Turtle was walking around through fallen leaves when he saw many birds gather together. “What is happening?” said Turtle.

   “We will fly to the south for the winter. Summer lives there all of the time and there’s plenty of food.”

   “Can I go with you?” Turtle asked.

   “You are a turtle and you can’t fly !” said the birds.

   But Turtle would not give up. He begged and begged. Finally, the birds agreed. “Put this stick in your mouth and hold on tight. These two birds here will each grab one end of it and carry you along.”

   Turtle was so high off the ground and wanted to ask about all the lakes and hills below. He tried to move his legs and make some noise, so the birds would pay attention to him. Turtle finally started to shout, “Why don’t you listen...”

   Oops! Turtle opened his mouth and fell down on the ground. He walked into a pond, and swam to the bottom. Then, he fell asleep and slept all through the winter.

   From that day on, only birds fly south for the winter, and turtles sleep through the winter.

A friend’s grandfather came to America from England. He went into a cafeteria（自助餐厅）in Manhattan to get something to eat. He sat down at an empty table and waited for someone totake his order. Of course nobody did. At last, a woman with a plate full of food sat down in front of him and told him how a cafeteria worked. “Start out at the end,” she said, “Just go along the line and pick out whatever you want. At the other end they’ll tell you how much you have to pay.”

“I soon learned that’s how everything works in America,” the grandfather told a friend. “Life is like a cafeteria here. You can get anything you want only if you like to pay the money. You can even get success, but you’ll never get it if you wair for someone to bring it to you. You have to get up and get it yourself.

Many people ask me what my favorite invention is. I find it very hard to answer them，because there are so many things in my life that I can choose. However，I have chosen a pen. Don't you think it's surprising?

I know that to most people a pen is very boring，but，to me，it stands for possibility(可能).There are so many things you can do with a pen. You can write a novel or a song，record information，or draw a picture.

A pen is like the beginning of something amazing to me. Every day，I write a new page with my pen，and I am slowly making a path(路)for my future. Maybe I will be a scientist and change the world with my discoveries. Maybe I'll become a musician and touch people's hearts with my music. Or perhaps I will be a writer and move people through words，or a teacher to help children grow into the kind of people that they want to be.

There are so many possibilities as to what I will do with my life，but I know that with the pen in my hand，I will write a good future for myself. Tell me what future you will write for yourself.

When I was seven years old my mom was diagnosed(诊断) with cancer. The doctors told usmy mom might be saved with surgery(手术）But it could also kill her. She chose to have it.

    The day before the surgery I was off school, and my mom planned the best day of my life, everything I loved at seven and everything that would put a smile on my face. The day began with her waking me up saying, “Kate, I have a surprise for you. Come and see.” The surprise was a doll I had wanted for the longest time. All the day she told me everything that she thought I would need to know to grow up and be a good person; she told me to be the best I could be and that I would always make her proud. We had a picnic in the park, and it was so cold that we moved to the car. The day was filled with laughter. For the first time in a long time I could see she was really happy. I would never forget her smile, or the way her eyes shone as if we were the same age. It was the best day of my life, and I will never forget the conversations we shared.

    My mother managed to live through the surg ery. Now when I look back, I realize that the best day of my life could be her last and this could be the last day I would remember with her, the last one we shared. I also understand how unselfish a mother is.e surg ery. Now when I look back, I realize that the best day of my life could be her last and this could be the last day I would remember with her, the last one we shared. I also understand how unselfish a mother is.e surg ery. Now when I look back, I realize that the best day of my life could be her last and this could be the last day I would remember with her, the last one we shared. I also understand how unselfish a mother is.e surg ery. Now when I look back, I realize that the best day of my life could be her last and this could be the last day I would remember with her, the last one we shared. I also understand how unselfish a mother is.

As a child, I was really afraid of the dark and of getting lose. These fears were very real and caused me some uncomfortable moments.

Maybe it was the strange way things looked and sounded in my own room at night that scared me so much. There was never complete darkness, but always a streetlight or passing car lights, which made clothes on the back of a chair take on the shape of a seem to move when there was no wind. A very low sound in the floor would seem a hundred times louder than in the day. My imagination would run wild, and my heart would beat fast. I would lie very sill so that the enemy would not discover me.

Another of my childhood fears was that I would get lost, especially on the way ho me from school. Every morning I got on the school bus right near my home. That was no problem. After school, though, when, all the buses were lined up along the street, I was afraid that I would get in the wrong one and be taken to some other strange places. On school or family trips to a park or a museum, I wouldn’t let the leaders out of my sight.

Perhaps one of the worst fears of all I had as a child was that of not being liked or accepted by others. Being popular was so important to me then, and the fear of not being liked was a serious one.

One of the processes(过程) growing up is being able to realize and overcome our fears. Understanding the things that scared us as children helps us achieve greater success later in life.

