Once upon a time, a wealthy villager hid a huge piece of gold in a nearby rice field to protect it from robbers（强盗）.

 Many years later, the wealthy man died and no one else knew about the gold. One day , a poor farmer began to plough（犁）the field. After ploughing for some time, his plough struck（碰、撞）the long forgotten treasure.

    At first, he thought it must be a very hard tree root. However, when he went closer to look, he saw that it was a large piece of beautiful shining gold.

    Waiting until midnight, the farmer started to take the gold home. He tried to lift the gold but it was too heavy. He tried to pull it out with ropes, but it was so huge that he could hardly move it. He became frustrated and thought how lucky he was to have found treasure, but unlucky too, as he could not move it. He even tried kicking the gold but it would not budge!

    He sat down and began to use his head. He decided to break the gold into smaller pieces. This would enable him to carry the gold easily.

He thought to himself, “ I will use one part for my daily needs, I will save the second part for a rainy day. I will invest（投资）the third part in my farming business. I will use the fourth part to help the poor and needy.”

    Follow this, he calmly divided the huge piece of gold into smaller pieces. Finally, he took all the gold home easily and lived happily ever after.

    When William Brown taught at Boston University, he once thought about the people that he hadn't thanked in his life. They taught him, encouraged (鼓励) him or cared a lot about him.

    Tina Johnson was a teacher. She once taught William geography, and William loved geography all his life. So he wrote a letter of thanks to her.

    He got the teacher's letter later. It began, “My dear Willie”. He was happy. Now over 50, he didn't think someone would called him “Willie”. Here is that letter.

    My dear Willie,

    I cannot tell you how much your letter meant to me. I am in my eighties, living alone in a small room and cooking my own meals. You will be interested to know that I taught school for 50 years and yours is the first letter of appreciation (感激) I ever got. It came on a cold morning and it made me feel very warm.

    ......

    William cried when he read the letter. She was one of the people that William hadn't thanked in his past. She helped him to believe in himself. He would never forget her.

    There are some people we should always remember, because they helped to shape our life. William Brown found a way to show his appreciation—he wrote them letters.

    Who are some of the people that you need to say thank you to in your past? It may be too late to say “Thanks”.

    Mr. Brown got up late this morning. He was going to be late for work. It was raining hard and the streets were wet. He drove so fast that he didn't see the red lights. He couldn't stop his car and hit a car. An old man got out of the car and called out angrily, "What are you doing? How can you drive so fast?" "l'm sorry, sir," said Mr. Brown, "l didn't see the lights turn red." Then he brought out a bottle of wine and gave it to the old man. "It's cold today, sir," said Mr. Brown. "Please drink a little, and then you'll get warm." The old man drank some wine and became happy. He asked, "l'm feeling much better now. Why don't you drink any?" "l can't drink anything now, sir, "answered Mr. Brown "l'm waiting for the policeman. Only drunkards cause accidents, you know!"

    "I can't believe this is happening," I thought as I saw Jane walk into the restaurant. She hadn't changed at all. She was still tall and beautiful with blonde hair and bright blue eyes. I smiled and thought of how my life had changed since we had last met.

    It all started when I noticed her at a party in a friend's house many years ago. I followed her to the dining room and started talking to her about the food. "You seem very interested in food," she laughed. "Well, I'm a great cook," I told her. It was a lie, but I had to find an excuse to see her again. "May I cook for you sometime?"

    Two days later, Jane came to my house for dinner. However, it was very embarrassing(窘迫的). I ordered the food from a nearby restaurant, but I told her that I had cooked it. After dinner, she warmly offered to wash up and in the kitchen she found the delivery boxes(外卖盒). She laughed at me and I felt terrible. Angry with myself, I decided to learn how to cook.

    I never saw Jane after our terrible dinner date. I started a cookery course and found that I was good at it after all. I went on to train to be a great cook. I worked hard and later I was able to open my own restaurant.

    Now, she walked into my restaurant. Feeling very happy, I pretended(假装) I was a waiter and walked to her table. "Ready to order, madam?" I asked.

    I once knew a man who was rich in his love for birds, and in their love for him. He lived in a grove full of all kinds of trees. He had no wife or children in his home. He was an old man with blue and kind eyes, and a voice that the birds loved.

    While he was at work in the grove, the birds came close to pick up the worms(蠕虫) in the fresh earth he dug up. At first, they kept their distance from him, but they soon found he was a kind man, and would not hurt them, but liked to have them near him.

    They knew this by his kind eyes and voice, which tell what is in the heart. So, day by day their faith in his love grew in them.

    All the birds of the grove were soon his fast friends. They were on the watch for him, and would fly down from the green tree tops to greet

him with their chirp(叽叽喳喳叫).

    When he had no work to do, he took bread with him, and dropped the pieces on the ground. Down they would dart(俯冲) on his head and feet to catch them as they fell from his hand.

    He showed me how they loved him. He put a piece of bread in his mouth, with one end of it out of his lips. Down they came like bees at a flower, and flew off with it piece by piece.

    When they thought he slept too long in the morning, they would fly in and _______.

    They went with him to church, and while he sang his hymns in it, they sat in the trees, and sang their praises.

    So the love and trust of birds were a joy to the old man all his life long.

    Bob comes out of the station and at first he doesn't know the way where to go. This is the first time he comes to this town. He's a president (总裁) in a company(公司). He comes to see his good friend, Peter. Peter is a worker and works in a car factory (工厂). But Bob doesn't know where the factory is. He walks in the street. He passes a hospital (医院), a post office, a bookshop and at last he gets to a school. Some students are coming out. He asks one of them, "Excuse me, do you know where the Red Star Car Factory is?" "Of course, I know. I live there. My father works in that factory. It's outside the town," answers the boy. "Is it far from here? Can you show me the way, please? "Bob asks again. "Yes, I'm going home now. Will you please go with me? I'll take you there." "That's great! Thank you very much." "You are welcome. Then let's go to that bus stop. We'll take a No 1 bus there."