Everyone needs friends. There is an old saying, "Friends are God's way of taking care of us." But how do you find real friendship and keepit?

    The American writer Sally Seamans tells young students some smart ways to find friends. Sally says finding friendship is just like planting a tree. You plant the seed(种子) and take care of it to make it grow.

    First, you should choose a friend. What makes a good friend? It is not because a person has money or good looks. A good friend should be kind and patient(耐心的). For example,  if you have a bad day, a good friend should listen to your complaints(抱怨) and do his orher best to help. To make a friend, you can't betoo shy. You should make each other happy.

    But things can't lways be happy. Even the best friends have fights. What should you do when you have a fright with your friend? You have to talk to him or her. When there isno one around, have an honest talk. If he or she doesn't want to talk, you could write a letter. There are three steps to being friends again:

    Tell him or her how you are feeling; say what your friend has done wrong, and explain(解释) why you did this or that;  remember that friendship is the most important thing in your life.

    People normally think of dogs as man's best friend, but to Brian Wilson, his two pet parrots are his best friends.

    It all began in 1995, when Brian was still a firefighter. A car accident caused serious damage to his brain. After several months of treatment, Brian's doctors said that he would never talk again and that he would have to spend the rest of his life in a nursing home.

    However, according to Brian, his two pet parrots didn't give up easily. They kept talking to him day and night, until one day, he said one word, then another, and all of a sudden was talking like a normal person again!

    Brian was so thankful that he decided to set up a home for birds which are not wanted by their owners. Now, his house is home to about 80 birds, including a great variety of birds like several macaws, cockatoos and African gray parrots. The birds fly around from room to room, some cackling (咯咯叫), others talking like humans. Though they all have big cages, Brian lets them fly freely inside the house.

    Over the years, Brian has developed a special relationship with birds. The birds that bite other humans, seem to like him and can get along with him well. He is now called a bird whisperer (鸟语者). Brian pays for most of the costs of looking after the birds with his own money, but has recently established a foundation (基金会) to accept donations. He and his birds also earn money by performing at birthday parties, weddings and other social events.

    For people who want to adopt (领养) Brian's birds, they have to volunteer at the foundation for three months before they can take the pet home.

    Philip likes dogs. He asks his parents to1a dog for him. but his parents can't do the because Philip's grandma doesn't like dog.

    Philip says to his grandma, "I will2the dog out of your way." Grandma says yes. On Friday evening,Philip3his dog. He is so4and he calls his dog Fifi.

    One day Grandma says she will watch TV in her room and that she doesn't want Philip to disturb (打扰) her, 5Philip plays with his dog in his room. After some time, Fifi6the door (门) of Grandma's room. and begins barking (吠叫) at the door. Philip tells Fifi not to bark. But Fifi doesn't7.

    Philip's father8something is wrong (不正常的), and then he opens (打开) the door and sees Grandma on the floor (地板). They9her to the hospital (医院) quickly.

    After Grandma leaves hospital, she thanks Fifi for saving (救) her10and says that Fifi is now one member (成员) of her family.

In a small room, Jenny was lying in bed waiting for an operation (手术), nervous and worried. To her surprise, a new patient was sent into the room. After a kind greeting (打招呼), they began to talk. The 80-year-old newcomer was named Susan. She had two children. Her son was boss of a big company and her daughter worked in a TV station. As her children were too busy to take care of Susan, she lived in an old people's home. Susan was proud of her children who had wonderful jobs and made a lot of money. Jenny really envied (羡慕)Susan. Compared with Susan, Jenny was nothing but an ordinary (普通的) woman from the countryside. Her children were just ordinary workers.

Soon, it was supper time, Jenny's daughter cooked several dishes which were her favorite. Jenny invited Susan to share her supper, but she did not accept the invitation. Susan was expecting her daughter when she received a call. Unfortunately (不幸), her children couldn't come to visit her. Worse still, Susan had missed the mealtime in the hospital. She lay in bed, disappointed and silent. Jenny's daughter offered to buy her some food but she had no appetite (食欲) at all.

The next day, Jenny and Susan would go through a series of regular medical checks (一连串的常规检查) before the operation. Jenny's daughter took care of her carefully while Susan was still alone. Out of sympathy (出于同情), Jenny's daughter helped to queue up (排队), fill in different forms and register (挂号) for Susan. For several days in hospital, even during her operation, Susan's children didn't come. Susan really envied Jenny as her daughter looked after her all the time until she recovered and moved out of hospital.

Care from the loved ones can really make one happy and encouraged, especially for old parents. So don't forget to look after your parents even while you are busy working.

    Everyone wants to be successful. But failure is a common (普通的) thing for us to meet with.

    1, sometimes we 2 the exams, sometimes in the sports meet, others 3 but we fail. So4 everybody meets with the failure in his life.

    However, different people have different 5 to deal 6 the failure. Some people lose hope when they fail. They seem to think that it is the 7 of the world. Others, 8, don't take failure 9. They seem to think that failure is the first step to success. They will keep up and try their best 10 the final success.

    Now let's imagine the ends of the two ways. If we are 11 of the failure and always feel12, and don't try our best to change ourselves, we may meet with more and more failures. But as long as we are hopeful and brave to face them, and never give up, we will 13 successful and our dreams will come true some day.

    So, please remember: Life doesn't give us the pleasure we want. But 14 we never give up and15 do little by little, it will make a big difference.

Two months ago, my husband's hand was badly hurt after an accident at work. Then we had to, drive to the hospital to do the physical therapy(治疗)for his hand three times a week.

Today while we were driving to the hospital. We saw a young man standing in the strong and cold winds. We stopped and asked if he needed a ride. He gladly accepted and jumped into the back seat. His name was Dan and he wasn't going far.

As we dropped him off, we noticed he had many large piles (堆) of cut wood in his yard. We asked if he was interested in selling any. He said," Oh, you can just come by anytime, even if I'm not here and take all you want." We asked how much it would cost for a trunk load (一箱). He answered," It's free. We have more than we'll ever use. So just come by and get it anytime. Thanks for the ride and have a great day!"

We still wanted to pay for it and would only get it when someone was home, but he just kept saying what he already told us.

Dan just wanted to repay (回报) us with the wood, never knowing how much that would mean to us because my husband isn't able to chop any wood for us this winter.