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.

Mason’s Clothing Store

Do you think there is a ghost in the world？More than 20 years ago, a student jumped from the top of the clock tower in the University of Birmingham. He did this only because he failed his final exam.

After his death, a superstition(迷信)began：Anyone who walks under the clock tower will have bad luck in his exam. Years later, students there still remembered the story of the tower. Although Birmingham is the second largest city in Britain, the university is green and quiet. The grass around the tower has been worn away by the feet of students who refuse to pass underneath the tower.

The university had to pave(铺)extra paths, so students could walk to their classrooms without passing under the most terrible area. But, one day just before an important exam, a top student in the university walked under the clock tower because he was lost in thought. However, he got high marks in the exam the next day. Quickly students all knew about it. Then they realized that the most important thing is working hard.

Whenever I go under the clock tower, I will tell myself, “Working hard is the key to success.”

Once a king got two nice falcons(猎鹰)from his son. He had never seen such beautiful falcons before. He loved them so much and he ordered the best falconer to train then to fly.

After several months, the king came to see how the training was going on. He found that one falcon had already been able to fly high in the sky, while the other was staying on the branch(树枝) of a tree quietly, just keeping still.

The king called all his falcons together and ordered them to try every way they could to make the other falcon fly. But none of them succeeded. One day, while the king was taking a walk in the forest, an idea came to his mind. Maybe someone who knew the natural environment well could solve this problem. He spent for a farmer who lived in the forest into his palace to train it at once.

The next morning, the king saw the other falcon flying above in the sky freely. “ it is unbelievable !” shouted the king. How could you make it happen?”

The farmer replied,“It’s very easy. I just cut off the branch where the falcon rested.”

It is always the same to human beings. We all have “two flying wings” in our hearts as well, but we often seem not to notice them and stay where we just for safety and comfort. We won’t realize we can fly so high and freely until the “branch” we are resting on breaks.

“Basketball is not onlyfor young people,” mygrandpa often says.

Grandpa is a retired (退休的) teacher. He likes basketball. He isn’t tall or strong. And he can not run fast. But he is a member of a basketball team.

“I play for 15 minutes in every game,” says Grandpa. “I can score 10 points (得十分) for my team.” He is right. He is really good at basketball. I learn a lot from him.

Grandpa plays basketball with his friends. They play for about an hour every time. Sometimes their team comes to our school. And they play with our school team. Then the young students and the old people can have fun together. 

“What is sport? Sport is a game to make people healthy and happy,” Grandpa tells me.

I never saw my father home from work late or ill, nor did I ever see my father take a “night out with the boys”. He had no hobbies but just took care of his family.

For 22 years, since I left home for college, my father called me every Sunday at 9:00 am. He was always interested in my life-how my family was doing. The calls even came when he and my mother were in Australia, England or Florida.

Nine years ago when I bought my first house, my father, 67 years old, spent eight hours a day for three days, painting my house. He would not allow me to pay someone to have it done. All he asked, was a glass of iced tea, and that I hold a paintbrush for him and talk to him. But I was too busy, for I had a law practice to run (经营), and I could not take the time to hold the paintbrush, or talk to my father.

Five years ago, my 71-year-old father spent five hours putting together a swing set（秋千）for my daughter. Again, all he asked was that I get him a glass of iced tea, and talk to him, But again, I had laundry to do, and the house to clean.

The morning on Sunday, January 16, 1995, my father telephoned me as usual, this time he had seemed to have forgotten some things we had discussed the week before. I had to get to church, and I cut the conversation short.

The call came at 4:40 am. That day my father was sent to hospital in Florida. I got on a plane immediately, and I vowed（发誓）that when I arrived, I would make up for the lost time, and have a nice long talk with him and reallyget to know him.

I arrived in Florida at 1:00 am, but my father had passed away at 9:12 pm. This time it was he who did not have time to talk, or time to wait for me.

In the years since his death I have learned much about my father, and even more about every single day.

A

Today, roller skating is easy and fun. But, before 1750, the idea of skating didn’t exist(存在). That changed because of a man named Joseph Merlin. Merlin’s work was making musical instruments(乐器). 

   One day Merlin was invited to a music party. He was very pleased and a little excited. As the day of the party came near, Merlin began to think how to make a grand entrance (隆重出场) at the party. He had an idea. He thought he would get a lot of attention（注意） if he could skate into the room.

   Merlin tried different ways to make himself roll. Finally, he decided to put two wheels under each shoe. These were the first roller skates in the world. Merlin was very proud of his invention and dreamed of getting to the party on wheels while playing the violin.

   On the night of the party Merlin rolled into the room playing his violin. Everyone was surprised to see him. There was just one problem. Merlin had no way to stop his roller skates. He rolled on and on. Suddenly, he ran into a huge mirror that was hanging on the wall. Down fell the mirror, breaking into pieces. Nobody forgot Merlin’s entrance! 

Peter’s uncle lives in the country. He is a man full of humor (幽默). One day，Peter went to see his uncle. His uncle drove his car to the station to meet him. On their way home，they saw many people. His uncle waved (挥手) to everybody. Peter was surprised (惊奇) and said，“Uncle，you wave to everybody. Do you know all of them?”

 “No，Peter，” answered his uncle. “When I wave to someone who knows me，he’ll feel happy. When I wave to someone and he doesn’t know me，he will feel surprised and then he will have something to think about，he will make his road seem shorter (更短). So I can make everybody happy.”