A neighbor of mine, while visiting his mother in Boston, took her to a shoe store to buy a new pair of shoes. While she was trying on different styles, my neighbor took the manager（经理）beside him. "When she picks out a pair that she likes,' he said, "just tell her that the price is 12 dollars. I'll pay the regular price. I don't care how much it is.'

The following week, my neighbor was walking by the shoe store and the manager recognized (认出)him and called him in.

"What's the problem?' asked my neighbor as he entered the store.

"Wasn't my check any good?'

"That's not it,' answered the manager, "The problem is that your mother is bringing all her friends in for those 12-dollar shoes!'

Give water, save lives

A bottle of water may not seem like much to you, but thousands of bottles will be of great help for people who live in drought-hit(遭受旱灾) areas in China.

Since last autumn, there has been very little rain in Southwest China. Some places, especially in Yunnan, Guangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou, have experienced a serious drought. Crops (庄稼) died, the land cracked(裂开), and wells (井) and rivers dried up. More than 20 million people are having difficulty in finding safe drinking water.

After learning about the drought, many people around the country helped by giving water, money and other things.

Last week, every member of the Communist Youth League (共青团员) and Young Pioneers(少先队员) were encouraged to give one bottle of water to the drought-hit areas. Students in primary schools and middle schools quickly joined the activity. In Yuhua Primary School in Xi' an, 900 students bought over 1,000 bottles of water with their pocket money. They also wrote their wishes on the bottles.

The serious drought has also made students realize the importance of saving water. Students from Nanshan Middle School in Huizhou, Guangdong went on the street to tell people to take part in water-saving activities.

"I've heard that some children in drought-hit areas don't have enough drinking water. They have to drink muddy ( 含有泥土的 ) water. I feel really sad about that," said one student. "I decide to take a shower twice a week instead of every day to save water," he said.

Shortly after I arrived in France, my phone was stolen. 

I was taking a trip by 1 . After knowing my phone was gone and I had missed the last train into the city, I 2 to spend the night at the train station. The workers there were very kind, assuring (向……保证) me their country was 3 . However, I still felt a little 4 and didn't want to take the bus in the dark. 

The next day, I arrived in Paris and reached the hotel at 8 am. At the front desk, a man 5 my story. Being 6 , he wanted to show me that Paris was a great city. He gave me his phone number after only 7 me for 20 minutes. He told me that 8 my visit to the Louvre the next day, I should call him so that he and his friend could 9 and show me around.

His friend spoke poor English, but was very 10 . They took me to the best cultural places in Paris. They acted as my guides 11 I had no map. They provided me with a lot of 12 that I would have never known if I had been on my own—or on my phone! 

They even took me to try traditional French food, like crepes, and didn't let me 13 anything. They were so kind and caring and we 14 became close friends. It's safe to say that the 15 of the trip was not so good, but I had the best experience in Paris and would love to go back!