It was nearly dark, the sun was dropping down the mountains far away. Little Tom came back home, with tears in his eyes.

“What's the matter, Tom? How's your trip?" his mother asked with a big smile. “I failed. The mountain is so high and full of big or small stones on the way, I still go ahead. But I was tired and it was so late that I had to come back." Tom cried. “It doesn't matter, you are only 14 years old after all. You will have another chance.”his mother said. "But, standing at the top of the mountain is my dream!”Tom said. His father came over and asked, "Did you see the green trees on your way to the mountain?”"Sure, and there are a lot of beautiful flowers by the side of the road.” Tom replied. “Did you hear the birds singing?”his father asked. "There were many kinds of birds singing in the trees, and the sound was very sweet." Tom said. "Did you feel the beauty of nature?”his father asked. "Yes, the blue sky, the white clouds, the green trees and the colorful flowers made a nice picture." Tom answered. “That's enough!" his father smiled and said, "Please remember, son. For often, achieving what you expect is not the most important thing. Although you didn't reach the top of the mountain, you got a lot on the way.”

 It is true that not every goal will be achieved, not every job will end up with a success, and not every dream will come true. The most beautiful scenery (风景) is on the way.

    A man and his little son spent their summer vacation walking through the mountains far from their city. One day, the little boy slipped (滑) 20-30 meters down the side of the mountain. Finally he was able to catch onto a tree branch (枝干) and hold on.

    “Help me!” he cried out.

    “Help me!” a voice shouted back.

    The boy was very surprised. “Who are you?” he shouted.

    “Who are you?” the voice shouted back.

    “You are a fool!” he said.

    “You are a fool!” the voice came back.

    At that moment, his father got to him. “Someone is talking to me but I can't see who he is,” the boy said to his father.

    “Son, that is called an echo (回音),” his father said. “But really, it's called life.”

    “You are a winner!” the father cried.

    “You are a winner!” the voice answered.

    “You are talented!” the father shouted.

    “You are talented!” it came back.

    “Son, that's how life is. Whatever you do, it always comes back to you,” the father said. “The question is: what are you sending out? Please start sending out: ‘I am strong, I am talented, and I am the best.' What you send out is going to come back to you.”

    If you want more love in the world, create more love in your heart. Life will give you back everything you have given to it.

    A man has a cat. He likes her very much. At mealtime (吃饭时间) the cat sits at the table with him. The man eats with a knife and a fork, but the cat eats from her plate (盘子). Sometimes, when she finishes her dish, her master will give her a bit of his food. He shares his meal with her. One day the cat is not at the table at mealtime.

    “Ah! Where is my cat?” asks the man.

    His wife says, “Can't you eat without her?”

    So the meal begins without the cat. Before lunch is over, the cat rushes into the room and jumps onto the chair quickly. She has two mice in her mouth, and before anyone can stop her, she drops(扔下) one into her own plate, and the other into her master's plate.

    “Dear me!” cries the woman, “A mouse is in your plate!”

    “Hush(安静)!” says her husband. “This shows that she is a nice cat. She knows what friendship is. She wishes me to share her dinner as I often share mine with her, I am not so unhappy.”

    An elephant and a monkey were arguing (争论).

    “Look, how big and strong I am!” The elephant said.

    The monkey didn't agree, “Look, how fast I can run and climb! Can you?”

    At last they asked a clever tiger, “Which is better—to be strong or to be quick?”

    The tiger said, “Go across the river and pick the fruit on that tree for me, then I can tell.”

    So they went to the river, but the water ran fast and the monkey was afraid.

    “Get on my back,” said the elephant proudly (自豪地), “I shall carry you.”

    Soon they crossed the river. There stood the tree. But the fruit was too high for the elephant to reach. He tried to pull the tree down, but failed.

    “Don't worry.” The monkey climbed quickly up the tree, and picked the fruit.

    Then they came back and gave the tiger the fruit. “Which is better — to be strong or to be quick?”

    The tiger smiled, “Both of you could not get the fruit alone. It took both the elephant's strength and the monkey's quickness to get it.”

Ben and Tim are good friends. They were very active before. They played games together outdoors a lot. But now Tim is not active any more. He has some bad habits. He watches too much TV and plays too many computer games. Ben worries about him.

Ben sends his friend a poem:

You can be a couch potato and watch TV all day.

But don't do that. There is another way!

Move your body, get out and have fun.

Fresh air, a bike ride, playing in the sun!

Tim gets home from school. There is a letter at his front door. It's Ben's poem! He reads the poem and he laughs. He writes a poem back to his friend:

Your poem is funny,

But I feel really lucky.

With a true friend on my side,

My world will be open wide.

Let's meet tomorrow at six o' clock,

And we can go for a good walk.