Big Bear was Skinny Rabbit's friend and neighbor. Big Bear's birthday came and Skinny Rabbit sent him a hammock(吊床). Two trees grew in the space between the friends' houses. Skinny Rabbit and Big Bear tied the hammock between them. Big Bear climbed into the hammock.

    “How does it feel?" Skinny Rabbit asked.

    “Just wonderful!" Big Bear said. "But do you see how the sun shines through the branches (树枝), Skinny Rabbit?"

      "I do. It shines straight onto the hammock," Skinny Rabbit said. "I have an idea."    He put his beach umbrella beside the hammock. "How's that?" he asked.

    "It's almost perfect, Skinny Rabbit," said Big Bear. "Soft music would be nice for someone sleeping in a hammock."

    Skinny Rabbit went back into the house and came out with a radio. He tuned it to a station. The station was playing music.

    "Enjoy your sleep, Big Bear," said Skinny Rabbit. "I'll go and clean up the lunch dishes."    "Wait a minute! I thought of something else."    "What is it now?" asked Skinny Rabbit wearily

    "This hammock needs a friend to share with, Will you join me, Skinny Rabbit? Afterward we can do the dishes together."  

Skinny Rabbit said happily, "What a fine idea, Big Bear."

    People say that one person can't really make a difference, but I don't believe that. If all of us just do "one" thing like the following three heroes, we will make a difference.

Super Girl

    When she was 7, Brooklyn Wright wrote The Adventures of the Earth Saver Girl. In the book, a girl learns she has the power to make the Earth free from rubbish. She calls her Super Girl and tries her best to save the Earth. Brooklyn Wright has visited more than100 schools to teach students about pollution. Last year, she received a Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes for her work.

A Voice for Elephants

    Many elephants are being killed for their ivory. After learning the facts, China's Celia Ho, 14, decided to take action. By making posters and writing letters to newspapers, she hopes more people will learn about the problem.

Turning Cooking Oil into Fuel

    Jane Lin didn't start out "to be green" .At first, she was worried about her neighbor who couldn't afford heat in winter. At a science expo, she saw someone turning old cooking oil into fuel. Suddenly, she came up with a plan to collect old cooking oil for the poor family. So far she has collected about 21, 000 gallons of fuel for 210 families. At the same time, she helps reduce the emission（排放） of CO₂  and other greenhouse gases.

    Zak's grandfather, Stan was very famous. Why? Because he had a very, very, very long white beard (胡子).

    One day, Zak asked his grandfather, "When you sleep, do you put your beard over or under the quilt (被子)?" "I'm not sure. I never care about that," said his grandfather, "I'll look tonight."

    Stan got into bed that night and pulled up the quilt. Then he remembered his grandson's question. Aha! His beard was under the quilt. But wait. Did that feel right?

    He lift his beard from under the quilt and put it above it. This also didn't feel right. Si he put the beard under the quilt again. But he soon felt it would be better if it were out. The beard went in and out—first under the quilt, then over it, under, over, all night long.

    Stan spent a sleepless night. In the morning, he was so tired and unhappy that he cut his long beard right off!

    Stan's wife was so happy. She advised Stan to cut that beard off many times, but he never did it. Now a simple question made him do that.

    12-year -old American boy Maxwell Daley just grew a pumpkin(南瓜) that weighs 582. 5 pounds (1 pound is about 0.45 kg). He won first place in the seventh annual Largest Pumpkin Contest at the Kentucky State Fair. And he received the $500 (about 3, 334 yuan) top prize.

    Maxwell is a seventh grader at Grayson County Middle School. At the age of 8, he became interested in growing huge pumpkins after seeing them at the state fair.

    Maxwell is a boy of few words. But he shared his secret of growing a big pumpkin" We put lots of special fertilizers(肥料) on it. We put it in the shade(阴凉处) and put a canopy(遮篷) over it. Lots of weeds(杂草) need to be pulled," he told local media Franklin Favorite.

    His father Joe Daley also added that it started by picking the right seed this year, Daley paid $ 40 for his pumpkin seed and worked hard every day to grow it. He also needed to keep the pests(害虫) out. "It turned into a pretty big job. He did all the work," Joe said.

    This winning giant pumpkin was the only one he grew this year. According to the rule, Maxwell has to take part in the Largest Pumpkin Contest for years to come.

    Jim gets up very early and he finds some changes in his house. He looks around carefully and he sees that:

    The big tree is on the right side of the house, but now it's on the left.

    There is a dog house in the corner of the yard, but now it's gone. Where is the dog house?

    The green clock in his bedroom changes into a yellow one.

    "Mom! Mom! An alien(外星人)changes our house!" Jim runs to his mom and says. Mom is cleaning the living room. She's not surprised(惊讶的)at all. "Oh, it's your dad. He thinks our house is too boring and he wants to have some changes. What do you think of the changes? Do you like them?"