David did well in all his subjects except physics, Mr. Brown, his physics teacher, gave him his physics paper and said to him, “Show it to your dad and ask him to sign his name on the paper.”

    David played football until it was 7 o'clock. When he got home, his parents had finished supper. His dad was watching TV and his mother was doing the dishes in the kitchen as usual.

 “Dad, may I ask you some questions?” David asked happily.

 “Yes, of course,” answered his dad.

 “If you can't answer them, you'll have to do something for me.”

 “OK, I'll do as you tell me,” said his dad.

 “Which is cooler, walking or sitting in the sun?”

 “Walking is cooler. It can make wind.”

 “Which clothes can keep out (阻挡）the sunlight，shirts or coats?”

 “Coats can keep out the sunlight because they are much thicker than shirts.” “Is a man smart if he wears a coat and walks in the sun in summer?” David looked at his dad and waited for his answer. His dad thought for a minute and shook his head.

   David took out his paper, “Now sign your name on the paper, please.”

    We walked all afternoon with Infadoos and Scragga. Their men walked about a hundred metres ahead of us.

    “When did your people, the Kukuana, come to this place?”

    “They came from the north many thousands of moons ago,” Infadoos explained. “When they reached the mountains, they could go no farther. They stayed here where the land is good and there is water.”

    “Do you live here in peace?” I asked.

    “There have been two wars. Once an army came down from the north, but we killed most of them. Soon after that, we fought among ourselves.” He said, “The king at that time had two sons—twins. When he died, both young men wanted to be king. One of the twins, Twala, killed the other and became king.”

    “Did the dead man have a wife and children?” I asked. I knew that if he did, the fighting could start again one day.

    “Yes. He had a wife, Imotu, and a son, Ignosi. They ran away.” He pointed to a village a short way ahead. “That is the village where Imotu and Ignosi first hid,” he said. “We shall stay there tonight.”

    As soon as we were within a mile or so of the village, an army of men came out. As we passed them, they shouted a welcome.

    Their women were in the village. They stopped whatever they were doing to watch us pass by, but they were not rude. As soon as we were comfortable in a hut, they came with milk, honey, and cooked food.

    A young man brought a fat young ox which he killed and cut into pieces. We took a few pieces for ourselves and gave him the rest. We don't want them to think we were selfish.（选自《所罗门王的宝藏》，有删节）

    An old farmer lived on a farm with his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa was up early to read. One day the grandson asked, "Grandpa! What good does reading do?"

    The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, "Take this coal basket to the river and bring me back a basket of water."

    The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out (漏出) before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, "You"ll have to move a little faster next time," This time the boy ran faster, but again the same took place. It was an impossible task.

    The old man said, "You're just not trying hard enough," So the boy tried a third time and failed. He said, "See Grandpa, it's useless!"

    "So you think it is useless?" The old man said, "Look at the basket."

    The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket into a clean one inside and outside.

    "You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be changed, inside and out. "

Love is a two-way street

    A father sat at his desk and looked at his bills when his young son rushed in and announced, "Dad, because today is your birthday and you're 40 years old, I'm going to give you 40 kisses, one for each year!"

When the boy started making good on his word(履行诺言), the father shouted, "Andrew, don't do it now. I'm too busy!" The boy soon fell silent as tears fell from his big blue eyes. Feeling sorry, the father said, "You can finish later." The boy said nothing but quietly walked away. That evening the father said, "Come and finish the kisses now, Andrew!". But the boy didn't. Unfortunately，a few days later after the father's birthday, the boy had an accident and died. His sad father wrote, "If only(要是.....该多好) I could tell him how sorry I am for my thoughtless words, and how much my heart is hurting. "I Love is a two-way street. We must warmly accept any loving act, or others will take it as a "NO" and it can leave a scar(伤痕). If we don't receive love, our life will lose its true meaning. Nothing is more important than accepting love from those who are near and dear to us.

 My phone rang. It was a text from an unfamiliar number, showing a photo of a smiling man in his 30s. "What a strange picture to receive!" I thought to myself. 

 For the past three years, I have been getting texts meant for this man, Jared. When the second text came, I was a playful sixth grader. 

"My Mom just told me that the Football Club will host a free barbeque dinner on Saturday! Hope you all will enjoy it, " it said. 

"YUMMMY!" I carefully responded. 

 The story of Jared became deeper. I learned that he was part of the" Bowery Mission, " which sounded like a gaming group. Looking it up, I realized it was an organization that helped poor families. This was around the same time I stopped volunteering in my community. I spent more time taking art classes and trying different sports. I then joined the group texts. When a message came about donating food, I texted back, "Count me in!"

 However, I started to feel bad about this lie. A man sent a long message, talking about the hopeless moments in his life. As I imagined what a good friend Jared could be, I felt ashamed that I was unable to provide the support this man needed and realized that I was not even a good listener to my own friends. 

 Throughout this time, I noticed how much Jared's life has changed and I have also been discovering who I am. Learning from Jared, I have grown out of the naughty self, made more efforts tor my community, and become a more understanding friend. Last month, I received another text. Yet, I replied:" Hey, sorry, this is-not Jared, but I hope he is doing well. "