Mr Brown was a dance teacher. He was a nice man and always had a lot of students who came to his classes every week. One year he moved to a new town and taught a lot of students in a dance school there but then he decided to move again to a big city where he would have work.

    When one of the ladies who often came to his classes heard that he was leaving, she said to him, “The teacher who takes your place won't be as good as you are. ”

    Mr Brown was happy when he heard this. He said, "Oh, no! I'm sure he'll be as good as I am, or even better. ”The lady said, "No, five teachers have come and gone since I lived here, and each new one was worse than the last. ”

    Sydney Fredette is very busy. Not only is she a high school student, but she has also set up her own organization（组织）, Beary Merry Christmas. She volunteers(志愿) to offer services to poor children and families in Orange Country in California, US.

    To remember her best friend who died of cancer nearly 10 years ago, Fredette decided to offer services to those in Orange Country who are less lucky than she is.

    She began with the easy idea of collecting donated(捐赠) Build-A-Bears, the popular toy animal that is made by children themselves in the stores' workshops. Fredette then gave them as presents to the homeless children in California during the holiday season.

    With donations at more than 100 bears a year, Fredette and volunteers hold activities every year, where volunteers not only give out the bears, but also clothing, meals, and other things.

    Not wanting to limit(限制) the giving to just the holiday months, Fredette held other activities for Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and Halloween, offering the chance to her volunteer team to make a difference through the year.

    "I love making friends with the people I offer services to," Fredette said. "It's so cool to hear their stories and see how happy they are."

    Fredette even built a public food bank and offered a self-development class to students in her school.

    She plans to stay local and continue to help out in her hometown.

    Once there was an emperor. He had a beautiful garden. In the garden, there was a little nightingale(夜莺) singing very beautifully.

    One day, the emperor heard about this little bird's beautiful voice. He asked his guards to bring her to him. When the emperor heard the nightingale's voice, he said, "Put her in a golden cage, so she can stay and sing for me whenever I want to hear her."

    The little bird was so unhappy about being kept in the cage that she stopped singing one day. The emperor was very angry. He ordered the scientists in his palace to make a robot bird for him. The bird could sing very beautifully too. The emperor was pleased.

    Soon the robot bird became old. It no longer sang beautiful songs. Just at that time, the emperor was ill and he became very weak. One morning, while lying in bed, the emperor wanted it to sing once again. But the robot bird could not sing any more. Suddenly, the nightingale landed on the window. She began to sing her most beautiful song. The emperor was very happy! He became better and better each day.

    After the emperor was well, he changed a lot and became kind to his people. From then on, all his people cherished(爱戴) him for his love and kindness.

    When I was in the seventh grade, I had problems behaving. My heart was in the right place, but I couldn't always follow the rules. I played many tricks on my schoolmates. Once, I even pulled a girl's hair on the school bus to get her attention. As a result, I was repeatedly sent to the office of the headmaster. Although 1 hated going there, I did nor hate the headmaster, Mr. Smith.

    Mr. Smith was a kind, elderly man. When he punished me for putting some ants into a classmate's pencil box, it didn't hurt at all, but it did hurt my feelings. I thought so much of him and moments like that seemed to prove I was hopelessly bad.

    When I was called to Mr. Smith's office for the sixth time, I had no idea what I had done. I felt disappointed as I walked down there. I went into his office, sat down, and looked at the floor. Then he said the last thing I expected to hear. "Kevin, I've heard you've been behaving really well lately. I want you to know how proud I am of you, and I just called you down to my office to give you a peppermint."

    "Really?" I was surprised.

    "Yes. Now you can take that peppermint and go back to class."

    I carried the peppermint with me as if it was a gold coin. When I got into my classroom, I bragged(吹嘘) to my classmates about nay turn around, excitedly. I wasn't so bad after all.

    Mr. Smith was really kind. He made me realize that I was just a kid who had problems with behavior. He bought some peppermints and took the time to notice me when I got something anything-right. Mr. Smith gave me some hope by giving me some love. I will just remember him for the rest of my life.

It was a Sunday morning. Helen and Jim were taking a walk on a beach. It was a quiet beach and there were no other people. They felt very relaxed and happy, walking in the sunshine.

Then Jim saw a bottle (瓶子) on the beach. He picked it up and found something in it. He took it out. Helen ran to look and said, "Wow! A treasure (宝藏) map! Let's follow it." 

"OK. We are here and the treasure is here. Let's go! I'll read," said Jim.

"Walk north 100 meters. Stop at a big tree. Turn right and then go straight. Stop when you get to the river. Cross the bridge. Turn left and walk along the river. Stop in front of a big rock (岩石). The treasure is behind the big rock."

"Here!" Jim said excitedly.

"There is a box!" said Helen. In the box was a very old note (便条).

Dear finder,

Sorry. Ihad totake mytreasure away, becauseI needed to buy a new boat.

Bye,

Owner (主人) of thetreasure

Jim and Helen were disappointed and had to go back.