In a nice house there lived an old man. Behind the house there was a big garden. He planted many plants there. He took care of his flowers all the time, watering and fertilizing (施肥) them.

       One day a young man went by the garden. He looked at the beautiful flowers, imagining how happy he could be if he lived in such a beautiful place. Then, suddenly he found the old gardener was blind. He was very _________ about this and asked, “You can't see these flowers. Why are you busy taking care of them every day?”

       The old man smiled and said, “I can tell you some reasons  . First, I was a gardener when I was young, and I really like this job. Second, although I can't see these flowers, I can touch them. Third, I can smell the sweetness of them. As to the last one, that's you.”       

       “Me? But you don't know me,” said the young man.

       “Yeah, it's true that I don't know you. But I know that flowers are angels that everybody knows. We enjoy the happiness these flowers have brought us.”

       The blind man's work opened our eyes and pleased our heart, which also made his life happier. It was just like Beethoven, who became deaf in his later life and wrote many great musical words. Beethoven himself couldn't hear  his wonderful music, but his music has encouraged millions of people to face their difficulties bravely. Isn't it one kind of happiness?

Every year, when the Nobel Prize winner list is made public, there are some certain winners who are labeled as unexpected and surprised. This year, as an American musician, Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Undoubtedly, he made full expressions of that label as he is the first musician winning this prize.

On the contrary, the modern Japanese writer Murakami Haruki felt sad again even though there is strong support for him. As a favorite candidate(候选人), Murakami Haruki just narrowly missed the Nobel Prize again. Luckily, he is very positive—- readers are the most important and it doesn't matter whether winning a prize or not.

And Nobel Prize awards the words(授予颁奖词) for Bob Dylan—-for having created new poetic expressions in the great American song tradition.

    Up to now, Bob has released more than 30 albums. And he has won many other awards such as Oscar Award, Golden Globe Award, Pulitzer Prize and so on. Moreover, he is still a painter and poet.

Lately, the rumors(谣言)flew that Bob refused to accept the Nobel Prize in literature. But Bob doesn't officially respond on this matter. However, there is still time before the final Nobel Prize awarding day in December. No matter whether Bob will accept the prize or not, his music has already influenced many people across the globe!

    One day, Allan and his friend Henry went swimming in a river. It was very hot. How happy they were in the river! After they got out of the water, they played games in the sun for a while.

    On their way back, Henry saw some flowers. He liked flowers very much and ran into the green field to look at them. Now Allan was walking by himself.

    Then he heard Henry calling out, "A snake! Help! ..."

    "What's wrong with you?" asked Allan.

    "A snake bit（咬）me in the leg. Come here!"

    Allan ran over and saw a small red wound（伤口）on Henry' s leg.

    "The snake was in the grass. I didn't see it."

    "Sit down quickly"! Allan told Henry.

    Allan put his mouth at the little red wound and began to suck（吸）at it. In this way he saved Henry's life. "Oh, Allan, it's very kind of you to help me."

    "That's all right. We are friends and we must always help each other."

    Huang Qingyun spends her life telling stories to children. Now though she is in her nineties, she has no plans to stop.

    "I did this for children, from the first day I started to write stories. I am old now, but I still want to go on telling stories to children," Huang said.

    Born in Guangzhou in 1920. Huang spent her childhood in Hong Kong and her favourite hobby was making up stories for her elder sister.

    In 1935, Huang went to university and studied Chinese. During this period, she was greatly influenced by the well-known Chinese educator Tao Xingzhi and decided to become a primary school teacher. However, instead of being a teacher. Huang found another way to educate children. During World War Ⅱ, Huang often told stories to homeless children at the Little Children Society, a charity (慈善机构) set up by a professor from the University of Hong Kong.

    Huang also started a column (专栏) called "Sister Yun's Mail Box" in Xin Er Tong, a children's magazine set up in Hong Kong in 1941. From then, Huang officially started writing and created a large number of stories for children. Huang spent about 30 years at the magazine working as chief editor (主编) in Guangzhou.

    Huang retired in 1987. She moved to Hong Kong and went on creating stories for children, including I Love Hong Kong, Children from Hong Kong and Shoes Brothers.

    "What l wrote were all for children, and for me, writing fairy tales is my favourite," Huang said.

    Alan is in Class Two, Grade Seven. He is 12. His English teacher is Mr. Smith. He is English. His daughter is May. She is 13. Alan and May are good friends. They go to the same school. But they are not in the same class. They like playing sports. After class, they often play ping-pong with their friends. This is May's school ID card. Its number is 2707893. Is that Alan's school ID card?

    No, he can't find his school ID card. If you find it, please call Alan at 3462828. Thanks!

    Bill from Australia is in New York now. He will have a meeting with some people from England in the Peterson Building on 34th Street. But he doesn't know where it is. Now he is asking two men the way to the Peterson Building.

    "Excuse me, can you tell me where the Peterson Building on 34th Street is?"

    "Sure," answers one of the men. "You can get there in five minutes. Go along this road and turn left at the third crossing, and then you can find it. "

    But the other man says, "There is a better way; take a No. 3 bus. It can take you to the Peters Building." "Not Peters, but Peterson." says Bill.

    Then the two men say, "Oh, we're sorry we don't know."

    "Thank you all the same. I think I'll take a taxi," Bill says. He knows that if he wants to know how to get to a place next time, he'd better ask a policeman.