It was Mother's Day. John was so busy with his work that he couldn't go back home. When he walked by a flower shop in the evening, an idea came to his mind. “I'll send Mum some roses (玫瑰).”
   While John was picking his flowers, a young man went inside. “How many roses can I get for only five dollars, Madam?” he asked. The shop assistant told him that roses were as expensive as forty dollars a dozen (一打). Maybe he would be happy with carnations(康乃馨). She told him they were a lot cheaper than roses.
   “No, I have to have red roses," he said, "My mum was badly ill last year and I didn't get to spend much time with her. Now I want to get something special, it has to be roses, as the rose is her favorite.”
   After hearing this, John said he would pay the rest of the money for the young man. Moved by both of them, the shop assistant said, “Well, lovely young men, thirty dollars a dozen, only for you two." Taking the roses, the young man almost jumped into the air. He thanked John, and ran out of the shop. It was well worth twenty-five dollars John paid to see the exciting moment. Then John paid for his dozen of roses and told the shop assistant to send them to his mother.
   As he walked out, he felt nice. Suddenly he saw the young man crossing the street and going into a park. But soon he realized it was not a park but a cemetery (墓地). Crying, the young man carefully laid the roses, "Mum, oh, Mum, why didn't I tell you how much I loved you? God, please help me find my mum and tell her I love her.”
   Seeing this, John turned and quickly walked back to the shop. He would take the flowers home himself.

    Denzil wasn't a very clever donkey. He always did some silly things because he didn't think. "Look out," the other donkeys said. "Here comes Denzil—everybody runs away!"

    One day, Denzil carried two heavy bags of salt, one on each side of his back. When he was crossing a big river, he fell into the water. The salt began to melt. When he tried his best to stand up, all the salt was gone. "Hey, that's really great," thought Denzil. "I must remember that. Next time I can do it again when I'm crossing a river."

    The next time he carried two bags of cotton(棉花). "Watch this, everybody," said Denzil when he and his friends got to the middle of the river. He went into the water and was gone! Nobody told him that cotton could get heavier in water. The other donkeys pulled him out at once and luckily he was still alive.

B

    Many years ago in Japan, a farmer and his wife had three children, two boys and a girl. The boys helped their parents on the farm. The girl was small and weak. She was often ill. She spent her time drawing cats. Her parents didn't like her, so they took her to the temple ( 寺庙 ) .

    In the temple the girl drew cats all day long. The other people in the temple tried to stop her, but she didn't listen. So they asked the girl to leave the temple.

    The girl came to a town. She didn't have any money, so she had to stay in an empty house outside the town. Inside the house, there was only a mat (垫子 ) on the floor, a light near the window, and a large paper screen ( 屏风 ) . The girl drew some cats on the paper screen. She drew cats of every kind. When the screen was full of cats, she lay down on the mat and went to sleep.

    The next morning, when the girl woke up, she was very surprised - there was a very large dead mouse in the middle of the house! People in the town said, "The girl's cat drawings came to life ( 复活 ) at night. They saved the girl from the large mouse."

    The girl left the town and went on her way. Everywhere she went, people wanted to buy her cat drawings. Soon, she became one of the most famous artists in Japan. When you visit Japan, you might be able to see one of her pictures.

    We often hear stories of animals rescuing people .But now someone has managed to return the favor .

The event took place one snowy January morning Thomas Smith was walking his dog, Jack, in the park." As I was walking, I just saw Jack running onto the ice towards the ducks in the middle, and then he fell into the water and couldn't climb out, "said Smith. He realized he had no choice but to try and save his dog." someone else told me the lake was only one - meter deep, but it was at least twice that. I had to break my way through the 6- cm ice. Finally, I got Jack by the neck, and pulled him out. I don't think I have ever felt so cold by the time we got back to dry land. And when we got there, everyone was asking if Jack was okay—— no one was particularly worried, about me!"

    A neighbor, Julie Brown, saw it all happen."The dog went onto an icy lake. All of a sudden, it started to go under. There were crowds of people around, and they were all shouting and screaming. Before I knew it, the owner Smith was in the water forcing his way through the ice. I can't begin to imagine how cold it was. Everyone was very nervous, but he was as cool as a cucumber — he just crawled back out, put the dog on its lead, and went home."

    Many regard him as a hero, but Mr. Smith is quite laid- back about it."Most dog owners are the same as me.They would do what I did without a second thought. But in the future, I'm going to make sure he's on lead near any ice ponds,

    Pets are members of our family. Would you do the same for them?

    I taught high school for years and had the joy of knowing many wonderful kids. One student, Scott Wood, was especially close to my heart. What I taught was Creative Writing. Scott wrote quite well His talent is beyond the teacher's ability to teach. He was able to express through his written words well and it enabled me to light his way a little.

    Scott and other students were often in my home, at my kitchen table, sharing supper .It was amazing to me that what I said to them about life and love, and making time for the important things influenced them in their daily life. I watched them use these lessons they learnt in their lives as I followed their lives after graduation. Scott, especially, did this, and still does this today.

    Recently I told him I feel particularly down these days. I couldn't stop thinking about the sad and unpleasant things in the life. Here is what he emailed back to me.

    I remember you coming into the class one day late .You continued to tell all of us hat you were late because of very special reason. It had snowed the night before but instead of cleaning the ice off your windows in the car, you let the car heater lake cane of t and you sat and watched in wonder as he water slowly started flowing down your window. I think about this a lot when the weather begins getting cold, how most of us miss the simple treasure-ice melting. Life is full happiness and sadness. But every day is a gift, right? Life is not a lack of beauty, but lack of the find the beauty .Is that not what you always told us? That is how you lived and that is how you toll t to live.

    Ice melting. I do not remember his thing but, thinking back, it seems very true. That is what I believed, that is what I taught.

    You know, just to make it clean, an "ice -melting moment "to me is that moment you stop time for-you stop everything for -because it is too precious to miss .Scott, my student long ago, made me remember to never be too busy to stop the world, stop the clock for the magical moments in our daily lives.

    A restaurant had one falled upon hard times. Only five 1 were left: the manager and four others, all over 60 years old.

    In the town near the restaurant there lived a successful businessman who was good at managing business, so the manager2to ask the businessman if he could offer any advice that might save the restaurant. The manager and the businessman talked for a long period of time, but when he was asked for advice, the businessman 3for a while and then said, "I have no advice to give. The only thing I can tell you is that the saver (救星) is one of you."

    The manager, returning to the restaurant4, told the other people what the businessman had said. In the months that5, the old restaurant workers thought carefully of the words of the businessman, "The saver is one of us?" They asked themselves. As they thought about this possibility, they all began to treat each other with6respect(尊重). And thinking that each of themselves might be the saver, they also began to treat themselves with more care.

    As time went by, people coming to the restaurant7that some respect and warm kindness were around the five old members of the small restaurant. Hardly knowing 8, more people began to come back to the restaurant. They began to bring their friends, and theirs brought more friends. Two 9 later, the small restaurant had once again become a big food company, thanks to the businessman's10. They understood that it was they themselves that were the savers.