It was a village in India. The people were poor. However, they were happy. After all, their forefathers (祖先) had lived in the same way for centuries (世纪).

    Then one day, some visitors from the city arrived. They told the villagers there were some people who liked to eat frogs' legs. However, they did not have enough frogs of their own, so they wanted to buy frogs from other places.

    This seemed like money for nothing. There were millions of frogs in the fields around, and they were no use to the villagers. All they had to do was to catch them. They reached an agreement and people sent their children into the fields to catch frogs. Every week a truck (卡车) arrived to collect the frogs and give them the money. For the first time, the people could dream of a better future, but the dream didn't last (持续) long.

    It was not easy to notice (觉察到) the change at first, but it seemed like the crops (庄稼) were not doing so well. It was more worrying that the children fell ill more often, and there seemed to be more insects (虫) around lately.

    The villagers decided that they couldn't just wait to see the crops failing and the children getting weak. They would have to use the money got to buy pesticides (杀虫剂) and medicines. Soon there was no money left.

    Then the people found out the problem. It was the frog. They were not useless. They had been doing an important job—eating insects. Now with so many frogs killed, the insects were increasing (增加) more quickly. They were eating the crops and spreading diseases (传播疾病).

    Now, the people are still poor. But in the evenings they sit in the village square and listen to sounds of insects and frogs. These sounds of the night now have a much deeper meaning.

A

    A class teacher, in my opinion, plays an important role in a child's development. Every year when my daughter moves to a new class, I have a usual big worry –her new class teacher. This year, she is moving to Class Three and I can't wait to see how things are going on.

    Last year, my daughter did not like her teacher at all. It was so bad that she did not look forward to school. It was a year full of trouble and worries.

    This year, Miss Purity is gentle and humorous. It's hard not to like her. Here are the changes in my daughter.

    She becomes an early bird. Last year, mornings were like a fight because I had to force Tasha to hurry up when she was preparing for school. I had to pull her out of bed, tell her to take breakfast and then drove her to school. But now, our mornings are like a party. She wakes up early, prepares everything at a high speed and then rushes to school to be with Miss Purity.

    She's happy. She enjoys school and school work and keeps talking about what they did at school when she comes home.

    She's responsible. She used to be careless and forgetful. But now she never forgets even her water bottle at school. She makes her bed and helps in the kitchen.

    Her diary is full of praises. The diary is the tool of communication between the teacher and the parents. Last year, her diary was always full of negative reports. One time, she poured water in a child's lunchbox, another time she threw another kid's textbook in the toilet. Now she began to share her snacks with those who did not have anything. She's always volunteering to clean the blackboard, the teacher's chair and desk.

    She does well in school. Finishing her classwork was such a big problem. She had to do it at home. But now, she finished both the classwork and homework at school.

D

    In 1989, an 8.2 earthquake killed over 30,000 people in less than four minutes. A father rushed to his son's school, only to discover the building was as flat as a pancake.

    But he remembered that promise he had made to his son, "No matter what, I'll always be there for you!" Tears began to fill his eyes. As he looked at the pile of debris(瓦砾)that once was the school, it looked hopeless, but he kept remembering his words. He rushed there and started digging.

    Other parents tried to pull him off what was left of the school. They tried saying many different things: "It's too late!" "They're all dead!" "Come on, face reality, there's nothing you can do!"

    A firefighter also tried to pull him away, saying, "Fires are breaking out, explosions(爆炸) are happening everywhere. You're in danger."

    The police came and said, "You're endangering(危及)others. Go home."

    To which he replied, "Are you going to help me?" And then he went back to his digging, stone by stone.

    He went on because he needed to know, "Is my boy alive or is he dead?"

    He dug for eight hours ...12 hours…then, in the 38th hour, he pulled back a large stone and heard his son. He screamed his son's name, "ARMAND!" He heard back, "Dad? It's me, Dad! I told the other kids not to worry. I told them that if you were alive, you'd save me and when you saved me, they'd be saved. You did it, Dad!"

    "What's going on there?" the father asked.

    "There are 14 of us left out of 33, Dad," his son replied. "We're afraid, hungry, thirsty, but thankful you're here."

    "Come on out, boy!"

    "Let the other kids out first, because I know you'll get me! No matter what, I know you'll always be there for me!"

    Uncle Li and Uncle Wang are good friends．They live next to each other and their farms are both at the foot of the mountain．So they can help each other．But neither of them likes to use his head．They're both poor though they work hard．Most villagers have built new houses，but they still live in the low and broken houses．They never find out why．

    Once Uncle Li went to town to buy some medicine for his wife．In the town he heard the apples in a city were expensive．He told Uncle Wang about it as soon as he went back．They decided to carry some apples to the city．They borrowed some money from their friends and bought nearly 1，000kilograms of apples in the villages and carried them to the city on a tractor．Bad luck!A lot of apples has already been carried there when they arrived．A few days later they had to sell them at a low price （价格）．They felt unhappy and returned to their village．

    "I can't understand why we sustained （蒙受） losses in business while others always profit （盈利）"Uncle Li asked one day．

    "The tractor was too small"Uncle Wang said without thinking．"We'll carry more apples on a truck next time!"

    "I agree!"said Uncle Li．"How foolish （傻的） we were!"