A young queen was given a magic box by a wizard (男巫). The box would bring happiness to the whole country whenever it was opened in a place full of the spirit of generosity (慷慨).

    The queen traveled all over the country, looking for the most generous people. If she collected them all, she would open the magic box. The queen felt disappointed because nothing special happened.

    One day when the queen decided to return to her palace, she saw a poor little boy begging. She would like to give the boy some money, but she didn't have any with her. So the boy asked her if she could give him the old box. Then he could sell it for a little money. At first the queen hesitated (犹豫), because she had been told the box had magical powers. But seeing how poor the boy was, she gave it to him. The boy took the box and opened it.

    Immediately, all the most wonderful things one could imagine started flying out of the box and a voice said, "Why look for it in others? Goodness always starts in yourself. "

    While enjoying all the wonders of the magic box, the queen learned to set an example to others, and she became the best queen ever in history.

Father gives all for daughter

    One day, an 11-year-old girl asked her dad, "What are you going to get me for my 15th birthday."

    The father replied, "Don't worry about that. You still have lots of time."

    But on a day after her 14th birthday, she passed out and was rushed to the hospital.

    The family learned that the girl had a serious heart disease (疾病)and that she might die.

    At night, she asked her dad "Daddy, have they told you that I am going to die."

    The father replied. "No, you will live as long as anyone else."

    She was surprised. "How can you be sure?"

    He turned to her and said, "I just know it."

    After the girl turned15, he had a heart transplant(心胜移植手术). After recovering(恢复), she came home to find a letter on her bed.

    It said, "My dearest daughter, if you are reading this, it means that everything went as I told you it would. One day you asked me what I would give you for your 15th birthday. I wasn't sure then. But now you know that my gift to you is my heart. "The father had donated(捐赠) his heart to his daughter.

    Parents are selfless（无私的). They often make great sacrifices(牺牲) to make their children happy. Keep this in mind when you feel angry toward your parents. They're just what they think is best for you.

    I remember the first time I got on a horse. I was two years old and we were watching a friend of the family ride. My mom agreed to let me take a short ride around the ground with the friend and that was it' I became crazy about having a horse. From then on, I drove my parents mad beg­ging for a horse. Whenever I saw a horse, I would beg even harder.

    When I was four years old, problems appeared in my life. I had Selective Mutism (选择性缄默症). This is an unusual childhood disorder (失调) in which children stop speaking in certain social situations, many times at around the age of four. I spoke to my parents as usual, my brother and certain other people, but was silent at school and in social situations. I went days, weeks, months without a sound at school. At most, I might very quietly speak to a friend.

    My parents looked for a cure. One psychologist (心理医生) had an idea. Having discussed his plan with my parents in advance, one day I was asked by the psychologist what I wanted more than anything in the world. He explained that I was going to be given a chance to work for what I wanted. I couldn't believe my good luck, but I could not answer. I just stood there. Finally, I was allowed to whisper (低声说) the answer in my mother's ear. "A horse," was all I could say.

    I was to get a little horse, but before we could even start looking, I had to try to talk. I had a chart of weekly tasks I had to finish. I had to answer the phone five times every week, something I had never done before. I did everything that was asked of me and the day came when my parents found the perfect horse. His name was Sequoia, a strong little chestnut (栗子马). He was perfect, of course, and I fell in love immediately. It truly was a dream come true. When I was with Sequoia, I forgot all about my problems and felt strong and life.

    By connecting with them, I have learned to hug what I was once not able to do and I found my voice back.

Bill invites Mike to go to his house. Here is their talk. "Welcome to have lunch with me on{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(星期六), "says Bill"But I don't know where your house is, "says Mike. "You get off the No. 13 bus. Then you go{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(越过)the road and take the first turning on the{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(左边). You walk along the{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(街道)for five minutes. Then you come to a big{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(银行). You{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(换方向)right at the{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(第三)crossing behind it. Over a hundred metres down this road there is a big{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(博物馆). You go past it, and after walking hundreds of metres, you'll see a small red house{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(在……的对面) a post office. Open the door with your foot, "says Bill. "With my foot? "asks Mike. "Yes, "says Bill. "Well, you won't come to my house with{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(没有东西) in your hands, will you? "

"Poor Grandma! I wish we could do something to cheer her up," Amy said to her brother, Mark. Grandma had fallen and broken her 1 . The doctor said she would be in bed for six weeks. 

Grandma was very active and loved to 2 in her garden, so she would not like sitting in her chair 3 her leg became well again. "I have a(n) 4 ," said Mark. "I saw some pictures of terrariums(栽培盒) in a magazine. Terrariums are little indoor gardens that can be 5 in glass bottles(玻璃瓶). Let's make a terrarium for Grandma, so she can enjoy a garden in her house." Amy agreed, 6 the two of them found the magazine which told them how to make a terrarium. And they showed it to 7 mother. She said that a terrarium would be a perfect 8 for Grandma. She helped Amy and Mark find a large, clear glass bottle. 

After a trip to the garden shop to buy the materials(材料), they began to 9 the terrarium. First, they put some drainage material (排水材料) at the bottom of the bottle. This would stop the soil(土壤) from getting too 10 . Next, they added some dark, rich soil. Now they were ready to add the plants. Amy had chosen 11 plants at the garden shop. One was tall with long, thin, green leaves. The other was short with bright pink flowers. To make the terrarium even more 12 . Amy placed rocks of different colors and bright green moss (苔藓) around the plants. 13 , they watered the plants. When Amy and Mark showed Grandma her new terrarium, she was so 14 . Now she had a beautiful little 15 to enjoy right inside her home.

There are some very good inventions which, for one reason or another, don't become popular. These inventions should be better known, even though I think that some of them are crazy. Let's have a look at some of these inventions and see if you agree that they should be more successful. 

The Australians had a great idea to stop people from drinking and driving. The idea was that if a driver wanted to start the car, she or he would have to blow into a bag first. If there was too much alcohol(酒精) in their breath, the car wouldn't start. It sounded like a great idea to me, but people said that they might need to drive the car in an emergency even if they had drunk too much alcohol. Another idea I liked was an invention by a scientist who thought his children watched too much TV. He linked the TV to an exercise bike so that the electricity to power the TV was generated(产出) by the bike. If the children wanted to watch a lot of TV, they had to pedal(踩踏板) very hard. I found another invention on the Internet which was intended (倾向于) to encourage good habits. Believe it or not, this invention was an ashtray(烟灰缸) which spoke to you when you lit a cigarette! The "voice" of the ashtray was activated (启动) by the heat from the cigarette and reminded you how dangerous it is to smoke. 

One of the strangest inventions I have come across is a bicycle which can cross rivers! The idea was that when you came to a river, you could inflate a huge plastic ball all around the bike. You would then get into the ball which would float on the river while you pedaled the bike inside the ball! Why not use a bridge instead? A friend of mine at school once bought a strange pair of football shoes. On the bottom of the shoes there was a rotating pad of studs (转动钉垫). The idea was that you would change direction more quickly if the studs rotated with you. The problem was that every time you stopped you changed direction whether you wanted to or not! I think he wore those shoes twice! One thing I would like is a baseball cap with a built-in radio so you can listen to sport all day with your hands free. While we are on the subject of sport, the Americans invented a kind of robot for sports fans. If you were watching your team on TV on your own, you could press a button and the robot would do "high fives" with you! Fantastic! I wonder if you have any good ideas for inventions like these.