Samantha (her husband， John， called her Sam) left the doctor's house looking perfect， satisfied with her appearance.

    The year was 1862. It seemed that the war with the North would never come to an end. Sam's father had left as soon as possible， fighting for their land， for their new government， for the South.

    At last， Samantha reached the house that she and John owned. It was a cold， rainy night， and she was glad to be home. She stepped into the sitting room. John sat in an armchair， reading a book. When he saw her， he put the book down， and stood， reaching his arms out for her. They kissed briefly. He put a hand to her now slightly round belly(肚子) and asked， “What did the doctor say?”

    “He said the baby was fine and that I seemed healthy. Do you have any news?”

    “Surprisingly， yes.” John hesitated for a moment， as if deciding how he would stop what he was about to say， and then unwillingly continued， “I've been required to join the army.”

    Sam screamed， “What?” She was near tears. “But-but we're just starting out.” Her voice shook. “I thought that after two years of begging my mother to let the two of us get married that our life would finally be happy. Isn't there any way you can get out of this?”

    John answered， “I'm afraid not.”

        “Please. Please， John， if you love me， please get out of this. Break a leg or do something.” She began to cry. John comforted her， resting her head on his shoulder.

    “Sam.”

    “What?”

    “Name the child after me； name it John or Joanna. I'll come back as soon as I can. I promise.”

    Sam smiled， knowing that John never broke a promise. She put her hand to her belly， and， unknown to her， the baby was a girl.

    And unknown to both of them， the promise that John had just made would be the only promise he would ever break.

    I was in the park with my elder sister, Cathy, on Friday. My sister left her jacket on a chair while we talked to some friends. When we went back to the chair, a girl in a red T-shirt was sitting there. She had some money in her hand. When she saw us, she stood up and walked away.

    I asked my sister, "Did you have any money in your jacket?"

    She said, "Yes, Anna, I did."

    I said, "Look in your jacket quickly."

    Cathy looked in her jacket, but her money was not there.

    "That girl stole(偷) it!" I said, and we both ran after her. We caught her quickly.

    My sister was very angry and she said, "Give me the money." The girl gave the money to Cathy and ran away. We both ran after her, but we lost her.

    Then we went home. But before we could tell our parents, my mother said to Cathy, "You left your money at home. It's on the table in the sitting room. You must be more careful with money."

    So the girl in the red T-shirt was not a thief! She probably thought we were thieves! We felt terrible.

    Please telephone us if you know this girl! We are very sorry for our mistake. We would like to say sorry to her and give the money back to her.

    Our number is 512667. My name is Anna.

    When Allison Winn was eight and her family adopted(收养) a dog named Coco, they had no idea how much the little dog would change her life. "Coco helped me feel better," says Allison, who was recovering from cancer at the time." She would stay with me when I didn't want to play." Allison loved Coco so much that she told her parents she wanted to help other sick kids find the same kind of comfort.

    She started raising money by selling homemade dog biscuits in front of her house. Her first customer was the mailman. By the end of that summer, she had raised nearly $1,000, enough to adopt and train two dogs and give them to children with cancer. Now, a little more than two years later, an organization has been founded for Allison's cause.

    Her organization, the Stink Bug Project, is run to help families adopt pets. To date, the program has raised $ 33,000 and given ten dogs to ten kids with cancer. With the remaining money, Allison's mother, Dianna Litvak, who helps run Stink Bug, hopes to extend(扩大) the pet adoption program all over the state and help support cancer research.

    Her daughter is just as ambitious(雄心勃勃的)."I wanted to do a million adoptions, but my morn made me lower it," says Allison. Still, she'd finally like to get, dogs to sick kids in other states." Allison has figured out(理解) how to help  in a way that no one else has," Litvak says proudly. "We made her younger sister, Emily, her friends, and the adopting families take part. It took the love of a little girl to wrap(包) all that together into one amazing package."

Experiencing China

    Long long ago, there was a small village in the mountains, and many people lived there. Mike was one of them. He was a middle-aged man. The people in the village always laughed at him. They liked to show visitors how stupid Mike was. They thought this was an amusing thing to do.

    One day, a visitor came to the village. "Watch this!" a villager said and called to Mike." Come and play a game, Mike." he shouted. Mike walked slowly towards him, with a silly smile on his face. "Look, Mike, "the villager said, "I have got something for you." He showed Mike a $1 coin and a much larger 50￠（美分） coin." Which one would you like？" he asked Mike, holding them both out. Mike immediately took the 50￠coin. The villager laughed." See how stupid he is!" he said," He always does that. How stupid he is!" He walked away, leaving Mike with the visitor.

    The visitor felt sorry for Mike." Mike, listen," he said," Although the 50￠ coin is bigger than the 1 coin, the 1 coin is worth much more. Twice as much." "I know that," Mike said," But the very first time I take the $1 coin, they will stop playing the game. "Mike went away and left the visitor in silence.

    One day, I picked up my daughter Eloise from school and went to the supermarket for a few things. I was hoping to be in and out quickly.

    I found a short line with just one person in front of me. It was an elderly woman, and she was paying for her things with only change. After a long day at work. I was not happy with this woman.

    But then I watched the young clerk. He helped her count her change, even so gently taking it from her shaking hands. I listened to him repeatedly say to her: "Yes, ma'am." When she asked if she had enough to buy a bag, he told her she did. Then he went two lines over to get one for her. Never one did this clerk get angry or roll his eyes. He was patient and kind.

    As I was watching him, I saw Eloise was too. I realized my daughter was learning an important lesson from a complete stranger.

    When the woman was finished, the clerk began ringing up my things and thanked me for my patience. I paid 33 dollars and thanked him too. I found the manager and told him about the clerk's kindness and patience.

    Then we left the supermarket with a full cart, but also with a heart full of thankfulness for such an important lesson.