Emily is a music teacher. She has always made some money by giving piano lessons. She had a student named Robby. He was 11 years old when his mother took him to his first piano lesson. Emily thinks that students should begin at an earlier age, which she explained to Robby. But Robby said that it had always been his mother's wish to hear him play the piano, so she took him as a student. But from the beginning Emily thought he was a hopeless learner. He was not talented in playing the piano. But Emily had to say he tried hard. One day, Robby stopped coming back and told her that he wanted to play in public. He said his mother had been ill, so he had to practice at home. Emily hesitated(犹豫) because she thought he couldn't play the piano well enough, but finally she agreed.

    The night for the public show came. The high school hall was full of parents and friends. When Robby began playing, Emily was surprised at what she heard. He played so well that everyone in the hall was moved. Emily ran up to him when he ended. "I've never heard you play like that, Robby! How could you do it?" "Well, Miss Emily … do you remember that I told you my mom was sick? Well, in fact, she was so sick that she died this morning. And well … she was born deaf, so tonight was the first time she ever heard me play. I wanted to make it special."

    When Emily heard this, she felt that he was the teacher and she was the student. For it was he that taught her the meaning of love and believing in yourself.

Jack had an unusual experience last night. He is sharing it with his friends. Ken and May.

Ken: What were you doing, Jack What did you see

Jack: It was half past nine last night and I was getting ready for bed. I heard some strange noise outside while I was brushing my teeth. I wondered what was happening and I went to the window and looked out. To my surprise, I saw a bright yellow green light in the sky.

May: Maybe the light you saw was a UFO! Or a ghost! A few years ago, an American man saw a flying saucer while he was driving along a road. He also saw some strange yellow light. You have heard about it, haven't you

Ken: Don't be imaginative, May. Jack didn't see anything, or anybody. It wasn't a ghost. It was probably a plane, or a shooting star .Perhaps Jack just made a horrible dream!

Jack: I am very serious .I did see something. The light disappeared and then suddenly some “tiny people” were standing in the garden .There were four of them .Two of them ate some flowers in the garden .It was always stretching out its arms.

Ken: Oh, come on, Jack. I really doubt what you have said.

Jack: I am not joking! One of the people was looking at me through the window.

May: Really What did it look like Were you frightened

Jack: Its whole body was green. It had no ears and nose. Its hands were huge. Its eyes were very big and resembled eggs. It started at me and I could hardly move.

Ken: What happened then ?

Jack: I was able to move eventually. I ran and got my camera immediately.

May: And......

Jack: I didn't have a film.

May: Oh no!

    Miss Mitra didn't want to be a Sunday school teacher any longer. The students there were all rude and never listened to her. "I give up." She shouted at the students. "Cool." Rick said. He was the most impolite kid in this school. Two months later, Miss Betty Ray came to the school. She looked young. The students thought that she wouldn't stay very long.

    "Have any of you ever been out of state?" She asked in a friendly tone. A few hands went up.

    "Anyone has traveled to California?" One hand went up as the disrespectful(无礼的) laugh reduced.

    "Anyone visited outside the country?" No hands went up now. The silent kids were puzzled.

    Betty took a map of the world from her bag.

    "What else do you have there? Lunch?" Someone cracked.

    Betty smiled lightly and answered, "Cookies for later." "Cool," Rick quipped(困惑的).

    Then she pointed at a place on the map, "I was born here, and I lived here until I was about your age."

    "Is that Texas?" Someone asked.

    "No. Quite a long way from here. It is Mumbai in India."

    Betty fumbled again in her bag, this time pulling out some old wrinkled pictures along with a box of chocolate chip cookies. They passed the pictures around, viewing each with great interest.

    The kids studied them as they bit into the sweets.

    The hour quickly slid by as she told them her stories about faraway places and what the people were like there and how they lived.

    "Wow, this is as exciting as TV!" One young girl told her.

    Sunday after Sunday, Betty came to class, tying her lessons to their everyday lives. She told the kids how they could make a difference right now. The students grew to love her.

    Betty taught that Sunday school class for thirty years. At last, her hair grew into a natural gray.

    Every now and then, she received a letter from a former student. There was a doctor, a research scientist, a homemaker, a businessman, and many teachers among them. One day she pulled out a blue envelope from her mailbox. And there was a photo in it. Squinting her eyes, she smiled at the man in the photo, still seeing the boy in him. Standing in the rubble(瓦砾), in the city of Delhi, India, he came to help the homeless people in the earthquake. Some words were written in the upper part of the photo, "Because of you, I am here now."

    Here is a story told an American general (将军) who was a very important figure in the American army during the First World War. Everybody in the Untied States knew him and many people wished to have a picture or something of his in their homes. Soon after the war the general returned to Washington. One day he went to a dentist (牙医) and had six teeth pulled out. A week later the general heard that his teeth were being sold in curiosity shops (古玩店) at $5 each. On each of the teeth there was a label (标签) with the name of the general and words, “Buy these teeth and show them to your friends at home.” The general got angry. He rushed to his office and ordered six officers to go around the city and buy all his teeth. The officers went out and visited every curiosity shop in the capital. They were away from the office all day. In the evening they returned and put on the table in front of the general the teeth they had bought. They had collected 175 teeth.

    There is an old man in a house. In the house there are many mice. The old man has a cat. Every day the cat catches the mice and eats them.

    One day, the old mouse says, "All mice must come to my room this evening. We must find a way to deal with (对付) the cat."

    All the mice come. Many mice speak, but they don't know what to do. At last, a young mouse stands up and says, "We must put a bell (铃) on the cat. When the cat comes near, we can hear the bell and run away. So the cat can't catch us." "Who can put the bell on the cat?" asks the old mouse. But no one answers.