Once when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to buy tickets for the circus.

    Finally, there was only one family between the ticket office and us. This family made a big impression on me.

    There were eight children, all probably under the age of 12. You could tell they didn't have a lot of money. Their clothes were not expensive, but they were clean. The children talked excitedly about the clowns. It was clearly a very important day out for them. The father and mother seemed happy as they could be.

    The tickets lady asked how many tickets the father wanted, he proudly answered, "Please let me buy eight children's tickets and two adults' tickets, so I can take my family to the circus."

    The ticket lady told him the price.

    The man's wife lowered her head. There was no longer a smile on the man's face. He quietly asked, "How much did you say?"

    The ticket lady again told him the price.

    The man obviously didn't have enough money. But how could he tell his kids the bad news?

    Seeing what was happening, my dad took a $20 note from his pocket and dropped in on the ground. (We were not rich ourselves at all!) He then tapped the man on the shoulder and said,

    "Excuse me, Sir, you dropped this."

    The man understood my father was helping him. He picked up the money, looked straight into my dad's eyes, and in tears replied, "Thank you. This really means a lot to me and my family."

    Although we did not go to the circus that night, we didn't go without.

    Little Peter is a boy of nine. He began to go to school the year before last and now he's in Grade Three. He lives not far from the school, but he's often late for class. He likes watching TV in the evening and goes to bed late, so he can't get up on time in the morning.

    This term Mrs Black, Peter's aunt, works in Peter's school. She teaches Grade Three maths. She's strict with Peter and often tells the boy to obey (遵守) the school rules and come to school on time. Yesterday morning Peter got up late. When he hurried to school, it was 8:15. His aunt was waiting for him at the school gate.

    "You're ten minutes late for the first class, Peter." Mrs Black said angrily. "Why are you often late for class?" Every time, when I get to the street corner, I always see a guidepost. It says, 'SCHOOL-GO SLOW!

    Betty and I are best friends. Our birthdays are on the same day, so every year we have a birthday party together. But this year, we had a costume party instead.

    While we were writing the invitations, my mum came in and asked, "Why not invite John?" John had been in our class for only a few months, but he had already got better grades in math than anyone else in class. I wrinkled(皱起) my nose," Mum, he wears the same pants to school every day. How could he even afford a costume?" Mum said nothing. The next day, Mum gave me an envelope(信封) with a shopping card in it. "I thought it would be nice for you to give this to John," Mum said. But how? We didn't want to make John embarrassed. We discussed it for a long time. Finally, Betty and I had a good idea.

    On the day of our party, kids arrived, dressed differently. John arrived, in an old sheet(床单), but still in the same brown pants as usual. We danced, ate snacks and played games in groups. Before eating the birthday cake, Betty said in a loud voice," Now it's time for the great prize game. It's the following riddle..."It was a math game. None of us was surprised when John came up with the right answer first and walked off with the envelope.

    Everything went on well as we planned. John wore a new pair of pants and a new shirt the next week. He felt happy. So did we.

    When we help others, we need to find a proper way, or we may hurt them in another way.

    A poor boy lived in a small town. He sold things from door to door to pay for school. One day, he had only one cent left, and he was hungry. He decided that he would ask for a meal at the next house. However, when a young woman opened the door, the boy was shy, so he just asked for some water. The woman knew he was hungry, so she brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly, and then asked, "How much should I pay for it?" "You needn't pay for it. My mother has told me that it is good to help the people who are in trouble," she replied. The boy said, "Then I thank you from my heart." As the boy left that house, he felt stronger. He knew he had many things to do.

    Many years later, the young woman became ill. The local doctors couldn't save her. Her family had to send her to a big city. When the doctor knew who the woman was, he was excited and did his best to save her life. He succeeded. The woman needed to pay for the medical bill (账单). The doctor learned that she couldn't afford it, so he wrote something down on the medical bill. The woman read the bill, "You paid it with a glass of milk."