Mr Guo is a teacher from Xi'an．He asked his students to hand in their homework through a QR code （二维码）．"We spent an hour or two in class learning how to generate （使产生） the codes，and in the end everything gets easier，"said Guo．"When students finish the homework，they keep it on WeChat （微信）．Then，each student makes his own QR code and gives it to me．So I can check their work everywhere using my computer or telephone．"

    The QR codes can be sent to Mr Guo by email，QQ and WeChat．When Guo scans （扫描） his students'QR codes，their homework appears on his phone．He finds that their homework becomes more creative （创新的），with many pictures，music and even videos．

    Guo's students like the new way and think it is interesting．"We are living in the information age．Many students like to work with computers，which makes learning more fun．"said Tingting，a student of Guo's．

    "The paper is not easy to keep，but the code is easy to keep and share．"Guo said．" It is worth trying to use new technology in education．Education itself is a kind of creation．I don't want my students to fall behind the times．"

    However，some parents are worried．They are afraid that their children will spend too much time on computers and less time communicating with teachers．But in fact，it's unnecessary．Students still need to look up information in books and write it down when they do their homework．They only use the code when they hand in their work，which doesn't take them too much time．Also for teachers，it allows them to check the students'work at any time．And it's also an easy way to share homework with other students．

    We were on a visit to Monkey Island. Jim thought we should try water skiing(滑水).

    We can get a boat and ski at Monkey Island.

   Don't go water skiing near Monkey Island today,” said the woman standing near the boats. “There might be sharks（鲨鱼） in the water.”

    “I don't think so.” said Jim who thought he knew everything.

    “I wouldn't go water skiing in the sea near Monkey Island today,” said the man with the woman. “They saw sharks in the water yesterday.”

    “The sharks won't hurt me,” said Jim with a big smile on his face.

      Another man getting out of a boat said, “I'm sure we just saw a shark in the water a few minutes ago.”

    “Don't worry about me,” said Jim. “I don't worry about sharks.”

    Jim and his two friends, Bill and Bruce pushed the boat into the water. Jim was driving the boat. He drove very fast and sprayed water on everyone standing near the boat.

    Jim drove the boat to the middle of the sea near Monkey Island. Everyone could see him and the boat. He wanted to show everyone how well he could water ski.

    “You drive the boat, Bill,” Jim said. “Bruce, you watch me and the rope while I water ski.”

    “What about the sharks?” asked Bill.

    “Forget about the sharks,” said Jim. “I'm not afraid of sharks.”

    Jim got into the water. He was putting his feet in the water skis. Then Jim felt something large and hard touch his leg as it swam past him. Suddenly, a brown fin(鳍) moved through the water towards Jim.

    Later, when Bill and Bruce stopped laughing, they said, “We never saw anyone move so fast! You were running on top of the water to get back in the boat! You even left the water skis in the water.

    “There it is again! Shark! Shark!” cried Jim.

Everyone laughed—even the people standing on shore.

    The dolphin（海豚） came to surface again, took a deep breath, smiled at Jim and went back down into the deep water.

    Once there was a famine (饥荒) in the town. A rich and kind baker(面包师) sent some bread to twenty of the poorest children. He said to them, "In this basket there is some bread for you. Each of you can have one loaf(一条面包) every day until the hard days end.

    The impatient children couldn't wait to gather around the basket. They shouted and fought for the bread because each wished to have the largest loaf. At last they went away without even thanking the good gentleman. But Shirley, a poorly-dressed little girl, did not join them. Instead, she remained standing modestly in the distance. When the other children had left, she took the smallest left in the basket, kissed the gentleman's hand and went home.

    The next day the children were as rude as before. Poor shy Shirley still took the smallest loaf. When she got home, her mother cut the bread open. Many new shining pieces of silver fell out of it. Her mother was very surprised and said, "Take the money back to the good gentleman at once, for it must have got into the loaf by accident. Be quick, Shirley! Be quick!"

    But when the little girl gave the rich man her mother's message, he said, "No, no, my child. It was no mistake. I put silver pieces into the smallest loaf to reward you because you are a kind and honest girl. Go home and the money is yours now."

    A long time ago, a king put a huge rock in the middle of a roadway, and then he hid (藏) himself to watch because he wanted to know who would move the huge rock out of the roadway.  Some of the richest people came by and simply walked around it. Many of them loudly blamed (谴责) the king for not keeping the road clean, but none did anything to get the rock out of the way.

    Then a farmer came along carrying a heavy bag of vegetables. Upon walking close to the rock, the farmer put down his heavy bag and tried to move the rock to the side of the road. After much pushing, he finally succeeded. After the farmer picked up his bag of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying on the road where the rock had been. The purse included many gold coins and a note from the king saying that the gold was for the person who moved the rock away from the roadway.

    The farmer learnt what many of us never know! Every obstacle (障碍) means an opportunity to improve our condition.

    Little Mary is a good girl. She's in Grade 2 now. Her home is not far from school, but she is often late for class because she likes watching TV, listening to music in the evening and she goes to bed very late. So she can't get up on time in the morning.

    This term Mr.  White, Mary's uncle, works in her school. He teaches Grade 2 history. He often tells Mary to follow the school rules and come to school on time.

    Today Mary get up late again. When she comes to school, it is 8:15. Her uncle is waiting for her at the school gate. "You are ten minutes late for the first class. " Mr. White says angrily (生气地). "Why are you often late for class?" "Every time when I get to the street corner（街角）, I always see a sign(标志). It says 'SCHOOL-GO SLOW!(慢行)'" says Mary.

    This morning I woke up being a little bit worried. Too many unlucky things happened and I needed to make many decisions. I decided to go for a walk and tried to relax. On the way, I kept repeating to myself," Don't stop being kind. Others may have worse situations than me." I already felt better when walking in the park enjoying the beautiful trees and the smiles to and from strangers. I decided to go shopping on my way back.

    After paying. I sat-down for a while and got a coffee. An elderly man sat next to me and started talking very loudly. I noticed that he had hearing aids(助听器)in both cars. He had a coffee too. I tried talking with him, but I realized he could not under-stand anything. I stayed anyway and he told me about his difficulties with hearing, his son who worked in the supermarket and that he was at the age of 89! He felt happy to still be able to do the shopping on his own.

    He said he liked talking to people and he apologized many times. I told him it was lovely to talk to him and after a while I said goodbye, shook his hands and wished him a good day. He was so happy and grateful(感激的).He thanked me many times and the last thing he said was" Thank you for listening". I thought the whole point was" I just stayed and listened".