B

    Sam was a fifteen­year­old boy living with his little sister, Julie. Their parents passed away long ago. Sam had to take care of Julie by himself.

One day, Sam woke up at three in the morning as usual. When Julie was sleeping alone, Sam left their little house to send newspapers. When he found an old man sitting in front of their house, Sam was so surprised that he stopped to look at him closely. It was an icy morning and he looked very cold.

    The poor old man didn't have anything to cover himself with. Sam went into his house to get the old man a blanket(毯子). However, there were no extra blankets, so Sam thought hard and took his father's coat. It was the only thing of his father's that he had left. Sam wrote a short note. "Sir, I found you sleeping in front of my house. This is my father's coat. I hope it fits you well." He put the note in a pocket of the coat and covered the old man with the coat. Then he went to work. When he came back, both the man and the coat were gone. Sam thought that it was the best thing he could do with his father's coat.

    That afternoon, Sam hurried home after school because Julie was at home alone. However, Julie and the old man were standing in front of the house, and Julie shouted to Sam, "Brother! He's our grandfather!"

    The grandfather smiled and said, "Sam, thank you for giving me the coat and letting me know how good my grandson is. This coat was the one that I gave my son a long time ago!"

    Roald Dahl was one of the most successful writers of children's books. He sold millions of books all over the world. Many of his books have been made into films and videos. He is so famous that there is even a Roald Dahl Museum you can visit.

    Roald Dahl was born in 1916 in Wales, Britain. His father was rich but he died when Roald was very young. Roald and his mother lived a hard life. He had to leave school and went to Africa where he worked for an oil company.

    In 1939 Roald became a pilot, but he had a bad accident. It made him limp(瘸的) for the rest of his life. After this, Roald went to America where he wrote a story about his experience as a pilot. It was so good that it was put in a magazine.

    Roald married an American film star. They bought a house in England and had five children. From 1960 to 1965, ____： Theo, one of his children, was hit by a taxi and was seriously hurt. Olivia, one of Roald's daughters, died of a strange illness. Soon after this, his wife also had a serious illness. It took her years to get completely better.

    Gradually Roald became more and more successful. He always did his writing in an old shed(棚) at the back of his house. He always sat in the same old armchair with a wooden board on his lap.

    “One of the nice things about being a writer,” he once said, “is that all you need is what you've got in your head and a pencil and a bit of paper.”

    In 1983 Roald won a big prize for his book The BFG. During his life, Roald wrote many famous books, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, Fantastic Mr. Fox.

    After he died in 1990, Roald left money to help people with serious illnesses and those with problems with reading and writing.

    When shopping in a store, I met a boy. When I saw him waving his hands excitedly in the air and shouting in a loud voice, “ Mommy, I'm here,” I knew he was mentally challenged.

    I asked his name and he said proudly, “ My name is Denny and I'm shopping with my mother.” “Wow,” I said, “ That's a cool name. How old are you, Denny?”

    “How old am I now, Mommy?” he asked his mother. “ You're fifteen years old, Denny; now be a good boy and let the man pass by.” I continued to talk to Denny for several more minutes about summer, bicycles and school. I watched his brown eyes dance with excitement because he was the center of someone's attention.

    Denny's mom thanked me for talking with her son. She told me that most people wouldn't even look at him, let alone talk to him. I told her that it was my pleasure and then I said, “ There are plenty of red, yellow, and pink roses in the garden, however, 'Blue roses' are very rare and should be appreciated for their beauty and distinctiveness（独特性）. Denny is a 'Blue ses' and if someone doesn't stop and smell that rose with their heart and kindness, then they've missed a chance to appreciate the beauty.”

    She was silent for a second, and then went away with tears in her eyes.

    Alan worked in an office in the city. He worked very hard and really looked forward to his holiday. He usually went to the seaside, but one year he saw an ad in a newspaper Enjoy country life. Spend a few weeks at William Farm. Good food, fresh air, horse riding, walking, fishing.

    "This sounds like a good idea," he thought, "I'll spend a month at William Farm. I'll go horse riding, walking and fishing. It'll be different from the seaside." Four days later, he returned home.

    "What's wrong with William Farm?" his friend Jack asked him. "Didn't you enjoy country life?"

    "Country life was fine, "Alan said." But there was another problem."

    "Oh, what problem?"

    "Well, the first day I was there, a sheep died, and we had roast（烤好的）mutton for dinner. "

    "Fresh meat is the best."

    "I know, but on the second day a cow died, and we had roast beef for dinner."

    "Lucky you!"

    "You don't understand, "Alan said." On the third day a pig died and we had roast pork for dinner. "

    "A different roast every day, "Jack said.

    "Let me finish, "Alan said." On the fourth day a farmer died and I didn't want to stay there for dinner. "

    It was in August 1999 that I decided to come to China to work as a language teacher.

    I taught in Zhongshan City. Guangdong, for six months before moving to Ningbo. I came to Wanli University in 2000, and I taught there for five years. My time in Ningbo is great. I've met many wonderful Chinese teachers.

    I came to China with the idea of helping Chinese friends learn English better, and I have achieved this many times. I've traveled to many places in China, and I find that Ningbo is my favorite place.

    When I first came to Ningbo in 2000, it wasn't as clean as it is now. However, I found that this is a great city to live in. When I arrived, there was one McDonalds, and three KFC's. But we didn't get a Starbucks until 2002.

    I've really enjoyed spending my time here, especially now that I have found my beautiful wife, and we will be having our first child in Ningbo. Maybe she or he will learn Ningbo dialect（方言）, to talk with the grandparents.

    While staying in Ningbo, I have found that many people can understand English, but are very shy to speak out. I'm telling you now, it is only a language, and don't be afraid to talk, just remember, "Nobody is perfect. "