Yours truly,
A customer (顾客)

B

    Fraser is four years old. He has autism(自闭症). He lives in his own world. Everything is very difficult to him. He doesn't want to play with other children. He doesn't want to say any words to others. His parents are worried about him.

    Then Billy, a cat, comes. It helps Fraser go out of his world.

When Billy sees Fraser, it runs to him quickly. It sits beside Fraser with its paws on Fraser's legs. They seem to be old friends. Fraser says, "This is our cat. He can come to live with us." "I know our life changes," says Fraser's mother.

    Billy stays with Fraser all the time. They play together, listen to the story together and sleep together. When Fraser walks in the garden, Billy is never far away. When Fraser is unhappy, it always lies beside him.

    It seems crazy. But Billy is like Fraser's angel. Fraser changes a lot. The doctor says he is getting better. He doesn't have to see the doctor now.

A

    An old woman walked into a clothes shop. She asked the salesgirl to let her have a look at a new dress on display, but the girl stood still behind the counter, taking no notice of the request.

    The old woman spoke to the girl again, raising her voice a bit, but still received no answer. The old woman looked closely at the girl and nodded to her, “I am too old to see well.” I can't even tell a plastic (塑料的) model from a real girl.”

    On hearing this, the salesgirl shouted at the old woman, “ What? Did you call me a plastic model?”

    The old woman was greatly surprised. “On, dear me,” she said. “The model can speak. Then it must be a robot of a new type.”

    Sydney Fredette has a lot of things to deal with. Not only is she a high school student, but she has also set up her own organization, Beary Merry Christmas. She volunteers to serve poor kids and families in Orange County in California, US.

    To remember her best friend who died of cancer nearly 10 years ago, Fredette decided to serve those in Orange County who are less lucky than she is. She began with the simple idea of collecting donated Build-A-Bears, the popular toy animal that is made by children themselves in the stores' workshops. Fredette then gave them as gifts to the homeless children in California.

    With donations at more than 100 bears a year, Fredette and volunteers in her organization hold activities every year. They not only give out the bears, but also many other things.

    Fredette now also holds other activities for Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and Halloween, providing the chance for her volunteer team to make a difference through the year.

    "I love making relationships with the people I serve." Fredette said. "The thanks they have, hearing their stories and seeing how happy they are, it's so cool."

    Future plans for Fredette include building a public food bank and providing a self-development class for students in her school who will soon attend college. Heading to college herself in the fall, Fredette is looking to stay local and continue to help out in her hometown. In fact, she was regarded as a "Dreamer & Doer" not long ago for her work in improving her community, along with 32 other high school students.

    Lisa has always been fat. She wanted to lose weight, not only because she wanted to look more beautiful and healthier, but also because it would make life easier.

    For example, it was difficult for Lisa to find ready-made clothes. She had to ask a tailor (裁缝) to make clothes that were large enough. In school, she needed a special chair that was bigger and stronger than other chairs. If she went for a walk, she got tired very quickly.

    She was also unhappy about the way people treated (对待) her sometimes. "People look at me and even make fun of me. It's true that I'm fat, but I don't think people should treat me differently. I can't enjoy having dinner with my friends because I'm afraid of getting fatter." Sometimes when Lisa was feeling sad, she didn't want to speak to anyone.

    But now things are quite different. Last month her classmates were preparing for the School Art Week. Someone advised Lisa to play the lead role (主演) of the proud Queen who was tall and fat. Lisa agreed and practiced a lot.

    Soon after the play, Lisa became a star! She did so well that everybody remembered the proud Queen. Best Actress Award for her wonderful performance (表演).

    Now Lisa doesn't worry about being fat any more. She believes in the English saying "Every dog has its day".

    My great-grandmother, Ethel, came from England to the United States in 1921. She brought almost nothing with her-just a few clothes and trinkets(小饰物). But she did bring some customs from "the old country" that she had learned as she grew up.

    One custom was that if you dropped a glass or a cup and it broke, you would throw a little salt over your left shoulder. It was funny that she did that-she wasn't superstitious(迷信的) in other ways. I think that she grew up doing that, so she continued to do it as a connection to her childhood.

    Ethel also taught us a New Year's Day custom that our family continues to follow today. To celebrate the new year, we would travel to a friend's house for a quick visit. My great-grandmother always took a pound of butter with her on our visits. We would enter the friend's house through the back door. The butter we brought was to give our friend a "gift of gold" to symbolize hope for prosperity in the new year.

    After my great-grandmother died, we still visited people on the first day of January, but eventually we stopped bringing the butter. We never did throw salt over our shoulders after breaking a glass or a cup. Some customs are continued when they cross from one country to another, but some customs fade away.