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 a she went back. They decided to carry some apples to the city. They borrowed some money from their friends and bought nearly 1, 000 kilograms of apples in the villages and carried them to the city on a tractor. Bad luck！A lot of apples have already been carried there when they arrived. A few days later they had to sell them at a low price. 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 we were!"

    There was once a farmer. He lived near a road. It was not a busy road, but from time to time cars passed the farm. Near the farm gate, there was a large hole in the road. The hole was always full of water, and the drivers of the cars could not see how deep the hole was. They thought that it was not deep. Then when they drove their cars into the hole, they could not drive out of it because it was so deep. The farmer didn't spend much time working on his farm. He spent most of it watching the hole. When a car drove into it, he pulled the car out with his tractor and asked the driver a lot of money for doing this.

    One day, the driver of a car said to him, "You must make a lot of money by pulling cars out of this hole day and night." "Oh, no," said the farmer, "I don't pull the cars out of the hole at night. At night, I fill the hole with water. "

    I was born in Mississippi, America in the 1960s. When I was a five year old boy, I was badly ill and became disabled. I grew up knowing I was different. The first time I felt hurt and left out was in Grade Five. The other fourth and fifth graders played together in gym class, while I was put in the second grade gym class. 'Mom called the school to say it was unfair, but the school scolded me for complaining too much.

    In the 1980s, when my mom was giving birth to my sister, she died. My dad became even more distant. I was very sad and began drinking wine to ease the pain.

    Dad got remarried in 1985. Everyone went to his wedding except me. He told me to stay at home and watch the house. When my high school bail came around, I wanted to go out but wasn't allowed. When I graduated, my dad and step-mom weren't willing to hold a party for me. They put me into a group home after graduation.

    However, my life changed when I became a local leader of the National Self-advocacy(自我辩护) Group. At first, I thought the group wasn't for me until I found out it was all about empowerment(授权) ! My goal is to be the voice for people who haven't been heard and to help them. Many families, like mine, don't believe their disabled family members have a voice of their own.

    Looking back over my 16 years of leadership experience, I'm proud that I've helped so many disabled people. They should be encouraged to never give up and to follow their own way.

    Tom is ten years old. He loves watching TV. But for one year, he didn't watch TV at all. What was the reason? Tom's parents said they would give him $600 if he didn't watch TV for a year. Tom's parents thought he watched TV too much.

    One day his mother read a story in a newspaper about a boy who didn't watch TV for a year. She showed the story to Tom. Tom liked the idea. He turned off the TV right away, and said," It doesn't trouble me not to watch TV. I just want the money. "At first, Tom's parents were very happy. Tom read books and newspapers, played outside, and played computer games, but soon he got bored.

    Every evening, he asked his parents." What are we doing tonight?" Sometimes his mother and father wished he would watch TV just for one evening. Tom always said," No, it would cost me money!" Finally the year was over, Then Tom started watching his favorite TV shows all day again. Tom got the money from his parents. What did he plan to do with the $600?"I want to buy myself a TV set!" he said.

Back home, Qian at once {#blank#}1{#/blank#} helping China develop a space program. He started the Institute of Mechanics in Beijing, where he trained young scientists. He worked on many important space {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. In 1960, China's first rocket and first missile were launched(发射) {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. In 1970, China launched its first satellite. It is largely because of Qian's {#blank#}4{#/blank#} that China so quickly developed a space program, and became only the third country to send a manned rocket into space in

2003. 

Qian watched this rocket launch on television. He was by he will always be {#blank#}5{#/blank#} for his great contributions(贡献). He working so hard for his country, even through difficult times, helping develop the space program that pushed China into the future. 

My brother Claudio is one of the people I love most. He is wise and always {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(help), taking care of our younger sister Sarah and me. The day when he left home to go to college, I was taught the {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(important) of being a man. 

It was a rainy Saturday morning in August. We were woken up by Sarah who enjoyed{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(play) the piano in the morning. In the kitchen, there was {#blank#}4{#/blank#} surprise for Claudio — his favourite pancakes. 

Mum gave us a big smile and told us{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(sit) down for breakfast. 

While we were eating breakfast, Claudio went upstairs to collect his things. I {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(sudden) heard him calling me. When I walked{#blank#}7{#/blank#} the room we shared, I found Claudio sitting at my bedside. "It's time, brother, " he said. I thought he was saying that it was time for him to leave,{#blank#}8{#/blank#} in fact he told me that I should take on a bigger role in the family from then on. He said I should be more {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (use) to Mum than before after he left. 

I thought about his words very{#blank#}10{#/blank#} (careful) and then understood many things. That day I learnt about family, love and duty.