Mr. and Mrs. Wilson begin their vacation today with their children. And they have to be at the airport (机场) at 11:40 a. m, Yesterday Mr. Wilson said, "It'll take us half an hour to get there in the taxi, so we all have to be ready (准备好的) by eleven o'clock. Nobody should be late.

    Now it's ten minutes to eleven. But they are still all running around doing things, except Mrs. Wilson, who is enjoying the sun in the garden.

    Her husband and children are very surprised (惊讶的) that she isn't in a hurry. Then the taxi arrives and Mrs. Wilson says to them, "Well, I knew that this was going to happen, so before I went to bed last night I moved all our clocks and watches ahead (提前) twenty minutes. So now we can go to the airport without worrying about (担心) being late."

    We spent a day in the country and picked a lot of flowers. Our car was full of flowers inside! On the way home we had to stop at traffic lights, and there my wife saw the bookshelf.

    It stood outside a furniture shop. "Buy it," she said at once. "We'll carry it home on the roof-rack(车顶架). I've always wanted one like that."

    What could I do? Ten minutes later I was twenty dollars poorer, and the bookshelf was tied onto the roof-rock. It was tall and narrow, quite heavy, too.

    As it was getting darker, I drove slowly. Other drivers seemed more polite than usual that evening. The police even stopped traffic to let us through. Carrying furniture was a good idea.

    After a time my wife said, "There's a long line of cars behind. Why don't they overtake(超车)?"

    Just at that time a police car did overtake. The two officers inside looked at us seriously when they went past. But then, with a kind smile, they asked us to follow their car through the busy traffic. The police car stopped at our village church. One of the officers came to me. "Right, Sir," he said. "Do you need any more help now?"

    I didn't quite understand. "Thanks, officer," I said. "You've been very kind. I lived just down the road."

    He was looking at our things: first at the flowers, then at the bookshelf. "Well, well," he said and laughed. "It's a bookshelf you've got there! We thought it was something else. "My wife began to laugh. Suddenly I understood why the police drove here.

    I smiled at the officer. "Yes, it's a bookshelf, but thanks again." I drove home as fast as I could.

It's December 28th New Year's Day is 1 Ma Li is in a 2 shop She wants to buy a blouse 3 her mother She is happy because she 4 a blue blouse It looks pretty She thinks it 5 her mother's trousers well So she asks the shopkeeper what the 6 is "198yuan, "says the shopkeeper Ma Li is suprised(吃惊的), "Too 7 ! What is it made of?"The shopkeeper tells her the bl ouse is made of silk "Good things always 8 much, "he says

"But I have only 190 yuan. Can it be cheaper(更便宜的)? I want to buy it for my mother. "

"9 198yuan is the last price But I will lend you 8 yuan "

"10 ? We don't know each other "

"Because I love my mother too, "says the shopkeep er with a smile.

Andy was about to throw an empty box when a woman and her daughter ran over.

"This smells 1 !" Andy said to the woman.

The woman said,"I just want you to 2 me the box. It's how my daughter and I survive (生存)."

"But it's just rubbish," said Andy.

"One person's rubbish is another person's 3 ,"the woman said, reaching out her hand."Can I have it?"

"4 you want it, just take it out of the rubbish bin by yourself,"Andy replied 5 . Then he threw the box and walked towards his 6 car. The woman didn't say anything and took the box.

Andy told his mother about the encounter(相遇) with the woman. His mother said in a 7 voice,"Andy, not everyone has good luck. Your father left us when you were two years old. We lived a hard life. I couldn't find a(n) 8 , so we had to live on the streets. One day, I met a lady and she 9 me to make money by recycling boxes. I followed 10 suggestion and our life changed after that."

Hearing this, Andy 11 the car and rushed to the lady."I'm sorry for 12 I did. You're right. One person's rubbish is another person's treasure." Then his mother came over and was 13 to find the woman was just the lady who helped them out of trouble a few years ago. She hugged the woman warmly and said,"You did so much for us. Now it's our turn to 14 you. Please come and stay with us, OK?" The girl and her mother were moved to tears.

There are always some people who give us unexpected 15 . So wherever we are, be kind to people around us.

One day, a little boy asked his father, "What does the word "great' mean? Who are great people and 1 do they become great?"

The father asked his son to bring two plants and then told him to plant one of them2 the house and the other outside the house. The boy did as his father said.

The father asked his son, "Which one of the two plants do you think will be3 ? The boy replied, "The plant inside the house will grow bigger 4 it is safer, while the plant outside the house is not safe at all. No one will be there to 5 the plant. Animals may eat it. "

The father smiled and said, "Let's wait 6 We will know the answer."

Then the boy left for study and after four 7 he came back to his house. He said to his father, "Look, 8 happens to this plant inside the house and it is safe."

When the boy went outside, he was very 9 to see a big tree. The boy couldn't believe his eyes. He couldn't10 how the plant outside was able to grow much bigger than the one inside. "The plant outside the house faced every 11 and many difficulties!" the father told his son why the plant outside was bigger. "The plant inside was safe. It didn't12 weather changes. And it didn't get enough 13 , so it didn't become big."

How to be great? Here's the 14 : To become a great person, one must have 15 many times, faced many difficulties and solved those difficulties. Only after that he is able to become great.