Just as I came back home. I heard a sound coming from the bedroom upstairs—it was from my favourite violin.

“Thief （小偷）！”

 I rushed upstairs and saw a boy in dirty clothes pulling my violin down. At first sight, I found a new pair of shoes missing. It seemed he was surely a thief.

However, when I saw his eyes full of fear, my anger disappeared. I smiled and asked, “Are you Mr. Ram's student Rubens? I'm his butler（男管家）. I've heard Mr. Ram say his student will come. It must be you.”

“Has my teacher gone out ?”the boy said, “I think I'd better visit him again in a while/”

 I nodded and asked him, “Do you like playing the violin?”

“Yes, but I'm too poor to afford one.” the boy replied.

“Then, I'll give you this violin." The boy looked at me surprisingly, but he picked up the violin. While going out of the room, he suddenly saw a huge photo of me playing the violin at the Grand Theatre of Sydney on the wall. His face turned pale. He stood there for a moment and ran out. He must have understood what had happened because no master（主人）would put up the butler's photo on the wall of his living room.

 A few years later, at a music competition in Melbourne, I was invited to be the judge （评委）. Finally, a violin player called Merritt won the first prize.

 After the prize-giving, Merritt ran to me holding a violin box, his face red, and asked, “Mr. Brian, do you still know me? You gave me the violin, which I have treasured ever since! Today, I want to say sorry and give back this violin to you without regret…”

 He was just the “Mr. Ram's student”!

    "You have saved my horse." Queen Olivia told the young boy standing before her. "Now you shall get a gift for what you did." Peter nervously ran his fingers through his brown hair. That day when he was working in the field，the shocked horse ran past him. Without thinking，he rushed out and controlled it. He didn't know it was the Queen's horse and never expected to get a gift. But he still felt happy for getting one.

    Two of the queen's men appeared. One carried a mirror. Red jewels(珠宝)shone on top of the mirror's silver frame(框架). The other carried a wooden cage with a chicken inside it.

    "Only one gift call be yours," the queen said. "Choose wisely." "That's easy," Peter said. "I'll take the chicken." Some of the queen's men laughed. It was clear that they thought he had made a foolish choice.

    "And why did you choose the chicken?" the queen asked. "Well, I don't know much about jewels," Peter answered. "But I do know about chickens. The chicken will provide eggs for my family for a long while."

    Queen Olivia smiled. "Then you did make a wise choice," she said. "That minor may look beautiful. But the jewels you see are only colored glass, and the frame is painted silver. The chicken is much more valuable." Peter took the chicken and bowed. "Thank you, your majesty."

    "You are a smart child." the queen added. "I could use a smart boy to help take care of my horses. Would you like to take the job?" Peter smiled. "Thank you very much!" he said excitedly. A job at the castle paid well. Now his family wouldn't worry about their food any more--all because he was kind to help others and smart enough to make the right choice!

    The mystery(悬疑) stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are famous all over the world.

    The detective in his stories is called Sherlock Holmes. He solves mysteries in a most surprising way. Through it all, his assistant, Dr Watson, watches with admiration(钦佩). Watson then writes up the story of the mystery afterwards.

    This is a useful story writing skill. Because Watson is not very clever, the story remains a mystery until the end. The readers can sometimes pick up some clues before he does! Then, to make Watson understand the mystery, Holmes has to explain it all, step by step. So we, the readers, get to see it step by step too. Watson is almost as good a character in the story as Sherlock Holmes!

    The very first time they meet, Holmes greatly surprises Watson. When they are first introduced, Holmes says to Watson, "How do you do? I see you have been to Afghanistan.”

    Watson is too amazed by this to ask Holmes how he knows this. Watson has, indeed, been to Afghanistan. Later, he asks Holmes about it. Holmes explains that there is nothing magical about what he does. He gets to know it all by very, very careful observation (观察).

Observation One

    Watson was introduced to Holmes as a doctor. Yet Holmes thought that the way he stood and walked made him seem like a soldier. So, this meant he was probably an army doctor.

Observation Two

    Watson's face was quite dark skinned. But his wrists(手腕) were pale. So his dark face was probably sunburnt. This meant that he had been to a hot, sunny country. As he was a working doctor, this was not a holiday. He must have gone with the army.

Observation Three

    At the time, the British army had soldiers at bases in many parts of the world. So there were still a lot of places to choose from. However, Holmes saw that Watson looked very tired and he was always holding his left arm, as if it was painful. So, he had probably been with the army to a place where they were fighting. There was only one place where the British army was fighting at that time: Afghanistan.

Once upon a time, there was no tea at all in England. People there used {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (drink) a light beer (啤酒). No coffee or milk but large glasses of beer {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (stand) on the breakfast table!

When tea was {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (one) brought to England, an old couple got some as a special treat. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}they did not know how it should be used. They cooked the{#blank#}5{#/blank#}  (leaf) in hot water, and spread them on a piece of bacon (熏肉) which they were going to have for dinner. They ate the leaves, and threw the tea away! However, tea is becoming{#blank#}6{#/blank#} popular as coffee and milk in England today.

Tea is the leaf of a plant which grows {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (wide) in China, Japan and some other countries. Tea farmers usually grow a great many tea plants on a large piece of land. When the tea leaves {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (pick), it is the busiest time for tea farmers in a year. They pull off the leaves and dry {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (they). In their spare time, they pick out the {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (good) leaves and get them ready for market. In China, whenever a visitor comes into a house, he is served with a cup of tea.

Some volunteers in Egypt（埃及） are teaching the children of refugee(难民 ){#blank#}1{#/blank#} from many African countries.

Chris Rupke teaches at the African Hope School in Ma'adi,{#blank#}2{#/blank#} town near Cairo. Rupke says that some of the children he teaches{#blank#}3{#/blank#}one or both of their parents. Rupke adds that one boy was so badly influenced {#blank#}4{#/blank#}his experience that he was unable to speak. Then, a psychologist（心理学家） at the school got him to draw pictures of everything that had happened before.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}, after {#blank#}6{#/blank#}the pictures and working with the psychologist, the boy started to talk. Now, the boy is much {#blank#}7{#/blank#} than before.

Teacher Jean-Pie has worked at the African Hope School {#blank#}8{#/blank#} 2003.

Jean-Pie said that when he began, he met 6 refugee children under Cairo's bridges and in its public gardens. He tried his best{#blank#}9{#/blank#} them to come to school. At the refugee schools, most classesare taught in English. The students learn Maths, Arabic, Science, etc.

All the teachers there are nice and responsible（有责任感的）. They hope what they have done can really make a big{#blank#}10{#/blank#}to those refugee children.