A boy called Jimmy always arrived home hungry every day and his parents couldn’t figure out why. When Jimmy wouldn’t share what was going on, his parents decided to visit the principal (校长), hoping he could offer the answer.

After talking with Jimmy’s classmates, the principal and his parents heard a story. Although Jimmy never talked about it, his classmates told them that he always came to school without food. The principal and his parents were shocked. No wonder Jimmy was always so hungry after school! Was there something happening on the way to school?

To make the situation clear, the principal naked Jimmy’s teacher, Mr. Green, to talk to Jimmy in private. During the conversation with the teacher. Jimmy refused to say anything about the situation, leaving everyone helpless. This left the principal with no evidence to take any action regarding the missing lunch of Jimmy.

Jimmy’s parents were becoming increasingly concerned as their child continued to come home from school without saying a word. Despite their meeting in the school, they thought that they had no other ways to discover the reason why Jimmy was always so hungry. The lack of communication with their child only added to their helplessness. They knew they needed to take action, but they had no idea where to start.

Determined to get to the bottom of the problem. Jimmy’s father derided to take action again. The next day. Jimmy’s father went to school and asked to speak with Jimmy’s teacher, Mr. Green.

When Jimmy’s father reached the school, Mr. Green spoke with him and patiently answered all of his questions. However, despite a deep conversation between them, no conclusion could be reached, which still questioned Jimmy’s parents.

One day, by accident, Jimmy’s father found a thank-you letter from Jimmy’s room.

Jimmy’s parents were touched by his act of kindness.

Nish a could not forget the way she froze in front of the class today.

Today was Nisha’s turn to do a presentation. However, her hands shook so violently that she couldn’t read her notes. Her voice became softer even to silence. Mr. Roberts kindly ended Nisha’s presentation even though she did clearly not finish. He also asked Nisha to stay after class for a moment.

“Nisha. I know you’re shy, but you worked hard on this project. I’d hate to see you give up on yourself.” Then Mr. Roberts hesitated, “If I give you another chance, do you think you can find your courage?” Nisha nodded, grateful for the chance. After the talk, she always kept her head down in the school and hoped this school day would end soon.

When she arrived at home, her mom was baking in the kitchen. Her mom studied Nisha’s face as she came into the kitchen. “What’s wrong, Nisha?”

Tears shone in Nisha’s eyes. Nisha told her mom the whole story. Her mom was silent for a moment and asked, “Why is it that you can talk to me about anything, but you can’t talk to your class?” She set the timer（计时器）and then said, “Let me show you something.”

Nish a followed her mom to her bedroom. There her mom showed her a book filled with pictures. In it there was a blue ribbon（丝带）that said “First Place” and a picture of herself when she was very young, standing with her parents.

“I won it for public speaking. I started the school year as the shyest girl on the speech team, but lended the year as the blue ribbon winner. It wasn’t easy at first—I was not sure of myself at all. I worked hard, and mostly I faced my fears. You just need to find your courage.”

Hearing mom’s words, Nisha stared at the precious blue ribbon, lost in thought.

The next day Nisha again walked to the front of the classroom to give her presentation.

Jenny was the only child in her family. She had a quarrel (吵架) with her mother that afternoon and she ran out of the house angrily. She couldn’t help weeping sorrowfully when she thought of the scolding from her mother. Having wandered aimlessly in the street for hours, she felt a little hungry and wished for something to eat. She stood beside a stand (货摊) for a while, watching the middle-aged seller busy doing his business. However, with no money in hand, she gave a sigh and had to leave.

The seller behind the stand noticed the young girl and asked, “Hey, girl, you want to have the noodles?”

“Oh, yes, but I don’t have money on me.” she replied.

“That’s nothing. I’ll treat you today,” said the man, “Come in.”

The seller brought her a bowl of noodles, whose smell was so attractive. As she was eating, Jenny cried silently.

“What is it?” asked the man kindly.

“Nothing. Actually, I was just touched by your kindness!” said Jenny as she wiped her tears. “Even a stranger on the street will give me a bowl of noodles, while my mother drove me out of the house. She showed no care for me. She is so merciless compared to a stranger!”

Hearing the words, the seller smiled, “Girl, do you really think so? I only gave you a bowl of noodles and you thanked me a lot. But it is your mother who has raised you since you were a baby. Can you remember the times she cooked for you? Have you expressed your gratitude to her?”

Jenny sat there, speechless and numb with shock: she remembered her mother’s familiar face and weathered hands. “Why didn’t I think of that? A bowl of noodles from a stranger made me feel grateful. Why haven’t I thanked my mum for what she has done for me?”

On the way home. Jenny made up her mind to make an apology to her mother for her rudeness as soon as she arrived home.

