B

    Frederic Chopin(弗兰德里克.肖邦) was born in March, 1810, near Warsaw in Poland(波兰). He was one of the greatest musicians in the world. In 1831, he went to Paris. No people but he could play the piano very well.

    At that time people in Paris liked the Hungarian(匈牙利的) pianist Franz Liszt(弗朗兹.李斯特).One night, at a concert, Liszt went to the piano and the people shouted. As all the lights in the concert were turned off, a wonderful piano concert started. The music was so good that the listeners were all greatly interested. They kept praising the pianist and thought that Liszt had reached something new in playing the piano. Suddenly, all the lights were turned on again as the music came to an end. And there stood a young man instead of the famous Hungarian pianist Franz Liszt.

    Liszt had planned all this. As the lights went out, Liszt left his chair and let Chopin take his place. So with the help of Liszt and his own talent(天赋), Chopin soon became famous.

    One day, when I was a new student in high school, I saw a boy from my class walking home from school. His name was Kyle. He was carrying all his books. I thought to myself: "Why would anyone bring home all his books on Friday? He must really be a bookworm. "As I was walking, I saw some kids running toward him. They knocked all his books out of his arms and pushed him to the ground.

    His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him. He looked up and I saw tears in his eyes. I felt sad and I went directly to him.

    As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are fools." He looked at me and said, "Thanks!" There was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude. I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. Then I invited him to play football on Saturday with me and my friends. He agreed. We played together and had fun on that weekend. The more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him. Over the next three years, Kyle and I became best friends.

    When we were seniors, we began to think about college. We would go to different schools, but I knew we would always be friends.

    As a top student, Kyle was invited to give a speech for graduation. He was nervous when he was about to speak on the stage. So I said, "Hey, you'll be great!" He looked at me and smiled.

    Being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. "he said in his speech. He talked about meeting me and being best friends with me in the last four years. When he finished the story, he looked at me and gave me a little smile.

    I saw his mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same thankful smile. Not until that moment did I realize its depth.

    Never underestimate(低估)the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person s life, for better or for worse.

    Mrs. Jackson is a reporter at www. australian- labradoodle-book.com. Her hobby is taking photos. Now she writes a new book with a lot of pictures of her dog. The book tells about her puppy.

    When Harley was born, he only had two healthy legs.

    What happened to the other two legs? Mrs. Jackson was very sad at this.

    In fact, Harley also had two back legs, but they were deformed badly. When he was 8 weeks old, the owner took him to a nearby hospital. The doctors said they had no way to save（救）them. At last, they had to cut his back legs when he was just 12 weeks old. Later the poor dog had to practice running. Now he can run as fast as a usual dog.

    Luckily, Harley is a happy dog. He never thinks he is different from other dogs. He is now 16 weeks old. He tries to run every day. The other day, a warm-hearted man gave him a wheel-chair. Now he can go out easily with the help of his wheel-chair. You see, Harley is a dog that never gives up.

    After a while attention to Tom ended, and the usual school murmur(嗡嗡读书声) rose upon the boring air once more. Now the boy began to steal secret glances(偷看) at the girl. She noticed it, made a face at him and gave him the back of her head for the space of a minute. When she slowly faced around again, an apple lay before her. She pushed it away. Tom gently put it back. She pushed it away again, but with less animosity(敌意). Tom patiently returned it to its place. Then she let it remain. Tom wrote on his paper, "Please take it. I got more." The girl glanced at the words, but made no sign.

    Now the boy began to draw something on the paper, hiding his work with his left hand. For a time the girl refused to notice, but her human curiosity soon began to show itself by hardly noticeable(明显的) signs. The boy worked on, seemingly not aware. The girl made some non-committal(含糊的) efforts to see, but the boy did not display that he was aware of it. At last she couldn't bear it and whispered: "Let me see it."

    Tom partly uncovered the picture of a house with some smoke rising from the chimney(烟囱). Then the girl's interest began to fasten itself upon the work and she forgot everything else. When it was finished, she gazed a moment, then whispered:

    "It's nice! Draw a man."

    The artist created a man in the front yard. She was satisfied, and whispered:

"It's a beautiful man—now draw me in it."

    Tom drew an hour-glass(沙漏) as the body, a full moon as her head and some arms added to it. The girl said:

    "It's ever so nice. I wish I could draw. No one has ever taught me that."

    "It's easy," whispered Tom, "I'll teach you."

    "Oh, will you? When?"

    "At noon. Do you go home for dinner?"

    "I'll stay if you will."

   "Good, that's a deal. What's your name?"

    John, David and James were three brothers. Every year on their mother's birthday, they sent her expensive presents. They liked to show her how rich they were.

    The oldest brother , John, decided to give his mother a perfect(完 美的) present. He thought it must be more expensive than his brothers'.

    So he put an advertisement(广告) in the newspapers: WANTED THE PERFECT PRESENT FOR A RICH WOMAN. For many days people phoned him from all over the country. Each of them wanted to sell him" the perfect present". But John didn't like any of them.

    Then, less than a week before his mother's birthday, a man came to his office. He was carrying a cage with a large bird in it. "This bird," the man said," can speak ten languages (语言) and sing any popular songs. There's no other bird like it in the world." With these words, he asked the bird to speak to John in French, tell him a joke in Japanese and sing a famous popular song. John was very happy.

    "I'll buy it. How much do you want?" John said." One hundred thousand dollars," the man said. This was a lot of money, but John paid him. Then he sent the bird to his mother with a birthday card.

    The day after his mother's birthday he phoned her." Well, Mother," he asked," what do you think of the bird?" "Oh, very delicious, dear," she answered.