An old man was fishing on the bank of a river. A child came to see him fishing. The old man was really good at fishing and it didn't take long for him to catch a full basket of fish. The old man saw that the child was very cute, and he wanted to give her a whole basket of fish. But the child shook her head.

    The old man was surprised and asked, "Why don't you want the fish?"

    The child answered, "I want the fishing rod(竿)in your hands."

    The old man asked, "Why do you want the rod?"

    "It doesn't take long to eat all the fish in a basket. But if I have the fishing rod, I can go fishing by myself and I won't be afraid of not having any more fish to eat."

    I think you will certainly say that the child is very smart. Wrong! If she doesn't know how to fish, she can not have fish to eat, even though she has the fishing rod. It's useless to only have a fishing rod. Fishing skills are the most important, not the fishing rod.

    Too many people think that if they have a "fishing rod" in their life, they will no longer fear(害怕)the wind and rain. They are just like the child, who thought that if she had a fishing rod, she would have fish to eat.

    Mr. and Mrs. Turner live outside a small town. They have a big farm and they are always busy working on it. Their son, Peter, studied at a middle school. The young man studied hard and did well in his lessons. It made them happy.

    Last month Peter finished middle school and passed the entrance examination (升学考试). Mrs. Turner was very happy and told the farmers about it.

    Yesterday morning the woman went to the town to buy something for her son. On the bus she told one of her friends how clever and able her son was. She spoke very loudly. All the people in the bus began to listen to her.

    “Which university (大学) will your son study in?” a woman next to her asked.

    “In the most famous university in our country!” Mrs. Turner said happily.

    “The most famous university?”

    “Oxford University (牛津).”

    Most of the passenger (乘客) looked at her carefully. Some of them said to her, “Congratulations!”

    A woman said, “I'm sure he'll know Fred Smith.”

    “Who's Fred Smith?”

    “He's my son.”

    “Does he study in the university, too?”

    “No,”said the woman. “He is one of the professors.”

    My grandfather Jack is 96 years old, and he has an interesting life. He has travelled a lot in his life in the Far East. He visited the Taj Mahal in India and the Pyramids, in Egypt. He hunted (狩猎) lions in Africa, and rode a camel in the Sahara Desert. He says the most beautiful place he has travelled to is Kathmandu in Nepal.

    Jack has married twice. His first wife died when she was 32. He met his second wife Maria while he' was cycling round France. They have been married for 50 years, and they have lived happily in a small village since they got married.

    Jack says that he has never been ill in his life. The secret of good health, according to my grandfather, is exercise. He goes swimming every morning. He has done this since he was a boy. He also has a glass of wine every night! Perhaps that is his secret!

    Dave is a 12-year-old boy. There are three people in his family: his father, mother and he. They are in Shanghai. Dave likes blue. Look, his jacket and backpack are blue. He is in Class 3. 22 boys and 18 girls are in his class. His good friends Liu Kun and Li Lei are in Class 3, too. Miss Wang is their math teacher. She is a good teacher. Her classes are interesting. Math is not difficult for them!

    Dave likes playing computer games, but he doesn't play them every day. He plays sports every day. It is good for his health.