William Shakespeare is one of the greatest writers in English literature. His plays can be divided into three categories: histories, tragedies(悲剧) and comedies. Shakespeare wrote eighteen comedies, although two were lost. These comedies usually have happy endings and a light-hearted tone and style that are quite different from his tragedies.

    All of Shakespeare's comedies have five acts and the most important or exciting point always takes place in the third act. The hero does not appear until after other characters have talked about him. Shakespeare had some themes that he usually wrote about: the fight between good and bad, love's great effect on people, and the difference between first appearance and a person's true personality or face. Shakespeare also wrote his play in a certain style. For example, Shakespeare used words in such a clever and humorous way that they had more than one meaning. Some of the characters changed their appearances so that people didn't know who they were.

    Even though the tone is lighter in these plays. Comedies in Shakespeare's day were quite different from modern-day comedies because their purpose was not to make people laugh. Shakespeare's comedies are very emotional(有感染力的) and often include serious topics to think about.

    He was a single（单一的）father, only living with a 5-year-old son. He was often worried about his son growing up without a mother to look after him.

    One day he went away to work, leaving the child at home. He was worried about the child all the way, not knowing if he was hungry. But his child always told him not to worry. He went home quickly after finishing his work.

    When he got home, the child was already deep asleep. When he took off his hat and was about to sleep himself, he was surprised to find a bowl of noodles under the quilt. He spanked（打屁股） his sleeping son heavily. "Why are you so naughty（淘气的）, making the quilt dirty? Who will wash it?" It was the first time that he hit his boy after his wife died.

    "I don't," the child replied with tears in his eyes. "This is your supper, Daddy." In order to let his father eat dinner as soon as he got home, the child cooked two bowls of noodles: One for himself, the other one for his father. He was afraid his father's noodles would get cold, so he put them under the quilt to keep them hot. Hearing this, the father hugged his boy without saying a word.

    Barbara Finch, from England, started a friendship with Elizabeth Martin from New Zealand when the two were just 14 years old. And they have been penfriends for the past seventy years.

    "Seventy years is a long time and such a lot has happened," says Barbara. "I've lost my husband and my son, and she's lost her husband and her daughter. With things like that, her friendship means a lot to me."

    The two started writing letters to each other in November 1947. At that time, Barbara was a pupil. In her school. there was an exchange(交换) teacher from New Zealand. She helped her students to find penfriends from her country. Among the many penfriends, Barbara and Elizabeth were the only pair to form a long-term friendship.

    Now both 84, the pair continue to send weekly e-mails to tell each other about their daily lives. Barbara, who's a proud great-grandmother, has kept every single letter and card Elizabeth sent her over the years.

    "We e-mail each other now rather than write letters, partly because it's quicker but mostly because there's no cost," Barbara says.

    The pair not only write to each other, but they also meet face to face. They have visited each other 15 times. Barbara flying to New Zealand 10 times and Elizabeth flying to England 5 times.

    "Her family has become a second family to me. She says I am the sister she never had." Barbara says.

    My cousin Bill likes going to the beach on Sunday. There was much sunshine that day. He went there with his brother. They got there at 9:00. There were lots of people there on vacation. Bill and his brother sat down and began to relax.

    Soon Bill found there were lots of empty water bottles on the beach. He also saw some paper bags on the beach. That made Bill sad. He and his brother began to work. To clean the beach, they worked hard. About two hours later, the beach was clean again.  At last they put up a sign, saying, "No Littering(乱扔)" on the beach. They wanted people to keep the beach clean. After that, they were very hungry. So they went to a restaurant nearby to have lunch. They had two large bowls of beef noodles there, and then went home.

    There were many plants in a forest. When spring came, a pine tree saw a red rose nearby and said, "What a beautiful flower! I wish I were that lovely."

    The rose proudly said, "It seems that I am the most beautiful flower in this forest." Then the rose looked at a cactus (仙人掌) and said, "Look at that ugly plant full of thorns(刺)!"

    "What a proud flower!" thought the trees.

    As the days passed, the red rose often looked at the cactus and said bad words about it, like "This plant is useless. How sorry I am to be his neighbor!"

    The cactus never got angry and even tried to advise the rose, saying, "God did not create any form of life without a purpose."

    Spring passed, and the weather became very hot. As there was no rain, the red rose began to wilt(枯萎).

    One day the rose saw birds put their beaks (喙) into the cactus and then fly away. The red rose asked the pine tree what the birds were doing. The pine tree explained that the birds were getting water from the cactus.

    "The cactus has water?" asked the rose.

    Yes, you can also drink some from it. The birds can bring water to you if you ask the cactus for help."

    The red rose felt too ashamed to ask for water from the cactus. But finally it did ask for help. The cactus kindly agreed.

    The rose learned a lesson and never judged (评价) anyone by their appearance again.