He was an old manwho fished alone in a small boat on the sea and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish. In the first forty days a boy had been with him. But after forty days without a fish, the boy's parents had told him that the old man was now salao, which is the worst form of unlucky, and the boy had gone with another boat which caught three good fish the first week. It made the boy sad to see the old man come in each day with his boat empty. The sail looked like the flag of failure forever.

      The old man was thin with deep wrinkles (皱纹) in the back of his neck. His face was terribly brown because of the strong sunlight on the sea every day and his hands had the deep scars (伤疤) from dealing with heavy fish on the lines. But none of these scars were fresh. Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful.

      “Santiago,” the boy said to him as they climbed the bank from the sea. “I could go with you again. We've made some money.”

        The old man had taught the boy to fish and the boy loved him.

      “No,” the old man said. “You're with a lucky boat. Stay with them.”

      “But remember how you went eighty-seven days without fish and then we caught big ones every day for three weeks.”

      “I remember,” the old man said.

     “It was papa who made me leave. I am a boy and I must follow him.”

     “I know,” the old man said. “It is quite normal.”

       "He hasn't mush faith(信心)"                       

     “No,” the old man said. “But we have. Haven't we?”

     “Yes,” the boy said. “Can I offer you a beer on the Terrace?”

    “Why not?” the old man said “Between fishermen.”

    Fred is eight years old. He goes to school near his home. He always goes there and comes home on foot. One day he comes home from school late. His mother sees him and asks him, "Why are you late, Fred?"

    "My teacher is very angry and asks you to go to her office tomorrow."

    "To her office? Why?" his mother asks. "Because she asks a question in the class." Says Fred. "Nobody can answer it, but I can."

    "You are so clever, my son." His mother says with a smile.

    Her question is "Who puts the tomato on my chair and makes my trousers dirty?" says Fred.

B

    One morning a boy went home with his father. They noticed a pair of old shoes by the roadside. They thought the shoes might be a poor man's. In fact, the owner of the shoes was working in the field nearby, and he had nearly finished his work.

    The boy said to his father, "Let's play a trick on the man—we hide his shoes, and wait to see what he will do when he can't find them."

    "My boy, we should never have fun by tricking other people like that," answered his father. "Instead, let's put a coin in each of the shoes, and watch he will do."

    The boy did so, and then they hid nearby.

    The man soon back to get h is shoes, but when he put his foot into one of his shoes, he felt something in it. He bent（弯曲）down and found the coin.

    Surprise appeared on his face. He looked at the coin for a minute, and then looked around, but nobody could be seen. He then went on to put on the other shoe, but he was even more surprised to find the second coin.

    He then went down on his knees, looked up to the sky and said thanks aloud. He said his wife was ill and his children were hungry. He wanted to buy some bread for them.

    The boy was deeply moved.

    "Now," said his father, "you must be much more pleased than if you had played your trick."

    The boy replied, "You have taught me a lesson which I'll never forget. Now I understand these words, which I didn't understand before: It is more blessed（神圣的）to give than to receive."

D

    He Jiang, a postgraduate（研究生）in biology. will become the first Chinese student to give a speech in the commencement(毕业典礼)at Harvard University on May 26, 2016.

    Given the highest honor by the university, He Jiang, who was born in a small village in Hunan province, said, "People in China often believe that it's useless to study and children from the countryside cannot be successful in the future. However, I cannot agree with them. Education can change a person's life. I hope my experience can encourage the students from the countryside to spare no effort in study and make their dreams come true."

    Different from many other families in the village, his parents never thought about finding a job in big cities and leaving their two sons at home without their care. His father was strict about their studies. He and his younger brother studied at home while the other kids in the village played in the fields. Unlike his strict father, his mother took her sons' side when her husband scolded the boys. She preferred to sit with her sons when they studied rather than chat with other women in the village.

    Getting the chance to speak at the commencement is no accident. During his first days in Harvard, it was quite difficult for him to follow the professors in class and he was speechless in campus because of his poor English. Instead of giving up, He Jiang spent all his free time on English. He also made friends with natives to improve his speaking English. One year later, he had little difficulty in class and soon became one of the top students in his class. With the encouragement from Professor Diana Eck. He Jiang decided to apply(申请）for the chance to speak at the commencement.“Few Chinese students had applied before, but I wanted to have a try. I just want to realize my idea of letting more people hear the voice from China and telling them that China is not what it used to be." said He Jiang. After beating three students from Harvard Kennedy School in the third and final round, He Jiang made it to get the chance to speak at the commencement.

    He Jiang will go to Massachusetts Institute of Technology after graduating from Harvard.

    I heard that Lijiang was a very famous place for its beautiful sightseeing. When I was young. So I travelled there with my parents during the last winter holiday.

    We went there by plane. I saw there were many mountains when I got out of the plane. The air was fresh. On the first day, we went to the old of lie bought some interesting things and had a good meal there. On the second day, we went to Yulong Snow Mountain. It was beautiful, and the land was covered by the white snow. It was my first time to see snow. I played with the snow happily. My father told me that it was a famous place in China. Many people came here every year. I seldom go travelling, but this time I was very happy during this trip. I also met some foreigners here, and I even tried to talk with them. Though it was not easy for me to talk in English fluently (流利地), I was still glad to make a try. We took many beautiful photos about the scenery and my family.

    A little boy almost thought of himself as the unluckiest child in the world because he was born with a lame (瘸的) leg. He seldom played with his classmates and always lowered his head without a word.

    One spring, the boy's father gave each child a small tree to plant." Whoever grows the best tree will get a favorite gift," he said to them. Seeing his brothers and sisters watering the trees happily in the garden, he had a terrible idea: he hoped the tree he planted would die soon. So he never cared about it.

    A few days later, he was surprised to find it not only didn't die, but also grew some fresh leaves, and it looked greener and healthier than the others. He got a favorite gift and was told by his father: from the tree he planted, he would become a great botanist (植物学家). One night, looking at the bright moonlight outside the window, he suddenly remembered what his teacher once said: most plants grew at night. Why not go to see the lovely tree? When he came to the garden, he found his father was watering his tree carefully. At that time, he understood: his father had secretly taken good care of his shall tree! He returned to his room with tears (泪水) running out.

    Many years passed. The little boy didn't become a botanist, but he was known as a great president of the United States. His name was Franklin Roosevelt.