Do you think of your parents? "Yes, of course," you may answer, "I buy a present for my mother on 1. And I give my father a present on Father's Day, 2. "Then what about the other days of a year? Always 3 to think of your parents, not just on some important days.

    I have a friend who 4 alone, because her parents live in another city. One day I went to see her. We had a nice chat. Then she wanted to make a 5. She dialed the number, but then she put the phone 6. After about ten seconds, she dialed the number again, "Hi, Mum……"

    Later I asked, "Why did you dial the number 7?" She smiled, "My parents are old. They can't get close to the telephone 8. I always do so when I call them. I just want to give them 9 time to answer the call."

    My friend is a good girl. She is always 10 her parents. You also want to be a good child, right? So why not learn from her?

    "The first of June, and the King family is going on holiday tomorrow! " said Meg. "I'm free for three months!"

    "And Aunt March went away for her holiday today." said Jo. "Isn't life wonderful!"

    "What will you do all your holiday?" asked Amy.

    "I'll stay in bed late, and do nothing." said Meg.

    "I have lots of books to read." said Jo.

    "Let's not do any studying, Beth...." said Amy. "Let's play all the time and rest, as Jo and Meg are going to do."

    "I will if Mother doesn't mind." said Beth.

    Mrs. March agreed to the plan and said they could try it for a week.

   "But," she added, "I think by Saturday night you will find that all play and no work is as bad as all work and no play."

    Next day, Meg appeared at ten o'clock and ate breakfast alone. It was a lonely meal and the room was untidy, because Beth had not cleaned it.

    Jo went to the river with Laurie, then sat in the apple tree and read a book. Beth began to tidy things in her cupboard, but she got tired and left it half-done. She went to her piano, glad that she did not have to wash the cups and plates. Amy sat in the garden to draw, hoping someone would see her and say something nice about her picture. But no one appeared, so she went for a walk, got caught in the rain and came home very wet.

    At tea, everyone said that it had been a happy but unusually long day. Meg, who had been shopping in the afternoon, now decided that she did not like the dress she had bought. Jo had a headache from reading too long. Beth couldn't find anything in her cupboard, and the rain had made Amy's dress so wet that she couldn't wear it to Katy Brown's party the next day.

    Mrs. March listened, smiled and said nothing.

    The week seemed to get longer and longer with nothing much to do, and by Friday the girls were glad that it was nearly over. Then Mrs. March gave Hannah a holiday, and when the girls got up on Saturday, there was no breakfast ready, no fire in the kitchen, and no mother waiting for them.

    "What has happened?" said Jo.

    Meg ran upstairs, then came down to say that Mother was staying in her room to have a rest.

    "She says we must look after ourselves today." Meg said.

    "Good, I want something to do." said Jo.

    Secretly, they were all pleased to have something useful to do again. Beth and Amy put cups and plates on the table while Jo and Meg got the breakfast, then Meg took some tea and an egg up to Mrs. March. The tea was too strong and the egg was burned. Mrs. March did not complain, but she laughed to herself afterwards.

    It was Monday. Mrs. Smith's dog was hungry, but there was not any 1 in the house. Mrs. Smith took a piece of paper and wrote on it, "Please 2  my dog half a pound (磅) of meat." Then she gave the paper to 3 dog and said, "Take this to the butcher (肉贩), and he'll give you what you want."

    The dog ran to the butcher's with the piece of paper. The butcher read the paper 4 and recognized (辨别出) that it was really the woman's handwriting (笔迹). So he did as he was asked to. The dog was very 5 and ate the meat up at once.

    At noon, the dog came to the butcher's again with a piece of paper. 6 reading the paper, the butcher gave it half a pound of meat once more.

    The next day, the dog came again at noon. And as usual, it 7 a piece of paper. This time, the butcher gave it its meat without looking at the paper.

    The dog came again at four o' clock. And the same thing 8 once again. It came for the third time at six o' clock. The butcher felt a little surprised. He said, "This is a small dog. 9 does Mrs. Smith give it so much meat to eat today?"

