When I was a baby, my parents gave me anything I wanted. I would play with a toy for a while, get bored, and ask my parents for a new one. Then my dad died when I was 2, and I got even more stuff as my mom, friends, and family gave me more and more stuff to try to make me feel better. My mom continued to treat me to whatever I wanted until I was seven and my world crashed.

That was when the real estate market crashed. My mom had thought buying houses was a good idea as a way to invest her money to take care of us. After the crash, I went from the kid who got a fine iPod and who had the coolest house, to almost having nowhere to stay.

Since then, when I would ask for a new toy or bike, or even to see a movie my mom would say “I’m sorry, honey but we really can’t afford that right now.” But my mom had grown up in a family where money was never a problem, so this change was as big for her as it was for me. My constant requests for toys and video games deepened her concern about our financial situation. But I wasn’t used to hearing “no.” So, for a year or two, I kept asking for things whether I really needed them or not.

Then something happened that would change my way of thinking forever. My mom had been working really hard all year, just to pay for the necessities, like our rents, and water and power bills. When she asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I said that I wanted a new video gaming system. I didn’t know that it was expensive. All I knew was that my friends had them and that I wanted one, too.

On my birthday, I started opening presents, believing that I would get what I asked.

From then on, I wouldn’t ask for anything that I didn’t need.

With Mother’s Day approaching, Bruce, a boy of nine years old, with his little sister Alina-six years old wanted their mother to be the happiest one of that day. But they were too young to get a job, even if a part-time one. What could they do? There was only one week left. They felt sad whenever they thought their mother would spend her Mother’s Day without gifts.

Money is hard to make. Buying a bunch of flowers would cost a large sum of money for them. One day when they were wandering at the street, they heard Mr Green was complaining that he had no time to wash those soda pop bottles. It is a kind of soda pop sold in bottles and the bottles can be washed and filled again. Mr Green ran that grocery shop by himself, so he had no time to wash them.

“Would you like to try, Alina?” Bruce asked his sister suddenly. Alina nodded her head without hesitation. After all, both of them knew that maybe it was an opportunity for them to make money for the flowers.

They walked a few steps and came near Mr Green. They looked up at Mr Green and asked whether they could help him to wash those bottles. Mr Green looked at them in astonishment until he was told the reason. He agreed and promised that he would pay 0.1 dollar for every bottle.

Bruce and Alina were very happy even though they knew they would have a busy week.

They came to Mr Green’s shop in the next seven days when they came back from school. On the morning of Mother’s Day, they got the pay—dollars. The boy also had 0.3 dollar saved.

So with a total of 6.4 dollars they walked about a mile to where a flower shop was located. When they came inside, someone asked what they wanted. They told him they wanted to buy some flowers for their mother. The boy reached into his pocket and pulled out their cash asking if that would be enough.

“But, your money is not enough!” said the shopkeeper.

“Wait a moment, please!” another gentleman waved to them.

Tess was a precocious (早熟的) eight-year-old girl when she heard her parents talking about her little brother, Andrew. All she knew was that he was very sick and they were completely out of money to cover the doctor’s bills.

Only a very costly surgery could save him now and it was looking like there was no one to loan them the money. She heard Daddy say to her tearful Mother with whispered desperation，“Only a miracle can save him now.”

Tess went to her bedroom and pulled a glass jelly jar and poured all the change out on the floor and counted it carefully. Then she slipped out the back door with all her money and made her way 6 blocks to Rexall’s Drug Store.

She waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her some attention but he was too busy at this moment. Tess twisted her feet to make a noise. Nothing. She cleared her throat with the most disgusting sound she could muster.

No good. Finally she took a quarter from her jar and banged it on the glass counter. That did it! “And what do you want?” the pharmacist asked in an annoyed tone of voice. “I'm talking to my brother from Chicago whom I haven’t seen in ages.” he said without waiting for a reply to his question.

“Well, I want to talk to you about my brother,” Tess answered back in the same annoyed tone. “He’s really, really sick and I want to buy a miracle.” “I beg your pardon?” said the pharmacist. “His name is Andrew and he has something bad growing inside his head and my Daddy says only a miracle can save him now. So how much does a miracle cost?” “We don’t sell miracles here，little girl. I'm sorry but I can’t help you,” the pharmacist answered impatiently.

