Once there was a boy and his little sister living in a small village. The boy was good—looking but his sister was not. One day they found a mirror(镜子)and they saw what they looked like for the first time. The boy was very pleased and he said to his sister, "How handsome I am! I look nicer than you!" The girl didn't like what her brother said and gave him a hard push. "Go away!" she said angrily.

    Their father saw what was happening, He went up to them and said to the boy, "You must always be good as well as look good." Then the father said to the girl, "My dear, if you help everyone and do your best to please(使愉快)them, everyone will love you. It doesn't matter that you are not as good— looking as your brother. "

    Perhaps the only test score that I remember is the 55 I got when I was in high school.

    The test was the last one of the term. I remember waiting nervously as my teacher Mr. Right gave out our papers one after another. It was a rather difficult test. I heard my classmates groaning(叹息),and I could guess by the groans that the scores were not looking good.

    Mr Right put my paper on my desk. There in big red numbers, circled to catch attention, was my score, 55! I let my head go down, and covered the score up quickly. A 55 is not something that you wanted your classmates to see. "The scores were not very good, none of you passed," Mr Right said. "The highest score in the class was a 55."

    A 55. That's me! Suddenly I didn't feel so bad. I had the highest score. I was getting a little better.

    I walked home alone that day with the low but high score. My mother knew that I had a big test that day and asked me as soon as I got home, "How did you do in your test? ""I got 55, "I said. A frown (皱眉) appeared on my mother's face I knew I had to explain at once. "But Mum, I had the highest score in the class," I said proudly. "You failed, Dave!" my mother replied. "But it's the highest!" I insisted (坚持). "I don't care what scores others had, you failed. The important thing is what you do!" my mother said in a strong way.

    For years, my mother was always in that way. She didn't care what others did, only cared what I did and that I did it excellently. My mother's words have made a big difference to my life.

Matt jumped into bed.His father sat down beside him.

"What kind of daydid you have?" he asked.

"It was a bad dayfor me," Matt answered. "I had a fight with Ned. The teacher sent anote home about me. And Mom talked about it with me."

"Yes, part of theday was bad," Mr. Gold said. "But there were good parts, too. Nowit's time to go to sleep. So, tell me about the best thing today."

Matt smiled."After school I went fishing," he said. "No one wanted to gowith me. So I had to go alone. I didn't think I would have any fun. But I did!I caught a fish!"

"I'm glad you hada good time," Mr. Gold said. "Think about it until(直到)you go to sleep. Happy dreams!"

"Good night,Dad," Matt said.

His father kissed(亲吻)him good night.

Every night, Mr. Goldand Matt have a little talk like this.

Every night, Mattanswers the same question. "What was the best thing that happened to you today?"

Every night Matt goesto sleep thinking about the best thing. He has many happy dreams!

Sometimes he has tothink hard to find the best thing. Sometimes it is a very small thing. But he alwaysfinds one good thing to think about.

Matt's father taughthis son a good way to end his day. You may want to try it. If you do, why not beginthis every night?

Yesterday, Peter had a wonderful trip with his parents on the Ferris wheel (摩天轮) in Bao'an Coastal Cultural Park. He was so amazed at the new city landmark that he wanted to know more about the Ferris wheel. So he looked it up in an encyclopedia online.

In 1892, so mc leaders from Chicago planned a fair. They wanted it to be the greatest fair ever. It would show the newest ideas in science, business and art. They also wanted to build something amazing at the fair. The Eiffel Tower had been built three years before in France. The Chicago leaders wanted something even more impressive. So they asked people to send in designs.

G. W. Ferris was a young engineer. He heard about the fair. He wanted to attract visitors to the fair, so he decided to design a big wheel made of steel (钢). The wheel was 250 feet across. Large cars hung from the end of each spoke (车轮辐). Each car carried 60 people in a big circle through the air.

On May 1, 1893, the fair opened. People from around the world came to see the latest inventions. They felt the heat of new electric stoves. They stood in the cool wind of small fans. They even saw a machine that washed the dishes.

Ferris's wheel was the main attraction at the Chicago Fair. People stood in line to ride on it. They wanted to see the fairgrounds from the wheel's highest point. As the wheel turned upward, some people were afraid. Others were thrilled at what they saw below. Fountains shone in the sunlight. Flags waved in the wind. A train snaked through the grounds. At night, coloured lights li t up the sky.

Today we call these smaller wheels "Ferris wheels".

I live in a large neighborhood. I have lived here since I was born. I have a lot of friends here. Mr. Wang is one of them. He is seventy years old. I enjoy visiting Mr. Wang because he tells me exciting stories about Hong Kong in the past. He also shows me old photos. Yesterday, I visited Mr. Wang after school. I asked him how long he had lived here. This is what he told me:

"I have lived in the neighborhood since 1993. Before I moved here, I lived in a small village called Pak Mong on Lantau Island. There were many people living in the village when I was young. These years, there are only a few families left. Most families moved to the city for work. I left the village in 1993, when my son moved to this neighborhood.

Pak Mong is an old village. There are watchtowers (瞭望塔) around the village. In the old days, soldiers used to stand in the watchtowers and keep guard (站岗) . Here is a photo of my school. I went to that school a very long time ago. The school has been closed since 1985.

I enjoy going to the People's Park, because it makes me think of my hometown. I go to that park twice a week. Would you and your family members like to go there with me next weekend?"