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.

I was always afraid of water. This fear could not be explained, but I knew that the moment I stepped near any body of water, my legs would turn to jelly (果冻). I would imagine myself drowning in the water and thrashing around (乱扑腾) helplessly. That was why I had never gone into a swimming pool until swimming became a school requirement. My school wanted all pupils to pass a swimming test, and if they could not, then they would have to attend weekly swimming lessons in school, which made me tremble.

Thus, my parents signed me up for swimming lessons at the pool near my house. With great unwillingness, I attended those weekly lessons, and each one was great suffering for me. I was naturally clumsy, and my fear of water did not help at all. Every lesson, I would be spending my time thrashing about in the water, while my classmates would be swimming countless laps effortlessly and even turning over like dolphins in the water. How was I going to pass the test at this rate?

In my swimming class, there was an exceptionally athletic girl. Tall and muscular, her name was Kathy. She was the best swimmer in our class and always looked at me with disdain (鄙视), especially when I thrashed about hopelessly in the water.

Once, after a particularly long and hard swimming lesson, I spotted Kathy swimming gracefully in the pool. Gathering my courage, I asked gently, “Kathy, can you teach me to swim?” She stared at me coldly. It was as if I stood at the edge of an endless ocean of inadequacy, my fears appearing like dark storm clouds threatening to drown me. Yet, in that moment, a glimmer of hope flashed within me, a desperate longing for guidance and acceptance. Would Kathy’s icy exterior (外表) melt under the warmth of empathy, or would I remain forever thrashing in the sea of my own fears?

To my surprise, she nodded after a few moments of silence.

“Congratulations!” Kathy said when she learnt I had passed the swimming test.

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.

Last summer vacation, I traveled to Sanya in Hainan, China. When my dad told me one of the items on the journey would be one of the highest water slides (水上滑梯) in Asia, I asked my dad repeatedly whether I could stay at home. But my dad said that I would love it and we should go together.

Three days later, I was standing in front of that water slide in Atlantics Waterpark. The slide was located in a building. When I looked up at the tens of thousands of stairs leading to the peak of the building, I thought to myself, “If I fall from that place, I will definitely die.”

As we started climbing the stairs, I saw three words on the wall: Leap of Faith. I had never heard of these words, and at that time they reminded me of Road to Death. Five meters, ten meters ... I looked down and thought, “I am going to die today.” Fifteen meters, twenty meters ... I thought about the many things I hadn’t done and asked my dad whether I had life insurance. Twenty-five meters, thirty meters ... and we were finally at the top, ready to jump into the slide. I looked at the three people next to me and thought, “These are the last three people I will see in my life.”

Suddenly, the teenage boy ahead of me stopped in front of the slide and turned around, “Look down there. If we fall into the shark tank, we will be eaten by those hungry sharks.” We all paused and looked down at the shark tank above the slide tunnel. Just then, a younger boy next to me said, “Excuse me, if you don’t want to go now, I will go first.” Then he walked past the teenage boy and me and jumped into the slide, disappearing in an instant.

My father said to me jokingly, “Look, that boy is not even half of your height. Come on, Selina. You can do it.” The teenager turned and stared at me too, “Now, you go first.”

With a deep breath, I stepped closer to the edge of the slide.

A moment later, my father came down.

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.

Holidays are not necessarily for fun or rest. Doing something meaningful can also gain special pleasure. When the final bell rang, the students were reminded that there was no school on Monday—the Labor Day. “Enjoy your extra day off” said the teacher to her class.

An extra day off unsuited Kayla just fine. She loved breaks. She wanted to go out to play with her friends. When the school bus dropped Kayla off, she ran into the house happily.

“How was school, Kayla?” asked her mom.

“It was great, Mom. I am excited about no school on Monday.”

“You just started back to school two weeks ago. Already in need of a break, huh?” asked Kayla’s mom with a laugh.

Kayla slept in the next morning. Saturday was her favorite day of the week. I trained most of the day, so Kayla enjoyed playing videogames inside. On Sunday, her friends came over and they played basketball for several hours.

Then it was Labor Day, you know, the extra day off that Kayla was so looking forward to. But Kayla was awakened early that morning by her dad. He told Kayla that in honor of Labor Day, the family would be cleaning both inside and outside the house. Kayla couldn’t believe it. This was a holiday. A day when she was supposed to be enjoying freshly squeezed lemonade while playing in her tree house. As Kayla wiped here yes, she began to wonder if this was just a bad dream.

“Kayla, your breakfast is ready. We have a lot of work to do today. Let’s get a move on,” said Kayla’s mom. As she sat down at the kitchen table, Kayla asked her parents，

“Are you serious about working today? Isn’t Labor Day a holiday?”

“Yes, Kayla. It is,” replied her dad. “But your mom and I thought working hard today would make you appreciate why Labor Day was observed in the first place.”

At first Kayla felt disappointed at her parents’ plan for the holiday.

But things began to change as she was doing the chores.