This story happened in a small mountain village. One day there was an earthquake. Nothing was destroyed and 1 was hurt. But a huge rock fell from a nearby mountain and stopped in the middle of the road.

　　When the earthquake2, many people came to the road and saw the huge rock. Some of the strongest men tried to lift the rock 3 the road. But they couldn't move it. They tried to push it but failed. They tried to 4 it with ropes but nothing worked.

　　"Well," they all agreed, "There's nothing we can do about it. We'll have to change the 5." At this time a boy of 12 years old said, "I think I can help you to move the rock."

　　"You?" they shouted, "What are you talking about?" The men all 6at the boy.

　　The next morning some people came into the street. One of them shouted, "The rock is7!" More people ran out to see. It was right. The rock wasn't in the road any more. It wasn't8 near the road.

　　"This is9," they said, "Where did it go?"

　　The boy stood in the street, 10 ， "I told you I could move it last night."

　　The boy walked over to where the11  had been and uncovered some earth. "I buried it," he said.

　　The people looked 12. "You see," he said, " I dug a deep hole next to the rock and I dug a small incline （斜坡）up to the rock and the rock 13 down into the hole by itself. I covered it with earth."

The crowds shouted, "What a 14 boy!" And some of them said, "Why haven't we thought of this good

15?"

    Working in Africa, one day we went to an orphanage (孤儿院). There we met a lovely little girl named Tanzile. I gave her a sweet I brought. “She 1 one more, doctor,” said the nurse. I said “Of course.” and gave her 2.

    Before we left, we went to say 3 to Tanzile. She was holding the sweets I had given her.

    I said to the nurse, “This little girl is clever. She has taken two sweets for herself.”4 after the nurse asked her some questions, we learned the 5 about Tanzile.

    Tanzile was 7 then. Two years before, her mom and dad had both died of AIDS. Her baby sister was taken away from her. From then on, whenever she  6 anything from people, including food, she refused to accept unless they gave her two — one for her and one for her 7.

    In fact, in her room, we found quite a few old things which she  8 38   to give her sister one day.

    Later that day, I was 9 to find that this was not an isolated (个别的) story. There were many orphans just like Tanzile. With a lot of things in their rooms, they 10 for their brothers and sisters who they hadn't seen for so long.

    People sometimes think African children are different from our kids. They think that the children there don't feel pain or sadness or love. But that is not true. Their pain is deep. And so is their love.

    As a young man, Al was a famous artist with his wife and two fine sons. One night, his elder son had a bad stomachache. Thinking it was only some1trouble, neither Al and his wife took the condition very seriously. But the boy died suddenly that night.

    Knowing the child could have been2if he had only realized the seriousness of the situation, he always felt he was guilty (负罪感). To make matters worse, his wife 3him a short time later, leaving him alone with his six-year-old younger son. The hurt and 4of the two situations were more than Al could stand, and he was used to drinking alcohol (酒精) for 5. In time Al became an alcoholic.

Drinking too much alcohol, Al began to lose 6he owned—his land, house, money, etc. Finally Al died alone in a small bar. Hearing of Al's7, I thought, “What a wasted life! What a complete failure!”

    As time went by, I knew Al's now adult son, Ernie. He is one of the8, most caring, most loving men I have ever known. I saw the9between Ernie and his children, thinking that kindness and caring had to come from somewhere.

    I hadn't heard Ernie talk much about his father. One day, I tried to ask him what his father had done so that he became such a special person. Ernie said quietly, “ As a 10until I left home at eighteen, my father came into my room every night, gave me a kiss and said, ‘Love you, son.'”

       Charlotte's Web (《夏洛特的网》) is popular with readers of all ages. It is a story about two1: a little pig called Wilbur and a spider (蝴蛛) with the name of Charlotte.

       One day, the pig Wilbur is sold (卖) to a farmer. Wilbur has no 2 there, and other animals look down on (看不起) him. He is unhappy and sad. But his 3 turns around when he meets the spider Charlotte and Charlotte becomes a great friend to him.

       There is 4news for Wilbur. He is going to be killed. It seems that there is no 5 for him until Charlotte thinks of a clever plan to help him. She uses her web to write messages of praise (赞扬)about Wilbur. People in this town never 6 messages in a spider's web. So they think that the messages must come from God! Wilbur becomes 7 enough to go to a big game. He doesn't 8 the game, but the famous web makes sure that he will never be slaughtered. The sadness of the story is the spider Charlotte herself. Saving Wilbur makes her very 9. And after giving birth to her babies, she dies (死). When Wilbur thinks he will have no friends again, three young and small baby 10 come and become his new friends.

    Serena was the oldest child in the family, and her housework was to mow(修剪)their yard. Mrs. Martin, their elderly neighbor, was not 1 to take care of her yard, so Serena's dad promised 2 that Serena would do this job. "Why didn't you ask me first?" Serena asked 3 . "Did you ask me first when you got me to be in the school festival last autumn?" asked her dad. "No, I didn't ask you first, 4 you're always ready to help others." "I try when I can," her dad answered. "Serena, we have know Mrs. Martin for a very long time. She has always 5 our family. Now we should do something for her in return. What's more, the 6 you get from helping others makes you wonder who is really helping whom." "I don't know, Dad," said Serena. "I only feel 7 after mowing our yard." "I know it's hard work for you," said her dad. "Just wait and see." After 8 at 7:30 a. m. Serena made her way to Mrs. Martin's yard. She was 9 her job and soon Mrs. Martin's yard looked much tidier. Mrs. Martin 10with a big glass of orange juice  and 11 it to her. Serena stopped her work and enjoyed the12, while Mrs. Martin was talking to her about all of the flowers in her yard. Seeing the joy in Mrs. Martin's eyes, Serena began to13 how much the yard meant to Mrs. Martin. After 14 her drink, Serena returned to15 in the yard, feeling warm in her heart and thinking about what her father said. Her dad was right. It was hard to tell who was helping whom!