A couple had two little boys, ages 8 and 10, who were very naughty. They were always getting into trouble and their parents knew that, if any mischief(恶作剧) happened in their town, their sons were probably considered.

    The boys' mother heard that a clergyman(牧师) in town had been successful in dealing with naughty children, so she asked if he would speak with her boys. The clergyman agreed, but wanted to see them separately. So the mother sent her 8-year-old first in the morning, with the elder boy to see the clergyman in the afternoon.

    The clergyman, a huge man, sat the younger boy down and asked him seriously, “Where is God?”

    The boy's mouth dropped open, but he made no reply, sitting there with his mouth hanging open, wide-eyed. So the clergyman repeated the question in an even more serious voice. “Where's God!!?” again the boy made no try to answer. So the clergyman raised his voice even louder and shook his finger in the boy's face and shouted, “WHERE IS GOD?”

    The boy screamed and ran away from the room, ran directly home and hid himself in the cupboard, closing the door heavily. When his elder brother found him in the cupboard, he asked, “What happened?”

    The younger brother replied in a nervous voice, “We are in big trouble this time. God is missing—and they think WE did it!”

    I was 12 when I came to Maywood School three years ago. Like most schools in the US, classes here began at 8:00 am. However, the head teacher, Mr Bergman, found there was a problem — so many students were either missing (错过) the first class or arriving late. My classmates and I often found it hard to keep our eyes open in the mornings, so lessons were no fun for us. Our marks weren't good either.

    In the end, Mr Bergman asked the school doctor for advice. The doctor said that because children's bodies are growing so quickly, they need more sleep than adults (成人). But their body clocks make it hard for them to go to bed before 11:00 pm, so the best time for them to get up is around 8:00 am.

    Mr Bergman decided to do an experiment (实验). He changed the start time for classes to 9:00 am. The school still opened at 8:00 am and teachers used the extra (额外的) hour to prepare lessons.

    I didn't think the new timetable (时间表) would make much difference, but I was wrong. I felt much better! Everyone's grades improved. Also, more students had time for a hot breakfast together in the dining hall. We all felt healthier and happier.

    After three months, Mr Bergman asked teachers, students and parents if they wanted to keep the new timetable. Everyone did.

    Ryan's life was nearly perfect. He had lots of friends on his block. They walked to school together every day, and after school they always had time to play.

    Ryan did have one problem. It was his two-year-old sister, Allie. She was too small to play ball games. She couldn't climb trees yet.  Ryan and his friends didn't want her around.

    Ryan tried asking his mum to keep Allie at home. "Why does my sister have to come along?" he asked. "Troy's sister doesn't. Jimmy's sister doesn't. Why me?"

    Ryan's mother just laughed, "Troy's sister is only six months old, and Jimmy doesn't have a sister. Allie is nice, isn't she?"

    Today, Ryan was going to play baseball with his friends after school. Allie followed him as usual. The boys used to play football, but one of them broke a window at Mr Mcwhirter's house. Mr Mcwhirter wouldn't give them their ball back.

    The game got started. Allie sat on a stone nearby. Minutes later it was Jimmy's turn to hit the ball. Unluckily, it fell right into Mr Mcwhirter's yard.

    The boys ran over to Mr Mcwhirter's fence (栅栏). The ball was just out of reach.

    "None of us can fit through the fence." Jimmy said.

    The boys looked glum.

    Suddenly, Jimmy got an idea. "Allie, come over!" he called. "Would you like to get that ball for us?"

    Allie looked at the boys. Then she slipped through the fence, picked up the ball and came back out of the yard.

    "Wow," said Troy. "So quick! Thanks, Allie."

    "Nice job," said Jimmy.

    "Come on," said Ryan, suddenly proud of his kid sister. "I'll teach you how to swing the bat."

    Some boys like wearing the same kinds of clothes as girls, and some of them have long hair. So sometimes it's difficult to tell whether（是否）they are boys or girls. Today is Sunday. I have a walk with my grandmother in the park. My grandmother is 80 years old and she can't see well. After some time, my grandmother is tired（疲倦的）, so she sits down on a chair. There is another person sitting on the chair, too.

    "Hello," my grandmother says to the person with long hair next to her. "Can you see the person with long hair under the big tree? Is it a boy or a girl? "

    "Which（哪一个） one?" asks the person.

    "The one eating under the big tree," says my grandmother.

    "The boy?" says the person. "He's my brother Mark."

    "Oh," says my grandmother, "I don't know you are his sister."

    "No, I'm not his sister. I'm his brother."