After visiting family in Rutland, Tay, together with her three-year-old son and his “favourite companion”, a cuddly toy monkey, caught the train to go back to their home in Bristol.

As they switched trains at Birmingham New Street station, Tay realized that the monkey had been left behind. Her son, she said, was heartbroken.

“He just burst into tears,” Tay said. “He just kept asking ’Where’s my monkey?’ I told him ‘it’s just like playing hide and seek’ and reassured him that lots of kind people were looking for the monkey and the postman would send it back.”

Tay called Network Rail but it was too late, and the CrossCountry train had already left the station. Tay was not hopeful about a reunion but the monkey was a gift to her son on the day he was born, so she passed its sentimental (情感的) value to the train staff.

As she and her disappointed son made their way home, staff at various train companies worked together to track down the toy. They managed to locate the monkey. Tay was kept informed of the progress and told that, as it was by then too late that day, the monkey would be kept overnight in the Lost and Found at Birmingham. Determined to give the monkey a comfortable stay, staff at the station found it a hand-knitted sweater that had been previously used as a Christmas decoration. Next morning, the monkey, which usually slept with its owner every night, was on an early train from Birmingham to Bristol, where Tay was waiting.

“I collected it on my bicycle and brought it home. I just said to my son ’guess what I’ve got for you’ and pulled it out my bag. ” She added that the monkey’s new sweater had been a “lovely surprise” and the railway logo on there reminded them of the journey it made.

In total, four train companies helped the monkey home and it covered an extra 619 miles. Tay said, “The monkey’s been with my son ever since and we are keeping it close, so no more adventures for it in the future.”

When my husband Ash told me he was planning to turn down some perfectly good job offers and start his own business, I was surprised. I advised against it. But Ash’s mother, who had run her own business, said: “Why not give it a go?”

My mother-in-law was right. Ash started Present Model Management. He loves it: the pressure (压力) he has now is lower. Plus, he can take the kids to school if he wants.

Watching him succeed inspired me to take my own leap. After 12 years of working as a childminder, I knew that something had to change. I loved the kids, but I’d been singing “Twinkle Twinkle” for 12 years. I only became a childminder in order to be home with my own children. Now that they are more independent, I have time to try something more exciting.

I set up @family_feasts to record what our family eats: healthy, tasty meals on a sensible budget (开支). From there, I started a WordPress blog to hold the recipes (食谱). When I started sharing weekly meal plans, the feedback (反响) was amazing. That’s what people want: inspiration.

At first I wanted to teach workshops for parents. To prove that I could teach, I started a cooking class for 8-10-year-old children at my daughter’s primary school.

It sold out overnight. A year later, I have a long waiting list. It’s so meaningful to watch the kids learn: they’ve burnt and cut themselves, but they’re really starting to understand flavors.

The next thing that took off was children’s cookery birthday parties. People have booked those through word of mouth. From the strength of my blog, I’ve published recipes with the BBC and Co-op Food Magazine. My final dream is to write a family cookbook one day.

I’m so glad that Ash and I took this leap. We plan our work around the kids. We pay ourselves less than before, but we also spend more sensibly. I love the freedom of our life, the time we have together, and the excitement of building a community of kids who will be able to feed themselves.

“I can’t believe you have driven from Florida to Tennessee for me,” said Kyle, as tears filled his eyes. We talked in a private room in the church while groomsmen (伴郎) paced outside the open door. In a few minutes, the wedding would change Kyle’s life. It was a significant occasion for me, too, because I had been his second-grade teacher and mentor (导师) for the past twenty years.

It started when Kyle was assigned to my second-grade classroom. On the first day of class, I approached the thin, sad-looking boy with messy blond hair. “Welcome to my class, Kyle,” I said. He looked at the floor and didn’t respond. When I helped him with his assignments (作业) during the week, I noticed he didn’t know how to properly finish his work and his writing was messy. He attempted some lessons but often had wrong answers.

During a talk with his grandmother, who was raising Kyle. she said, “I’m thankful that you are his teacher. He never liked his teacher before, but he adores you. I wonder how he has been a different kettle of fish over the months. At home, Kyle now behaves better. He begins to listen to me and obey my orders. What’s more, it seems that he has fallen in love with his study.” I was glad that I could make a difference to Kyle. Unfortunately, due to some family factors, the grandmother and Kyle moved to Tennessee later.

