3 . Do you know colds are not serious illness, but they spread (传播) very fast? Colds are caused by viruses (病毒). A sneeze (喷嚏) or a cough may take viruses from one person to another. Cold viruses can also be spread by objects, such as telephones and cups. When you have a cold, you will have a headache, a sore throat, a fever and so on. Here are some tips (提示) to stop colds from spreading.

Wash your hands a lot.

Don’t sneeze or cough in front of others.

Have a rest if you don’t feel well. Don’t study late at night—colds are always worse then.

Drink lots of water or juice.

Don’t play sports or games for a while. It’s really hard to run around with a running nose.

Don’t have your friends come to visit you or visit someone who is sick.

4 . One Sunday morning, Millie and Amy went to Sunshine Park. As usual (像往常一样), they sat down under a big tree. Suddenly, they heard a whisper (飒飒声) from the bushes (灌木丛) behind the tree. They turned round but saw nothing. “Is anybody there?” Millie asked. Nobody replied (回答). “That’s strange,” the two girls were very afraid. They left the park quickly. On their way home, they met Andy. “What happened?”Andy asked. “There’s a ‘ghost’ in the park!” Millie said. Then she told Andy everything. “What is it?” Andy wanted to know. He went to the park, stood beside the tree and listened carefully. Then he heard the whisper! He searched the bushes.

“Here it is,” Andy said to himself. He found a little cat in the bushes. It was very weak. When it miaowed (喵), it sounded like a whisper.

Andy picked up the little cat and went to find Millie and Amy.

“This is the ‘ghost’ in the park, “Andy said. Millie and Amy were very surprised—it was a little cat! Later that day, they took the little cat to the animal centre.

5 . A bear lives in a forest. When he wants to drink, he goes to the river. When he wants to eat, he finds some fruit. In autumn, when the leaves turn red and the wind blows (吹), he always feels too cold. He begins to complain (抱怨) about that he has no clothes.

Today he is walking along a road. Then he sees a large wooden (木制的) box. He opens it. “Clothes. This box is full of clothes.” He takes out a dress happily. It is pink and has flowers on it. “I don’t think this is the dress for me,” he says. He thinks he can give the dress to his friend Kitty. She must like it very much. He spends an hour trying on different clothes. Finally he has a black cap on his head, a pair of black shoes on his feet and a nice tie at his neck. His white shirt and dark trousers are quite nice on him, but his favourite thing is the vest.

The bear is satisfied with his looks, and then he walks around the forest. “Look at me, everyone! I look smart. And the clothes make me warm.”

6 . Peter Brown is a 12-year-old boy from Riverside High School. On the first day of school, something terrible (可怕的) happened. Peter Brown and his family lost everything in a big house fire. It was a very hard time for them.

Peter’s classmates heard the bad news. They stood up and said, “Peter, don’t be afraid. We are with you.” The class wanted to help Peter and his family. So they came up with a plan.

The next day, many students brought clothes and food from their homes. The school had a car wash and a cookie sale. In just three days, the school raised (筹款) $1,200.

Yesterday, the school gave the money to Peter’s family. Peter said to his friends, “Thank you, my dear classmates and teachers. My family and I will never forget this.”

7 . Many years ago, there lived a very rich man who wanted to do something for the people of his town. But first he wanted to find out whether they were good enough to get his help. So he placed a very large stone in the center of the main road into town. Then he hid behind a tree and waited.

Soon an old man came along with his cow. “Who put this stone in the center of the road?” said the old man, but he did not try to move the stone away. Instead, he passed around the stone and continued on his way. Another man came along and did the same thing; then another came, and another. All of them complained about the stone in the center of the road, but none of them tried to move it away.

Late in the afternoon, a young man came along. He saw the stone and said, “It will be very dark at night. Some people will come along later in the dark and will fall against the stone.”

The young man then began to move the stone. He pulled with all his strength to move it to one side. But imagine his surprise when he found a bag full of money and this message under the stone: “This money is for the thoughtful person who takes this stone away from the road. Thank you.”

9 . Janie shakes her saving box. It is not heavy. She shakes it again. It makes a very little sound. She sighs (叹息). How can she buy Dad a present? Father’s Day is coming. She goes to talk to Mum.

“Mum,” says Janie, “I need money.”

“What do you need money for?” asks Mum.

“I need to buy Dad a present for Father’s Day.”

“I will not give you the money,” says Mum. “I will help you to earn (挣) it”

“What do I have to do?” asks Janie.

“You can help me,” says Mum. “You can help with housework. I will make a list of jobs. When you do a job well, I will give you the money according to the list.”

“OK. That’s a good idea,” says Janie.

Mum quickly makes a housework list: sweeping the floor, $2; washing socks, $1; making the bed, $1; washing the dishes, $2; taking out the rubbish, $1; cutting the grass in the garden, $3; tidying the room, $3.

After that, Janie helps with housework every day happily. “What a pleasant surprise my father will have when he gets the present!” Janie often thinks.

A man is going to the house of a friend. It is quite far away, so he takes some sandwiches along for his lunch. As he goes along, he says to himself, “My friend is sure to give me a very nice meal. He is going to give me good wine to drink. So what’s the use of these dry (干的) sandwiches?” As he says this, he throws (扔) them onto the ground.

He goes on and comes to a river. The river has become very big because of the rain in the past few years. He can’t cross the river. He hopes there is a boat to take him over. So he waits and waits. He waits for a long time. Then the sun begins to set. The man says to himself, “It’s dark. I can’t go to my friend’s house today. I must go home.” Then he starts for home. Soon he feels very hungry. He wants very much to have something to eat, but he doesn’t have anything. Suddenly (突然地) he sees some dry, dirty, hard sandwiches on the road. He is very happy. He picks them up and eats them all.

Don’t throw good things away. You may need them later on.