An old man was going home late one night with his horse and cart（马车）after a day's hard work. When he was not far away from his house, the light on the cart went out. He tried but could not repair（修理）it. He was near his home, and so he went along the road without a light. When a policeman saw this, he stopped the old man.

"Where is your light?" asked the policeman. "No man may take a cart along the road at night without a light. You know that. You have broken the law." "I had a light, but it has just gone out," said the old man.

"I don't believe that story. What's your name and where do you live?" asked the policeman.

"Please don't write down my name," said the old man. "My home is just there. You can see it from here. I had a light nearly the whole way. "

"You came all the way without a light. What's your name?"

The old man quickly took the policeman's hand and put it down on the top of the light. The light was still hot and burned the policeman's hand. The policeman jumped and he was very angry.

"Now, what do you think?" said the old man. "Did I come all the way without a light?"

When I was a junior high school student years ago, God gave me a gift, and it was happiness.

One weekend, I went to visit my grandparents in the countryside. On my way home a car ran over me and cut off my arms because it rushed so fast. Several days later when I woke up at the hospital, I realized I had to spend the rest of my life without arms. How sad I felt at that lime! Even I was full of fears, but slowly I knew I had to face the fact and get over it. I couldn't get my arms back even though I cried every day.

However, it's easier saying than doing. It took me nearly half a year to get out of the sadness completely. I got so much from my past story.

From then on, I could treat my life with a normal mind. But in our daily life, I often see my classmates get worried about little things: They get a bad grade on a test; their bus comes late; they don't have a mobile phone, but others have, and so on. But I only enjoy life. I was lucky to realize from an accident. It is not a good idea to keep thinking about what you don't have. We should always think of what we have. So why are so many people unhappy? Someone may say, "My whole life would improve if I have a new car." But when you get the new car and what happens? For a whole week you are walking on air. Then you go right back to being unhappy.

Happiness depends on what we have. It's in our heart. It's a state of mind. Even though you own the whole world, you may still feel unhappy. Happiness comes from mastering the art of appreciating（感激）and taking pleasure in what you really have.

Many expressions that we use in English come from novels. Today we will look at some of them from Lewis Carroll's famous novel "Alice in Wonderland" in detail.

The story is about a young girl falling down a rabbit hole. When she finally lands. she finds herself in a strange world and meets some strange characters（人物）.

The first character Alice meets is the White Rabbit, who runs past her and says some strange words. Alice chases（追赶）him, and that is where her adventures begin.

In English, chasing a white rabbit means chasing an impossible clue and finding yourself in a wrong situation.

Then, as she runs after the rabbit, she falls down the rabbit hole into Wonderland.

To fall down the rabbit hole can mean to go into a confusing（令人困惑的）situation. However, usually we use this expression to mean we get interested in something to the point of distraction（分神）.

It often happens by accident and is about something not that meaningful.

Later in the story, Alice meets the March Hare and the Hatter at a crazy tea party. Hares（野兔）are thought to act excitedly in March, which is their mating（交配）season. Scientifically, this may not be true. But to be mad as a March Hare means that someone is completely mad, or crazy. The expression mad as a Hatter also means to be completely crazy. Of the two, mad as a Hatter is more common. But don't tell the March Hare. Who knows how he will react（反应）!

Near the end of the story, Alice meets the Queen of Hearts. A woman who is called a Queen of Hearts likes controlling others and always tries to control everything and everyone around her.

I didn't get on well with my parents. I hardly talked to my parents because they liked to compare memy elder sister. And that made me unhappy and sad. However, I wanted to show them that I could do things as well as my sister. Then I began to spend most of my free timein my bedroom. My art teacher, Miss Green, offered to help me a lot. She taught me some drawing. She was the only person I would like to talk with.

One day, I told Miss Green about my problem. She pushed me to take part in painting competition. In her opinion, theway to communicate with my parents was to prove（证明）myself to them. I took her advice.

After a few weeks' waiting, the result finally came out. I got theprize! When I took the prize home, my parents were very surprised and happy! Now, relations between my parents and me have become very good. And I think it's very important to have someone to talk to.

First aid is the first steps you can take when someone is injured（受伤）like keeping safe, helping someone feel better and staying calm. Getting help, either by telling an adult or calling 120 is also a part of it. Sept 9 is World First Aid Day. It's time for us to learn about this useful life skill.