Gordon Hewitt, a mean (吝啬的) person who used to read his paper in his car to save electricity, died last week. He has left behind ￡250, 000 in the bank after a lifetime of saving.

    When you first saw Mr. Hewitt, you might think that he was poor: he wore his old coat, his trousers didn't fit well and his shoes were worn out. He sold newspapers on the streets.

In fact, he had a quarter-of-a-million pounds in at least 20 savings. He married twice and lived in the same house all his life. His money was left to six different people.

   60-year-old neighbor Jean Buckley remembers Mr. Hewitt's mean ways of life, “He used to sit in his Robin reading a newspaper with the light on so that he didn't have to turn the light on in his house. He would walk miles to find somewhere warm, even through the rain. ”

    68-year-old neighbor David Cheeseman said, “I have known him for over 50 years and he was always strange and funny in his manner. I told him many times to look after himself and have heat in his house. He just laughed. He wouldn't spend a penny unless he had to. He went to every church to sit in the warm, have a cup of tea or meal. He had a dryer(烘干机)in his house but never used it. He washed clothes and put them on even they were wet. He said it cost money to use the dryer. ”

    Sydney Fredette has a lot of things to deal with. Not only is she a high school student, but she has also set up her own organization, Beary Merry Christmas. She volunteers（自愿）to serve poor kids and families in Orange Country in California, US.

To remember her best friend who died of cancer nearly 10 years ago, Fredette decided toy animal that is made by children themselves in the stores' workshops. Fredette then gave them as gifts to the homeless children in California during the holiday season.

    With donations at more than 100 bears a year, Fredette and volunteers host activities every year, where volunteers not only give out the bears, but also clothing, meals, and other things.

    Not wanting to limit（限制）the giving to just the holiday months, Fredette now hosts other activities for Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and Halloween, providing the chance for her volunteer team to make a difference through the year.

    "I love making relationships with the people I serve," Fredette said. "The thanks they have, hearing their stories and seeing how happy they are, it's so cool."

    Future plans for Fredette include building a public food bank and providing a self-development class for students in her school who will soon attend college.

    Heading to college herself in the fall, Fredette is looking to stay local and continue to help out in her hometown. In fact, she was regarded as a "Dreamer & Doer" not long ago for her work in improving her community, along with 32 other high school students.

    Several days ago, Brenda had a car accident that led to one of her legs being cut off. Since then she didn't talk to anyone.

     “I wish I could bring her friends to visit her,” said Brenda's mother. “But it's a long bus trip.” The nurse smiled, “Don't worry. We have a plan.”

    Later that day, the nurse had taken Brenda to another room. “Here's your new roommate, Annie Wiggle-Do,” the nurse introduced a dark-hair teenager on the other bed.

    As soon as the nurse left, she jumped out of her bed with her only foot and sat at the other end of Brenda's bed, “I lost my leg from bone cancer,” she said. “What happened to yours?” Brenda was so shocked that she couldn't say a word. “You're lucky.” Annie continued. “You've still got your knee. They had to take mine.”

     “I'd like to have a chat with you, but my friends are coming any time now, so I have to get ready.” Annie said when she took off her hair! Her head was completely bald(秃头的).

     “Oh, I forgot to tell you, the medicine they gave me to kill the cancer also killed my hair.” Annie looked out her wigs(假发), brown and yellow, short and long, straight and curly.

     “That's why I thought up ‘Annie Wiggle-Do'.” Annie smiled. “Get it? Any wig will do? Annie Wiggle-Do?” “When Annie's friends came, she introduced Brenda to them all. Before long, Brenda started chatting with Annie and her friends. They didn't make her feel like a strange person at all!

    The girls shared their names with each other. When it was time to go to bed, Brenda said, “Good night, Annie-Wiggle-Do. Can't wait till morning.”

    “Well, we're in our new house. Let's get a new pet to get along with it,” Mrs. Brown said to her husband.

    “That sounds like a pretty good idea. Do you want to see the ads in the newspaper?”said Mr. Brown.

    “Let's go to the animal shelter. Many pets there need homes. Since tomorrow is Saturday, we can both go,” she said.

    The next morning, the Browns met Mr. Snow at the animal shelter. “We want to be sure that the pets here can go to good homes,” Mr. Snow said, “So I need to ask you some questions.”

After they talked for a while, the Browns decided to get a small dog. It wouldn't need a big house or a big yard. A small dog would bark and warn them if someone tried to break into their house. After Mr. Snow gave the Browns a book on pet care, they chose one and wanted to take her home right away. But the animal doctor hadn't checked her yet. So Mr. Snow told them to return on Sunday.

    On Sunday afternoon the Browns went to the animal shelter. The animal doctor said, “Shadow has had all of her shots（预防针）. She will be healthy.” Then, the Browns thanked the doctor and took Shadow home.

    Mr. and Mrs. Black opened a small restaurant. In order to attract (吸引) customers, they put a notice in front of the restaurant that said "Meals on the House for Three Days."

    A foreign student who didn't know much English happened to pass by the restaurant on the second day. It was lunch time and he felt very hungry. "Well, here is a restaurant. I am going to have something to eat."

    He walked towards the restaurant when he saw the notice. "American people are really strange. They even eat dinners on their houses. But how can I get up to the top of the house?" he said to himself.

    He looked around and found a ladder against a tree nearby. He started climbing up. But as he reached the top，he heard someone shouting at him.

    "Hey, what are you doing up there?" Mr. Black shouted at him. Next to him was a policeman.

    "Doesn't your notice say? "Meals on the House for Three Days'? Is it just a joke?" the foreign student answered.

    On hearing this, both Mr. Black and the policeman laughed. "Do you know what ON THE HOUSE means? Look it up in the dictionary," the policeman said.

    Look at the boy. His English name is Frank Smith. His Chinese name is Wang Lei. He is from England. He is 12. My name is Li Dong. David is my English name. I am from Qingdao, Shandong Frank and I are in grade seven. But I am in class Four and he is in Class Five. We are good friends. He often helps me with my English.

    These are our schoolbags. They are black. You can see two pens, a ruler and four books in Frank's school bag. In my schoolbag, there are three pens, two rulers and five books