Two, men,both seriously ill, shared the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon. His bed is next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time lying on his back. The men talked for hours continuously. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their experience in the army and where they had been on vacation. Every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods when his world would be broadened and enlivened (有活力的) by all the activities and colors of the world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake.Ducks and swans (天鹅) played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm among flowers of every color. Grand old trees made everything around more attractive, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in detail, the man on the'other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque (如画的) scene. One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade (列队) passing by. Although the other man couldn't hear the band, he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window pictured it with descriptive words.

Days and weeks passed by. One morning , the nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away. Later, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it for himself.

One weekend in July, Jane and her husband, Tom, had driven three hours to camp overnight by a lake in the forest. Unfortunately, on the way an unpleasant subject came up and they started to quarrel. By the time they reached the lake, Jane was so angry that she said to Tom, “I'm going to find a better spot for us to camp” and walked away.

With no path to follow, Jane just walked on for quite a long time. After she had climbed to a high place, she turned around, hoping to see the lake. To her surprise, she saw nothing but forest and, far beyond, a snowcapped mountain top. She suddenly realized that she was lost.

“Tom!” she cried. “Help!”

No reply. If only she had not left her mobile phone in that bag with Tom. Jane kept moving, but the farther she walked, the more confused she became. As night was beginning to fall, Jane was so tired that she had to stop for the night. Lying awake in the dark, Jane wanted very much to be with Tom and her family. She wanted to hold him and tell him how much she loved him.

Jane rose at the break of day, hungry and thirsty. She could hear water trickling (滴落) somewhere at a distance. Quickly she followed the sound to a stream. To her great joy, she also saw some berry bushes. She drank and ate a few berries. Never in her life had she tasted anything better.

As she picked her way carefully along the stream, Jane heard a helicopter. Is that for me? Unfortunately,the trees made it impossible for people to see her from above. A few minutes later, another helicopter flew overhead. Jane took off her yellow blouse, thinking that she should go to an open area and flag them if they came back again.

A little girl whose parents had died lived with her grandmother and slept in an upstairs bedroom. One night there was a fire in the house and the grandmother died while trying to rescue the child. The fire spread quickly, and the situation was terrible.

Neighbours called the fire department, then stood helplessly by, unable to enter the house because flames blocked all the entrances. The little girl appeared at an upstairs window, crying for help, just as word spread among the crowd that the fire- fighters would be delayed a few minutes because they were all at another fire.

Suddenly, a man appeared with a ladder, put it up against the side of the house and disappeared inside. When he reappeared, he had the little girl in his arms. He delivered the child to the waiting arms below, then disappeared into the night.

An investigation revealed that the child had no living relatives, and weeks later a meeting was held in the town hall to determine who would take the child into their home and bring her up.

A teacher said she would like to raise the child. She pointed out that she could ensure her a good education. A farmer offered her an upbringing (教养) on his farm. He pointed out that living on a farm was healthy and satisfying. Others spoke, giving their reasons why it was to the child's advantage to live with them.

Finally, the town's richest resident rose and said, “I can give this child all the advantages that you have mentioned here, plus money and everything that money can buy.”

Throughout all this, the child remained silent, her eyes on the floor.

“Does anyone else want to speak?” asked the meeting chairman. A man came forward from the back of the hall. He walked slowly and appeared to be in pain.

When he got to the front of the hall, he stood directly in front of the little girl and held out his arms.

When asked her choice, the girl gave people the reasons firmly.

One snowy day, the winds grew stronger and the snow turned into a blinding snowstorm. A fanner sat down to relax before the fire for the evening. Then he heard a loud knock, something hitting against the window. He looked outside but could not see anything. So he went outside for a better view. In the field near his house he saw, of all the strangest things, a group of swans(天鹅).

They were apparently flying to look for a warmer area down south, but they had been caught in the snowstorm. The storm had become too blinding and violent for the swans to fly or see their way. They were trapped on his farm, with no food or shelter, unable to do more than wave their wings and fly in aimless circles. He had compassion for them and wanted to help them.

He thought to himself, the bam(谷仓) would be a great place for them to stay. It was warm and safe; surely they could spend the night and wait out the storm. So he opened the bam doors for them. He waited, watching them, hoping they would notice the open bam and go inside.

However, they did not notice the bam or realize what it could mean for them. He moved closer toward them to get their attention, but they just moved away from him out of fear. He went into the house and came back with some bread, broke it up, and made a bread trail to the bam. They still did not catch on.

Starting to get frustrated, he went over and tried to drive them toward the bam. They panicked and scattered into every direction except toward the bam. Nothing he did could get them to go into the bam where there was warmth, safety, and shelter. Feeling totally frustrated, he exclaimed. “Why don’t they follow me? Can’t they see this is the only place where they can survive the storm? How can I possibly E them into the one place to save them?”

He thought for a moment and realized that they just would not follow a human,

It was the middle of the day with the bright sun, blue sky, green grass, and a soft breeze (微风). It was a great day to play outside and the best day of my life because I got a new ball and a new bike as my sixth birthday presents, and I was visiting my cousin, Kristy, at her house.

“Here I go!” shouted David while kicking my new ball. David lived next door and was older than me. I thought he was a wild child, but he was actually very kind. The ball went flying as if it were going to space. “That was high!” Kristy said in surprise and we went after the ball. We all had a great time.

Later we had supper and the food my aunt made was good. While Kristy was helping do the dishes, David and I ran outside to play. We started taking turns riding my bike. David suggested that we ride it to the forest. And I agreed. David and I got on the bike and David started riding fast.

As we rode through the forest, I felt the wind brushing my face. It felt so great and free. Suddenly the bike hit a fallen branch and we went flying off the bike. Lying on the ground, I felt dizzy (眩晕的). I checked myself for injuries and saw some but they didn’t upset me.

“David!” I shouted out anxiously.

“Hey,” said a voice. I turned my head and it was David, who was standing behind me, holding my broken bike. At the sight of my disabled bike, I was so sad that I couldn’t hold back my tears. It took David some time to calm me down.

When we realized it was time to walk home, we found ourselves lost.

It was completely dark when we saw fireworks (烟花) being set off in the distance.