There are many fruit and vegetable gardens across the countryside. More students, at Madison Elementary School, are growing their own food in the gardens.

 The vegetables are washed. Then kids can eat them at a salad party. They are also sold in the school dining hall for lunch. This month, students will plant tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, broccoli(西兰花) and strawberries.

 Why are students learning how to grow food? Teachers want kids to learn healthy eating habits. Healthy food gives us energy. We need energy to grow.

 Many kids are now trying new food and learning how to grow food. Lisa is the parent volunteer of the program. She says a lot of students have told her, “I like salad. I didn't think I liked salad!” Then those students have gone home and asked their parents to buy vegetables that they have tried at school.

 Lisa's daughter, Lucy, is one of those students. She is in Grade Two.“I love the garden,”she says.“I didn't really like vegetables before we had the garden. Then we found out that gardening is cool. Now I like vegetables. My favorite vegetable is carrots.”

Our village carpenter（木匠）, John Hill, came one day and made a dining table for my wife. He made it just the right size to fill the space between the two windows. When I got home that evening, John was drinking a cup of tea and writing out his bill（账单）for his job.

My wife said to me quietly, “That's his ninth cup of tea today.” But she said in a loud voice, “It's a beautiful table, dear, isn't it?” “I'll decide about that when I see the bill,” I said. John laughed and gave me his bill for the work. I read:

One dining table                        10^th November, 2011

      Cost of wood                  ＄17.00

      Paint                         ＄1.50

      Work, 8 hours(＄1 an hour)       ＄8.00

      Total                         ＄36.50  

When I was looking at the bill, John said, “It's been a fine day, hasn't it? Quite sunny.”

“Yes,” I said. “I'm glad it's only the 10^th of November.”

“Me, too,” said John, “you wait—it will be a lot colder by the end of the month.”

“Yes, colder—and more expensive! Dining tables will be ＄20 more expensive on November 30^th, won't they, John?”

John looked hard at me for half a minute. Was there a little smile in his two blue eyes? I gave his bill back to him.

“If it's not too much trouble, John,” I said, “please add it up again. You can forget the date…”

I paid him ＄26.50 and he was happy to get it.

    When I was five years old. I took a boat out on the river and went fishing by myself. I really wanted to catch a fish! But they were not biting.

    I stayed in my boat for three days, waiting. A few times, I thought I felt a fish at the end of the line. The first time I pulled in my catch, it was not a fish; it was an old bag. The second time, it was a shoe. Finally, at the end of the third day, I felt a strong pull at the end of the line. The pull was so strong they my boat raced around and around. I needed all my power just to hold onto the fishing rod. I pulled, and I pulled and I caught the biggest fish that ever swam on the Earth! It was heavier than everyone in this room put together! Then something terrible happened!

    After I pulled the huge fish into my boat, I saw that the boat was going under water! Water was coming into the boat from all sides! I was not a very good swimmer, so I was scared.

    Although it was the hardest choice I ever made. I had to let the fish go. I pushed it back over the side of the boat, and we waved good-bye to each other as it swam away.

    It was a rainy night in New Orleans, US. At a bus station, I watched a young girl cry as her baggage(行李) was taken down. It seemed she'd lost her ticket. She begged the bus driver not to leave her behind.

    “Losing your ticket is like losing money,” the bus driver said, and left her in the rain.

    But then an old man stood up and blocked the driver's way. “How can you leave that girl out there? You know she had a ticket. You can't just leave her here. You can't leave her in a city where she doesn't have a friend. You will meet your schedule(日程安排), but she might meet her end.”

    The driver showed no sign that he'd heard or even cared about the young girl's problem, or how her travels went.

    So the old gentleman said: “I'll pay for her ticket. I'll give her a little money to help her on her way.”

    He went and bought a ticket for the girl. “How can I repay the kindness you've shown tonight?” she asked. “We're strangers who won't meet again. A mere ‘thank you' doesn't seem right.”

    The old man said: “What goes around comes around. I've learned this with time. What you give, you always get back. Always be helpful to others and give what you can spare(分让).”

    It was raining heavily as I was walking up the hill towards the station at six o'clock on a Saturday morning. Just as I was crossing the road near the top of the hill, a car came around the corner. It was traveling very fast. Suddenly it hit a lamp post (路灯杆) and turned over.

    I ran to the car to help the driver at once. He was badly hurt and there was a lot of blood on his face. Many people came to see what had happened and there was nothing we could do. A young woman hurried into the station and phoned for an ambulance (救护车). A policeman arrived a few minutes later and asked me a lot of questions about the accident. After a while the ambulance arrived and the driver was sent to the hospital.

    On Monday morning I went to the hospital to see the man. The doctor told me that he was much better, and he would leave the hospital after a few days' rest.