One of the most important things in the world is friendship. In order to have friends, you have to be a friend. But how can you be a good friend at school?

    Listen — Listen when they are talking. Don't say anything unless they ask you a question. Sometimes it's not necessary for you to have anything to say; they just need someone to talk to about their feelings.

    Help them — If your friend is ever in need of something, be there to help them. You should try to put them first, but make sure you don't do everything they want you to do. Try to take an extra (额外的) pencil or pen with you to classes in case (以防) they forget one. Have a little extra money in your pocket in case they forget something they need.

    Be there for them — Try to make something for your friend to help make them feel better in hard times. Making cards and encouraging them are among the nicest things you can do for a friend. Marilyn Monroe, a famous U.S. actor, once said, “I often make mistakes. Sometimes I am out of control. But if you can't stay with me at my worst, you are sure not to deserve (值得) to be with me at my best.” Always remember this! If you don't want to stay with your friends when they're in hard times, then you don't deserve to be with them when they're having a good time!

    Try to make plans with your friends. Go shopping, go for ice cream, have a party, go to a movie and so on. Take time to know each other even better by doing something you both enjoy. By planning things together, you both can have a good time. And you'll remember these things when you're all old!

    Once upon a time, there was a beautiful bird, which was very curious about hell. When she was little, her mother always told her that if she didn't master the flying skills, she would go to hell. She was so curious about hell that she always asked others what hell looked like, but no one was sure, because none of them had ever been there. Some said hell was a place full of water, and others told her that hell was full of burning fire. However, the bird knew they were lying. She wanted to find out what hell was.

    When other birds were learning flying skills, she always hid herself and watched them. She thought in this way she could go to hell and see what hell looked like. However, she spent so little time learning flying skills that one day she was caught by a little boy. The little boy gave her to his grandpa in the countryside as a gift. The old man liked her very much. He made a delicate cage and put her in it. The bird was very worried because she thought she couldn't find out what hell was like staying in this small cage. However, she couldn't escape. Day after day, she just stayed in the cage, watching other birds flying. She lost her freedom and she became sadder and sadder. At last, she became ill. The old man finally opened the cage, but she was too weak to fly. Lying on the ground, she thought of the question that she ever asked all the time.

    “What does hell look like?”

    “Hell is a small well-decorated cage.” Before she closed her eyes forever, she finally answered that question herself.

    Teens who are preparing to undergo cosmetic surgery(整容手术) often have unrealistic expectations. The growing numbers of makeover television shows which make cosmetic surgery seem simple，have encouraged adolescents to pursue surgery to improve their physical appearance. As a result, more teenagers are going under the knife to achieve a desired look.

    When teens feel the need to have plastic surgery, they believe that it is not a huge deal, but they may not be mature enough to make such a life altering decision. If teens feel inadequate before surgery，they will most likely feel disappointed afterwards. Not only is surgery complex and risky for mature adults，it is extremely dangerous for younger people，and some doctors are performing these procedures on kids as young as fourteen！

    The cost of procedures can add up to thousands of dollars. Insurance does not cover the costs of these procedures. Teenagers often pay for surgery themselves 一 a very costly purchase for a young person. Not only can surgery become addictive for insecure teens，the consequence can be disappointing. When surgery takes an unexpected wrong turn, irreparable (不可挽回的）damage can occur. Any surgery on a young，undeveloped person has a risk of complication (并发症）such as infection (感染），which can lead to death.  Even if . there are no complications, there is no guarantee that surgery will provide the perfect nose or sculpted body. No matter how minor the procedure, it is not as effortless as it appears.

    Of course, there are cases where plastic surgery is appropriate. If a child has a serious injury or scarring from an accident，it can be beneficial. In all cases, parents must be involved in the process for the welfare of their child, and must guide them in the right direction. Fortunately, parents or legal guardians (监护人）must sign documents allowing their child to have plastic surgery. Doctors also need to be a part of the decision. Most experienced and trust-worthy physicians turn down the opportunity to operate on a teenager unnecessarily.

    Plastic surgery is a life-changing experience.  Hopefully, more teens will realize that there is more to a person than physical beauty, and learn to accept themselves for who they are.

    In university I had a part-time job at a shop that sold doughnuts and coffee. Situated on a block where several buses stopped, it served the people who had a few minutes to wait for their bus.

    Every afternoon around four o'clock, a group of schoolchildren would burst into the shop, and business would come to a stop. Adults would glance in, see the crowd and pass on. But I didn't mind if the children waited for their bus inside. Sometimes I would hand out a bus fare when a ticket went missing — always repaid the next day. On snowy days I would give away some doughnuts. I would lock the door at closing time, and we waited in the warm shop until their bus finally arrived.

    I enjoyed my young friends, but it never occurred to me that I played an important role in their lives — until one afternoon when a man came and asked if I was the girl working on weekdays around four o'clock. He identified himself as the father of two of my favorites.

    "I want you to know I appreciate what you do for my children. I worry about them taking two buses to get home. It means a lot that they can wait here and you keep an eye on them. When they are with the doughnut lady, I know they are safe." I told him it wasn't a big deal, and that I enjoyed the kids.

    So I was the Doughnut Lady. I not only received a title, but became a landmark.

    Now I think about all the people who keep an eye on my own children. They become, well, Doughnut Ladies. Like the men at the skating rink (滑冰场) who let my boys ring home; Or the bus driver who drove my daughter to her stop at the end of the route at night but wouldn't leave until I arrived to pick her up; Or that nice police officer who took pity on my boys walking home in the rain when I was at work — even though the phone rang all the next day with calls from curious neighbors. "Was that a police car I saw at your house last night?"

    That wasn't a police car. That was a Doughnut Lady.

    "Don't answer it," I said to Sam. Our door in the inner city is constantly knocked on; our previous door in the suburbs rarely so. Sam has a full-time job and cannot spend his days answering requests to fix leaking baths or carry cash to the bank.

    Sam opened the door and it was Mervin.

    "There's a bird on the second floor," he said. "It's in trouble."

    Sam followed Mervin upstairs. Mervin pointed and turned to let Sam look. It was a pigeon, the most common of all birds, the bird most likely to foul (弄脏) your newly washed car. And it wasn't flying away. It was stamping in circles. As Sam bent to look, Mervin coughed, "Number two."

    Sam asked him to repeat that. "Number two," Mervin said. "The pigeon has been sitting in his own number two, and now it's stuck to his foot."

It had rained for five days, and the bird was young. It could have been sheltering in a     wet nest of its own waste, which had then dried on its foot, preventing it from flying away. The pigeon moved in a few more circles. Sam bent to take another look. Mervin said, "All right, then." and walked away.

    "Why does everyone think you must solve the problems around here?" I said to Sam when he returned with his story. "It's a bird. Just leave it on the stairs, and let nature take its course." Sam didn't agree. Then he went to the garage and emptied the cardboard box containing our imported camping mats. He returned with the gray pigeon in the box. He showed the bird to our children and they decided to keep it.

    They put its foot in the warm water bath and got rid of its waste. Immediately the pigeon erupted in a bomb of feathers and began flying.