An old man was fishing on the bank of a river. A child came to see him fishing. The old man was really good at fishing and it didn't take long for him to catch a full basket of fish. The old man saw that the child was very cute, and he wanted to give her a whole basket of fish. But the child shook her head.

    The old man was surprised and asked, "Why don't you want the fish?"

    The child answered, "I want the fishing rod(竿)in your hands."

    The old man asked, "Why do you want the rod?"

    "It doesn't take long to eat all the fish in a basket. But if I have the fishing rod, I can go fishing by myself and I won't be afraid of not having any more fish to eat."

    I think you will certainly say that the child is very smart. Wrong! If she doesn't know how to fish, she can not have fish to eat, even though she has the fishing rod. It's useless to only have a fishing rod. Fishing skills are the most important, not the fishing rod.

    Too many people think that if they have a "fishing rod" in their life, they will no longer fear(害怕)the wind and rain. They are just like the child, who thought that if she had a fishing rod, she would have fish to eat.

    A friend of mine named Paul received an expensive car from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin (顽童) was walking around the shining car. "Is this your car, sir?" he asked. Paul answered, "Yes, my brother gave it to me for Christmas."

    The boy was surprised. "You mean your brother gave it to you and it did cost you nothing? Sir, I wish…" He hesitated (犹豫). Paul thought of course he knew what the boy wanted, but what the boy said surprised him greatly. "I wish," the boy went on, "that I could be a brother like that."

    Paul looked at the boy in surprise, and then he said. "Would you like to take a ride in my car?" "Oh yes, I'd love to," the boy answered.

    After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes shining, said, "Sir, would you mind driving in front of my house?" Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the boy wanted. He wanted to show his neighbours that he could ride home in a big car.

    But Paul was wrong again. "Will you stop where those two steps are?" the boy asked. He ran up to the steps. Then in a short while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled (残疾的) brother. He sat down on the step and pointed to the car.

    "There he is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn't cost him a cent. And some day I'm going to give you one just like it. Then you can see for yourself all the nice things in the Christmas windows that I've been trying to tell you about."

    Paul got out and lifted the boy to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed elder brother climbed in beside him and the three began an unforgettable holiday ride.

A Discussion

Host: Hello! I'm Gavin from All Talk 970 FM. Welcome to our program. Today our topic is part-time jobs. Are they good for school children or not?

Headmaster: Certainly not. Children have got two full-time jobs already: growing-up and going to school. Part-time jobs make them so tired that they fall asleep in classes.

Mrs. Black: I agree. I know school hours are short, and there's a lot of homework to do, too. Children need enough sleep. 

Mr. Black: Young children perhaps, except some boys, stay at school until they're eighteen or nineteen. A part-time job can't harm them. In fact , it's good for them. They can earn pocket-money by themselves. And they can see something of the world outside school.

Businessman: You're quite right. Boys learn a lot from a part-time job. And we shouldn't forget that some families need the extra money. If the students don't take part-time jobs, they can't stay at school.

Host: Well, we have got two for , and two against. What do our listeners think of it?

Every time I see people riding bicycles on the street, I always think of the time I spent on my grandpa's old bike.

When I was little, my grandpa looked after me because my parents were both busy with {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (they) work. At that time, only a few people {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (have) bikes in our small town. Most people usually walked around {#blank#}3{#/blank#} foot. I still remember how happy I were to buy the {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (one) bike with my grandfather. And from then on, I went to school on Grandpa's bike! {#blank#}5{#/blank#} the bike was moving forward, it made some funny sounds that made me laugh. I always hugged my grandpa and sang songs {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(happy). Grandpa turned back again and again {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (make) sure my little feet would not get caught into the wheel. Grandpa was so careful {#blank#}8{#/blank#} I never got-hurt.

What {#blank#}9{#/blank#} sweet moment it was! Now I am working in a big city and I miss my grandpa a lot. I wish I could return to those old {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (day).

Last Friday, my friend Deborah asked me if I would like to learn how to make tofu. I couldn't think of any good reason not to be interested in, so I said: "Yes". So the next day I met her and other three nice people and went to Hodo Soy Beanery in Oakland, I enjoyed the trip. And I learned a lot from the trip. The following is what I learned.

Tofu has a history of 2,000 years. Although the word "tofu" is from Japanese, the food may come from China. There are two main kinds of tofu: soft tofu (软豆腐) and firm tofu (硬豆腐). In some parts of Asia (亚洲), people use tofu as a kind of meat.

Douhua is one kind of soft tofu. It is a popular breakfast food in China. Because it is very soft, people can't eat it with chopsticks, but with a spoon. People often eat it as a dessert (甜点) and often add spring onions and sauce (酱油) to it. In Malaysia people usually eat douhua with white or dark sugar water.

When I was a little boy,I was very shy. After class,I often stayed in the playground by myself and watched my 1 plying games.On weekends, I 2 went out to play with other children. 

One day, some of my classmates asked me to play basketball with them. I wanted to 3 them.But I worried that the ball might hit(击中) me on the head and I couldn't play basketball at all.So I said to them,"Sorry, 4 next time."

That evening I 5 that with my father.He said,"My boy，playing basketball is not a(n) 6 thing.I'm sure you'll have fun 7 the activity."However, I was 8 worried. I was very short and thin. I couldn't 9 fast. My father said, " If you believe in (相信)yourself, you can do it well."

The next day,my father took me to a 10 and taught me how to play basketball.At first,I was a slow learner. After hours of practice,I felt that I loved the sport.

Later,some boys in the park asked me to play basketball 11 .I thought the game should be interesting, so I said yes.

We worked well 12 we didn't know each other.I ran after the ball and played hard. In the end,13 got points,so we were all happy and excited.

After that,I became interested in different 14 .I also made many friends 15 those fun activities. More importantly,I've learned that nothing is difficult if we believe in ourselves.