Robert and Henry were two friends in the same class. They always played together and went home together. One day Robert and Henry were going home from school. When they turned around a corner, Robert cried out, “A fight! Let’s go and see!”

“No,” said Henry. “Let us go quietly home and not meddle in (插手) this quarrel. We have nothing to do with (与……没有关系) it and may get into trouble.

“You are a coward (胆小鬼), and afraid to go,” said Robert, and off he ran. Henry went straight home, and in the afternoon went to school as usual.

Late, Robert told all the boys that Henry was a coward, and they laughed at him. From then on, they looked down upon (瞧不起) Henry and didn’t want to play with him together.

Henry was sad but he wasn’t angry with Robert. He just ignored (不理睬) the other boys’ laughter and continued to go to school and study as well. However, Robert didn’t invite Henry to go home with him any more. He had some other boys and they also said Henry was a coward. Every day after school, they didn’t go home directly but went to the river or somewhere to play games and had a lot of fun.

A few days later, Robert was bathing with his new friends in a river, and got out of his depth (深度). He struggled, and screamed (尖叫) for help, but all in vain (徒劳). The other boys got out of the water as fast as they could, and they did not even try to help him.

Robert was fast sinking (下沉).

Thus, Robert’s life was saved (救).

A few years ago, the company I worked for sent my wife and me to live in New York for a year. I’ve always loved running, so I was really happy when I found out I lived next to Central Park. This meant that every morning I could go for a run before I went to work.

Because a lot of people had told me to be careful of robbers in the park, so usually I didn’t take anything with me. How could they rob me if I didn’t have anything? But one morning, my wife gave me a S 10 bill and asked me to buy some bread on the way.

It was a beautiful morning and the park was quiet with very few people walking or jogging (慢跑) around. While I was running through the park, another jogger knocked into me. He apologized and continued running. For a while, I didn’t think too much of it. However, when I noticed the wide path where I was running, I thought was kind of strange. The warning of robbers in the park occurred to me. ”It could have been a robber!” I suddenly became alarmed, so I checked my pocket and found that the money was missing. Without thinking twice, I ran after that jogger. I finally caught up and held him by the arm. I shouted, “Give me the $10 bill! Now!” I am not usually a hot-headed (性急的) person, but I got really angry this time. I couldn’t believe the robbery was actually happening to me. Filled with anger, I shook my fist at him. This seemed to frighten him. He quickly put his hand in his pocket and gave me the money. Then he ran away as fast as he could.

I bought the bread and went home. As soon as I got home, I couldn’t wait to tell my wife my story. “You won’t believe what happened to me,” I started with pride. She immediately stopped me, “I know, you left the money for the bread on the kitchen table.”

Looking at the money on the table, I stood there, shocked.

On a late afternoon, Brandon finished feeding his cows on the farm and decided to go back with his two sons, Louie, 6, and Everett, 3. As they headed for the house, the two boys ran ahead of their father. Suddenly Brandon was aware he forgot to close the door of the barn (牲口棚). He told the boys to wait for him at the gate and returned to lock it. When he was at the gate minutes later, he saw only his youngest son.

“ Where’s Louie? ” he shouted.

“He fell in the hole!” Everett said.

Brandon quickly realized what had happened. Noooo, he thought. Louie can barely swim! He ran to the well and heard Louie splashing, trying not to . Instinctively, he jumped in.

Somehow Brandon managed to grab on to a pipe that ran down the side of the well, which slowed his fall and kept him from crushing (挤压) his son.

Finally, Brandon hit the freezing water at the bottom of the well. He popped his head out of the water and grabbed Louie, who was panicking and trying to stay afloat in water that was too deep for either of them to stand. Knowing they could tread (踩水) for only so long, Brandon lifted his son onto his chest as he packed his own back against the narrow walls for support.

“All right, Dad, you can pull us out now,” Louie said.

If only it were that easy. There was no way he could climb out. The pipe that he’d grabbed during his fall was too slippery to be of any use. There was only one way out.

Looking up to see Everett peering down at them from the top of the well, Brandon shouted, “Everett, you’re going to have to be a big boy and save us. Run to the road and stand by the mailbox until someone stops. Tell them we need help. ”

Everett did as he was told. He stood alone by the side of the road, waving to stop someone.

After a while, Chris and Mark, nearby farmers, were driving by the farm.

Twenty minutes later, Louie emerged (出现), then Brandon, both cold and wet.

