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 was already getting better grades in Maths 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 with a shopping certificate (凭证) 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 is time for the great prize game.  It is the following riddle……". It was a maths 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.

    Our dog Abbey died last month. My 4-year-old daughter Lucy missed her a lot and asked if we could write a letter to God to make sure he could look after Abbey well. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. She dictated (口述) these words:

Dear God,

    Will you please take care of my dog?{#blank#}2{#/blank#}. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick. I hope you will play with her.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her you will know that she is my dog. I really miss her.

                                                                                                                                                                        Love, Lucy

    We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Lucy and addressed it to God Heaven. Yesterday, we received a package addressed, “To Lucy” with this note:

Dear Lucy,

    Abbey has arrived in heaven.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#}. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. You don't need to worry about her. She's being looked after very well here. Thank you for the beautiful letter. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. You have a wonderful mother. I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much. By the way, I'm easy to find. I am wherever there is love.

                                                                                                                                                                               Love, God

    When people find something valuable and return it to its owner，they are often given a reward．This is because the person not only found what was lost but also spent time finding its owner or taking it to the police station．

    There was once a young boy who found a woman's purse in a shopping center．Inside the purse there was some money and the woman's driving license．Her name and address were printed on the license，so the boy knew where she lived．That evening he went to her house and knocked on her door．When she opened it，he said，“I found your purse，''and handed it to her．

    “Thank you very much，”she said．She opened her purse and took out all the money．She wanted to give the boy a small reward，but there were only bills of$20 in the purse and she thought that$20 was too much to give the boy．“I'm sorry，”she said. “but I don't have any small change to give you．”

    The boy said，“That's all right，”and he went away．

    A few days later he found another woman's purse．It also had her driving license in it，so he knew where she lived．He went to her house and said．“l found your purse ,”and handed it to her．

    “Thank you very much，"she said．  She opened her purse and took out all her money．

    “That‘s strange，”she said．“Before I lost my purse l had a $100 bill and a $20 bill in it．Now I have a $100 bill ,a $10 bill and two $5 bills．''

    “Yes，"the boy said，and smiled．

    Teenager Jake Deham was skiing(滑雪) with his family in the USA when he fell over and lost one of his skis. His family didn't know that he had a problem. They kept on skiing. When they got to the foot of the mountain, there was no sign of Jake.

    Jake couldn't find his ski anywhere. In the end, he decided to take off his other ski and walk down the mountain. But he couldn't work out the right way to go.

    It was now getting dark and he was a long way from any place of safety. He knew that he might die that night in the cold temperatures. But Jake kept calm(镇定). At home, Jake watched a lot of programs about living in difficult situations. He remembered the advice from these programs and knew that he should build a hole in the snow. He made a hole and pointed it up the hill so the wind couldn't blow into it. Outside his hole, the temperature fell to a dangerous﹣15℃that night, but inside it Jake was safe from the cold.

    But he had to get down the mountain. The TV programs always said, "If you are lost, you should find someone else's tracks(足迹) through the snow and follow them." "I wanted to live my life." remembers Jake. "So I got up and I found some ski tracks and I followed those." He walked and walked and finally he saw lights. Nine hours after he lost his ski, he found a team of worker who came to save him. He was safe!

    His mum was very happy when she heard the news. Amazingly, Jake didn't even have to go to hospital. He got through the terrible experience without any injuries.

    So, the next time someone says that watching TV is a waste of time, think of Jake. Sometimes TV can save your life!

    “Everything happens for the best, (一切都会变好的)" my mother said, whenever things weren't going my way. "Don't worry. One day your luck will change."

    After I had finished my college education, I discovered that Mother was right.

    I had decided to try for a job in radio. I wanted to host a sports program. I went to Chicago and knocked on the door of every station. But I got turned down every time. In one station, a kind lady said my problem was that I hadn't got enough experience. "Get some work in a small station and work your way up, "she said.

    I went back home. I couldn't get a job there, either. I felt really down. “Your luck will change, " Mom said to me. I tried another radio station in lowa. But the owner told me he had already had someone.

    As I left his office, I asked, "How can someone be a sports announcer(播音员)if he can't get a job in a radio station?" I was waiting for the lift when I heard the man call, "What did you mean? Do you know anything about football?" He put me in front of a microphone(麦克风)and asked me to try to imagine that I was giving my opinion on a football game.

    I succeeded!

    On my way home, Mom's words came back to me, "One day your luck will change, Son. And when it happens, you'll feel doubly good because of all the hard work you've done." At that moment I knew just what she meant.

    Today was not a good day. Everything went wrong. First, I slept late and Mum shouted at me to wake up. I tried to wake up but I couldn't. I just went back to sleep, and she had to come and shout at me again.

    When I finally got out of bed, I went to the kitchen for breakfast. There was no cereal (谷类食物). I decided to have some toast (烤面包片) instead, but I burned it. I had to eat it anyway because there was no more bread. There was no juice, either. I just had a glass of water.

    When I was almost at the bus stop, I realized that I had forgotten my wallet, so I had to go back home and get it. Of course, I missed the bus and had to wait for the next bus.

    I was late for school and the teacher told me to stay in the classroom at lunchtime to catch up on (补上) the schoolwork I had missed.

    After lunch, it was the time to give the teacher our homework. I reached into my bag to get it, but it wasn't there. I had left it at home. I was in trouble again.

    When I got home, I went straight to my room to catch up on my homework. Mum cooked fish for dinner. She knows I don't like fish, but she thinks it is good for her son. I am going to bed early so that nothing else can go wrong. It was a terrible day. I hope tomorrow will be better.