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.

    It's a Saturday afternoon. Mrs. Black goes to a dinner party. She is in an old jacket. When she comes into the party room, no one says hello to her. They don't ask her to have dinner. Mrs. Black is not happy.

    Then Mrs. Black goes home. She puts on her nice clothes. And she comes back to the party. All of people say hello to her and they ask her to have dinner. Is she happy now?

    Mrs. Black says, "You like my clothes, not me." Then she gets her clothes some food.

    "Eat, clothes," Mrs. Black says, "they like you, not me!"

    Then she doesn't have the dinner and goes back home.

    Bill is a student. He is twelve. The child likes to fly kites and play some other games.

    One Monday afternoon Bill flies kites with his friends after school. But Bill's kite is in the tree and he cannot get it. Bill and his friends do not know what to do. They worry very much and Bill comes to his father, Mr. Green, for help. His father wants to get the kite down from the tree, but he can't. So Bill asks him to make a new one for him. Mr. Green makes a new kite for Bill. When the boy gets the new kite, he is very glad. He thanks his father for the kite and goes out to play with his friends.

Beijing is known as a large and busy city. But if you walk down one of its main streets into a small alley （巷），you may find something different—Beijing's hutongs!

People say they live in hutongs，but in fact，they live in the buildings on one side of the hutongs. Hutongs are the alleys between houses. 

Beijing has been China's capital city for over 700 years. As the city grows，the number of its people and houses is becoming larger and larger. Now there are more than 6，000 hutongs in Beijing. If all of them were connected end to end

Among all these hutongs，there are certainly some exceptional ones. While most of them are straight，some are curved（弯曲的）. Jiuwan Hutong is the one with the most curves. It's only about 390 meters long. Its name means nine curves，the narrowest hutong in Beijing is called Qianshi Hutong. It is only 40 cm wide at its narrowest point. In this hutong，only one person can pass at a time. 

Beijing people love hutongs because they bring them a lot of fun and relaxation. In the hutongs，people can enjoy the sun，sing songs and play chess with their neighbours. They can talk with others and listen to some stories

Hutongs are not only a symbol of Beijing's culture，but also an important part of China's national culture. So people try to keep them well as historical places of interest. 

It is good to give friends or parents something on their birthdays. It is Bob's mother's birthday today. Bob wants to give his mother something surprising, but he doesn't have much money, "I know what I'll do," says Bob. "I'll give her something different." At last, he gives his mother a piece of article (文章) in China Daily. When his mother sees his name "Bob Smith", she smiles. Bob writes an article about his loving mother, and it comes out in China Daily! His mother says it is the best present she has received in her life.