Andrew Holleman, a 12-year-old boy, loved playing in the open land near his home. The land was wet and forested, and made a home for birds, other animals and many different plants. It made the perfect place for him to study and get to know the nature. He had seen some red-tail hawks, red foxes, wood turtles and other animals. He also found special native flowers.

      Suddenly it was announced that the “empty” land would be improved by a lot of houses on it. The plants would be removed, the animals would run away and most would probably die. Then the wet soil(土壤) would be covered with extra grounds. When he heard about the news, he was not happy. He was very worried that the land and water would be polluted.

      Andrew wrote down clearly all the research he had done about the area, and how the houses would affect the local environment. He sent letters to members of local government and television reporters. He also called on his neighbors to oppose the building of the houses.

Although he was only 12 years old, he had the courage and wisdom of a person much older. Andrew's teachers described him as gentle, shy and active. His classmates also admired how much he knew about local animals and plants and the environment. Each day after school, Andrew went door-to-door, to ask the people to sign, who did not want the houses to be built. In only one month, he got the signatures of 250 people. In the end, the land remained a safe place for birds, animals and plants that belonged there.

      Andrew won many prizes for his brave and great work to stop the houses being built, and thus help save the environment.

    On a rainy day, about 150 volunteers worked for eight hours to clean up Carson Creek that is near a river. About nine tons of trash was taken out from there.

    “We did a good job,” said Alan Specter, the organizer of the event. “We're planning to come back here one more time, three years from now. Of course, we hope that there won't be so much trash next time.”

    The trash came in all shapes, sizes, and colors: cans, bottles, bicycles, batteries, furniture, clothing, plastic bags, dolls, and even a golf bag with a full set of golf clubs (球棒).

    The dirty and tiring work was done by two volunteering groups — Save the Bay and Watch the Whales. Most of the volunteers came from a local police station and a fire station. And some of them were old people who had already retired (退休).

    That day, it rained a little. All of them wore boots, gloves and raincoats. They did the work along a two-mile river with over 500 big yellow trash bags everywhere.

    No one found anything that cost much. A five-year-old boy found an earring which he thought might be worth a million dollars. He said he'd sell it. Then he'd donate half of the money to Watch the Whales, and use the other half to buy his favorite ice cream every day.

    Many people laughed at the boy's story. However, it was easily found that the environment there did become better.

    Things didn't go well for Henry, the village pancake maker. The Great Pancake Contest(比赛) was today. People from different places would try to win the contest .The villagers wanted Henry to win, but Henry had problems. There was not enough wood in the oven to make a pancake. Mice ate half the flour(面粉) during the night.

    The villagers saw that Henry was having problems. The woodsman brought wood for the oven. The farmer gave Henry more flour. This was all very good but he was still missing one more important thing. There was hardly enough time for Henry to make his pancake and take it to the contest. But Henry decided to have a try.

    As fast as he could, Henry put the wood in the oven. When he made the pancake, he thought, "When I had no wood, the woodsman brought me wood; when I had no flour, the farmer brought me flour. My good friends helped me."

    After Henry finished making the pancake, he ran as fast as he could to the contest. "I'm sorry, Henry," one of the judges(评判员) said. "You are too late." Henry's friends were sad for him, but Henry just laughed. "I' m not sad! In fact，I'm happy!" he shouted. "I have good friends who helped me. Now, I have a wonderful pancake to share with them."

    A British man has learned the skills needed to perform Beijing Opera, making the audience (观众) enjoy his lively performance of the Monkey King.

    Ghaffar Pourazar, born in Iran, said he has been a big fan of Bruce Lee since he was a child and is full of interest about China. In 1993, he happened to watch Beijing Opera performed in London by professionals from Jingju Theatre Company of Beijing. Ghaffar said he fell in love with the beautiful voices, colorful costumes, excellent shows and so on. So after one year, he arrived in China alone and became a student of Beijing Opera at a Beijing school.

    At the age of 32, he had to learn with teenage students every day, starting from the most basic training of the legs and waist. At the time, he was mostly troubled by the dialogue in Beijing Opera. To him, it was the biggest obstacle. But he never gave up.

    Four years later, he began to learn to perform the Monkey King, a traditional character from the Chinese classic story Journey to the West. He said he arrived in the workroom an hour earlier than other performers and also bought books and CDs to better understand the character.

    Ghaffar today is not only good a speaking Beijing dialect (方言) but has also built a fame for Beijing Opera. He once got a top international prize for performing the Monkey King.

    To help more people enjoy Beijing Opera, Ghaffar often teaches the traditional art form in schools in the United States, Britain and other countries. When he found that the language was difficult to understand, he started to translate Beijing Opera song lyrics. Ghaffar led a group of actors to perform 66 times in a month and a half in the United States. He also led a 48-member team to perform in Malaysia. In the past 10 years, he has performed in more than 400 shows.

    William Shakespeare is one of the greatest writers in English literature. His plays can be divided into three categories: histories, tragedies (悲剧) and comedies. Shakespeare wrote eighteen comedies, although two were lost. These comedies usually have happy endings and a light-hearted tone and style that are quite different from his tragedies.

    All of Shakespeare's comedies have five acts and the most important or exciting point always takes place in the third act. The hero does not appear until after other characters have talked about him. Shakespeare had some themes that he usually wrote about: the fight between good and bad, love's great effect on people, and the difference between first appearance and a person's true personality or face. Shakespeare also wrote his play in a certain style. For example, Shakespeare used words in such a clever and humorous way that they had more than one meaning. Some of the characters changed their appearances so that people didn't know who they were.

    Even though the tone is lighter in these plays. Comedies in Shakespeare's day were quite different from modern-day comedies because their purpose was not to make people laugh. Shakespeare's comedies are very emotional (有感染力的) and often include serious topics to think about.

    Janie shook her bank. It was not heavy. She shook it again. It made very little sound.

    She sighed (叹气). How could she buy dad a gift? Father's Day was almost here. She went to talk to mom.

    "Mom," said Janie, I need money. "What do you need money for?" asked Mom. "I need to get dad a gift for Father's Day." "I will not give you the money," said Mom. "I will help you to make it." "What do I have to do?" asked Janie. "You can help me," said Mom. "You can help with housework. I will make a list of jobs. Each one will be worth a price. When you do a job well, I will give you the money according to the price." "OK. That's a good idea." said Janie.

    Mom quickly made a housework list: sweeping the floor, $2; making the table, $0.5 ; washing socks, $1; making the bed, $1; washing the dishes, $2; taking out the litter, $1; cutting the grass in the garden, $3; tidying the room, $3.

    After that, Janie helped with the housework happily every day, "What a pleasant surprise father will have when he gets the gift!" Janie often imagines (想象).