“Please take my penny,” said Maggie to old Dan, the fisherman, who sat on a bench repairing his nets.

    Her brother Andrew drew her back, whispering, “Maggie, he is not a beggar (乞丐)!”

    But Maggie paid no attention. “Please take it,” she said again. Old Dan smiled, and took it. “Thank you, little miss,” he said, “It is kindly meant.”

    After that, Maggie went to the beach to gather shells. She never thought how fast the hours were passing until being tired. She sat down on a rock. Soon she was scared because the sea water was going up. She wanted to go home, but she found the places she had gone down easily very difficult to climb up. The stones were wet and smooth. What could poor Maggie do? She felt sad and cried.

    Luckily, Dan's large dog Rover jumped down from a rock! Rover raised his loud bark. The fisherman had taken his nets to the top of the cliffs (悬崖), and was laying them out in the sun when he heard the loud barking of a dog. He felt sure that it was Rover, and Rover was in trouble, so he looked over. There he saw it all.

    “Bless her! It is the little one that was so kind-spoken to me this morning!” he cried, and he hurried to his sons' rooms.

    “Quick, boys, quick!” he said. “Get to the boat, and row fast to the sea. There is a poor child there just waiting to be helped.” The fishermen lost no time, and soon little Maggie and Rover were rowed safely to land! Old Dan was waiting there to lift her out to give her into her mother's arms.

    “It was the penny that did it, madam,” he said to Mrs. Weston later. “I saw Rover looking at her when she put the penny. And I am thinking he had been looking after her all the day.”

    Some years later, Rover came to Maggie's home with a little note, in which was written—“Will Maggie help Rover?—his master is dead.”

    Once there was a parrot on sale in a pet store. It was a beautiful red and blue bird. It sat on a perch in the middle of the store, so that everyone could see it when they came in. The owner was very proud（自豪的） of it and asked a high price for it.

    One day a man went into the store. “That's a beautiful bird,” he said to the pet store owner, “But why is it so expensive? Is it unusual（不同寻常的） bird?” “No, it's not very unusual. It's expensive because it can talk,” the pet store owner said.

    “I see. How can I make it talk?” the man asked.

    The pet store owner asked him, “Do you see those string tied to each of the bird's legs?”

    “Yes,” the man answered.

    “Well, you pull（拉） those strings（绳子）,” the pet store owner told him. “That will make the parrot talk.”

    The man asked, “Do you mind（介意） if I try?”

    “Not at all,” the pet store owner said.

    The man walked up to the parrot and pulled the string on its left leg. The parrot said, “Good morning.” The man pulled the string on the parrot's right leg. This time the parrot said, “How are you today?”

    “That's not very interesting,” said the man. “Any parrot could do that.” Then he laughed, “But what would happen if I pulled both strings at the same time?”

    “I'll fall off my perch, you fool!” the parrot said.

    After some time, another official climbed up to the platform and spoke to me. From his signs I understood that they were going to move me. The King of this country（which was called Lilliput）had ordered his people to carry me to the capital city, about a kilometre away. I made signs to ask whether(是否) I could be untied, but the official politely said "No". While I was eating bread, a platform had been prepared to carry me. The people of Lilliput, known as the Lilliputians, are very clever with their hands. For me, five hundred men built a special wooden platform with twenty－two wheels. Nine hundred of the strongest men worked for about three hours to lift me on to the platform, and one thousand five hundred of the King's largest horses（each eleven and a half centimetres high）pulled me to the capital. I did not know about any of this, because they had put a sleeping powder in my wine, and I was in a deep sleep. (An Extract from A voyage to Lilliput )

    Ruo Dong and Ruo Jun are brothers. They are from Chengdu. Ruo Dong is 10 years old and Ruo Jun is 9 years old. They can speak Mandarin(普通话). Now they are in Hangzhou, and they study in No. 5 Middle School. Their family are all in Hangzhou. There are five people in their family. They are their parents, their sister and themselves. Their mother is a teacher. Their father is a doctor. Their sister is very young. She is only 3 years old. She goes to a kindergarten. They say Hangzhou is a very interesting city. They like the friendly people, the delicious food and its culture(文化). They like Hangzhou very much.

Qi Haoran, a Junior One student at High School Attached to Harbin Institute of Technology, was quite busy last winter vacation - and not just with his homework.Qi, together with 10 other classmates, made a volunteer group to call on people to join the Clear Your Plate Campaign.

The 11 students went to many restaurants and told people the importance of saving food. " Excuse me, do you know that 950 million people around the world still haven't got enough to cat? Please don't waste food." They would repeat such words hundreds of times every day.

China in recent years has experienced serious problems with wasting food.CCTV has reported    that the food Chinese people waste every year is enough to feed 200 million people for a year.Chinese people are well known for being hospitable (好客的) and generous.Many even feel that they lose face if their guests have eaten all the food, because it seems that they haven't prepared enough food for their guests.

Luckily, the campaign has got the support of many.In a restaurant in Xinjiang, the owner gives a sticker to the customers who have eaten all that they ordered.People can enjoy a free meal when they have 10 stickers. Besides, more than 750 restaurants in Beijing have begun to offer smaller dishes and encourage their customers to take leftovers home.

To reduce food waste is a big task, and it needs time.It's important that everyone should do their bit just like Qi. So did you finish your meals today?

My sister and I are very different.When people meet us both, they are always surprised to learn that we are sisters. This is because we don't look like each other, we have different personalities（性格），and our lifestyles are different.

Do you resemble your brother or sister? My sister and I don't resemble each other at all.I am tall, but she is very short. I have short dark brown hair and green eyes.She has long blonde hair and blue eyes. I am strong, but she is not. I have big hands and feet; her feet and hands are very small.

When we were kids, she was thin, but I was heavy.Now we're both heavy.

We also have opposite personalities.She is always stressed out. I am calmer and more out—going.She is very worried about what other people think and say about her, but I really don't care. When she has a problem, she just worries about it, but when I have a problem, I try to fix（解决）it.She easily gets angry， especially with our mother. But I—am more patient.

Our lifestyles are very different. I love old things and hardly ever go shopping.But she goes shopping twice or more a week. I have cats.She has a dog. I read.She watches TV.