester in the UK; but now she is living in Geneva in Switzerland. Her father works for the UN and because of that she and her parents have to move a lot.

    Sarah has lived in five different countries: the US, Morocco, Turkey, Switzerland and the UK. But she doesn't remember the UK very well, because they moved to the US when she was only two years old. Still, she visits it often during vacation. She usually stays at her grandparents' house in Manchester. She likes visiting her grandparents, because they often take her to the Peak District National Park. It is very beautiful. Sometimes she stays with her uncle in the little town of Penzance in Cornwall. Sarah likes Penzance, too, but it's often very cold and windy. Penzance is very different from Geneva. In Geneva it is much warmer (更暖和的) in summer, but. also colder  in winter.

    Sarah likes going to new places. But every time she moves, she has to leave behind her old friends. She always needs to make new friends, and then leave them again. Luckily, they can write e-mails to tell each other about their lives.

    Sam Scott and his sister are both students. They1to school every day. Some students often take a bus to school. They sometimes play2after school. They do3homework before dinner. They watch TV4about an hour. They go to bed5 It's a good habit.

When you look at me now, you won't believe that I once weighed over 300 pounds. Yes, I used to be a really 1 girl. I never worried about it until I had a medical examination one day. 

The doctor told me that I was having heart trouble. He said it would be 2 if I could lose some weight. Then I decided to make a 3 .

After a year and five months, I lost 104 pounds. I didn't have any expensive food, medical treatment or camp- style exercise. So what was the secret to my 4 ?

First, I looked through the Internet for some 5 on losing weight. Of course, I saw many advertisements(广告), but I bought nothing. The only thing I did was change my bad6 . I stopped having drinks with too much sugar and 7 my love for sweet cakes. Now I have got used to eating a lot of green vegetables and using vegetable oil only. I 8 eat after 6:30 p. m. because it's unhealthy to have a late dinner. Also, I 9 for 15 to 20 minutes five days a week to keep fit. 

People sometimes say, " You don't need to tell me what to do. I've known it already!" The fact is that knowing what to do and doing what you know are completely 10 . The important thing is to know what to do and then keep doing it. 

Tom is an English boy. He is from London. He likes China very much and speaks a little Chinese, He is a student in No. 17 Middle School. He is in Class 2. His sister, Kate is in No. 8 Middles School. She is in Class 4. Wang Lan and Wang Pin are his classmates. They often help Tom with his Chinese and Tom helps them to learn English.

Today, Tom has two new classmates. They are Lucy and Lily. They come from the USA. They are twins (双胞胎) . They look the same. They are twelve. But Tom is not well and he is not at school. Wang Lan and Wang Pin look after Lucy and Lily. They are all friends.