When Pat Diaz was in Grade Six, his parents died. His seven brothers and sisters didn’t know how to get money for food. He had to leave school.

One morning Pat found his brothers were selling his books.“Stop that!” Pat shouted. “Forget it,” his brothers said. “There’s no way for you to study again. You won’t be happy every time you look at it.”

One day a friend sent Pat two books. Pat was excited! Perhaps he couldn’t go to school, but he could study at home. Those two books became Pat’ s best friends. Before long he had learnt the two books well. Then he learnt the school subjects by himself as soon as he had time.

Three years later, he had a chance to study in a new school. He tried his best to study the subjects. He didn’t care that he was wearing old clothes and sleeping on the floor. After class he did several jobs to make money. Sometimes he even worked all night.

After this school, he got a job as a teacher. Several years later, he became a famous teacher.

When I saw Ronny for the first time, he looked like other kids in the first-grade classroom where I volunteered as a Reading Mom. However, he usually arrived at school wearing old clothes.

On the day when it was Ronny’s turn to read. he sat very close to me. I watched his fingers move slowly under each letter as he tried to speak out “Bud the Sub”. It sounded more like “Baw Daw Saw” when he said it because of his difficulty with the alphabet (字母).

The year passed quickly and Ronny had made some progress but he was still below the level of grade. A few weeks before the school year ended, I held an award(颁奖) ceremony. I had gifts and certificates(证书) for everyone. It took me a while to think about which Ronny fit; I believed the gift could cheer him up. I finally decided on “The Most Progressive Reader”.   I showed his certificate and a book.

A few days later, I saw Ronny reading the book when I went back to the school. His teacher said, “He hasn’t put that book down. That’s the first book he’s ever owned. ”

Fighting back tears(眼泪) I came near Ronny and asked, “Will you read me your book, Ronny?” He nodded. And then, for the next few minutes, he read to me more smoothly than I’d ever thought. When he finished reading, Ronny closed his book and said, “Good book. ”

At that moment, I knew I should do what an author(作家) had done-care children and make them excellent.

One day, two young men were going through the forest. One said to the other. “We’re good friends. We must help each other. If any beast comes at you. I’ll stay with you and help you.”

The other friend said, “I will help you too, if any beast comes at you.”

They walked on. After a while, there was a great noise. It was a big bear. The young men ran away quickly. One of them got up into a tree. But the other was fat and could not climb up. So he threw himself at the foot of the tree. He thought to himself. “The bear will think that I am dead.”

Soon the bear came near. The bear looked at the fat young man, then it put its nose down and smelled him. The young man held his breath. The bear thought he was dead, so it went away.

The man in the tree came down. With a smile, he asked his friend. “The bear put its mouth so near to your ear. What did it say to you?”

The friend answered. “The bear said. ‘Don’t trust your friend. He ran away from you when you needed his help the most. Remember: A friend in need is a friend indeed.’ ”