People normally think of dogs as man's best friend, but to Brian Wilson, his two pet parrots are his best friends.

    It all began in 1995, when Brian was still a firefighter. A car accident caused serious damage to his brain. After several months of treatment, Brian's doctors said that he would never talk again and that he would have to spend the rest of his life in a nursing home.

    However, according to Brian, his two pet parrots didn't give up easily. They kept talking to him day and night, until one day, he said one word, then another, and all of a sudden was talking like a normal person again!

    Brian was so thankful that he decided to set up a home for birds which are not wanted by their owners. Now, his house is home to about 80 birds, including a great variety of birds like several macaws, cockatoos and African gray parrots. The birds fly around from room to room, some cackling (咯咯叫), others talking like humans. Though they all have big cages, Brian lets them fly freely inside the house.

    Over the years, Brian has developed a special relationship with birds. The birds that bite other humans, seem to like him and can get along with him well. He is now called a bird whisperer (鸟语者). Brian pays for most of the costs of looking after the birds with his own money, but has recently established a foundation (基金会) to accept donations. He and his birds also earn money by performing at birthday parties, weddings and other social events.

    For people who want to adopt (领养) Brian's birds, they have to volunteer at the foundation for three months before they can take the pet home.

In a small room, Jenny was lying in bed waiting for an operation (手术), nervous and worried. To her surprise, a new patient was sent into the room. After a kind greeting (打招呼), they began to talk. The 80-year-old newcomer was named Susan. She had two children. Her son was boss of a big company and her daughter worked in a TV station. As her children were too busy to take care of Susan, she lived in an old people's home. Susan was proud of her children who had wonderful jobs and made a lot of money. Jenny really envied (羡慕)Susan. Compared with Susan, Jenny was nothing but an ordinary (普通的) woman from the countryside. Her children were just ordinary workers.

Soon, it was supper time, Jenny's daughter cooked several dishes which were her favorite. Jenny invited Susan to share her supper, but she did not accept the invitation. Susan was expecting her daughter when she received a call. Unfortunately (不幸), her children couldn't come to visit her. Worse still, Susan had missed the mealtime in the hospital. She lay in bed, disappointed and silent. Jenny's daughter offered to buy her some food but she had no appetite (食欲) at all.

The next day, Jenny and Susan would go through a series of regular medical checks (一连串的常规检查) before the operation. Jenny's daughter took care of her carefully while Susan was still alone. Out of sympathy (出于同情), Jenny's daughter helped to queue up (排队), fill in different forms and register (挂号) for Susan. For several days in hospital, even during her operation, Susan's children didn't come. Susan really envied Jenny as her daughter looked after her all the time until she recovered and moved out of hospital.

Care from the loved ones can really make one happy and encouraged, especially for old parents. So don't forget to look after your parents even while you are busy working.

    Teenager Jake Deham was skiing 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. 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!

    This was a very interesting story. I 1 thousands of classes since I started school nine years ago. But one class was 2 of all.

    It happened last term just after I had got a bad result in 3 exam. I was sad and had lost my confidence. I decided 4 to a class 5 can tell me how to be successful. The speaker walked into the room. 6 he did not start talking like a teacher. Instead, he held up a twenty yuan note!

    "Who wants this?" he asked. Unsurprisingly, 7 of us in the class held up our hands. The speaker smiled. Then he put up the note on the blackboard and asked the same question. Again, we put up our hands. The speaker kept 8, but said 9 . Suddenly, he threw the note onto the floor! Then he asked the same question for  10time.

    I didn't understand the speaker. Why was he asking the same question again and again? I didn't know 11 to do. I wanted the note, so I put my hand up again. "You have all just told me how to become successful." He said to us 12 the note in his hand. "The note is worth twenty yuan. It is always worth twenty yuan, even though I throw it on the floor. You are like the note. No matter what happens to you, you still have your worth."

    Hearing those words, I 13 deeply. Suddenly, I realized I was worth a lot. I may have failed, but it doesn't mean I 14 do well in the future. If I believe in15I will be successful!

阅读下列短文, 从下面每个小题的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项。

One day, Ben was playing basketball in the living room, breaking a vase. To cover his terrible action, the frightened boy glued the pieces together and put the vase back to its place.

That evening her mother noticed the cracks (裂纹). But to her surprise, the repair work was actually very good. At dinner time, she asked her boy if he broke the vase. Fearing punishment, the boy said that a neighbor's cat jumped in from the window and knocked the vase off. His mother was quite clear that her son was lying. However, she said nothing.

Before going to bed, the boy was asked to go to the study. In the study, his mother didn't look angry. On seeing her son carefully come in, she gave him one chocolate, saying "This chocolate is a reward (奖励) for your imagination: a window-opening cat!" At that moment, the boy felt the chocolate was a hot potato. “Did mom find holes in my excuse?” he thought. “You know, all the windows were closed.” Mother continued calmly and took out two chocolates into his hand, “An award for the perfect repair.”

Now with the chocolates in hand, the boy wished the ground to open up and bury him! He told the truth. “So I have to punish you for your lie.” The mother said with a serious voice and took back his chocolates. The boy bent down his head in shame. “But your honesty should have the award—a box of chocolates.” The mother suddenly bent to kiss his cheek, speaking gently to the crying boy, “My son, honesty values more than anything.”

Once a man walked to India where he had never been before. When he got there, he saw many kinds of fruits. But most were expensive. The man saw a big basket of red, long fruit. He thought it must be sour and sweet. 

He went up and asked, " How much per kilo?"And the shopkeeper said, "Two rupees(卢比). "

Two rupees in India is nothing. And it was the cheapest in the shop. So he bought a kilogram and started eating it. But after he ate some, his eyes watered, his mouth watered and burned, and his face became red. He even coughed while eating. 

But he still ate the fruit! Some locals who were looking at him shook their heads and said, "You're crazy, man. It's chilly! You can't eat so much! People use it as spice(调味品), but only a little bit to put into food for taste. They're not fruit!" But the man said, . "No, I can't stop! I can't waste my money. "

Do you think that man was stupid? In fact, we sometimes do a lot of things like that. We put money, time or effort into a relationship, business or job. Even though over a long time it won't work, and we know things will never change in the future, we still go on just because of the things we've put in. like the man. 

So even if you've lost something, let it go and move on. That's better than keeping losing.