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.

    Children across the world are taking pictures of their school meals. They are sending these pictures over the Internet to a young girl in Scotland. Then she shares the pictures and stories with people around the world.

    The girl's name is Martha. She likes to write. So Martha decided to start her own blog. Every day, Martha writes on the Internet about the meals she eats at school. She also takes pictures of the food.

    Martha is very honest about the food. She does not just describe the food. She judges (评价) the taste of the food. She also judges how healthy the food is. Sometimes she likes the food, and sometimes she does not. Now, other people send pictures to Martha. Students around the world share their pictures of their school food!

    Martha also started her blog for another important reason. She began to raise money for the organization (组织) Mary's Meals. Mary's Meals works in the East African country of Malawi . It provides food for children in schools. Martha encourages her readers to send money to Mary's Meals to help build a kitchen.

    Martha hoped to raise about 10,000 dollars. But the total reached 100,000 dollars and still keeps on growing!

    Martha's blog has also helped to improve meals at her school. Martha and her school friends found their meals improved since she started writing her blog.

    No one knows what will happen to Martha's blog in future. But already this girl has helped to change the eating experience of many children just by sharing pictures of her school meals.

    Gareth Ellis, 13, is the youngest son of Alan, an engineer, and Kath, a teacher. His older brothers work in banking and computers, but Gareth's dream was always to become a clown(小丑).Three years ago, Alan, Kath and Gareth joined the circus(马戏团). People laugh when we tell them,' saysKath. 'But it's true. Gareth has wanted to be a clown since we took him to the circus when he was three.'

    When Alan lost his job, he and Kath decided to see if they could find full-time circus jobs. They both got jobs with a famous circus and Gareth began training to become a clown. He calls himself Bippo. They travel with the circus during the summer and return home for the winter. Gareth's brothers are old enough to look after the house while they are away.

    'I can't say it was easy,' says Kath. 'There was a lot to think about and organize. We only had a car and a very small caravan(大篷车)to sleep in, and we were leaving behind our lovely house. The only thing Gareth missed was his long, hot baths.'

    'People ask about my education,' says Gareth, 'but from the beginning, wherever we go, someone has always come to teach me. I follow the same books as everyone back at school and I've got a computer. I've never fallen behind my classmates.'

    And the future? 'It was a difficult decision,' says Kath, 'but there was no other way to teach Gareth about being a clown. I'm happy to say it's working, and we're enjoying it.' And Gareth? 'I'm going to be the main clown in a circus one day', he says, 'perhaps Bippo's circus.'

    When Abe Lincoln was just a boy, he had to help his father to look after his farm. It was hard work and there weren't any interesting things for him. Abe wanted to go to school, but there was no school there. Abe was sad most of the time.

    Mrs Lincoln loved the boy very much. She tried her best to make Abe happy. One early morning, she got up early and went to the town. That was a long way and it took her a long time to get to the town. She bought something there and went back. And it was late in the evening when she got home.

    The next morning Mrs Lincoln said to Abe, "Today is your birthday. We're going to have a party. "She put some food on the table, and then brought out a present. "A book！"Abe cried. It was an old book, but he liked it. A smile came to his face. He looked up at Mrs Lincoln and said, "Thank you, Mum."

    Bob comes out of the station and at once（立刻） he doesn't know where to go. This is the first time he comes to this town. He comes to see his good friend, Peter. Peter is a worker. He works in a factory. But Bob doesn't know where the factory is.

    He walks in the streets. He passes（经过） a hospital, a post office, a bookshop and at last he gets to a school. Some students are coming out. So he asks one of them for help. "Excuse me. Do you know where the watch factory is?"

    "Of course, I know. I live near there. My father works there. It's outside this town." answers the boy.

    "Is it far from here? Can you show me the way, please?" Bob asks again.

    "It's about 8 kilometres away from here. I'm going home now. Will you go with me? I'll take you there."

    "That's great! Thank you very much!"

    "Now let's take a No. 10 bus. It'll take about 15minutes to get there."

    "It's very kind of you." says Bob.

    Ruo Dong and Ruo Jun are brothers. They are from Chengdu. Ruo Dong is 10 years old and Ruo Jun is 9 years old. They can speak Mandarin(普通话). Now they are in Hangzhou, and they study in No. 5 Middle School. Their family are all in Hangzhou. There are five people in their family. They are their parents, their sister and themselves. Their mother is a teacher. Their father is a doctor. Their sister is very young. She is only 3 years old. She goes to a kindergarten. They say Hangzhou is a very interesting city. They like the friendly people, the delicious food and its culture(文化). They like Hangzhou very much.