A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he had loved a beautiful sports car, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.

    As Graduation Day came, the young man waited for the good news of the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his study. He handed his son a beautiful gift box. Curious and disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely ,leather—bound(用皮包装的)Bible《圣经》,with the young man 's name on its cover. Angrily, he raised his voice to his father and said, "With all your money you give me a Bible?" He then rushed out of the house, leaving the Bible.

    Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. But he realized his father was very old, he thought perhaps he should go to see him. He had not seen him since that graduation day. Before he could set off, he received a telegram(电报)telling him his father had passed away. He needed to come home immediately and deal with things.

    While searching for his father's papers, he found that new Bible. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. As he was reading, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible, It had a note with the salesman's name, the same man who had the sports car he had hoped. On the note was the date of his graduation, and the words :“PAID IN FULL.”

    This is a photo of Mr Black's family. The man with glasses（眼镜）is Mr Black, the father. The woman is the mother. They have a son and a daughter. The son is behind（在……后面）Mr Black. His name is Jack. He's 14. Kate is Jack's sister. She is 12. Jack and Kate are in the same school, but they are in different（不同的）grades. Jack is in Grade Three and Kate's in Grade One. They are good students.

C

    June lived in a small southern village (村庄). It was very hot there. She had a friend named Dec. Dec lived in a cold northern village. They often wrote to each other. June liked reading Dec's letters very much. He often talked about snow. She wished she could see it herself.

    One day, June wrote a letter to Dec and asked him to send her snowflakes(雪花). A few days later, she got a box from Dec. Dec said that he sent her many snowflakes in the box. June was excited. But after she opened the box, she found no snowflakes, only water. June cried. She cried for a long time until she slept.

    Then she had a dream. She dreamt that a snowflake talked with her. The snowflake told her that she only needed to make a wish to see snow. She then wished as hard as she could for snow. The next morning, June got up. She remembered her dream and her wish. She then ran out. The earth was covered with white snow. It snowed!

    This was the best gift for June! She really liked it.

    When my first wartime Christmas came, I was in basic training in New Jersey and not sure if I would make it home for the holidays. Only on the afternoon of December 23 was the list of men who would have the three-day holiday posted. I was one of the lucky soldiers. It was Christmas Eve when I arrived home, and a little snow had fallen. Mother opened the front door. I could see beyond her, into the corner of the living room where the tree had always stood, there were lights, all colors, and ornaments (饰品) shining against the green of a pine.

    “Where did it come from?” I asked.

    “I asked the Gates boy to cut it,” my mother said. “I wouldn't have had one just for myself, but when in great need…such a rush! He just brought it in this afternoon.”

    The pine reached to the proper height, almost to the ceiling, and the Tree Top Crystal Star was in its place. A few green branches reached out a little awkwardly(难看) at the side, I thought, and there was a bit of bare trunk showing in the middle. But the tree filled the room with warm light and the whole house with the pleasant smell of Christmas.

    “It's not like the one you used to find,” my mother went on. “Yours were always in good shape. I suppose the Gates boy didn't know where to look for a better one. But I couldn't be fussy because he had tried his best.”

    “Don't worry,” I told her. “It's perfect.”

    It wasn't, of course, but at the moment I realized something for the first time: all Christmas trees are perfect.

    Eric didn't know he was going to help a blue whale today. As soon as he finished his homework, Eric jumped onto his bicycle and rode off in the direction of the beach. While he was riding along, he thought about the blue whales. He hoped he would see them again today.

    After he got to the beach, Eric hid his bicycle behind a bush (灌木丛) so that no one could see it from the road. Then he ran down onto the sand. The sky was growing dark. Eric frowned (皱眉). If it rained, he wouldn't be able to see the blue whales because they would stay in deeper water. He hurried along the beach to the rocks. They were the best place to watch me blue whales because of their height. Before Eric reached the rocks, he felt a drop of water on his head. "Oh, no! Now the blue whales will stay in the deep water and l won't be able to watch them!"

    But just then he saw a large shape on the beach. It was a young blue whale! The whale had come too close to the shore and got stuck (被困) on the beach! At first the blue whale didn't move at all and Eric thought it was dead. Then he saw its tail move weakly. Eric turned and ran through the rain as fast as he could back to his bicycle. He had to get help to get the blue whale back in the water soon, or it would die and Eric couldn't let that happen…