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　　Two of the most famous symbols in the world are the Red Cross and the Red Crescent．They are the symbols of the International Red Cross Society and the Islamic version of the same group, the International Red Crescent Society．Both societies do the same thing：they help people who have been injured(受傷)in war or natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes．

　　In June, 1859 a Swiss man named Jean-Henri Dunant organized emergency aid for hundreds of French and Austrian soldiers who lay wounded(受傷的)and dying after the Battle of Solferino in Italy．He wrote a book about what happened and suggested that voluntary relief groups should be organized in every country．People around the world read his book and in 1864 the first groups formed under the name“International Red Cross”．

　　Their plan was to have ambulances(救護(hù)車)to help the injured in wartime．These ambulances would have large red crosses on them．Soldiers on both sides would know that these ambulances had injured men in them and would not attack them．It was not long before the Red Cross had hospitals on the battlefields(戰(zhàn)地)and ships to carry the injured soldiers．Now they even have flying helicopters in the sky．

　　As time passed the Red Cross grew larger．Now they have blood banks and take food to people who are starving(饑餓)．Wherever there is a disaster, either the Red Cross or the Red Crescent will be there．

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　　Trudy's class has an English newspaper．The students write stories, articles and poems for it．Then they type and print their works out．The teacher posts everything on the wall so that it looks like a large, open newspaper．

　　One day Trudy said to the teacher,“Most newspapers have advertisements．Can we have some small ads in ours?”The teacher thought this was a very good idea．She made Trudy the advertising manager and Trudy asked the other students to offer things for sale in the newspaper．Here are some of the ads she received．

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　　For many American teenagers, having a part-time job is an important part of growing up．A part-time job can teach teenagers important skills like responsibility(責(zé)任), independence(獨(dú)立), teamwork and leadership．

　　Young people can expand(擴(kuò)大)their social circles beyond their classmates by making friends with co-workers．And many teenagers find that earning their own money gives them a sense of pride and freedom．

　　The US Department of Labor allows teenagers to apply for jobs at the age of 14．Popular part-time jobs include working in ice cream stores, coffee shops, and clothing stores．During the school year, teenagers may go to work a few times a week after their classes get out, then work for longer on the weekends．

　　In the summer, top jobs for teens include working at camps, swimming pools and amusement parks．These jobs are great for young people who want to be active and have fun while making money．

　　A favorite job for many teens is babysitting(臨時(shí)替人看小孩), and they can start before 14 if the parents agree．After the children are sleeping and before the parents come home, babysitters have lots of freedom．As long as they stay in the house and make sure the kids are okay, babysitters can do their homework, enjoy a snack, watch TV, or talk on the phone with friends．

　　It can be stressful to balance school, homework, and a part-time job．Still, many American teenagers value their work experience and the skills they gain on the job．

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　　Kitty, my daughter, has started high school．One day, her school coach encouraged her to join the basketball team．Her first thought was that she would ask a friend to join the team with her．I told my daughter that she needed to make her own decision．I didn't want her to miss some great chances in life just because her friends were not doing it．

　　My daughter and I always talk about her future, her hopes and her dreams．And I give myself enough time to sit down and listen to what my daughter is saying．

　　I'm always asking my daughter's opinions about important things．I think children see the same things through different eyes．If you respect their opinions, they like to listen to and take your advice．Show your children respect and they will learn to respect others．Remember that our children learn from us, and you are your children's first teacher．

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　　Imagine there is a bank that opens an account(賬戶)for you each morning with ＄86,400．Every evening the bank deletes(刪除)all the money that remains(剩下，余留)．

　　Each of us has such a bank．Its name is Time．Every morning, it gives you 86,400 seconds．Every night your unused seconds disappear．

　　If you fail to use the time in your account, the loss is yours．There is no going back．

　　So what will you do with the account of your time?

　　Take out every second, of course!The clock is running．Make the most of today．

　　To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade．

　　To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a baby．

　　To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper．

　　To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet．

　　To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train．

　　To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask a person who just avoided(避免，消除)an accident．

　　Treasure(珍愛，珍惜)every moment that you have!And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special．Remember, time and tide wait for no man．

　　Yesterday is history．

　　Tomorrow is mystery．

　　Today is a gift．That's why it's called the present!

