Donna Ashlock, a 14-year-old girl from California, was very sick. She had a bad heart. “Donna needs a new heart,” her doctor said, “she must have a new heart, or she will die soon.”

Felipe Carza, 15, was worried about Donna. Felipe was Donna's friend. He liked Donna very much. He liked her freckles, and he liked her smile. Felipe didn't want Donna to die.

 Felipe talked to his mother about Donna. “I am going to die,” Felipe told his mother, “and I am going to give my heat to Donna.”

 Felipe's mother didn't pay much attention to Felipe. “Felipe is just kidding,”she thought, “Felipe is not going to die. He's strong and healthy.”

 But Felipe was not healthy. He had terrible headaches sometimes. “my head hurts,”he often told his friends. Felipe never told his parents about his headaches.

One morning Felipe woke up with a sharp pain in his head. He was dizzy (眩晕的), and he couldn't breathe. His parents rushed Felipe to the hospital. Doctors at the hospital had terrible news for them. “Felipe's brain is dead,”the doctors said, “we can't save him.”

 The parents were very sad. But they remembered Felipe's words. “Felipe wanted to give his heart to Donna,”they told the doctors.

 The doctors did several tests. Then they told the parents, “we can give Felipe's heart to Donna.”

The doctors took out Felipe's heart and rushed the heart to Donna. Other doctors took out Donna's heart and put Felipe's heart in her chest. In a short time the heart began to beat.

The operation was a success. Felipe's heart was beating in Donna's chest, but Donna didn't know it. Her parents and doctors didn't tell her. They waited until she was stronger; then they told her about Felipe. “I feel very sad,”Donna said, “but I am thankful to Felipe.”

 Three months later the operation Donna went back to school. She has to have regular checkups, and she has to take medicine every day. But she is living a normal life.

 Felipe's brother John says, “Every time we see Donna, we think of Felipe. She has Felipe's heart in her. That gives us great peace.”

Gemma Burford

    Gemma was born in' 1978 in a quiet (安静的) village in England. Her mother worked in a library and her father worked in a hospital. When she was a student at Oxford University, she travelled to Tanzania and met her husband, Lesikar for the first time. They got married in 2003 and had their daughter, Lucia, two years later. Now Lucia studies in a small primary school, and Gemma and Lesikar also teach her at home.

"Judy Boehmer

    Adam is Judy's first child. She now has four sons, seven daughters and a pet (宠物) dog, Bosco. Judy and her husband, Larry, live in Atlanta, Georgia, but they also have a motorhome (野营车). The Boehmers are a circus (马戏团) family and all the children are performers (演员) at the circus. The- children don't go to school, but study at home. The family travels more than 40.000 kilometres a year for their work The first show of the Boehmers was at a park in Lowa in 1989, and they now perform all over America.

    Once upon a time, there was a lion and a mouse living in the forest.

    One day, when the lion was sleeping, the mouse ran onto his face. The lion woke up. He was very angry and caught the mouse. “I will eat you!” the lion said angrily.

    The mouse cried out,“If you do not kill me, I would be happy to give you a reward(回报).”The lion laughed at the idea. He did not think a little mouse could help such a big strong animal like himself. But he still let the mouse go.

    After a few days, it happened. The lion was caught by hunters' net(网). He tried his best to leave, after half a day, he still couldn't get out of the net. He was very sad, he thought he was dying. At that time the lion felt something biting(啃，咬) on the ropes. It was the mouse. Just before dark, the work was done. There was a hole in the net. The lion got free through the hole. He was very happy and thanked the mouse, “My friend, you have saved me. I will never doubt the power(能力) of small animals like you.”

    From then on, the lion and the mouse became friends.

    Many years ago, there was an old man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge(判断) things too quickly. So he told them to go and look at a pear tree. It was far away from his home.  The first, son went in winter, the second in spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in autumn.

    When the sons came back, the old man asked them to say what they had seen.

    The first son complained the tree was ugly. The second son said the tree was covered with buds and full of hope. The third son said the tree was full of green leaves. The youngest son said that the tree, bent down with heavy fruits.

    The old man explained that all of his sons were right, but each of them had seen just one season of the tree, He told them that they couldn't judge a tree or a person by only one season. "If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the hope of your spring, the beauty of your summer, and the harvest of your autumn." said the old man.

    It is true that we shouldn't let the hard season break the happiness of other seasons. Never give up during the difficult days and better times are sure to come some day.

    "Why do I live? Why do I wish for anything, or do anything? Is there anything in my life that will not be destroyed by my death?" Like Leo Tolstoy, the famous Russian writer, many people ask these difficult questions. Tolstoy spent his whole life trying to answer these difficult questions.

    As a young man, he thought people could achieve perfection if they tried hard enough. So he worked very hard to be the best in everything. He thought that he would find meaning and truth in success.

    In 1850s. Tolstoy wrote his first stories. He wrote about his life in the army. He also told stories about his childhood. These works were published and Tolstoy became a well-known writer.

    He earned the respect he always wanted. Many rich and smart men met and talked with Tolstoy. Some of them were writers like him. They talked a lot about faith (信仰) and the meaning of life. But soon Tolstoy recognized that these men were not perfect. Now he knew they could not answer his questions about faith.

    So in the 1860s, Tolstoy tried a different way to find the meaning of life. He opened a school for the children of his serfs-the people who worked on his land. These workers were very poor. He wanted to help them because he thought they were more honest than the rich people he knew.

    Tolstoy learned a lot from his workers. He understood how they worked hard to support their families. He began to believe that marriage and family would give his life meaning. So in 1862, Leo Tolstoy married a young woman named Sonya Behrs.

    The next 15 years were the best years of Tolstoy's life. It was during this time that he wrote his most famous books-War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Many experts say that War and Peace is one of the greatest books ever written. In these books, Tolstoy believed humans should live a simple life and take care of their families. Tolstoy thought this would satisfy him and bring him happiness.

    Leo Tolstoy is still a very respected writer today. His faith and writings have influenced many people all over the world.