A boy was sitting on the steps of a door one day. He had a stick in one hand,1in the other hand a large piece of bread and butter, which somebody had kindly given him. While he was eating it and singing a song happily, he saw a poor little dog quietly2not far from him. He called out to it, “Come here, poor dog!”

    Hearing this, the dog woke up, rose with its ears3and wagged its tail. Seeing the boy eating, it came near him. The boy held out to it a piece of his bread and butter. As the dog stretched out its head to take the4, the boy quickly drew back his hand and hit it5on the nose. The poor dog ran away,6loudly, while the cruel boy sat, laughing at the trick he had done.

    A gentleman, who was looking from a window on the other side of street, saw what the7boy had done. Opening the street door, he called him to8over, at the same time9up one dollar between the finger and thumb.

    “Would you like this?” said the gentleman.

    “Yes, if you10, sir,” said the boy, smiling, and he quickly ran over to seize the11.

    Just as the boy stretched out his hand, the gentleman hit12on the knee with an umbrella. “Why did you do that?” shouted the boy angrily. He made a very13face and cried, “I didn't hurt you, nor ask you for money.”

    “14did you hurt that poor dog just now?” said the gentleman. “It didn't hurt you, nor ask you for bread and butter. As you served it I have served you. Now, remember it can feel as well as you, and learn to behave15towards animals in future.”

    A young man from a village called Nawalapitiya married a young woman from Maiyuwa, a small village. They lived with the man's big family—his parents, his brothers, their wives and children. The family kept an elephant, in which the woman soon took a great interest. Every day she fed it with fruit and sugar.

    Three months later, having quarreled with her husband, the woman went back to her parents' home. Soon the elephant refused to eat and work. It appeared to be ill and heartbroken. One morning after several weeks the animal disappeared from the house.

    It went to the woman's home. On seeing her, the elephant waved its trunk and touched her with it. The young woman was so moved by the act of the animal. So she went back to her husband's home.

School started again, and soon the ink(墨水)in Tom's spelling book was found. Tom said he hadn't split the ink, but that made it look as if he were lying. Becky almost said Alfred Temple had done it, but she kept quiet. She thought that Tom would tell the teacher about her tearing(撕)his book, so she didn't save him. Mr Dobbins beat him and then Tom went back to his seat。

After an hour Mr Dobbins unlocked his desk and took out his book, Tom looked over at Becky. She looked like a hunted and helpless rabbit. The next moment the master faced the children. There was a long silence, then he spoke, "Who tore this book?"

There wasn't a sound. The teacher searched their faces.

"Benjamin Rogers, did you do it?"

Benjamin said no.

"Joseph Harper, did you?"

Joseph also said no. Dobbins looked at the rows of boys, thought for a moment, then turned to the girls.

"Amy Lawrence?"

A shake of the head.

"Gracie Miller?"

The same sign.

Becky was next. Tom was shaking from head to foot.

"Rebecca Thatcher?"—(Tom looked at her face; it was white with terror)— "did you tear?—no, look at my face—did you tear this book?"

Tom jumped to his feet and shouted, "I did it!"

The children stared(盯着) in surprise at his foolish act.

And when he stepped forward for his punishment, he saw the surprise, the thanks, and the love that came from Becky's eyes.This was enough for one hundred beatings. And he didn't even mind staying for two hours after school, because he knew that Becky was waiting for him outside.

Tom went to bed that night planning some actions on Alfred Temple, for Becky had told him everything. And he fell asleep with Becky's last words to him in his ear, "Tom, you are so great!"

In recent years, we can see some changes on P. E. classes at schools. Besides basic trainings like running and jumping, students are having a lot of fun now. Here are some examples. 

Tai Chi

Gao Ming enjoys the Tai Chi class at his school. "At first, we only learned Tai Chi in P. E. class. Day by day, my classmates fell in love withit! There is a Tai Chi competition in our school every year. Different from ballgames, doing Tai Chi makes me calm down and relaxed. It helps me get ready for other classes." said Gao, "I also keep practicing in my free time and it has been a part of my life."

Hip-hop

Ren Hui is a fan of hip-hop and the school helps her develop the hobby. "We can choose the type (类型) of our P. E. class at the beginning of every term and I always go for hip-hop." Ren said "It doesn't need much experience, so anyone can have a try. Every Monday, we learn a new movement. Then we review it on Thursday and Friday. I'm very happy to make new friends during dancing!"

Diabolo (空竹)

Playing diabolo, a traditional folk game, is a class for nearly all the students at Nanjing Yuhua Primary School. The much-loved sport includes whole-body exercise. "It is my favorite sport. It can help me train my reaction (反应) speed. Most importantly, it's so cool and fun. " Ma Jiaying, an eighth-grade girl said.

Should children do housework? Different people have different ideas. Some parents will say that their children are too busy for housework. Other parents will ask their children to do housework，but the housework doesn't get done. That's a problem. 

Doing housework is good for children. Doing housework helps them develop an awareness of the needs of others. One small study，done over a period of 25 years，found that young adults will succeed in their mid﹣20s depend on whether they took part in housework tasks at the age of 3 or 4. Those who early shouldered responsibilities developed a sense of responsibility in other areas of their lives. 

But few kids are doing much around the house at all. In a survey of 1，000 American parents，75 percent said they believed doing housework made kids" more responsible". Yet only 36 percent of those said they required their children to do housework. 

Sports and homework are not the housework﹣free reasons. The goal，after all，is to raise a kind of adults who can balance a caring role in their families and communities. Housework teaches that balance. 

What should you do when getting children to do housework? Never accept their excuses. Don't worry if you must repeat yourself again and again. If you're spending more time getting the child to do housework than it would take to do it yourself，then you're doing it right. Can a payment help?I don't think so. If you're trying to teach kids to shoulder the responsibility of a home，paying them for housework is not the right choice. 

I'm Michael from America. Now I am in China and celebrating the Spring Festival with Li Lei's family. It's New Year's Eve (除夕). What are we doing?

At 10:00 am

Li Lei's grandfather is making red lanterns. People always hang them at the gate. In China, red means good luck. His parents are getting ready for lunch.

At 5:00 pm

Li Lei's mother and aunt are making jiaozi—a kind of dumplings. His two cousins are playing games, Li Lei is making some New Year cards. I am writing an email to my parents on the Internet. I tell them about the festival.

At 8:00 pm

We are sitting at a big table and having a family dinner. It's really delicious. We are also watching the Spring Festival Gala (春节联欢晚会).