Years later, a tall teenager visited me. It was the struggling student, Kyle. He said he had traveled to Florida to see his father and me. After that, Kyle began to visit me each summer, and we talked about his life, the importance of making good choices, etc. After graduation from school, without his parents’ support. Kyle managed to start his own business, later bought a truck, and moved into his own beautiful apartment. I was really proud of him.

And now Kyle was getting married. He said, “I’m lucky that you have influenced my life.”

On 8th August, 1914, 27 men who had replied to an advertisement in The Times boarded a ship leaving for the Antarctic (南极洲). The name of the ship was the Endurance and the captain was an Irishman called Ernest Shackleton.

The aim of the journey was to cross the frozen continent via the South Pole — a journey of 1, 800 miles. Shackleton thought the journey would last six months.

But when land came into sight, the Endurance became trapped in the ice and began to break up. Shackleton and his men watched the Endurance sink into the icy sea. They then headed north, pulling three lifeboats behind them.

After six days, bad weather forced them to give up and the men set up camp on a sheet of ice which began slowly moving across the Antarctic Circle.

They survived on the ice for five months. Then, on 16th April, 1915, Shackleton saw land. It was Elephant Island — a large rock with nothing growing on it, but much better than a floating piece of ice. When they reached the island, Shackleton came up with an idea — it was a risk but he would have to take it. He and five men would take one of the lifeboats, and sail 800 miles to South Georgia, where there was a permanent camp. They could then return to rescue the rest of the men.

It took Shackleton 17 days to reach South Georgia. Unfortunately he landed on the wrong side of the island, and had to walk 36 hours over mountains to reach the camp. The whale hunters at the camp couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw the six men walking down from the mountains. Shackleton kept his promise. More than three months later, be returned to Elephant Island to rescue the crew he had been forced to abandon. He had failed to reach the pole — but he had saved the lives of all his men.

The Forgotten Pages

Once upon a time, there was a small village surrounded by mountains and trees. The villagers were used to their robotic daily tasks and none of them had the imagination or the will to try something new, except for one girl named Hannah.

Hannah was an adventurous spirit with an imagination far beyond her time. She loved to explore and would spend hours in the woods looking for new things.

One afternoon, she came upon an abandoned cottage which looked very old. She tip - toed slowly to the door and opened it. In front of Hannah was a room full of books! Hannah’s excitement was visible on her face as she jumped up and down with joy!

Hannah realized she had found a hidden treasure. She shared everything with her friends but heard roars of laughter! Confused and hurt by this reaction, she did not give up. She eagerly read these books full of adventurous tales and was inspired by the characters who struggled for good with their determination, learning the power of love and friendship, and that the true strength lies within one’s own heart!

With the good in heart, she decided to share the tales with the villagers. She knew it would be a difficult journey, but she wanted to share the gold with everyone. Hannah started telling tales every day at the cottage.

From the start, only her very good friend, Sanuki, and her family came to the readings. But the word of her famous tales spread rapidly causing more and more people to come to the readings.

Everyone would gather in the old cottage as she told her stories. They transformed it into a holy place full of adventures and imagination.

Hannah reminded everyone through her tales of the importance of human connection, empathy, and love. She helped the lost find their bright path.

She became a beacon (灯塔)of hope, a reminder for everyone that even in the dustiest corners, there can be a hidden treasure. And that treasure is not always gold, it can be a tale simply waiting to be shared. The forgotten treasure lying in the old cottage transformed Hannah, whose passion and dedication blew life into the tales, and her words breathed new life into villagers’ uninformed（蒙昧的）souls.

9 . We live near a famous hospital in the city. Since our house is big, we rent some rooms to the patients.

One evening, a truly ugly old man came. Extremely politely, he said, “Good evening. I’m wondering if you have a room for just one night. I came for treatment from the eastern shore (海岸), and there’s no bus till the morning.” He told me he’d been searching for a room since noon, but failed because of his face.

For a moment, I hesitated (犹豫), not only because there was no room left. But his following words convinced (说服了) me: “I could sleep on the floor. I’ll leave early in the morning.”

By chatting with him, I knew he fished for a living to support a big family. But what touched me most was that instead of complaining, he was grateful that his disease didn’t bring him terrible pain.

At bedtime, we put a bed in the children’s room for him. The next morning, he got up early and asked if he could come again. I told him he would be welcome.

On his next trip, he arrived early in the morning.