Dan was the doorman of a club in a big city. Every day, thousands of people passed his door, and a lot of them stopped and asked him, “What's the time, please？”

    After a few months, Dan said to himself, “I'm not going to answer all those stupid people any more. I'm going to buy a big clock and put it on the wall here.” Then he did so.

    “Now people aren't going to stop and ask me the time.” He thought happily.

    But after that, a lot of people stopped, looked at the clock and asked Dan, “Is that clock right?”

    Tom Longboat had always been fast. He learned to run as a young boy on the Six Nations Grand River Reserve in Ontario, Canada. He ran a long distance each day to get to school or to visit his family and friends.

    Sometimes running was the easiest part of Tom Longboat's life. As an aboriginal(土著的) athlete, life was hard for him. Other people tried to control how he trained and where he raced. But he chose to depend on his own spirit, mind and body, and would never back down.

    Tom Longboat won the Boston-Marathon in 1907 with a time of 2 hours, 24 minutes and 24 seconds, 4 minutes and 59 seconds faster than the world record(纪录) at that time. The Boston newspaper said he was the most excellent runner who had sped over their roads.

    He took part in the Olympics and won many international marathons.

    His spirit lives on. Every year, the best aboriginal athlete in Canada is given the Tom Longboat Award.

One day, Jack and Sharon were going for a walk in the snow. 

"Oh Jack,1 that wonderful view ( 景 色 ) of our garden! We're so lucky to live somewhere so beautiful!" said Sharon. 

"Yes, I think so, but it could be even better …"answered Jack. "What do you mean?" asked Sharon. 

"Well, look at those little2 . I'm not so sure they like the3 when it's covered in snow. The poor little things can't find anything to4 . We're enjoying the view, but the birds are so cold and hungry!"said Jack. 

"You're right, Jack. We should do something to5 those hungry birds," said Sharon. Jack thought for a while and said,"Why don't we make some delicious bird food and put it outside so the birds can6 it?"

Then both of them got busy in the kitchen7 food for the birds. The food was good enough to keep the birds going when the garden was covered in snow. Sure enough, the birds came flying to Jack and Sharon's home-made8 . They hung( 悬 挂 )from the trees in Jack's garden. And all winter long, the birds all lived9 . So Jack and Sharon were10 again!

James had always disliked Tony Hicks ever since Tony moved into his neighborhood. From the start，James sensed a strong rivalry（较量）forming between the two. Whenever James was doing something in the neighborhood，the true battle（战斗） began after a snowstorm. 

James woke up on a January morning. When he looked out the window，he saw white snow had covered the ground. So he rushed downstairs and pushed his snow blower out to clean the snow. Who did he see？It was Tony Hicks. He was busy cleaning the snow，too. 

James was angry. Doesn't he know this is my work？I've blown these houses for the past four years!Suddenly，it was no longer a matter of snow blowing for the purpose of helping his neighbors. For James，it was to beat Tony Hicks. 

The boys locked eyes for several seconds and then a competition began. The boys worked like crazy，completing each house as soon as possible. Finally，when they arrived at the end of a dead end

After a few seconds，James spoke，"We really did a fast work. "And for the first time， "We sure did △" All of a sudden，the boys laughed loudly. Then the boys set off together，clearing the walkways as friends. 

Ben could hear strong winds outside his home in Alabama. Black clouds were making the sky very dark. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} The news on TV reported that a heavy rainstorm was in the area.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Ben's dad was putting pieces of wood over the windows while his brother was making sure the flashlights (手电筒) and radio were working. He also put some candles and matches on the table. Ben was helping his mom make dinner.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}After dinner, they tried to play a card game, but it was hard to have fun with a serious storm happening outside. The family went to bed at 10 o'clock. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} He had to listen to some music to calm himself down. He finally fell asleep when the wind was going down at around 3:00 a.m.

When he woke up, the sun was rising. He went outside with his family and found the neighborhood in a mess. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}The family joined the neighbors to help clean up the neighborhood together. Although the storm broke many things apart, it brought families and neighbors closer together.

A doctor, a lawyer（律师）, a little boy and an old man were out for a Sunday afternoon flight on a small plane. Suddenly, the plane had engine（发动机） trouble. At last, the pilot took a parachute（降落伞） and shouted to the four people that they had better jump, and then he himself jumped out. Unluckily, there were only three parachutes left.

The doctor took one and said, "I'm a doctor. I save lives, so I must live." Then he jumped out. The lawyer then said, "I'm a lawyer, and lawyers are smart people in the world. I must live." He also took a parachute and jumped out.

The old man looked at the little boy and said, "My boy, I live a long and full life. You are still young. Take the last parachute and live in peace." The little boy handed the parachute back to the old man and said, "Don't worry, grandpa. The smart man in the world just jumped out with my schoolbag."