1 . Mark Twain, a great writer and speaker, was famous for his humor. Many people liked to listen to him talk because he liked to tell some interesting stories to make people laugh all the time.   

One day Mark Twain was going to a small town because of his writing. Before he was going to leave, one of his friends said to him that there were always a lot of mosquitoes (蚊子) in the town and told him that he’d better not go there. Waving his hand, Mark Twain said, “It doesn’t matter. The mosquitoes are no relatives of mine. I don’t think they will visit me.”

After he arrived at the town, Mark Twain stayed in a small hotel near the station. He went into his room, but when he was just about to have a rest, quite a few mosquitoes flew about him. The waiters felt very sorry about that. “I’m very sorry, Mr. Twain. There are too many mosquitoes in our town.” One of them said to him.

Mark Twain, however, made a joke, saying to the waiter, “The mosquitoes are very clever. They know my room number. They didn’t come into the wrong room.” What he said made all the people present laugh heartily.

But that night Mark Twain slept well. Do you know why? That was because all the waiters in the hotel were driving the mosquitoes away for him during the whole night.

3 . Albert was mad about computer games. He could spend hours in front of the computer. When people encouraged him to leave the screen to have a normal life, he would respond “this is my window to the world. There is much more here than you realize.”

Among all his games, he especially liked a rabbit-catching game. He was a real expert at it. He once even won the champion of an online rabbit-catching competition.

One day, as usual, as soon as he got home, he ran to his room to play computer games. But this time he found the computer was not there. Yet in its place there was a box, on which a card said, “Gift for Game Winner.” When he opened the box, he found a real rabbit in it. His parents then came in to tell him that they bought him the rabbit in place of the rabbit game because his computer was sent for repair.

Albert loved the little rabbit immediately. He liked playing with it and even gave it a name. He studied its diet and habits. Days later, he actually began to enjoy the company of the rabbit. And he also enjoyed sharing his stories and his growing knowledge about rabbits with his parents, friends and teachers.

Now, Albert is no longer mad about computer games. He prefers learning and discovering new things about animals. He also uses the computer to do that. When someone asks him why he stops playing computer games, he points to his pet and says,“This is my window to the world. There is more than you realize.”

5 . When David Carter started his art major at the University of Texas at Austin in 1971, he had big dreams of becoming an artist or a writer. But he dropped out of university at 23 after he hurt his hand badly in an incident. He was later diagnosed with schizophrenia(精神分裂症) and spent several years without a home. Carter liked to spend time around UT-Austin, because he dreamed of being able to continue his study in the university and becoming a writer.

UT-Austin student Ryan Chandler said he met Carter during an assignment(任务)   on homelessness for The Daily Texan. “I interviewed him about homeless problems. After I heard his story, we kept in touch and really became friends. I learned he wanted to get back to UT-Austin, so I decided to help him.” said Chandler.

With the help of Chandler, who worked with the university office, Carter was assigned and adviser by UN-Austin’s College of Fine Arts. “It’s the greatest blessing I’ve ever received,” Carter said. “He did what had to be done to get me back to school, and I couldn’t have done it without him.” after seeing a magazine article about Carter, a UT-Austin alumnus(校友) decided to pay his tuition fees without telling his name.

Doug Dempster, dean of the college of Fine Arts, said in a statement that the school would be looking to help Carter in any way it could. “David Carter’s determination to complete his degree is a testament to finishing well what was started, and stopped, even many years earlier. We welcome him back as we do many students each year whose education could not be completed easily. We’re going to help him through his remaining course work.”

6 . Watching some children trying to catch butterflies one hot August afternoon, I was reminded of an incident in my own childhood．When I was a boy of 12 in South Carolina, something happened to me that cured me forever of wanting to put any wild creature in a cage.

We lived on the edge of a wood, and every evening at dusk the mockingbirds would come and rest in the trees and sing. There isn’t a musical instrument made by man that can produce a more beautiful sound than the song of the mockingbird.

I decided that I would catch a young bird and keep it in a cage and in that way would have my own private musician.

I finally succeeded in catching one and put it in a cage. At first, in its fright at being captured, the bird fluttered about the cage, but eventually it settled down in its new home. I felt very pleased with myself and looked forward to some beautiful singing from my tiny musician.

I had left the cage out on our back porch, and on the second day of the bird’s captivity(囚禁) my new pet’s mother flew to the cage with food in her mouth. The baby bird ate everything she brought to it. I was pleased to see this. Certainly the mother knew better than I how to feed her baby.

The following morning when I went to see how my captive was doing, I discovered it on the floor of the cage, dead. I was shocked! What had happened! I had taken excellent care of my little bird, or so I thought.

Arthur Wayne, the famous ornithologist, happened to be visiting my father at the time, hearing me crying over the death of my bird, explained what had occurred. “A mother mockingbird, finding her young in a cage, will sometimes bring it poison berries. She thinks it better for her young to die than to live in captivity.”

Never since then have I caught any living creature and put it in a cage. All living creatures have a right to live free.