It was Jimmy's fifth birthday. He got quite a lot of nice birthday presents from his family, and one of them was a beautiful big drum(鼓).

    “Who gave him that thing?” Jimmy's father asked when he saw it.

    “His grandfather did,” answered Jimmy's mother.

    “Oh,” said his father.

     Of course, Jimmy liked his drum very much. He made a terrible noise with it, but his mother did not mind. His father was working during the day, and Jimmy was in bed when he got home in the evening, so he did not hear the noise.

    But one of the neighbours did not like the noise at all. So one morning a few days later, she took a knife and went to Jimmy's house while he was playing his drum. She said to him, “Hello, Jimmy. Do you know there's something very nice inside your drum? Here's a knife. Open the drum and let's find it.”

    David walked down the street. All he wanted to do was to play basketball with Jim. But his mother told him to return his sister's books to the library on his way to Jim's house.

    In his eyes, books and summertime just don't go together. He thought he had read a lot during the school year. And he had never set foot inside a public library. Today he'd just drop the books off in the outside return box, but it was locked. He had to go inside to return them.

David walked inside the building a few minutes before closing time. He put the books into the return box. After a quick drink of water and a short stop in the toilet, he'd be on his way to meet Jim. He walked out of the toilet. The library lights were turned off. He was locked — in a library.

    David tried to use the telephone, but he couldn't find one. As the sun began to set, he searched for a light and found a little one on the desk. He used a pencil to write a note on a big piece of paper. It read," I'm locked inside. Please call for help." He put it on the front door. Surely, someone passing by would see it. He then turned his attention to the library itself.

    He was surprised to discover that this place was not so bad. Rows and rows of books! When he saw a book about Michael Jordan on the desk, he picked it up. He opened the book and began to read. He felt that being locked in the library didn't seem to be such a terrible thing.

    One day, a little monkey and a little fox(狐狸) went out to play. They saw an apple tree on the other side of the river. There were many big and red apples on it. But there was no bridge over the river. The monkey thought(想) hard and had an idea. They pulled down(推倒) a tree and put it over the river as a bridge.

    The monkey said, "My old friend, you go there first." But after the fox went to the other side, he kicked(踢) the tree into the river and ran to the apple tree. "How can I get there without the tree?" cried the monkey. The fox laughed and said, "You just stand there and watch me eating the apples." The monkey was very angry.

    Suddenly it began to rain. The water level(水位) in the river rose（上涨） and tree flew away with the water.

    "You can eat all the apples. But you can't come back," shouted the monkey.

    The fox stopped eating and looked at the monkey sadly.

My mom once told me that after I learned to say "Mama" and "Dada", my third word was "No!". Sadly, I used that word too often as a boy. I didn't want to eat my vegetables. I didn't want to go to bed on time. I didn't want to work in the garden. I would much rather read books than help my mom and grandma with the boring housework. Being the youngest of three sons, I probably said "no" a lot more than I should have.

As I grew up, I began to say "Yes!" a lot more. I can remember making the bed and sweeping the floor. I felt really happy to help my parents. I can remember trying to get good grades in school and the pride in my parents' eyes when I got into college. I can remember learning that saying "yes" could bring more happiness into my life than saying "no" ever did.

Even now, I am still learning how to say "yes". My only advice to you is not to wait as long as I did. Say "yes" to life. Say "yes" to love. Say "yes" to helping others. "Yes" may only be a word, but it can change your life.

Hi! I'm Mandy Swift. I'm from an island nation in Southeast Asia. It is {#blank#}1{#/blank#} country named Singapore. I am in {#blank#}2{#/blank#}( grade) Seven this year. Do you like to know more about me? Read on, please.

I live {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Beijing now because my parents work here. I like the nice classmates and teachers here. They always help me find and correct some {#blank#}4{#/blank#}( mistake). Mary is my new friend here. We're in {#blank#}5{#/blank#} same school but in different classes. I'm in Class One {#blank#}6{#/blank#} Mary is in Class Six. So sometimes we go to school or go home with other friends. I also like the delicious food here. Beijing roast duck {#blank#}7{#/blank#} ( be) my favorite. And I love {#blank#}8{#/blank#}( read) books too. It always makes me {#blank#}9{#/blank#}( happy).

I really enjoy {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(I) life in China. Here is some of my personal information. Thank you for knowing about me!