It was a cold snowy morning after the winter vacation. And it was my first day at my new school. I was walking alone slowly and worrying about lots of things. It was early and there weren't many people on the road. Suddenly a girl who was riding a bike on ice fell down. She was trying hard to get up but fell again. Without thinking, I went over and helped her. She said" thank you" with a smile and then rode away. Her words warmed me a lot.

    Finally, I got to school. The teacher led me to the classroom and introduced me to the class. Then he asked me to sit down beside a girl. I felt so nervous that I didn't dare to look at her. Soon the first class, English, started. Their textbooks were different from those in my old school. As I was wondering what to do, an English book appeared in front of me. "Let's share," the girl beside me said. "Hi, I'm Carrie." I looked up. It was the girl I helped this morning. Later on, we became good friends.

    From that I learned: To help others is actually to help ourselves!

    I was in the park with my elder sister, Cathy, on Friday. My sister left her jacket on a chair while we talked to some friends. When we went back to the chair, a girl in a red T-shirt was sitting there. She had some money in her hand. When she saw us, she stood up and walked away.

    I asked my sister, "Did you have any money in your jacket?"

    She said, "Yes, Anna, I did."

    I said, "Look in your jacket quickly."

    Cathy looked in her jacket, but her money was not there.

    "That girl stole(偷) it!" I said, and we both ran after her. We caught her quickly.

    My sister was very angry and she said, "Give me the money." The girl gave the money to Cathy and ran away. We both ran after her, but we lost her.

    Then we went home. But before we could tell our parents, my mother said to Cathy, "You left your money at home. It's on the table in the sitting room. You must be more careful with money."

    So the girl in the red T-shirt was not a thief! She probably thought we were thieves! We felt terrible.

    Please telephone us if you know this girl! We are very sorry for our mistake. We would like to say sorry to her and give the money back to her.

    Our number is 512667. My name is Anna.

    Do you know George? He is a little monkey. He lives in a deep forest. He likes jumping and climbing trees. He is happy every day. But he has a shortcoming（缺点）. He is curious（好奇的）.

    One day an old man went by the forest. He cared a lot of hats. George saw the old man, and the old man saw George, too. The old man said to himself, what a lovely monkey! I will catch him. I will take him home.

    The old man sat down and thought over. George saw and also sat down. The old man had an idea. He put a hat on his head, and put other has on the ground, Then be pretended(假装)to sleep.

    George was curious and looked at the hats. "I will be nice if I put a hat on my head, "George thought. Then be climbed down from the tree, picked up a hat and put it on. The hat was too big, and covered George's eyes. George couldn't see. And the old man got up at once and caught him quickly.

Poor George!

    Paul and Jason were brothers who lived and worked on neighbouring farms. For 35 years they farmed side by side, sharing machinery and goods as needed, without a single problem.

    However, one autumn, things changed. It began with a tiny disagreement about a horse, which grew into a major difference. The difference led to angry words, followed by weeks of silence between the two brothers.

    One morning there was a knock on Paul's door. He opened it and saw a builder holding his toolbox." I'm looking for a few days' work," the builder said." Are there any jobs here I could help with?"

   "Yes," answered Paul, extremely pleased to see the builder." I do have a job for you. Look at that farm across the creek(小溪). That's my brother's farm. That creek used to be a grass field, but last week my brother dug a path from the river and made the creek. But I'll go him one better. See that pile of wood? I want you to build me a fence, two metres tall, so 1 won't need to see him anymore."

    The builder said thoughtfully." I think I understand the situation and I'll be able to do a job that pleases you."

    Paul had business in town that day and left the builder to his work. When he returned, the builder had just finished his job. Paul was shocked. Instead of a fence there was a bridge, stretching from one side of the creek to the other.

    As Paul stood on the bridge, staring in amazement, his younger brother Jason, came across, and took Paul's hand." You are a good man to have built this bridge after all I've done," said Jason.

    Then, Paul, with tears in his eyes, said to the builder who was packing his bag to go," Thank you so much. Please stay. I have much more for you to do."

   "I'd love to." the builder said quietly," but, I have many more bridges to build."

    An Englishman was showing a foreign visitor around London" What's that strange building?" asked the visitor. " That's the Tower(塔)of London" " I see. How long did it take to build it?" "About 500 years." "In my country we can build it in five months. "said the visitor. A short time after that they came to St. Paul's Cathedral (大教堂). "Very interesting!" said the visitor. "How long did it take to build it?" "Nearly forty years, "said the Englishman. "In my country we can finish it in forty days." said the visitor. This went on all day. They visited most of the best known buildings in the city. Every time they saw a new one, the visitor asked what it was and how long it took to build it. Then he said that they could do the same thing much faster in his country. At last the Englishman got angry with the visitor though he tried not to show it. A few days later they came to the House of Parliament(议会大厦)and the visitor asked his usual question. "What's that?" The Englishman answered, "I've no idea. It wasn't there last night. "