One of my best friends went abroad to enjoy her holidays, so the job of looking after her dog Missy has been given to me. A few months ago, Missy came to my friend's house. She looked terrible. She has been abused for a long time.

    When we first visited my friend and Missy, my friend had to gently pull her over on a lead (牵绳) to get her to come to us. She wanted to come but afraid to do so—the poor, beautiful thing. Clearly Missy came to the right home. My friend has given birth to a baby of his own and shows the love of a mother. This is just what Missy needs. Thanks to the love of my friend, she has changed into a new dog step by step. Sadly, she is still afraid of strange humans. I hate to imagine what the dog must have gone through.

    Now, Missy trusts me completely, so I can touch her berry（肚皮）.While standing, she will jump up so gently to be closer to me, putting her paws（爪子）on my legs as she looks at me with those beautiful eyes.

    Missy is really brave. She has the courage to try again, to open her hearts, and to know that not everyone is the same kind of people as before. Keep it in mind that tomorrow is another day.

    Jane was from a small village in Southern America. Her family was poor and noodles were often their only food. Her parents couldn't afford to pay the electricity bill (电费), so she had to study by candle light.

    What was worse, to live on, her parents moved to a faraway village with the other four children. As for Jane, she didn't want to give up learning and she dreamed to enter a famous university. She stuck to living alone in her village.

    After Jane's parents left, she lived a really difficult life. Having no place to live in, the homeless girl had to sleep on the back seat of the school bus. Luckily, Mrs. Brown, the caring school bus driver, learned about Jane's situation and invited her to live with her family. Soon, Jane found a job in her school. She worked from 6 a. m. to 7:40 a. m. before the first school bell rang. She swept floors and picked up rubbish again in the afternoon. With the money she got from the work, she paid for her education. And she stayed up late in the evenings studying for all kinds of exams day after day.

    Jane's hard work made a difference to her life. She finished high school with unexpected results. She was accepted by Harvard, one of the world's most famous universities with full scholarship (全额奖学金).

The 18-year-old girl created her own future with her never-give-up attitude and hard work.

    Mr Hunt came from a poor family. He had three brothers and two sisters. His father worked hard but wasn't paid much. And his mother did all the housework at home. They were both able but they couldn't get enough money for their family.

    Mr Hunt was at school for only three years and he had to stop to help his parents though he was good at his lessons. When he was sixteen, he came to the city and began to work in a small factory. He learned from an old worker and became a skilled worker. The old worker liked him and married his daughter to him. The young man did not have his own house and had to live with his parents-in-law. His mother-in-law always thought he was poor and often chattered(喋喋不休).So the young man tried to save everything and hoped to have his own house.

    It was one fine Sunday. The old woman wanted to have a picnic on top of the hill. She told Mr Hunt to drive her car. But sometimes she told him to turn left and sometimes to turn right. The young man had to listen to her. At a crossing, the lights were red but she made him turn left. The policeman stopped them and told the young man to give his license to him.

    "If I did wrong, sir," said Mr Hunt, "it was my mother-in-law's fault. She was driving the car though she sat behind me!"

I hoped to be set free one day,so I was nice to the Lilliputians.Gradually,     ▲     .Sometimes the children even played hide-and-seek in my hair.

One day,the king said to me,"Gulliver,I invite you to watch an important performance.It is a contest called Rope Dancing".In the contest,a thin rope was tied between two poles very high above the ground.People had to dance on this rope.Each dancer tried to jump higher than the others.I had never seen such a dangerous sport.

"Your Majesty,"I said,"many dancers must fall and be hurt or killed."

"Yes,"he replied,"But I will give the best jobs in my kingdom to the men who are not afraid and jump the highest."What a strange way to choose who will work for the country!"I thought.

Then,as the king watched,I tied each corner of my handkerchief to a strong stick, and pushed the four sticks into the ground.My handkerchief was now under the rope but above the ground.Any dancer who fell would land on the handkerchief and not get hurt. The king was very pleased with my invention.His family and many other people watched the rope dancing.

Would you and the queen like to see better?"I asked the king.I gently put them on my hand and held it beside the rope.They had a good view of the dancers.One very skilled performer held on to the rope and flipped(翻转)his body right over it.The king and the queen clapped loudly and cheered.Later the king told me that he made this man one of his chief(首要的)advisors.

The king and I met often.He seemed to enjoy our conversations.One day,I said again,"Your Majesty, please set me free."This time he answered,"I have talked to my

advisors.We agree that you have been good to our people."