In Paris, one freezing winter evening, I was having dinner with my friend, Mr. Dupin, the famous detective. We had just finished our meal, when there was a loud knocking at the door. Dupin opened it. There stood Mr. Germain, the chief警长）of the Paris Police.

      We welcomed him warmly, for he was an old acquaintance（熟人）whom we hadn't seen for a great time.

      "I need your assistance," said Germain. "I met a case（案件）that has been giving me a great deal of trouble. It is very simple but very strange."

      “Also, please keep this secret. If anyone found out that I told you this. I would certainly lose my job.”

      “Well, then,” said the Chief,” I have learned that a very important letter has been stolen from the king. We are sure who stole it and that the letter is in his house."

      "But who would dare do such a thing" I cried.

      "The thief," said Germain softly, "He's a man who darers do many dangerous things. He is one of the most powerful and important ministers in the government. He is Minister Danton.”

      "A lot of times, while Minister Danton was out, a lot of well-trained police officers carefully searched the entire house, room by room. In fact, we examined everything in the house but found nothing."…

       A month later, Dupin asked Germain and me to his house. There he took out a letter and handed it to the Chief. We were both very surprised.

      Dupin explained, "I know Minister Danton very well. He could not hide the letter in any of the usual hiding places. I realized that he might have left the letter out in the open, right under everyone's nose, where no one would search for it."

      "Then I visited him with my dark glasses on to help me observe（观察）better. While we were chatting, a dirty, torn letter in the letter holder suddenly caught my eyes-unusual for the Minister, who is careful and neat."

      "I was sure it was the letter."

      "Then I purposely left my gloves behind so I could come back again."

"The next morning, I hired a man to fire a gun on the street, while the Minister went to see what happened, I stole the letter by replacing it with a similar one, On it Dupin wrote these words:

             Your plan was good, but mine was better

             As you can see, I took the letter.

—-Based on a story by Edgar Allan Poe

      At the age of nineteen, Xiliu married Gao Sheng, who had just lost his wife and had a son named Changfu. A year later Xiliu gave birth to a boy Changhu. Before long, Gao Sheng died of illness.

Seeing Changfu didn't often go to school, Xiliu sent him to work with the poor boys as punishment. Changfu could not stand and wanted to return to school. Xiliu refused, and Changfu, like a beggar (乞丐)， huddled(蜷缩) himself up with cold. Xiliu said to Changfu, "If you are ready to take a beating of 100 strokes, I'll take you back." Changfu decided that he would take the beating. Aware of Changfu's regrets for his mistakes, Xiliu did not beat him and asked him to continue his studies.

      Changhu was a slow-minded child, so Xiliu asked him to quit school and work in the fields.

      But Changhu was so lazy that he often ran away from work. Xiliu then asked him to do business, but he used up all his money in gambling(赌博)． At last, Xiliu sent him to Luoyang to sell goods, where he was put into prison for using fake (假的) silver. In prison he suffered a lot. Xiliu told Changfu, "I gave the fake silver to your brother on purpose, intending to make him suffer. Now you go and get him out." Back home, Changhu knelt before his mother and finally gave up bad and returned to good.

    Running a marathon (马拉松) is difficult enough. Doing it with eyes closed for 26.2 miles is more difficult. But that's exactly what Mike Bruno plans to do during the Pittsburgh marathon.

    He's doing this for his 7-year-old daughter, Cassie, who doesn't like to communicate with others and has been blind since birth. “Having a blind daughter clearly has caused me a lot of trouble,” Bruno said. “ But it doesn't matter. I love my daughter. I hope to get a better understanding of how she deals with her daily life. I hope this journey will finally make me a better father to guide Cassie through her life.”

    “When the doctor told us 'Your baby is not going to see', that was the most terrible experience we had ever had,” said Bruno.

    “Sometimes I walk around the house with my eyes closed to see what it's like for her,” said Cassie's older sister, Carly, 9 years old. “It's kind of scary. You don't know where everything is.”

    But Cassie has fought against difficulties, and her father plans to do the same. “I closed my eyes, and I got ready, and then I tried running, just to see what it is like for her,” said Mike Bruno. “I want everyone to know it's OK. It's OK to ask us questions, but it's not OK to look at us and point to us with surprise. If you'd like to ask us, we will be happy to tell you our story. ”

    It's the Chinese New Year today. Sam gets a red packet from his grandma. That's his favourite part of the festival. He gets four dollars and goes shopping in Chinatown.

    There are a lot of interesting things on the streets — fireworks, lion dances and delicious foods. Then Sam sees an old man. The man sleeps in the street. He doesn't wear shoes. “He doesn't have a home. What a poor man!” Sam thinks.

    At a toy shop, Sam wants to buy a toy Monkey King. But it's six dollars. Sam wants to go back home and get more money. On the way, he sees the old man again. “Why not give the four dollars to him? He can use the lucky money to buy some hot food and drinks,” Sam thinks.

    He gives the money to the old man and goes back home. His grandma knows his story and gives him a big hug (拥抱). What a good boy!

    Chinese people believe that a full moon stands for family reunions (团聚). So on the Mid-Autumn Festival, people look at the Moon and feel happy about a united family.

    But do you know there are many interesting stories about the Moon?

    In China, Chang'e flying to the Moon is a famous legend. Houyi and Chang'e were husband and wife. One day, Houyi got a magic pill. Being curious, Chang'e took the pill herself. Her body became light and she flew to the Moon. She had to stay there forever.

    In Greek legend, Artemis is the goddess of the Moon. She takes care of the hunt and animals. In India, the god of the Moon is Soma. Soma has four hands. If a baby is born on a full moon day, Indian people believe he or she is lucky.