It was Mother's Day. John was so busy with his work that he couldn't go back home. When he walked by a flower shop in the evening, an idea came to his mind. “I'll send Mum some roses (玫瑰).”
   While John was picking his flowers, a young man went inside. “How many roses can I get for only five dollars, Madam?” he asked. The shop assistant told him that roses were as expensive as forty dollars a dozen (一打). Maybe he would be happy with carnations(康乃馨). She told him they were a lot cheaper than roses.
   “No, I have to have red roses," he said, "My mum was badly ill last year and I didn't get to spend much time with her. Now I want to get something special, it has to be roses, as the rose is her favorite.”
   After hearing this, John said he would pay the rest of the money for the young man. Moved by both of them, the shop assistant said, “Well, lovely young men, thirty dollars a dozen, only for you two." Taking the roses, the young man almost jumped into the air. He thanked John, and ran out of the shop. It was well worth twenty-five dollars John paid to see the exciting moment. Then John paid for his dozen of roses and told the shop assistant to send them to his mother.
   As he walked out, he felt nice. Suddenly he saw the young man crossing the street and going into a park. But soon he realized it was not a park but a cemetery (墓地). Crying, the young man carefully laid the roses, "Mum, oh, Mum, why didn't I tell you how much I loved you? God, please help me find my mum and tell her I love her.”
   Seeing this, John turned and quickly walked back to the shop. He would take the flowers home himself.

      One day, I was cooking with my friend Sandy in the kitchen. Suddenly, Sandy cut her finger. I went to her quickly. But to my surprise, I saw computer chips in her finger.

   “Now you know my secret, you have to die!” Sandy said and picked up the knife. “No, please, Sandy. Aren't we good friends?” I shouted. But before Sandy could say anything, she fainted.

    “Oh, Sandy!” I took her to hospital in a hurry. After a doctor checked her, he said, “I'm afraid we can't help her. Why don't you take her to a robot centre?”

      I hurried to a robot centre. A few days later, Sandy was well. She asked, ”Mary, why did you save me even after I tried to kill you? ”

“Because I'm sure you are my friend. Can you tell me where you are from?” “I'm from another planet. It's far from here. Thank you, my friend Now I see how friendly people are on the earth.”

      Two days later, a UFO came and picked her up. Since then I've never seen her.

The story of the red-crowned crane

    Have you ever heard of the song "The story of the red-crowned crane"? It is about a girl called Xu Xiujuan.

    Xu xiujuan was born in Zhalong, Heilongjiang Province in 1964.Her father's job was to look after red-crowned cranes. Xiujuan started helping her father when she was young. She soon showed a great love for these white birds. She become good at raising them.

    When Xu Xiujuan was 21, she got a job at a nature reserve in Jiangsu Province . She enjoyed taking care of the baby cranes. If a bird become sick, she took good care of it stayed with it every day until it was strong enough to fly again.

    In September 1986, one of the birds went missing .The workers in the nature reserve looked everywhere, but no one could find it. Xiujuan was very worried. She looked for it day and night for two days. On the second night, while she was looking for the missing bird, she fell into a river and died. She was only 23.

    Later, a song was written in memory of Xiujuan. Though Xiujuan died young, people always remember her when they hear the song or see a red-crowned crane.

    Mr. Smith is telling two funny stories of his police work.

    Story A

    I remember catching a "thief" in a clothes shop once. It was strange. The man was hiding a yellow sweater inside his coat. I thought he had stolen it, so I caught him. We found later that his wife gave him the sweater for his birthday, but he hated it. He just wanted to return it to the shop for money, but he didn't want his wife to see him! We soon let him go.

    Story B

    Another day, a man called Bob went into a bank on Sixth Street. He wrote on the back of an envelope, "Give me the money! Or I'll kill you. And gave it to the bank clerk. She gave him ＄100,000 and the man ran away. Then we received a phone call from the bank clerk. She told us to go to the man's house in Candy Town and get him. We caught him as soon as he got out of the elevator. He couldn't believe that we found him so quickly. We told him that his name and address were on the front of the envelope he used!

    In the summer between my first year and second year in college, I was invited to be an instructor(辅导员)at a high school camp. On the first day, when we were dancing and playing games, I noticed a boy under the tree who was small and thin. His shyness made him appear weak. I walked towards him, introduced myself and invited him to join in the activities and meet some new people. He quietly replied, "No, I really don't want to do this." I could understand that he was in a new world but I knew it wouldn't be right to force him either. Actually, the boy didn't need a close talk but a friend.

    At lunch the next day, I was leading camp songs when I saw the boy under the tree sitting alone. I tried again with the same invitation, but he refused once again. That evening I was told the boy's name was Tommy. Then I asked the campers to pay special attention to the boy and spend time with him when they could.

    The days went by and the time came when we had to leave. We held a big, warm party to celebrate the closing of the camp. All the campers shared their wonderful moments. To my surprise, I found the boy from under the tree dancing joyfully with two girls. I couldn't believe it was the same person.

    In October of my second year, I received a phone call from Tommy's mother. She told me that Tommy was hit by a car and died. I offered my deep sadness. The mother said, "Tommy mentioned you so many times. I want you to know that he went back to school and made new friends with confidence. You made a difference to Tommy during his last months."

    At that moment, I realized how easy it was to give a bit of yourself every day. You may never know how much each gesture may mean to someone else. I hope that everyone can pay attention to his own "boy under the tree".