Nearing the doorway, Jenny took a deep breath.

At that time, her mother came back and touched her hair gently, which called her mind back.

When Dr. Henderson was assigning (指定) project partner for his psychology (心理学) class, I secretly hoped that he would pair me with my best friend or at least a classmate I could have some fun with. Above all, I hoped he wouldn’t assign me to work with the fiercely competitive and extremely serious fellow who always wore dark clothes and apparently had a personality to match. As fate (命运) would have it, Dr. Henderson very designedly matched everyone in class and announced that I would be working with the one person in class I wanted to avoid.

I went up to my new teammate and introduced myself. He looked at me as though I weren’t there. I felt he treated me as though I would hold him back and probably make him fail to get an A in the course. He wasn’t mean or rude but he just gave me the impression that he could do whatever project we dreamed up better if he did it alone.

Needless to say, I didn’t look forward to being looked down upon so I tried to make the best of it and didn’t say anything for fear that I would make things worse.

The project required each team to develop a hypothesis (假说), set up an experiment to test the hypothesis, analyze the data and present the findings. Whatever grade the team received would be shared by both students.

When my teammate and I met to discuss our project, I was uneasy. Here was this challenging student who had been known for single-mindedness and good grades — the exact opposite of me. I actually wanted to drop the class at one point, but stopped short because I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of my chickening out (临阵脱逃) . I decided to stick to it no matter what.

After long discussions we somehow agreed to do a study on the psychological well-being (健康) of teenagers. I wasn’t sure what it meant exactly, but at least we had a topic.

We started to meet regularly to draw up our plans.

One day I got word that he was admitted to hospital (住院) for a serious disease.

THE STORY OF AN EYEWITNESS (Adapted)

San Francisco, May 5, 1906. The earthquake that hit San Francisco on April 18 shook down hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of walls and chimneys (烟囱). But the fire that followed burned up hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of buildings and homes. Never before in history has a city been so completely destroyed. San Francisco is gone. The factories, the great stores and newspaper buildings, the hotels, and the great houses of the rich are all gone.

On Wednesday morning at a quarter past five came the earthquake. A moment later, the disaster was a fact. South of Market Street, in the working-class neighborhoods and in the factories, fires started. Within an hour of the first quake, the smoke could be seen 100 miles away. The sun was red in the dark sky. There was no stopping the fires. The firefighters to whom the task was given did their best but there was no way to organize or communicate. The railway tracks were now useless and there was no water in water pipes. All of the ways man had made to keep the city safe were gone in the 30 seconds the earth moved.

By Wednesday afternoon, half the heart of the city was gone. At that time, I watched the disaster from a ship on the bay (海湾). Out at sea it was calm. No wind came up. Yet from every directioneast, west, north, and south-strong winds blew upon the unlucky city and those whose homes had once stood in its green hills.

Wednesday night saw the destruction of the very heart of the city. Man himself had to make ruins of some of the city’s best buildings so that they would not be a danger to those in the streets. Tens of thousands who had lost their homes left the city to look for shelter from the fires. Some were dressed only in blankets and carried the things that they had been able to rescue from the fires. But there were no fights and no pushing or shoving. Somehow this worst of disasters brought out the best in the survivors. Never in all of San Francisco’s history were her people so kind as on this night of terror.

Emily White was born seventeen years ago with many physical issues affecting her tiny body. Some of her organs, bones and muscles were out of shape. Though no one expected her to survive, she did make it. But she had a strange figure that everyone could recognize, even from a distance.

In Emily’s hometown, there was a yearly outdoor performance in the school hall at Christmas. It had been performed for so many years that it had become one of the most important events for many of the townsfolk. Each year, many people tried out for the show, but most were turned down. Only the best performers could be included.

Emily had a most beautiful singing voice. Last year, she asked Mrs. Owens, her music teacher, if she could join in the performance. Mrs. Owens took a look at her body and said, “Child, you just don’t fit. Everyone would stare at you and that would make you uncomfortable. It would make them uncomfortable too.”

Without singing a single note, Mrs. Owens sent Emily back through the door of the choral room (合唱室). Hurt and upset, Emily decided never to try out again. But things changed as the following school year, Mrs. Owens retired and a new music teacher arrived—Mr. Butler.

He had heard about Emily and suggested that she give it a try again. Emily didn’t want to be rejected again, so she hesitated about it. But finally her love for singing and strong desire to join in the performance outweighed her hesitation. She tried out again and learnt the result would be posted the next day on the door of the choral room.

Emily couldn’t sleep that night, having turned in bed back and forth thousand times as she was worried that she would be rejected again and would never fit in.

The nex tday, Emily hurried to school and anxiously glanced at the list of the result.

Finally, the day of the performance came.