Bob is eleven years old. One day, his friend Jenny said to him, “I'm going to have a birthday party on Saturday. Bob, can you come?”

      Bob asked his mother, and his mother said, “Yes, you can go.” On Saturday afternoon, his mother said to him again, “Now, Bob, when you go to the party, you must be polite(礼貌的), and don't ask for food until someone gives it to you. ”

     “All right, Mom.” Bob said, and he went to Jenny's house by bike.

      There were many children at the party. They played games for about an hour, and then Jenny's mother gave them some food, but she forgot Bob and didn't give him any. After a long time, he took up his plate（盘子）and said loudly, “Does anyone want a nice clean plate?”

    Mike found a job in a bookstore after he finished middle school. He wouldn't do anything but wanted to get rich.   It was a cold morning. It snowed and there was thin ice on the streets. Few people went to buy books and the young man had nothing to do. He hated to read, so he watched the traffic. Suddenly he saw a bag fall off a truck and it landed by the other side of the street.

    “It is full of expensive things.” Mike said to himself. “I have to get it right now, or others will take it away.”He went out of the bookstore and ran across the street. A driver saw him and began to whistle (鸣笛), but he didn't hear it and went on running. The man drove to the side, hit a big tree and hurt himself in the accident. Two weeks later, Mike was taken to the court (法庭). A judge asked if he heard the whistle when he was running across the street. He said that something was wrong with his ears and he could hear nothing.“But you heard me this time,” said the judge.“Oh, I'm sorry. Now I can hear with one ear.”“Cover (盖住) the ear with your hand and listen to me with your deaf (聋的) one. Well, can you hear me?”“No, I can't , sir.”“You told a lie. There is nothing wrong with either of your ears,” the judge said.

    Do you remember when your grandma told you the story of Snow White? Ah, the happy days of childhood! But did you know that Snow White comes from Germany? It's just one story from the 209 in Grimm's Fairy Tales (《格林童话》).

    The Grimm brothers started to collect fairy tales in 1806. Their first book came out (出版) in 1812. Why are German fairy tales so interesting? Maybe it's because they come from a great place famous for its stories – the Black Forest.

    The Black Forest is in southwest Germany. It's the largest forest in the country – and one of the most beautiful. It's famous for its trees and lovely views. There are valleys and waterfalls (瀑布) there. It's a good place to start a story.

    Don't forget to bring something back if you visit. People there are good at making clocks, musical instruments and watches.

    My cousin Tom likes candy(糖果)very much. He always asks for candy. My aunt doesn't want him to have so much candy. She doesn't think it's healthy. It's Tom's fifth birthday. His parents buy him some food, fruit and some interesting things. But they don't buy candy for him. Tom isn't happy.

    "I want to have some candy, Mum." Tom says

    "I'm really sorry. We don't have candy. And I don't think it is good for you."

    "I like candy. I want some." Tom says.

    "OK, you can have some. But you can't have it today.

    "When can I have it?"

    "Your uncle's wedding(婚礼)is on February 2nd. You can have some."

    "OK" Tom is very happy and asks, "Mum, when is your wedding?"

Once upon a time，there was a boy named Tim. He lived in a small 1 with nice mountains（山） and rivers. It was great to play there，2 Tim was always busy with his computer games and never noticed the beauty around him. 

Tim's grandfather was worried and always 3 about how great the nature（自然） was with him. "What clean and beautiful lake it is!"，his grandfather often said. One day，his grandfather asked Tim to go on a trip with him. Tim agreed，but he was not very 4 . 

As they walked in the village，Tim's grandfather pointed out many 5 things，such as colourful flowers with bright leaves，mother birds flying back homes with food to 6 their babies. They even climbed to the top of the hill so that they could see the sights 7 . His grandfather also told him some stories behind each place. Some of the stories were really funny and made Tim 8 all the time. Tim got to enjoy these beautiful things for the first time. 

At the end of the trip，Tim's grandfather told Tim not to 9 the small things in life，like a sunny day or a friendly smile. From that day on，Tim learned to enjoy every moment and be thankful. 

He thought that there was much more to life compared to 10 . Tim decided to spend more time outdoors and take short trips with his grandfather more often.