Tommy and his mother go shopping(去购物) today. Tommy's father likes apples very much. They buy some red apples for him. Tommy's mother likes yellow bananas, but the bananas are green. “Look! The strawberries are very nice, Mom. Do you like them?” Tommy says to his mother. “Yes, I like strawberries very much.” Tommy's mother buys some for herself (她自己). The oranges are very nice. Tommy's mother buys some for Tommy. He likes oranges very much.

    They need some vegetables. The vegetables in the supermarket are very good. They buy some tomatoes, cabbages and carrots. Tommy doesn't like carrots, but his parents like it. They like carrots very much. They buy lots of carrots.

    An old farmer lived on a farm with his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa was up early to read. One day the grandson asked, "Grandpa! What good does reading do?"

    The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, "Take this coal basket to the river and bring me back a basket of water."

    The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out (漏出) before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, "You"ll have to move a little faster next time," This time the boy ran faster, but again the same took place. It was an impossible task.

    The old man said, "You're just not trying hard enough," So the boy tried a third time and failed. He said, "See Grandpa, it's useless!"

    "So you think it is useless?" The old man said, "Look at the basket."

    The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket into a clean one inside and outside.

    "You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be changed, inside and out. "

    Donald was not very good at Maths. He couldn't understand the teacher's explanations. Even when the teacher explained something a second time, Donald still couldn't understand it.

    "Never mind," Donald told himself. "I'm quite good at other subjects. I'll cheat (作弊) in the Maths exam to get a good grade (分数), and then I won't be in trouble."

    "I'll sit next to the boy who does best in Maths," he thought, "and copy down his answers."

    The day of the exam came, and Donald sat next to Tommy, who was always at the top of the class in Maths. Donald carefully copied Tommy's answers onto his own exam paper. At the end of the exam, the teacher collected the papers and graded them in time.

    Then she said, "Well, boys and girls, I've decided to give a prize to the student who got the highest grade. It's difficult for me to decide who I'll give the prize to, however, because two students, Donald and Tommy, got the same grade."

    "Let them share it," one of the other students said.

    "I've thought about that," the teacher said," but I've decided to give the prize to one of them."

    The students were surprised when they heard this. They said, "That's not fair. They got the same grade."

    "That's true," the teacher said. "However, Tommy's answer to Question 18 was 'I don't know' while Donald's was 'Neither do I'."

    Chip was in the first grade when I arrived at his school as a counselor(辅导员). It was shocking to me that he was described as an angry, uncontrollable and evil(道德败坏的)boy. How could such a little boy, after being in school only one year, be considered "evil"?Over the next several months, I came to know Chip well enough to see that he was neither evil nor uncontrollable.

    But, one day, Chip threw a chair at his teacher and was sent to my office. I asked him what made him do this. He replied that his teacher hated him. He felt there was no way to ever get her to like him. I asked him if he would tell his teacher this. He nodded, and we called her into my office.

    When the teacher came,           . He then said that he knew he was a very, very bad boy, and he didn't think anyone could ever like him. His teacher listened to him with heartfelt compassion. Then she gave him a big warm hug, telling him she didn't hate him at all and, actually, she cared very much about him. Only sometimes Chip's behaviour really scared her. It was clear to both Chip and me that she really meant it.

    I put my left arm on his shoulders and the right hand on his heart. I told him how wonderful and lovely I saw him to be. I praised how special and brave he was to express his hurt feelings.

    As I was speaking to him, his whole body came to rest on my right hand next to his heart. It was a moment in time unlike anything I had experienced before. From then on, I'm pleased to see his behaviour improved through the rest of school years.

    A child's mind is clear and sensitive(敏感的). He receives whatever others say without protection. It is as easy to consider someone hopeless as it is to consider him able in his own special way.