Do you have to be very smart to live a happy life? The character of McDull (麦兜) tells you that this is not true. He is famous for having a birthmark on his right eye. He is not very clever, but he has a heart of gold. He is also happy, with lots of dreams. McDull wanted to visit the Maldives (马尔代夫). But his mother didn't have enough money for a trip there. So she lied to him and took him to a place called Hong Kong. The place has a sign that says, “Go to the Maldives.” It made McDull very happy. He thought he was really excited in the Maldives!

    McDull is just a common pig. He has many dreams, but they never come true. That doesn't stop him trying. McDull lives his life in a simple and happy way. His idea towards life is “Never give up”.

    The cartoon pig character was created in Hong Kong by Alice Mark and Brian Tse. McDull first showed up as a character in the McMug comics. McMug is another cartoon pig. But McDull is more popular with a huge number of fans everywhere!

    She used to sleep on the sidewalk of the Fifth Street Post Office. I could smell her before I came close. She wore dirty clothes and her mouth was nearly toothless. I hardly saw her talk with others. If she was not asleep, she talked to herself. I always had sympathy for her. What a poor old lady! She must be desperate (感到绝望的)and hungry.

    One Thanksgiving, we had lots of food left over. I thought about the old lady. She might be still hungry. So I packed the food up and drove over to the Fifth Street.

    It was a cold night. There was hardly anyone out. But I knew she would stay at the same place and I would find her easily.

    There she was, squatted against a fence near the post office. She was dressed as she always was.

    I drove my car over to her, rolled down the window and said, "I've brought you some food. Would you like some turkey and apple pie？"

    However, the old woman didn't seem to be very excited about this. She looked at me and said quite clearly, "Oh, thank you very much, but someone has given me food earlier and I'm quite full now. Why don't you take it to someone else who needs it？"

    Her words were clear and her manners were gracious. Soon her head sank into her arms again. I was the only person who didn't know what to say. An old lady who was clearly down on her luck still thought about others. Why don't more of us do that？

When I was eight years old，my family moved from Edinburgh to London because my father started a new job here. The new place was far away from my grandmother，so we sometimes spent a couple of hours driving to Edinburgh to visit her when we missed her terribly. Her house was hundreds of miles away but the trip was never boring. 

Grandma never had much. She didn't have expensive things，or live in a nice house. But I could feel with my heart that she loved us deeply，especially when my world was turned upside down two years later. Grandma knew that my mother and father divorced and I lived with my father. I would actually like to live with my mother. 

I still remember those little things. Grandma allowed me to sit on the top of her kitchen table，getting me to dip（蘸）my fingers in the sugar bowl or drink from her coffee cup. Grandma had a beautiful bottle high on a shelf. One day after her death，I received a box. To my surprise，I found the bottle inside. She remembered once I had asked her for it. 

Grandma saved her pennies in a glass jar（罐）. She could have used those pennies herself but she kept them for my brother Tommie and me. And I was always excited to divide the pennies between my brother and me. "One for you，one for me. " I would repeat until the jar was empty. I don't remember how much we got on our visits，but I know that's how she loved us and cared about us when we were far away from her. So if I am lucky enough to find a penny lying on the ground one day. I am sure it is just the one from Grandma in heaven（天堂）. 

Those childhood memories have never gone away from me. Instead，they still give me great feelings through the years. A Grandma's love stays with a grandchild as long as he needs it. You know，love is just like that. 

At the corner of Jan Smuts Street in Durban, six women meet every day, waiting for a truck to come and get the cardboard (纸板) they have collected.

Every morning Chitha leaves her house at 5 a. m. to collect cardboard. She has been doing this for the past 12 years. She says her dream is to see her children go to college. Then she found this job.

" It's dirty and people look down on us. We only make about R3, 400 a month. However, this is a ticket for us to send our children to college." Chitha said with a big smile. She added that she found great joy knowing her daughter is in college.

" We have a slogan(口号) —— Keep on going and never give up." Chitha continued." We don't just sit here waiting for the truck to come. We also talk about life, give advice about problems and help each other. We are a family here."

" We are all single mothers and have to make money to raise our children. I'm collecting this dirty cardboard for my three children to have a brighter future. I will continue until the last one also goes to college."

Chitha's daughter Naledi is now in her second year at a college. She said with tears in her eyes," Mom is doing all she can to survive (生存). I admire her for that."

Good morning! My name is Alice, and I'm 15 years old. I live in a town near London, the capital of England. As we all know, the 1 here is quite wet. It usually rains, so many people always carry 2 with them when they go out. In my town, there are several beautiful 3 . My friends and I often go swimming there. Sometimes we enjoy camping by the river, and it's a great way for us to relax and 4 together. 

There are many places to visit in my home town, so I 5 feel bored. As a music lover, I often go to concerts in my 6 time. Next to my home is a 7 . Sometimes I go to see movies with  8 friends at weekends. There is also a bus stop near my home,9 I can go to school easily by bus. I also like going shopping 10 my mother. There are many kinds of shops in Sunshine Street. We often spend a whole day 11 there. There are also a lot of restaurants in the street, so we never worry about getting 12 . 

Living in the town near a big city also has a few disadvantages (缺点). There is always a lot of 13 and it has caused noise and air pollution (导致噪音和空气污染). Now the government and local people are trying their best to  14 the problems. 

Anyway, I 15 my home town very much. And I'm looking forward to your visit.