Tom was a farmer. He worked on the farm all day，but sometimes he went to the town market to sell fruit and vegetables. One day, a terrible sound attracted his attention in the town market. He saw a young bull for sale. The bull was white and yellow. It was looking at Tom in fear. Tom walked up and touched its head gently. Just at that time they both seemed to have known each other for a long time. How amazing！Tom bought it at once and called it Amba.

    From then on ， Tom and Amba got on well with each other. But some friends told him that it was dangerous to have such a close relationship with an animal.

    One afternoon， Tom was walking through the forest with Amba. Suddenly， Amba stopped walking and kept pushing Tom with its head. Tom was very surprised and looked around. There was a big snake in front of him. It was beautiful but poisonous. Quickly Amba stepped on the snake's tail with its foot and at the same time Tom picked up a stick and hit the snake's head heavily. Soon the snake died.

    Tom was very grateful for Amba's help. When people heard this, they were shocked at the bull's expression of love for Tom. But for Tom, Amba was not a bull but a member of his family.

    When was the last time you saw three men running down a forest trail（小径）in the rain wearing flip-flops（拖鞋）？That's what my friend Brandon, Josh and I were doing last autumn. We were looking for a waterfall（瀑布）.We didn't have much time to get to the waterfall and back, so we were running. We were wearing flip-flops to prevent our shoes getting dirty.

    It was raining, but lightly. It kept us cool as we climbed over giant stones and through a shallow（浅的）stream. We followed red arrows（箭头）and crossed that stream several times, walking on toward the promised waterfall. Time was not on our side, however, and we were forced to turn around. As we started back, we looked at the shallow stream we had just crossed. Where did this rushing river come from? That was when we realized a flash flood was around!

    In the few minutes the water rose at a fast speed. Now there were no big stones to be seen-only what looked like lumps（隆起）covered with rushing water. We had no choice but to move our way back carefully in the rushing water -in flip-flops. We had crossed the stream not once or twice, but six times in search of a waterfall that we never even reached!

    With most of the crossings, we needed each other's help if we didn't want to be washed away by water. Wet all over, we felt relaxed after we made the last crossing.

    "My dad always told me to keep off a river when travelling in the rain." Josh said as we hurried back down the path.

    "Why didn't you tell us that earlier?" I laughed.

    "Would it have made a difference?" came the reply.

    He had a point.

    A few years ago, I worked at a church（教堂） and since my son was home schooling, he went with me to the church every day. Most mornings, we'd stop at a local convenience store, getting a chocolate drink for him and a cup of coffee for me.

    The clerk at the store we chose to visit refreshed our lives each day, and so we returned again and again. She had found her own way of enjoying life and her job. I'm not even sure that she was realizing that her energy put a smile on the face of each customer.

    When a customer brought cookies to the counter, any other clerk could have asked, "Would you like some milk with those cookies?" Instead, she inquired, "Would you like a lottery ticket（彩票） with those cookies? "

    She might have asked me if I wanted a donut with my coffee. But instead, she asked, "Would you like some batteries（电池） with that coffee?"

    Yes, life is what you make of it. This clerk's method of dealing with what some think is a boring job, and with the customers she met daily, made the hours in her day more enjoyable. In doing that, she also refreshed the lives of others and made them laugh.

    Sometimes, if my day at the church had been particularly tiring, we'd stop at that store before heading home. We'd giggle（咯咯笑）as we left the store, the clerk's words echoing（回响）behind us. "Would you like some shampoo with that soda?"

    For one little boy, it was the coldest winter because his father had an accident and lost a leg. The whole family got into trouble.

    One night, while the boy was hanging out in a small shop, he saw some beautiful bags of coffee. Then he had an idea. He knew his father loved coffee and he also knew stealing wasn't good. But to make his father smile, the boy put a bag of coffee into his jacket and ran back home. His father smiled when he saw the coffee. But, unluckily, before his father could taste it, the shop assistant came and caught the boy. His father became so angry that he beat the boy.

    Years later, the boy became a successful businessman. One day, his mother called and said his father wanted to see him. The boy was busy, so he refused. Weeks later, he received the sad news that his father had died. When he checked his father's things, he found an old box. Inside it was the coffee that he had stolen from the shop. On the bag his father had written：

    "Dear son, I haven't been successful as a father. But I had a dream-to own a coffee shop. Then I could make cups of coffee for you. I'm sorry I didn't make my dream come true."

    The boy felt so sad. He felt guilty about not meeting his father for the last time, and decided to achieve his father's dream. After giving up his own business, he started a coffee business. The coffee business is now a huge success.

    Everybody has different hobbies that they like to do for fun or just to relax. There are many kinds of activities like volleyball, basketball, swimming, or baseball. It all depends on each personality. For me, basketball is a part of my life and it means a lot to me.

    Since I was a little girl, I started to play basketball in the school team and also with my friends in the neighborhood. My mother told me that I liked kicking the ball around and had so much fun with it when I was only about two years old. Since then, playing basketball is my favorite sport. It is my hobby whenever I have free time.

    Playing basketball also helps me to relax and be confident. I often play basketball with my classmates in the playground. After doing my homework or when I come home from school, I play a little bit with my friends outside of my house or we go to the park to play it.

    Whenever I play basketball, I feel healthier and stronger. Besides, I meet new friends from the neighborhood. I not only like playing basketball, but I also enjoy watching basketball games on television.