Jenny was a five-year-old girl. One day, while she was shopping with her mother, she saw a plastic pearl necklace (塑料珍珠项链) and loved it so much. So she asked her mother to buy it for her.

    Every night, before Jenny went to bed, her dad would read stories to her. One night, when he finished the story, he asked, "Jenny, do you love me?"

    "Dad, you know I love you," Jenny answered.

    "Well, give me your necklace," Dad said.

    "No, Dad. But you can have my favorite doll."

    Several times, when her father asked her to give him the plastic necklace, Jenny would give him something else instead. One evening, after Jenny's father read her a story, Jenny said, "Here, Dad." She put her plastic pearl necklace into her father's hand.

    Her father held the necklace in one hand and opened the other hand. There was a real pearl necklace in it. He had had it for a long time, and waited for Jenny to give up the cheap one so that he could give her the real one.

    So, don't be mean. If we are generous (慷慨的), maybe we will get something better.

B

    I have a twin brother, Bob. He is taller than me. His hair is shorter than mine. Many people think we must have many things in common. But in fact this is not true. Bob is more outgoing than me. When my parents' friends come to our house, Bob often sits there and talks to them. But I often sit there and say nothing. Bob likes reading, cooking and drawing. I just like swimming and playing basketball. He has more hobbies than me, but he is not as athletic(擅长运动的) as me. Because Bob does better than me at school, my mom often says to me, “Bob is younger than you, but he can get better grades, you should learn from him.” We both like eating fast food and listening to music.

    Do you suppose Darwin, one of the greatest scientists of all time, really did fools' (傻瓜的) experiments? Or did he do experiments that were so simple and basic (基础的) that other people just thought they were foolish?

    Sometimes, people think they already know the answer to a question or a problem．Sometimes, they really do know an answer, but without thinking it is important．

    Charles Darwin didn't just think he knew something．And, he believed all things could be important no matter how simple they seemed to be．

    Suppose you drop pieces of paper that are of exactly the same size and shape．If you drop them at the same time in the same place, they will fall in the same way．Now make one of the sheets of paper into a tight little ball and let it drop along with the other pieces．What happens? You have done an experiment that is so simple that you might think it couldn't be worth anything．

    But this simple experiment is important．It explains part of our present day understandings of physics (物理学) ideas that were worked out long ago by Galileo and Newton．And these understandings set aside some of ancient Greek (古希腊的) physics．

    The scientist sometimes stops to look at very simple things and to think very hard about them．Even the simplest idea, which we might think is foolish, can shake the foundations (基础) of science．

    My best friends are John and Ann. We do many things together(--起).

    John lives near my house. He's fifteen years old and he's tall and slim，with blonde hair and blue eyes. He's a little bit shy but very clever. He's very good at math and he helps me with my homework.  He usually wears a T-shirt and jeans. We also play basketball at a nearby park together and sometimes we play video games at my house.

    The other friend is Ann. She's short and strong, with straight brown hair and brown eyes. She likes wearing T-shirts and a baseball cap. She never stops talking. She says she would like to be a boy. We all have kung fu lessons every Tuesday and Friday afternoon. We love it. Ann is really good at kung fu. We call her the "Kung Fu Kid". She often plays basketball with us, too. We often have great fun together.

    Lisa has always been fat. She wanted to lose weight, not only because she wanted to look more beautiful and healthier, but also because it would make life easier.

    For example, it was difficult for Lisa to find ready-made clothes. She had to ask a tailor (裁缝) to make clothes that were large enough. In school, she needed a special chair that was bigger and stronger than other chairs. If she went for a walk, she got tired very quickly.

    She was also unhappy about the way people treated (对待) her sometimes. "People look at me and even make fun of me. It's true that I'm fat, but I don't think people should treat me differently. I can't enjoy having dinner with my friends because I'm afraid of getting fatter." Sometimes when Lisa was feeling sad, she didn't want to speak to anyone.

    But now things are quite different. Last month her classmates were preparing for the School Art Week. Someone advised Lisa to play the lead role (主演) of the proud Queen who was tall and fat. Lisa agreed and practiced a lot.

    Soon after the play, Lisa became a star! She did so well that everybody remembered the proud Queen. Best Actress Award for her wonderful performance (表演).

    Now Lisa doesn't worry about being fat any more. She believes in the English saying "Every dog has its day".

    Is handwriting (书写) important? Yes, the 10-year-old girl Alyssa thinks so. She is a fifth-grade student from Mason County, the USA. She's the champion (冠军) for her grade level in the National Handwriting Contest in 2012.

    After she got the news, Alyssa was surprised that she could be the first. "I'm really happy," she said. "I'm really surprised, too. I didn't know I was that good."

    To enter (参加) the contest, each student had to write the sentence (句子) "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog". It is a common English sentence, but it uses every letter of the English alphabet. Teachers were invited to be judges. They could decide who wins the contest.

    Alyssa enjoys handwriting, and wants to write adventure (冒险) stories when she gets older. "From the third grade we started learning handwriting," Alyssa said. "All the letters look pretty. It makes me think of art."