One morning, Ann's neighbor Tracy found a lost dog wandering around the local elementary school. She asked Ann if she could keep an eye on the dog. Ann said that she could watch it only for the day.

    Tracy took photos of the dog and printed off 400 FOUND fliers（传单）, and put them in mailboxes. Meanwhile, Ann went to the dollar store and bought some pet supplies, warning her two sons not to fall in love with the dog. At the time, Ann's son Thomas was 10 years old, and Jack, who was recovering from a heart operation, was 21 years old.

    Four days later Ann was still looking after the dog, whom they had started to call Riley. When she arrived home from work, the dog threw itself against the screen door and barked madly at her. As soon as she opened the door, Riley dashed into the boys' room where Ann found Jack suffering from a heart attack. Riley ran over to Jack, but as soon as Ann bent over to help him the dog went silent.

     “If it hadn't come to get me, the doctor said Jack would have died,” Ann reported to a local newspaper. At this point, no one had called to claim the dog, so Ann decided to keep it.

    The next morning Tracy got a call. A man named Peter recognized his lost dog and called the number on the flier. Tracy started crying, and told him, “That dog saved my friend's son.”

    Peter drove to Ann's house to pick up his dog, and saw Thomas and Jack crying in the window. After a few moments Peter said, “Maybe Odie was supposed to find you, maybe you should keep it.”

    It is quite reasonable to blame traffic jams, the cost of gas and the great speed of modern life, but manners on the road are becoming horrible. Everybody knows that the nicest men would become fierce tigers behind the wheel. It is all right to have a tiger in a cage, but to have one in the driver's seat is another matter altogether.

    Road politeness is not only good manners, but good sense too. It takes the most cool-headed drivers great patience to give up the desire to beat back when forced to face rude driving．On the other hand, a little politeness goes a long way towards reducing the possibility of quarrelling and fighting. A friendly nod or a wave of thanks in answer to an act of politeness helps to create an atmosphere of good will and calm so necessary in modern traffic condition. But such behaviors of politeness are by no means enough. Many drivers nowadays don't even seem able to recognize politeness when they see it.

    However, misplaced politeness can also be dangerous. Typical examples are the driver who waves a child crossing the street at a wrong place into the path of oncoming cars that may be not able to stop in time. The same goes for encouraging old ladies to cross the road wherever and whenever they want to. It always amazes me that the highways are not covered with the dead bodies of these grannies (奶奶).

    An experienced driver, whose manners are faultless, told me it would help if drivers learnt to correctly join in traffic stream without causing total blockages that give rise to unpleasant feelings. Unfortunately, modern drivers can't even learn to drive. Years ago, experts warned us that the fast increase of the car ownership would demand more give-and-take from all road users. It is high time for all of us to take this message to heart.

    Princess quiz time! How did Snow White survive? How did Cinderella (《灰姑娘》) leave her evil stepmother? How did Sleeping Beauty finally wake up?

    A kind-hearted person always comes to save the princess, like a prince or a godmother. Princesses cannot protect themselves, though they are very pretty and nice. They always need the help of others.

    However, in fact, women can't put their life in the hands of a prince-like man. They need to work and even fight for their own happiness. The traditional image(形象) of a princess is getting out of date.

    Recently, Disney, a company famous for its princess movies, posted the “top 10 rules for being a modern princess”. You will not find any rules related to beauty or looks. The rules focus on loyalty, honesty and other moral values. The rules say princesses need to believe in themselves and try their best to get out of trouble, instead of waiting for a prince's help.

    It's not the first time Disney princesses have caught up with society's development. In 1950, when people's hearts were broken by World War II, Disney created Cinderella. In 1990, Princess Belle from Beauty and the Beast (《美女与野兽》) loved reading when education was a man's special right in the past. Belle showed the improvement of women's position in society. Now is Elsa from the film Frozen (《冰雪奇缘》), a symbol of modern princess.

    “This is brilliant – 'The top 10 rules of being a modern princess' – (it's) about time,” a group named Confidently Mom said on social media website Twitter. Princesses are still very beautiful, but inner character is the key to being a princess.

    Traveling can be a fun way to gain life experiences, especially during Spring Break-a week-long school vacation in the United States. But what if you're a student and don't have enough money for a trip？Don't worry. Here are some useful suggestions.

    Save：This probably is the most important preparation for traveling. Cut expenses to fatten your wallet so you'll have more choices about where to go and how to get there.

    Plan ahead：Don't wait until the last minute to plan your trip. Tickets may cost more when bought on short notice. Giving yourself several months to get ready can mean security and savings.

    Do your homework：No matter where you go, research the places you will visit. Decide what to see. Travel books will provide information on the cheapest hotels and restaurants.

    Plan sensibly：Write down how much you expect to spend for food and hotels. Stick to your plan or you may not have enough money to cover everything.

    Travel in groups：Find someone who is interested in visiting the same places. By traveling with others you can share costs and experiences.

    Work as you go：Need more money to support your trip？Look for work in the places you visit.

    Go off the beaten path：Tourist sites may be expensive. You may want to rethink your trip and go to a less﹣known area. Smaller towns can have many interesting activities and sights.

    Pack necessary things：The most important things to take are not always clothes.

Remember medicine in case you get sick, and snacks in case you cannot find a cheap restaurant.

    Use the Internet：The net can help to save money. Some useful websites include www.travelcity.corn, www.bargainslowestfare.corn and www.economictravelcity.com.

    By planning sensibly, even students can enjoy the travel. Your travel experiences will be remembered for a lifetime.

    Not many years ago, a wealthy and rather strange old man named Johnson lived alone in a village in the south of England. He had made a lot of money in trading with foreign countries. When he was seventy – five, he gave $ 60,000 to the village school to buy land and equipment for a children's ground.

    As a result of his kindness, he became famous. Many people came to visit him. Among them was a newspaperman. During their talk, Johnson remarked that he was seventy-five and expected to live to be hundred. The newspaperman asked him how he managed to be healthy at seventy-five. Johnson had a sense of humor. He liked whisky and drank some each day. "I have an injection (注射) in my neck each evening," he told the newspaperman, thinking of his evening glass of whisky.

    The newspaperman did not understand what Johnson meant. In his newspaper he reported that Johnson was seventy-five and had daily injection in his neck. Within a week Johnson received thousands of letters from all over Britain, asking him for the secret of his daily injection.

Having a great collection of books at home doesn't really mean that you are a person who has a passion for literature and reading. It can be a family inheritance (继承) or it can be just to impress people around you about the fact that you are a person of culture. On the other hand, there are many persons who cannot afford to buy books, because some of them are quite expensive, but they usually go to libraries and spend hours reading something that interests them a lot, or just borrow books to read at home.

From my point of view, literature is very important in our lives from several points of view. For example, reading is a means of gaining culture and enriching our knowledge in different areas of activities. It can help us have a great imagination and it makes things easier when it comes to making compositions on different themes. It gives you the possibility to speak about science, even if you don't work in this field, or you can express your opinion about a political aspect, just because you have read something connected to that.

Secondly, literature offers us the possibility to enter the world of imagination, and to leave apart the real one for a couple of hours. We come to meet kings and queens many years ago, dream in the world of the rich or imagine how life will be in the future. Sometimes, we identify ourselves with the characters in the stories we read and they can give us some clues to solve our problems and how to react in certain circumstances.

To conclude, I would like to say that literature is the perfect means to enrich our culture, to express correctly and have a rich vocabulary, to be able to interfere (干涉) in conversations in different fields of interest and to really be considered an erudite person.