Last Sunday evening, my parents went out for a walk with my sister. But I studied alone at home because l would have an English test. Suddenly, I saw bright light in my neighbor's kitchen. I thought he was cooking, so I went on studying.  

Soon, there was a terrible smell in the air and I thought something was wrong. I went out and saw fire coming out of my neighbor's kitchen. So I shouted “Fire, Fire!” But no one heard or came out.

    I ran quickly to my house to call 119, and then I rang my neighbor's doorbell, knocked at the door, but there was no response. I got into the house through the window and found my neighbor sleeping in his bedroom. I woke him up and we rushed out of the house together.

    We tried our best to pour water through the kitchen window, but the fire was too heavy. Luckily, the firemen came and put out the fire quickly. When my parents came back, they found I was dirty and tired. After my neighbor told them the whole story, they were happy and said I was a brave boy.

    When I was about twelve years old, a girl in my class liked to point out my shortcomings(缺点). She said I was very thin; I wasn't good at math; I talked too much; I was too proud, and so on. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.  He listened to me quietly, and asked, "Are those things true or not? Jane, didn't you ever think about what you're really like?" Then he added, "Well, you have that girl's opinions.  Make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true."

    I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I found out that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn't change, like being very thin, but many I could and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I got a clear picture of myself.

    I brought the list back to Daddy, and he said, "Now you know better about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just close your ears angrily and feel hurt. When something said about you is true, you'll find it will be of great help to you. Don't shut your ears. Listen to the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do. "

    Daddy's advice has returned to me at many important moments. In my life, I've never had a better piece of advice.

    A man came out of the airport. A lot of taxis were there. He asked the name of every taxi-driver. Then he took the 3rd one. It cost 5 dollars from the airport to the hotel. "How much does it cost for the whole day?" the man asked. "One hundred dollars," said the taxi-driver. This was very expensive, but the man said it was OK.

    The driver took the man everywhere. He showed him all the parks and museums in the city. In the evening, they went back to the hotel. The man gave the driver 100 dollars and said, "What about tomorrow?" The taxi-driver looked at the man and said, "Tomorrow? It's another 100 dollars." But the man said, "That's OK! See you tomorrow." The driver was very pleased.

    The next day the driver took the man everywhere again. They visited all the parks and museums again. And in the evening they went back to the hotel. The man gave the driver 100 dollars again and was going home tomorrow. The driver was unhappy because he liked the man and above all, 100 dollars a day was a lot of money.  "So you're going home. Where do you come from?" he asked. "I come from New York." "New York!" said the driver. "I have a sister in New York. Her name is Lucy. Do you know her?" "Of course I know her. She gave me 200 dollars for you!"

A

    Mrs. Brown is a woman about forty-five. Her husband has a factory in the town and gets much money. Her three children are all intelligent and they work in their factory. She has nothing to do at home and lives a happy life. Mrs.Brown likes meat and cakes very much. Her husband and children often buy some for her. And she doesn't like sports and often gets up at eleven o'clock in the morning. So she gets fatter and fatter and now it's difficult for her to walk. Sometimes she thinks something is wrong with her heart. She went to see a doctor one day. The doctor looked her over carefully and said, “You have got a heart disease, Mrs. Brown. It's bad for your heart to eat much sugar and meat. You'd better eat a piece of bread for each meal.”

    “That's easy, doctor,” said the woman. “But when do I have to eat the bread, before a meal or after a meal?”

Dear Frank,

    Thank you for your postcard. I'm very glad you are having a good trip now. Ottawa is very beautiful in May. I hope I will have a chance to go there one day.

    Our summer holiday will start next month. I enjoy my summer holiday, although(虽然)it's hot at that time in America. During the summer holiday, I can swim in the sea and go fishing. It's so cool. And I am going to our hometown near Chicago with my sister Linda, and my parents agree(同意). Our uncle lives there, so Linda and I can stay with him.

    We are not going to take a plane. We are going there by train. I am going to fish there. And Linda likes painting. She is going to do some painting there. I'm sure we'll have a good time.

Sincerely,

Jack

    Mary was afraid of the dark. She thought there were terrible monsters（怪物） in the dark. One day her aunt Valerie came to visit. Valerie was a brave woman. Mary wanted to be like her. So Mary asked her aunt, "Are you afraid of the dark?"

    "A lot of times" answered her aunt. "When I was small, I was afraid of staying in the dark."

    Hearing this, Mary felt better.

    "I know a secret not to be afraid of the dark. Some blind children told it to me."

    "Can you tell me?" asked Mary.

    "Of course! The secret is to change your eyes. Because blind children can't see, and their hands are their eyes. At night, if anything makes you afraid, close your eyes, get out of bed, and try to see what it is. But use your hands as eyes..."

    That night when Mary felt afraid of something in the bedroom, she closed the eyes of her face and opened the eyes of her hands. She went to touch it with her hands...

    The next morning, Mary ran into the kitchen.

There was a big smile on her face. "The monster is so lovely," she cried. "It's my toy dog!"