A well-dressed man walked from behind the counter and towards the little girl.

That well-dressed man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon, specializing in neurosurgery (神经外科)。

One day Sofia was taking a walk with her mom while window shopping. They both knew they wouldn’t be buying much.

They were in a high-class neighborhood and they lived in a small overpriced apartment building at the edge of their county. Sofia’s mom chose to move there because the schools in the neighborhood were good. But now it was the first time that Sofia had realized that they didn’t belong there.

The little girl was looking up at the people they passed as they walked. Ladies wore five-inch heels, bright clothing and jewelry. Gentlemen wore expensive perfumes which can wipe away the wrinkles on their faces. A sense of uneasiness started to rise in her chest. She was feeling ashamed of her mother, which she would not deny any longer. At the moment, mom looked so plain compared with the well-dressed passers-by. Mom was wearing cheap clothes and worn-out shoes. Sofia could see the heavy lines around mom’s eyes and mouth clearly. Her eyes were tired from working hard to earn enough money to be able to support the family. Sofia felt strongly that her shabby and exhausted mom was so out of the place. She didn’t want to be seen with her mom although there was no one important around to see her anyway. She felt embarrassed about being at mom’s side. How she wanted to have a young, beautiful, and fashionable mom! She just wanted to get out of here. However, her mom didn’t notice that. Mom was still in high spirits and she insisted on buying a new dress for her lovely daughter.

Now they were standing in the middle of a high-end clothing store and mom was holding a beautiful sweater. “This will look good on you. Do you want it?” mom asked Sofia excitedly.

It was much too expensive, but Sofia almost thoughtlessly answered “yes”.

Suddenly, mother was beautiful and extraordinarily wonderful in Sofia’s eyes.

George was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.

As Graduation Day came, George waited for signs that his father had bought the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation, George’s father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped (包裹的) gift box. Curious, but a bit disappointed, George opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound (皮边的) book, with his name in gold. Angrily, George raised his voice to his father and said, “With all your money, you give me a book?” He then stormed out of the house, leaving the book.

Many years passed and George was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and a wonderful family, but realizing his father was very old, he thought perhaps he should go to see him.

George had not seen his father since that graduation day. Before he could make the arrangements, George received a telephone telling him his father had been dead, and left the houses, a car and all money to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things.

When George arrived at his father’s house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart.

With tears, George opened the book and began to turn the pages.

The person I admire most

You would think that after hearing Mom and Dad talking about The Trip for a year, I would be eager to go. But I didn’t even want to think about it. “Aren’t you excited?” asked Dad, looking up from his laptop. “This is the trip of a lifetime. I’ll bet none of your friends will be driving across the United States this summer.”

Exactly, I thought. Nobody I knew was going to pile into an old van, and drive from California to New York and back in 58 days. Fifty — eight days! That was practically my whole summer! But I knew it was useless to protest.

When Dad was offered a summer off for the first time in his career, he said that he would always dreamed of driving across the country. So we were going. That was Dad’s chance.

I picked up my cat, Max, and buried my face in his fur. He pawed at my ears playfully. Goodbye, summer vacation. Goodbye, diving at the lake. Goodbye to hanging out and doing absolutely nothing. Good bye, Max. I was going to miss this ball of fur. I put him down and laughed as he batted a button across the floor like a soccer player. He was interested in all small objects.

The closer the trip got, the harder it was going to ignore. Thick envelopes arrived from places like Indiana, Tennessee and Arkansas. Night after night, Mom and Dad huddled around the computer, plotting every inch of our 8,000-mile journey.

Three days after school got out, The Trip finally came. Everything was packed and ready to go. Mom said that we are supposed to leave at 9 a. m. But when Dad noticed a wet spot under the van, I realized we wouldn’t be going anywhere for a while. Dad crawled under the van. Car parts sprang up around the van like mushrooms.

Minutes turned into hours. By the time Dad gave Mom the news, it was late afternoon. “I fixed the leak.” said Dad, “But now I couldn’t find one of the fan bolts (螺栓).” Mom organized a search, but in vain.

Dad called the stores but none carried the bolt that fitted this old van.

Then it hit me. “Max!” I shouted, “Find Max!”