Whenever the sun dropped and the blue sky came up, my father and I used to climb the mountain near my house. Walking together, my father and I used to have a lot of conversations through which I learned lessons from his experiences. He always told me, “You should have goals like climbing the mountain.” Without the mountain-climbing that we both enjoyed, we couldn’t have enough time to spend together because my father was very busy. I really got a lot from the mountain-climbing. It gave me time to talk with my father and to be in deep thought as well as develop my patience.

Once we climbed a very high mountain. It was so challenging for me because I was only ten years old. During the first few hours of climbing, I enjoyed the flowers and trees, and the birds’ singing. But as time passed, I got a pain in both of my legs. I wanted to give up climbing, but my father said to me, “You can always see a beautiful sky at the top of the mountain, but you can’t see it before you reach the top. Only there can you see all of the nice things, which is just like your life.”

At that time, I was too young to understand his words. But later after that, I got to know the meaning of hope in life. I found myself standing at the top of the mountain, and the sky was as clear as crystal.

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A group of swans flew down to a beach where a crow(乌鸦) was jumping around. The crow watched them with disdain(鄙视).“You have no flying skills at all!” he said to the swans.“All you can do is to move your wings. Can you turn over in the air? No, that’s beyond you. Let’s have a flying competition. I’ll show you what real flying is!”

One of the swans, a strong young male, took up the challenge. The crow flew up and began to show his skills. He flew in circles, performed other flying tricks, and then came down and looked proudly at the swan.

Now it was the swan’s turn. He flew up, and began flying over the sea. The crow flew after him, making all kinds of comments(评价) about his flying. They flew on and on till they couldn’t see the land and there was nothing but water on all sides. The crow was making fewer and fewer comments. He was now so exhausted that he found it hard to stay in the air, and tried his best to keep himself from falling into the water.

The swan pretended(假装) not to notice, and said,“Why do you keep touching the water, brother? Is that another trick?”“No,” said the crow. He knew he had lost the competition.“I’m in trouble because of my pride! If you don’t help me, I’ll lose my life…”

The swan took pity on him, and took him on his shoulders and flew back to the beach.

Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a rich man. The rich man and his wife were very rude. They didn’t let the angels stay in their warm and comfortable guestroom. Instead, the angels were given a room in the cold basement (地下室).

As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied, “Things aren’t always what they seem.”

The next night, they came to rest at the house of a very poor farmer. The farmer and his wife were very friendly. They didn’t have much food, but they shared it with them. Then they let the angels sleep in their bed. When the sun came up the next morning, the angels found the farmer and his wife crying. Their only cow died.

The younger angel was angry and asked the older angel, “How could you let this happen? The first man had everything, yet you helped him. The second man had very little, but you let his cow die.”

“Things aren’t always what they seem,” the older angel replied.“When we stayed in the basement, I found that there was gold in that hole in the wall. Since the owner didn’t want to share his fortune, I sealed (密封) the wall so that he wouldn’t find it. Then last night, as we slept in the farmer’s bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I gave the angel a cow instead. Things aren’t always what they seem.”

     Great inventions change the world. They help people live a better life. The following are three of the most important inventions in history.

The wheel

       The wheel is perhaps the greatest invention in history. After its invention, travelling became faster and more comfortable. A few thousand years ago, people started to use wheels on carriages. In the early 19th century, the first trains began to carry passengers. At the start of the 20^th century, cars became popular. Without the wheel, we would not have these inventions.

The telephone

        Alexander Graham Bell invented one of the first practical telephones in 1876. Since then, people have been able to speak to each other over long distances. Today millions of people across the world own mobile phones. They allow people to keep in touch with each other anytime, anywhere.

The light bulb

       Thomas Edison developed the first practical light bulb in 1879. Before the invention of the light bulb, people had to use oil lamps, gas lamps or candles to see at night. With light bulbs, people can do as many things in the evenings as they can in the daytime. Can you imagine living without them?

   In today’s world many people seem to be hungry for money．Some of them even lose their lives for it．Money does have its most useful effect on the poor，but once a person has a rich life，a lot more money doesn’t mean more happiness．

    If money was everything，all millionaires(百万富翁)would have true love，true friendship，good health and a long life．However，this is not always true．

    Nothing else is more pleasant than the three words which are”I love you” But can love be bought?I’m afraid not．Love means to give，not to take．To every person，health and a long life are probably the most precious(宝贵的)things．Well，can health and a long life be bought with money? The answer is“No”．

     Of all the longest living people in the world，few of them are millionaires．True friendship can’t be bought either．In a word，where money is worshiped(崇拜)，money can cause brothers to quarrel，lovers to hate，strangers to fight and so on．No matter how much money you have，it is still not enough to make you a happy person if you have no one to laugh with，no one to cry for．