Looking at the piece of paper, he 10 that there were not any words on it!

    Poor Les had a dream of being a DJ. He went to a radio station every day for a week, 1  a job. Finally the station manager offered one to him, but with no pay! Les said thanks and 2 it. He was asked to get coffee and pick up lunches and dinners for the workers at the station. However, when possible, Les would go to the studio (演播室) and learn whatever he could. Back in his room at night, he 3 and prepared for an opportunity (机会).

    One Saturday afternoon, one DJ named Rock drank too much and he seemed to have trouble with his 4. Suddenly, the phone rang. Les picked it up. He was the 5 person at the station. It was the station manager.

    The manager knew Rock couldn't 6 his programme, so he asked Les to call one of the other DJs to come to help. Les said yes, but he waited about 15 minutes before he called the 7 that he found nobody. He was sure his opportunity was on its way.

    The manager asked, "Young man, do you know how to work in the 8?"

    "Yes, Sir," replied Les.

    Les quickly walked into the studio, moved Rock aside and sat down at the desk. He was 9. He turned on the microphone and said, "Look out! This is me—Les Brown. There were none before me and there will be none after me…"

    Les gave the listeners and his manager a big 10! He went on to have a successful life in politics, public speaking and television!

    Stephen, a young worker, got serious heart disease unluckily. And he used to work in a big computer company. But now he couldn't work for a long time. Thinking he could still do something, he decided to be a 1at a Children's Hospital. Stephen loved children very much. With his love, he did his job well. Every time he 2 one of his children in hospital, he felt sad in his room alone. They died. At that time, he would tell these sad parents that he would be with their children in heaven and he would 3 them. His words seemed to help those parents.

    There was a girl who could not walk because of a disease. She couldn't do anything and she was very unhappy. What was 4, the doctor said that they could do little for her. Stephen decided to help her. He stared to visiting her, bringing brushes and paper. He put the brushes in his 5 and could do anything she wanted. With the help of Stephen, at last she began to 6 with her mouth. She and Stephen became friends. Day by day, the little girl was getting better and better. She was allowed to leave the hospital.

    One day, to Stephen's surprise, she walked to see him on her own feet! She gave him a picture she had drawn. At the top, it sad: 'Thank you for 7 me talk. It's because of your 8.

    Love can sometimes be more 9 than doctors and medicines. Love makes world more beautiful and colourful.

    Stephen died a few days later 10 after the girl gave him the picture.

Looking at life differently

    When I was 14, life was boring.

    However, I didn't mind having the same views (风景)every day. And even though my school had over a thousand students, I didn't really care to notice the differences between us all.

    But this boring view of mine 1when my parents bought me a camera for Christmas. After a month of playing with my new camera, I realized I had no 2for taking pictures. Even though I got friends to pose (摆姿势)in front of ancient buildings and in flowery fields, nothing seemed to3. My photos were clearly missing something of importance and had no creativity. After a while, I dropped my new hobby.

    Then, a month or two later, I suddenly decided to pick it up again. During the summer break, I went for a walk on the railroad tracks (铁轨)behind my house.

    The tracks are a warm red color. Before the walk, I thought," Maybe I should bring my camera."

    Surprisingly, this 4was what began my love for photography. When I was walking on the tracks without a model and only nature around me, I realized how important it was to look at the details (细节)of things. I didn't worry about trying to 5something beautiful. Instead, I just took photos of the beauty already around me.

    I quickly became6about color, lighting, shape and everything in between. After months of studying outdoor sights and looking at people's eyes, I was 7able to create beauty of my own. Slowly, my photos became something I was proud of.

    So far, my works have appeared in two magazines and been shown in two different museums. They're not huge achievements, but they're important to me. And they're the 8of how much my artistic abilities have grown.

    Thanks to this Christmas gift from my parents, I now have a new way of looking at the world.