A young man woke up one morning under a bridge and checked his pocket. All he had left was less than ten dollars. He bought food and as he sat down to eat, an old man and two children came along. The old man asked him to help them with food as they had not eaten for almost a week.

The young man looked at the children—they were so weak that they could hardly stand. With the last bit of kindness he had he gave them all the food. The old man and children thanked the young man and then gave him a dirty old coin. The young man said, “You need this coin more than I do— just keep it.” The old man insisted(坚持) that the young man put it in his pocket—and finally he did.

    The old man and children sat down to eat. And with no money, no job and no food, the young man went back under the bridge to lie down. As he was about to fall asleep he saw an old newspaper on the ground. He picked it up and saw an ad inviting people with old coins to come to a store. He decided to go there with the dirty old coin the man gave him.

   When he arrived at the store, he gave the keeper the dirty old coin. The keeper cried loudly. It was part of a Spanish treasure ship that had never been found. This same old coin was worth 67,000 dollars. The young man was pleased. He immediately sold the coin for money and then looked for the old man and little children to thank them and share the money. By the time he got to where he left them eating, they had gone.

    During the time of Jin Dynasty, there was a man named Le Guang. One day, Le Guang asked one of his friends to have dinner at his home. After dinner, his friend was back.

    For a long time, his friend didn't come. Then Le Guang heard that his friend was ill, so he came to visit him. Le Guang asked him what was wrong with him. His friend answered, "Last time, at your home I found a little snake in the glass and I was ill after I drank the alcohol (酒)." Le Guang was very surprised because there wasn't a snake in the glass. Suddenly, he remembered there was a bow (弓) on the wall. There must be the shadow (影子) of the bow which looked like a little snake.

    So Le Guang asked his friend to join him for a drink again. When the glass was full of alcohol, he pointed to the shadow of the bow in the glass and asked his friend to have a look. His friend shouted, "That is what I saw last time!" Le Guang laughed and took away the bow.

    "Can you see the snake now?＂ he asked. His friend was surprised to find that the snake was gone. After his friend knew the truth, he was well.

    For many years, this story has been used to advise people not to be too suspicious (怀疑的) easily.

    After giving a talk at a high school, I was asked to pay a visit to a special student. An illness had kept the boy home, but he had expressed an interest in meeting me, and it would mean a great deal to him. I agreed.

    During the nine-mile drive to his home, I found out something about Matthew. He had muscular dystrophy(肌肉营养不良). When he was born, the doctor told his parents that he would not live to five, and then they were told he would not make it to ten. Now he was thirteen. He wanted to meet me because I was a gold-medal power lifter, and I knew about overcoming obstacles and going for my dreams.

    I spent over an hour talking to Matthew. Never once did he complain or ask, "Why me? "He spoke about winning and succeeding and going for his dreams. Obviously, he knew what he was talking about. He didn't mention that his classmates had made fun of him because he was different. He just talked about his hopes for the future, and how one day he wanted to lift weights with me. When we finished talking, I went to my briefcase and pulled out the first gold medal I had won and put it around his neck. I told him he was more of a winner and knew more about success and overcoming obstacles than I ever would. He looked at it for a moment, then took it off and handed it back to me. He said, "You are a champion. You earned that medal. Someday when I get to the Olympics and win my own medal, I will show it to you. "

    Last summer I received a letter from Matthew's parents telling me that Matthew had passed away. They wanted me to have a letter he had written to me a few days before: Dear Dick,

    My mum said I should send you a thank-you letter for the picture you sent me. I also want to let you know that the doctors tell me that I don't have tong to live any more, but I still smile as much as I can. I told you someday I was going to the Olympics and win a gold medal, but I know now I will newer get to do that. But I know I'm a champion, and God knows that too. When I get to Heaven, God will give me my medal and when you get there, I will show, it to you. Thank you for loving me.

Your friend,

Matthew

Today I turned eight. Today whatever I say goes. 

My grandma is cooler than most grandmas and laughs a lot,1 is the exact opposite. He's that old and serious. "Kids are impolite these days, and have no 2 ." he always says. "All they do is playing video games all the time." But I 3 play video games on weekends!

Anyway, the minute we park on the driveway, I get out and run straight to Grandma 4 Dad, who's still on the phone dealing with his business in the car as usual. "Happy birthday, honey!" Grandma holds me into her arms and says 5 that she's made my favorite chocolate cake.

And then I 6 Grandpa, who is asleep in a rocking chair, snoring （打鼾） like thunder. Can you believe it? On his only grandson's birthday! 

"7 , sleepyhead!" I call out. But more snores followed. An angry storm is coming up inside me.

"Oh, it's Parker's 8 !" Grandma calls out to Grandpa. He coughs. It seems to be ages for him to get to his feet and say, "boy, come here." But I don't 9 . 

"You and I," says Grandpa，rising slowly, "are going on a walk." 

"All right." I know what he's about to say: respect the elders, blah blah blah. But to my 10 , he says in a soft voice, "your parents are always very 11 , aren't they?"

"Hold my arms and help me into that chair. "For a second, I stood still. 12 when I see his legs shaking as he bends his knees, I rush over to hold his arms, I set him down nice and slow. "13 ," he says. He's breathing hard, like he's just climbed a mountain.

I sit down next to him. He covers my hand with his warm one. "Tell 14 all about the video game you like," he says. "Then I'll tell you some stories of my own. And we'll both listen to each other and ask good questions. Deal?"

I 15 in disbelief. And for some strange reason, it feels more like my birthday than ever.

Once upon a time，there was a boy named Tim. He lived in a small 1 with nice mountains（山） and rivers. It was great to play there，2 Tim was always busy with his computer games and never noticed the beauty around him. 

Tim's grandfather was worried and always 3 about how great the nature（自然） was with him. "What clean and beautiful lake it is!"，his grandfather often said. One day，his grandfather asked Tim to go on a trip with him. Tim agreed，but he was not very 4 . 

As they walked in the village，Tim's grandfather pointed out many 5 things，such as colourful flowers with bright leaves，mother birds flying back homes with food to 6 their babies. They even climbed to the top of the hill so that they could see the sights 7 . His grandfather also told him some stories behind each place. Some of the stories were really funny and made Tim 8 all the time. Tim got to enjoy these beautiful things for the first time. 

At the end of the trip，Tim's grandfather told Tim not to 9 the small things in life，like a sunny day or a friendly smile. From that day on，Tim learned to enjoy every moment and be thankful. 

He thought that there was much more to life compared to 10 . Tim decided to spend more time outdoors and take short trips with his grandfather more often.