Alf is a big soccer fan. At school, there are lots of children playing soccer. Alf really wants to be a soccer star, But he thinks he isn't good at soccer. He feels very sad. He always thinks about how to be a great soccer player.

    One day, Alf went to watch the school soccer match on the playground. Suddenly Alf shouted, “Look out!” Alf jumped up in the air and made a very good save(救球)！

    All the soccer players and the coach cheered. “What a good save, Alf! You're the best!” Everyone said.

    The soccer coach said, “Alf, come with me.” Alf stood in the goal(球门) and the coach took a shot(射门). It was a good shot, but Alf saved it. Alf saved the next shot, too. And the next one. All the children cheered.

    Now Alf knows he is a very good goalkeeper. He is good at playing soccer after all.

    Long long ago, there was a swan (天鹅) with golden feathers. She lived in a lake. A woman lived in a small house 1the lake with her two daughters. They were very poor. They worked hard all year round,2still, they lived a hard life and sometimes they even didn't have enough 3to buy food.

    The swan was 4to see that. She said to herself, “I'll give one of my5to them each day, then they can live a happy life with the money selling my feathers.” That evening, she 6to the poor woman's house and left a golden feather on the table without saying7. From then on, the swan came every day and gave them a feather. The woman was very happy   because their life was much8than before.

    But day after day, the woman became greedy（贪婪）.She said to her9. “The swan may fly away one day. If so, we will be poor again. We should take all10feathers if she comes next time.”

    “Oh, no, Mom!” cried the daughters, “This will 11the swan. She helps us a lot!” But the mother wouldn't listen. When the 12came as usual, the mother caught her and took all her feathers. But suddenly, the golden feathers 13chicken feathers.

    Then, the Golden Swan said, “Poor Mother, I came to 14you, but you wanted to kill me. Now, I am leaving and will 15come back. Never be greedy!” With these words, the swan left.

    Mr. Black retired（退休）five years ago, now he lives a happy life, he exercises in the morning, he plays with his grandchildren on weekends, sometimes he goes to parties.

    One Sunday evening, after Mr. Black had dinner, he went out for a walk with his granddaughter Jane, they saw three beggars（乞丐）outside the park.

    "Why do they beg in the street?" asked the little girl. "Because they're poor," answered Mr. Black.

    "Why don't they find any work?" "Because they're lazy." "Do you know who is the laziest of them?" "That's easy," said Mr. Black, he came up to them, took out five dollars and said, "I'll give the money to the laziest of you. Tell me who he is."

    "I lost my job a year ago," the first beggar stood up quickly and said, "of course I am!"

    "I haven't done any work for two years," the second beggar sat up and said, "give me the money."

    The third beggar went on lying on the ground and said, "Come over here, sir, put the money into my bag!"

    In 1834, the clock tower in London was burned down. People planned to build a new clock which would be the biggest and best in the world. So the clock had to be big and keep very good time. The big clock was made in two years. Five more years later the tower was finished. Then people put the big clock in the tower, and made it ring out for the first time on July 11, 1859.

    In order to give the big clock a good name, people held a meeting. Someone wanted to call it the Queen of Bells, and someone thought Victoria was good. At last, a man named Benjamin Hall stood up. He was a big man. Before he started to speak, someone shouted, "Why not call it Big Ben?" Everybody laughed and agreed with him.

    From then on, Big Ben became its name. And it also became a famous building of London. People all over the world write to Big Ben. They even send birthday presents-bottles of oil to help keep Big Ben running. Big Ben is not only a clock but also a dear friend of people.

    When I was in the seventh grade, I had problems behaving. My heart was in the right place, but I couldn't always follow the rules. I played many tricks on my schoolmates. Once, I even pulled a girl's hair on the school bus to get her attention. As a result, I was repeatedly sent to the office of the headmaster. Although 1 hated going there, I did nor hate the headmaster, Mr. Smith.

    Mr. Smith was a kind, elderly man. When he punished me for putting some ants into a classmate's pencil box, it didn't hurt at all, but it did hurt my feelings. I thought so much of him and moments like that seemed to prove I was hopelessly bad.

    When I was called to Mr. Smith's office for the sixth time, I had no idea what I had done. I felt disappointed as I walked down there. I went into his office, sat down, and looked at the floor. Then he said the last thing I expected to hear. "Kevin, I've heard you've been behaving really well lately. I want you to know how proud I am of you, and I just called you down to my office to give you a peppermint."

    "Really?" I was surprised.

    "Yes. Now you can take that peppermint and go back to class."

    I carried the peppermint with me as if it was a gold coin. When I got into my classroom, I bragged(吹嘘) to my classmates about nay turn around, excitedly. I wasn't so bad after all.

    Mr. Smith was really kind. He made me realize that I was just a kid who had problems with behavior. He bought some peppermints and took the time to notice me when I got something anything-right. Mr. Smith gave me some hope by giving me some love. I will just remember him for the rest of my life.