Long long ago, there was a spider. She found a beautiful farm. She liked the farm and decided to live there forever.

    One day, the spider caught a little bug. When the spider ate it, the bug said, “If you let me go, I will tell you an important thing. The thing will save your life.” The spider stopped and listened.

    The little bug said, “You'd better get out of the farm. The harvest is coming! If you stay here, you will be killed by the farmer's machine.”

    But the spider didn't listen to the bug and ate it for lunch. The next day when she was sleeping, the farmer came to have a harvest. The spider was killed by the machine.

    My grandfather Jack is 96 years old，and he has had an interesting life. He has travelled a lot in his life in the Far East. He visited the Taj Mahal in India and the Pyramids in Egypt. He hunted（狩猎） lions in Africa, and rode a camel in the Sahara Desert. He says the most beautiful place he has travelled to is Kathmandu in Nepal.

    Jack has married twice. His first wife died when she was 32. He met his second wife Maria while he was cycling round France. They have been married for 50 years, and they have lived happily in a small village since they got married.

Jack says that he has never been ill in his life. The secret of good health, according to my grandfather, is exercise. He goes swimming every morning. He has done this since he was a boy. He also has a glass of wine every night! Perhaps that is his secret!

    This is a story about a boy called Sparky. For Sparky， school was all but impossible. He failed every subject in the eighth grade. He got a zero in physics. It made him the worst physics student in the school's history. He didn't do much better in sports. Although he tried to join the school's golf team， he quickly lost the only important match.

    He didn't have friends， either. Other kids didn't care about him. If a classmate said “Hello” to Sparky outside of school， he would feel very surprised.

    Sparky was a loser(失败者） and everyone knew it. So he accepted it.

But one thing was important to Sparky—drawing. He was proud of his artwork. In senior high school， he sent some cartoons to the editors of the yearbook but he was refused. Sparky was hurt. But he didn't lose hope because he believed in his ability and he stuck to drawing. He decided to become a professional artist.

    He wrote a letter to the Walt Disney Studios after graduating from high school. The studio asked him to draw some cartoons on a certain subject. Sparky spent a lot of time on the cartoons. Finally， the reply came from Disney Studios: they aren't like cartoons.

    Was it time to stop drawing?

Sparky didn't think so. He started to put his own life in the cartoons. He created his childhood self—a little boy loser: Charlie Brown. He wasn't good at football.But Charlie Brown would soon become famous worldwide. Sparky， the boy who used to fail in school and who was refused again and again， was Charles Schulz. He created the Peanuts comic strip and the world-famous cartoon characters Charlie Brown and Snoopy.

    Daniel sat in the back of the car and he was very happy.It was his first trip to Disney World，and he couldn't wait to get there.

    At first it wasn't too bad.He played some card games with his brother Emmit and his mother.They played number games.They also read interesting books.Then Daniel felt bored and slept.But he didn't sleep for a long time，and they were still far away from Disney World.“Are we…”

    “No，Daniel，” said his father.“Please try to be patient．You chose the vacation place this year.We told you it would be a long trip.”

    “Yeah，but this is so boring！” said Daniel.

    “I think Daniel is right，” said Emmit.“It's a boring trip.”

    “You want to hear about a boring trip？” asked Dad.“When I was about your age，Daniel，Grandma and Grandpa took your aunt Jane and me to Disney World.On the way there，the car didn't work.Luckily your grandpa could repair the car，but it took a long time to repair it.So when we arrived at Disney World，it was already dark.”

    It was meant to be the holiday of a lifetime—my first trip abroad alone, without my parents. I had organized everything myself and I would show them how independent I could be.

    I had arranged to stay in a farmhouse outside a village in southern Italy. My schedule said that the plane would arrive in Italy at five o'clock in the afternoon and it was a thirty-minute drive from the airport to the village. I wanted to get to my destination before it got dark, so I could have a drink, watch the sunset and enjoy an evening meal.

    The problems began at the airport. My plane was three hours late taking off. I walked around the airport, looked in the shops, and drank coffee in the cafes. I didn't eat anything. That was a mistake! When the plane finally took off, they gave me a cold, tasteless meal which I could not eat.

    We arrived in Italy in the early evening and I was feeling lightheaded from the Lack of food. The sun was setting as I was collecting my bags! I missed it completely! I went to the desk to find my hire car and that was when I discovered the next problem. The receptionist couldn't find my name in the computer and there were no more cars. There were no buses or trains to the village, and the taxis were in strike.

    The receptionist felt sorry for me. She phoned her brother, Alessandro, who agreed to take me to the village. I waited for Alessandro at the front gate and he arrived driving a very old car with smoke pouring out of the engine. We set off. Fifteen minutes later we broke down. I was tired and depressed and very, very hungry. I began to think my parents were right. Maybe I was too young to travel on my own. Luckily, Alessandro was a mechanic. After an hour, he fixed the car and we started driving again.

    It was nearly midnight when we arrived at the farmhouse. A man opened the door and smiled. "Come in," he said. "We have been waiting for you." I sat with a group of the friendliest people I've ever met and had a meal that was absolutely wonderful. And I'm glad to say that the rest of my trip runlet out to be exactly the same.

    The English writer, Richard Savage, once lived a very poor life in London. In order to make a little money, he wrote the story of his life. But the book did not sell well in the shops. Savage was living from hand to mouth. Because he didn't have enough food to eat, he became very ill. Luckily, a doctor came and looked after him. A few days later, after taking some medicine, he got well again.

    After a week or two, the doctor sent a bill to Savage for his visits, but poor Savage didn't have any money and couldn't pay it. The doctor waited for another month and sent the bill again. But still no money came. After several weeks, he sent it to him again asking for his money. In the end he came to Savage's house and asked him for the payment, saying to Savage, "You know I saved your life and I'm waiting for something from you."

    "I agree," said Savage," that you saved me, and to prove that I don't forget anything work. I will give my life to you. With these words, he handed him one of his books. The life of Richard Savage.