It was the day of the big cross-country run. Students from seven different primary schools in and around the small town were warming up and walking the route(路线)through thick evergreen forest.

I looked around and finally spotted David, who was standing by himself off to the side by a fence. He was small for ten years old. His usual big toothy smile was absent today. I walked over and asked him why he wasn’t with the other children. He hesitated and then said he had decided not to run.

What was wrong? He had worked so hard for this event!

I quickly searched the crowd for the school’s coach and asked him what had happened. “I was afraid that kids from other schools would laugh at him,” he explained uncomfortably. “I gave him the choice to run or not, and let him decide.”

I bit back my frustration(懊恼). I knew the coach meant well—he thought he was doing the right thing. After making sure that David could run if he wanted, I turned to find him coming towards me, his small body rocking from side to side as he swung his feet forward.

David had a brain disease which prevented him from walking or running like other children, but at school his classmates thought of him as a regular kid. He always participated to the best of his ability in whatever they were doing. That was why none of the children thought it unusual that David had decided to join the cross-country team. It just took him longer—that’s all. David had not missed a single practice, and although he always finished his run long after the other children, he did always finish. As a special education teacher at the school, I was familiar with the challenges David faced and was proud of his strong determination.

A farmer grew some vegetables in his garden. One day his wife was ill and he had no money. He had to sell some cabbages and carrots in the market. The next morning he took two baskets of vegetables to town. But it was raining hard that afternoon and there were few people in the street. When his vegetables were sold out, it was dark. He bought some medicine and hurried to his village. On his way home he saw a person lying on the snow. He placed his baskets on the ground and was going to help the person to get up. At that time he found it was a dead man and there was much blood on his body. He was so afraid that he ran away quickly, without taking the baskets with him.

The next afternoon the farmer was sent to the police station. Having shown the baskets, an officer asked, “Are these yours? ” “Yes, sir.” the farmer answered timidly(胆怯地). “Have you killed the man?” “No, no, sir.” the farmer said in a hurry. “When did you see the dead man? ” “About seven last evening. ” “Did you see who killed the man? ” “No, sir.” The officer brought out a knife and asked, “Have you seen it yet? ” “No, sir.” The officer became angry and told the policemen to beat him up(暴打) and sent him into prison. The officer wanted to trap the farmer into the confession(供认), but the farmer didn’t admit he was the murderer.

The officer was so angry that he asked the policeman to beat him up again.

The farmer was lucky. A few days later,

Freddie woke up to see it was snowing-again. The world outside was white. Snow covered the roads, the cars, the houses, and even the driveway Freddie had just shoveled（铲）the day before.

“Ugh,” said Freddie. “No more snow!” He got out of bed and headed to the bathroom for his regular morning shower. As he reached for the taps, his mother appeared in the doorway.

“I’ve got news,” she said. “There’s been so much snow overnight that the roads are slippery and dangerous. I just heard on the radio that they canceled the school buses for the day.”

Freddie groaned（抱怨）. “Then how am I supposed to get to school?”

His mom grinned（咧着嘴笑）. “I guess you don’t. It’s a snow day!”

Freddie’s eyes lit up. He’d never had a snow day off from school before. What would he do first?

“I’m going back to bed!” Freddie headed back to his room and climbed under the covers. After a few minutes, he realized that it was too late. He was already wide awake. He headed down to the kitchen and then sat at the table, watching his father fry the eggs over in the pan and his mother pour juice and coffee. It was relaxing, thought Freddie.

After breakfast his mother suggested he go out and build a snowman. Freddie wasn’t too sure. He didn’t really like the cold and the snow. He’d rather stay inside and play video games.

“You can play afterward, but how about going outside for a little bit? It’s good to get some fresh air, and who knows, you might even enjoy yourself.” Freddie unwillingly put on the warm clothes and headed outside.

Standing alone in the front yard, with the cold wind blowing, was not Freddie’s idea of a good time. Knowing his mom meant what she said, the boy sighed, thinking the quicker he completed his snowman, the faster he could go back inside to his video games. He set to work packing up some snow into a large ball.

Moments later, he saw one of his friends appearing from his house up the street. Dion waddled（蹒跚行走）out in his big snow trousers and heavy overcoat. He waved to Freddie.

“Hey there! I saw you out here and thought you might want company. Snow days are awesome!” Dion laughed.

Freddie was surprised but happy to see his classmate.

Delighted at the idea, Freddie excitedly ran into his house.