Smith, an old man, lived in the middle of the town. One day he found his watch1in his own store. It 2a lot to him because it was from his wife. After searching3in the store for a long while, he 4to ask for help from a group of children playing outside the store. He5them that the person who found it would be rewarded. 6this, the children hurried inside the store, went through and around the 7store, but still could not find the watch.

    Soon the man felt hopeless and wanted to8. A little boy went up to him and asked for another9 . The man looked at him and thought, “ Why not? 10, this kid looks sincere enough.”11the man sent him back in the store. After a while the boy 12 with the watch in his hand! The man was very13, and he asked the boy how he found it while the others had 14 . The boy replied, “I did nothing but sat on the ground and 15 .Then I heard the ticking (嘀嗒声) of the watch and just looked for it in that 16.”

    We usually do something in a hurry and don't think about our own needs, which can't bring peace into our mind. 17 we need to think about ourselves and keep peaceful for a while, which can produce a 18 result. So allow a few minutes of 19 to your mind every day, and see how it helps you deal with your work and make 20as you expect to!

    Scott and his companions were terribly disappointed. When they got to the South Pole, they found the Norwegians（挪威人）had 1 them in the race to be the first ever to reach it. After2the British flag at the Pole, they took a photograph of themselves 3 they started the 950-mile journey back.

    The journey was unexpectedly4and the joy and excitement about the Pole had gone out of them. The sun hardly5. The snow storms always made it impossible to sight the stones they had 6 to mark their way home. To make things7. Evans, whom they had all thought of 8the strongest of the five, fell badly into a deep hole in the ice. Having9 along for several days, he suddenly fell down and died.

    The four who were 10 pushed on at the best speed they could 11. Captain Oates had been suffering for some time from his 12 fact; at night his feet swelled（肿胀） so large that he could 13 put his boots on the next morning, and he walked bravely although he was in great 14 . He knew his slowness was making it less likely that 15 could save themselves. He asked them to leave him behind in his sleeping-bag, but they refused, and helped him 16 a few more miles, until it was time to put up the 17 for another night.

    The following morning, 18 the other three were still in their sleeping-bags, he said. “I am just going outside and may be19some time.” He was never seen again. He had walked out 20 into the snow storm, hoping that his death would help his companions.

Yasmeen's Mehndi

    Mrs. Cross, Yasmeen's social study teacher, announced, “Boys and girls, you have been learning about world customs. Be ready to 1 one of your family's customs tomorrow.”

    After school, Yasmeen dragged her backpack along, thinking about the day's2“I'm the only Indian student in my class,” she thought, “what will everyone think about my family's customs?”

    At home, Yasmeen was3 She opened the kitchen door and saw her mother busily crushing (压碎) henna (指甲花) leaves.

    “Ready for the4tonight?” Mother smiled.

    Yasmeen shrugged (耸肩). Normally, she'd be excited when her aunts, uncles and cousins came to5 the end of the ninth month of the Islamic year. This holy month is observed with prayers and fasting (斋戒) during daylight hours.

    Later, Yasmeen explored the house, trying to get a (an)6for her assignment. She 7her father's Koran (《古兰经》). She quickly turned over the worn pages of her father's holy book. “Maybe I'll take this to school,” she thought. But the Koran isn't a 8

    “Maybe I'll wear my salwar (沙丽) to school. Wrong! Everybody might 9me. Tears filled Yasmeen's eyes as she tried to figure out 10to share.

    Yasmeen walked into the 11 again and watched Mother mix henna powder into a smooth paste (膏), to be used at the party.

    That night all the girls12 their glittering dresses gathered around the sofa to have their hands 13 with Mehndi (henna paste).

    It was Yasmeen's14 Mother drew tiny flower patterns on her hands. Seconds later, “That's it,” Yasmeen shouted out, “Mehndi!”

    “On special Muslim holidays,” Yasmeen15the next day at school, “it's an Indian16to paint women' s hands with Mehndi designs.” Yasmeen17displayed the design on her hands. She also held up a bowl of crushed henna leaves for the class to see and then described how her mother prepared henna paste.

    “18you paint me a Mehndi design?” All her classmates held out their hands.

    Yasmeen's eyes moistened. She had always thought that Mehndi was only something 19in her own country, but now she was far too glad to see this ancient art on hands 20by people of different cultures.

    Months ago, I heard from a friend about a young lady who had just moved to our area. She was a 1from another country with only her small scholarship to make a 2and had just rented a small apartment. My friend told me she had few 3. I got the young lady's telephone number and called her, 4that I was a friend of a friend and I heard she might need some household 5She said, "Yes, thank you!" and6that she had slept on the floor of the apartment with only her coat to cover her and that it was a bit7.

    As every mother knows, when our children are away we 8 worry about them, and, everyone's child is my child too! So, I9a couple of my friends about her. One cleaned out her kitchen and10pots and pans, some glassware, a blanket. Another even11brand-new dishes and glasses in the supermarket.

    When we arrived at the girl's12, we saw there was no furniture. Someone had given her a sleeping bag, otherwise it was a(n) 13apartment. After unloading our 14 we took her back to campus. She 15me over and over again and could not16that these people gave her all these things. I explained people liked to help and that others had17us before. She asked if there was anything she could do to 18 us. I told her, "Yes, there is one thing you can do for us: when you are in a 19 to help others, please remember to20and help." With a smile on her face she promised me that she would.

    Little was road testing his mountain bike outside of Columbus, when his riding partner, Dixon, stopped suddenly. Something in the distance moving among the trees had 1 her attention. It 2 to be a five-month-old dog.

    "He was really thin and had a 3 leg," Little told CBS News. The cyclists fed the dog and 4 their water. They realized that the dog was coming with them, although they had no 5 how they could be. They were more than seven miles from downtown and riding bikes. "We couldn't 6 him," Little told the Ledger-Enquirer. "Out there, he was going to 7 others' food."

    Little had an idea. He carefully 8 up his new friend and slipped (使滑入) the dog's hind (后面的) legs into the back 9 of his cycling clothes. Then he put the dog's front paws (爪子) over his 10.

    "He was injured, so he wasn't trying to 11," Little says. "It was also 12 that we were there and ready to help."

    They came to a 13. There they got more water and food for the dog. That was when Shaw passed 14. The dog 15 her, licking (舔) her, Shaw found the dog was lovable and, after learning what had happened, 16, "I am keeping this dog. "

    Shaw named him Columbo 17 the town where they'd met and scheduled a (n) 18 on his broken leg. Today, Columbo is living on a farm with a horse and a six-year-old boy to keep him 19. As Dixon said, "He is the 20 dog alive."