A friend of mine named Paul received an expensive car from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a boy was walking around the shinning car. “Is this your car ,Paul ?” he asked. Paul answered ,“Yes, my brother gave it to me for Christmas.” The boy was surprised . “You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn't cost you anything? Well , I wish…” He hesitated.

    Of course, Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that . But what the boy said surprised Paul greatly.

    “I wish,” the boy went on ,“that I could be a brother like that.” Paul looked at the boy in surprise, then he said again,“ Would you like to take a ride in my car ?”

    “Oh yes, I'd love that.”

    After a short ride, the boy with his eyes shining, “Paul, would you mind driving in front of my house?”

    Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the boy wanted. He wanted to show his neighbours that he could ride home in a big car. But Paul was wrong again. “Will you stop where those two steps are ?” the boy asked.

    He ran up to the steps. Then in a short while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled* brother. He sat him down on the step and pointed to the car.

    “There it is , Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn't cost him a cent. And some day I'm going to give you one just like it…Then you can see for yourself all the nice things in the Christmas windows that I've been trying to tell you about.”

    Paul got out and lifted the boy to the front seat of his car. The shining—eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began an unforgettable holiday ride.

    Martin is a fifteen-year-old boy. He used to be a“problem child”, but a recent1with his mother changed his life. He didn't use to give his mother many problems.2, after his father's death a few years ago, Martin's life became3more difficult. His mother couldn't afford to pay for her child's education. To do this, she4work, and so was often not at home.

    His mother looked after him as5as she could. Unfortunately, Martin still caused problems. He was not6in studying and he often got in to trouble. Luckily, his mother was very7and didn't give up trying to help him. In the end, she8a difficult decision:to send him to a boys' boarding school. Martin hated it and used to cause a lot of trouble.

    One day, he told his teacher he wanted to leave the school. The teacher said it was necessary for Martin to9with his mother. Martin called his mother, but to his10, this phone call changed his life. “It was exactly11ineeded,”he said. “My mother helped me to understand how much she had given me. She also told me that even though my father was no longer with us, he was12me and would always take pride in every thing good I do. That's when I decided to change. I realize that13my father died, I have been afraid of being alone, and have tried to make my mother pay more attention to me. ”

    Now Martin has14changed. He has been working hard and is now one of the best students in his class. How was he able to change?His mother's15helped him to feel good about himself.

B

    Hannah Taylor is a schoolgirl from Canada. One day, when she was five years old, she was walking with her mother in downtown. They saw a man 1 out of a rubbish can. She asked her mother why he did that and her mother said that the man was homeless and hungry. Hannah was very 2. She couldn't understand why some people had to live their lives without houses or enough food. Hannah started to think about how she could 3, but, of course, there is not a lot one five-year-old can do to solve the problem of homelessness.

    Later ,when Hannah attended school, she saw another homeless person. It was a woman, 4 an old shopping trolley（购物车）which was full of 5. It seemed that everything the woman owned was in them. Hannah 6 to do something. She had been talking to her mother about the lives of homeless people 7 they first saw the homeless man. Her mother told her that if she did something to change the problem, she wouldn't 8 so bad.

    Hannah began to speak out about the homelessness. She hoped to 9 her message of hope. She started the Ladybug Foundation(基金) and began to raise money.

    Hannah is one of many examples of young people who are making a 10 in the world. You can, too!

    David is 1 American school boy. His school is not 2 from his home. It takes him only ten 3 to go to school by bus. But he's often late for school because he can't get up 4. It's a 5 day today. David gets up early. He has breakfast and goes to school. He 6 to the bus station. He takes a bus 7 seven o'clock. His classes begin at half past seven. But today he is 8 late. Do you know 9? Because he takes a 10 bus!