On Thanksgiving Day, about 88 percent Americans will eat turkey. But one lucky turkey not only will not be eaten but also will become famous! Every year, turkey farmers present a turkey to the US president. But instead of eating this turkey, the president gives it a "pardon". The turkey is flown to Florida for a Thanksgiving Parade(游行). Then it lives on a farm for the rest of its life.

    Turkeys come from America and have been part of American culture for centuries. Benjamin Franklin even wanted the turkey to be America's national bird.

    Turkeys that are kept on farms are large, awkward birds that can not fly. But wild turkeys are quite fast. They can fly at speeds up to 88 kilometers per hour. They can also run at 40 kilometers per hour.

    Turkeys don't have ears. They hear by using a growth above their beaks(尖喙). But their hearing is five times better than human hearing.

    Turkeys are such interesting birds—no wonder Benjamin Franklin wanted them to be America's national birds!

    One day, a farmer was walking along a road with his son Thomas. The father said, "Look! There's a horseshoe. Pick it up arid put it in your bag. "Thomas said." It isn't worth(值得) the trouble. "His father said nothing but he picked it up himself. When they got to a nearby town, they had a rest. There the farmer sold the horseshoe and with the few pennies he bought some cherries(樱桃).

    The father and the son continued their way. The sun was well up in the sky, and there wasn't a house or even a tree where they could have a rest. Thomas felt too thirsty(口渴的) to walk on. At the moment, his lather dropped a cherry on the ground and Thomas picked it up quickly and ate it. After a while, his father dropped another cherry and once again, his son picked it up and put it in his mouth.

    And so they went on. The old farmer dropped the cherries and the son picked them up. When Thomas had caught' up all the cherries, his father said to him," My dear son, if you had bent(弯腰) down in the beginning to pick up that horseshoe, you wouldn't have bent so many times for the cherries. Always remember this lesson：If someone don't worry about the little things, he will find it impossible for him to do the great things."

    Last summer I spent some time off with my mother in Beidaihe. We stayed there from July 15th to August 5th. It is really a wonderful place. It is one of the most famous summer resorts（避暑胜地）in China. The buildings there are tidy, with some trees and flowers around therm. It is famous for its beaches, so lots of tourists from all over the world go there every year.

    There are many interesting places, such as the Olympic Park, the Geziwo Park and the Tiger Rock Park. In the Olympic Park. there are some athletes' statucs（运动员的雕像）and champions' fingerprints and footprints. Everything in the park is about Olympics. The Geziwo Park becomes famous because it is one of the best places to watch the sunset（落日）. Thousands of people go to watch the sunset every day. People can also see different kinds of birds.

    We enjoyed ourselves there. We are hoping for the next holiday.

    There are four people in Simon's family. They have different habits.

    ◆ Simon's father is a doctor. He works in a hospital. He likes reading books very much. There are many books in his bedroom. He doesn't like going to the cinema.

    ◆ Simon's mother is a music teacher. She likes listening to music, but she has no time to go to concerts.

    ◆ Simon's brother is seven years old. He likes watching cartoons. He usually watches cartoons when his parents aren't at home.

    ◆ Simon is a middle school student. He likes playing football. He often plays football with his friends after school. He likes playing computer games at home. But he doesn't like watching TV.

    There is a 41-year-old woman from California known as Anna, and she remembers almost every day of her life since(自从)she was eleven. There is an 85-year-old man known as Eddy, and he only knows a little.

Eddy is warm and friendly. He laughs a lot. He looks just like any other grandfather in the world. But 15 years ago  he was sick. Then he only knows the people in the room with him. Every morning, he gets up, has breakfast, and then goes back to bed to listen to the radio. Often he forgets that he has done these things. Sometimes he has breakfast three times in the morning.

    For Anna, the past is always there. She remembers the person giving her a call at 12:34 pm on Sunday, August 3, 1986. She remembers that on March 28, 1992, she had lunch with her father at the Beverly Hills Hotel. She remembers the food and every word of the talk. She remembers the weather.

    Anna said, "I remember the good things and that is nice. But I also remember the bad things. Ten years later, I still get angry with myself for doing something wrong. I would love for just five minutes to be a normal (正常的)person and not have all these things in my head."

    Studies have shown it takes a doctor about 18 seconds to stop a patient after he begins talking.

    It was Sunday. I had one last patient to see. I came close to her room in a hurry and stood at the doorway. She was an older woman, sitting at the edge of the bed, trying to put socks on her swollen feet. I spoke quickly to the nurse, saw her chart saying she was in stable condition. I was almost in the clear.

    She asked if I could help put on her socks. Instead, I began a long speech that went something like this: "How are you feeling? Your blood sugar and blood pressure were high but they're better today. The nurse said you can't wait to see your son who's visiting you today. It's nice to have family visit from far away. I'm sure you really look forward to seeing him."

    She stopped me with a serious voice. "Sit down, doctor. This is my story, not your story."

    I was surprised and ashamed. I sat down. I helped her with the socks. She began to tell me that her only son lived around the corner from her, but she had not seen him in five years. She believed that the pressure of this caused greatly to her health problems. After hearing her story and putting on her socks, I asked if there was anything else I could do for her. She shook her head and smiled. All she wanted me to do was to listen.

    Listening to someone's story costs less than expensive diagnostic testing but is key to healing. I often thought of what that woman taught me—the importance of stopping, sitting down and truly listening. And, not long after, unexpectedly, I became the patient, with a diagnosis of sclerosis at age 31. Now, 20 years later, I sit all the time—in a wheelchair.

    For as long as I could, I continued to see patients from my chair, but I had to give up my job when my hands were influenced. I still teach medical students and other health care professionals, but now from the view of doctor and patient.

    I tell them I believe in the power of listening. I tell them I know firsthand that huge healing takes place within me when someone stops, sits down and listens to my story.