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　　“Depend on yourself”is what nature says to everyone．Parents can help you．Teachers can help you．But all these only help you to help yourself．

　　There have been many great men in history．But many of them were very poor in childhood, and had no uncles, aunts and friends to help them．Schools were few and not very good．They could not depend on them for an education．They saw how it was, and began to work with their own efforts to know something．They worked their own way up to fame．

　　One of the most famous teachers in England used to tell his pupils,“I can't make worthy(優(yōu)秀的)men of you, but I can help you make men of yourselves．”

　　Some young men have the best of everything, but they are to be pitied(同情)．They can never do things successfully if they don't see their weak point and change their attitudes(態(tài)度)to study．They are nobody now, and will be nobody as long as(只要)they don't follow the advice of their parents and teachers, and depend on their own efforts．

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　　Liu Xiang won the gold medal in the 110-meter hurdles at the Asian Athletics Championship on 12th November, 2009, in Guangzhou．He had won gold medals at these games twice before．But this gold medal was special．It showed that he had completely recovered after he got injured．

　　Everyone remembers the day at the Beijing Olympics when Liu Xiang pulled out of the race．He sat on the track and held his right ankle．His face showed pain and sadness．He thought his career(職業(yè)生涯)was over and that he would never run again．At that time, his tears dropped．Liu Xiang is a strong young man both inside and outside．He decided to return to the top of the athletic world．

　　He went to the US to see a famous foot doctor．The operation(手術(shù))was successful．It was the first step in Liu Xiang's comeback．There were many steps after that．It took Liu Xiang long hours in the gym to strengthen(加強(qiáng))his ankle and to keep fit every day．Finally, after more than one year of hard work, Liu Xiang was ready to run again．

　　Liu Xiang is a hero．And we all should be proud of him．

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　　If you have a brother or sister, you already know you are different from each other．You live together in the same house and with the same parents, but you have different personalities．

　　Why is this?One possible reason is the way your parents treat you．

　　First–born children receive all the attention from their parents．Most families have twice as many photos of a first–born than any other child．Parents usually give first–borns more responsibility(責(zé)任)and depend on them to take care of younger brothers and sisters．As a result, first–borns are often responsible, hard–wording and serious．They often want to do well at school and work．There are more first–born American presidents than second or last-born children－for example, George W．Bush, George Washington, and Lyndon Baines Johnson．

　　When a second child arrives, parents are not so excited．The second child has to compete with the first–born for the parents' attention and love．These children often choose different sports and hobbies to do well at school and work, but have to be creative to get their family's attention．They are often friendly and cool．Many famous talk-show hosts were born last．

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　　For almost two months Dominic York, a 23-year-old hairdresser, wandered about hospitals at night, wearing a white coat and pretending he was a doctor．Yesterday he proudly claimed in court(法庭)that despite his complete lack of medical experience of qualifications(資格), he had saved several people's lives．He had even been allowed to assist(協(xié)助)a surgeon during an emergency operation on a patient who was about to die on something she had swallowed．

　　“I watched one of those TV dramas about a hospital and suddenly felt like playing one of the roles myself．So I put on a white jacket and a stethoscope(聽診器)and walked around one of the biggest hospitals in London．At first I just watched．Once you learn how doctors talk to patients, nurses and other doctors, it's easy to take people in．”he said．

　　One of the patients he treated was Laura Kennan．She had been knocked down by a car and fainted．When she came to herself in hospital, York was standing over her．

　　“He looked very professional．He told me his name was Doctor Simon．Then he gave me some sort of injection(注射),”she said．And then he suddenly cleared off when a nurse asked who he was．She didn't think there was anything wrong．“I would never have realized he was fake if a policewoman hadn't showed me his photograph a week later．When the policewoman told me who he really was, I could hardly believe my eyes．”

　　Judge Raymond Adams told York that he was“shocked and horrified”that he got away with his deceiving(欺騙)for so long, and then sentenced him to eighteen months in a special prison for criminals with mental disorders．

　　“I can only hope that this will not lead to further problems．After all, you will have considerable opportunity to study the behaviour of the psychiatrists(精神病治療師)who will look after you while you are there．If you try to persuade people that you yourself are a psychiatrist after you are set free, I shall make sure that you are given a much longer sentence,”Judge Adams warned York．