Grandmother's Favourite Doll (玩具娃娃)

 A little girl had a doll. She loved it so much that she would treat it with great care, even though her friends would laugh at her for being so careful.

 As time passed, the girl grew up, moved houses, became an adult, married, had children, and finally became a lovely little old woman with many grandchildren.

 One day, she returned to her hometown, found her original house, and went in. Among hundreds of old things, the now-old little girl found her doll. It was as well looked after as before. She took it home with her and gave it to her granddaughter. Her granddaughter loved it.

 Each time the old woman saw her granddaughter playing with the doll, tears (眼泪) of joy would roll down her cheeks (脸颊). She was so glad to see now it was in the hands of her granddaughter.

  Yesterday Peter felt very sorry because he forgot (忘记) to say “Happy Birthday” to his uncle . So he wrote a letter to his uncle : “My dear uncle, I'm very sorry because I forgot your birthday. But to teach me a lesson, you'd better (最好) forget my birthday on Tuesday, tomorrow.”

    Mike found a job in a bookstore after he finished middle school. He wouldn't do anything but wanted to get rich.   It was a cold morning. It snowed and there was thin ice on the streets. Few people went to buy books and the young man had nothing to do. He hated to read, so he watched the traffic. Suddenly he saw a bag fall off a truck and it landed by the other side of the street.

    “It is full of expensive things.” Mike said to himself. “I have to get it right now, or others will take it away.”He went out of the bookstore and ran across the street. A driver saw him and began to whistle (鸣笛), but he didn't hear it and went on running. The man drove to the side, hit a big tree and hurt himself in the accident. Two weeks later, Mike was taken to the court (法庭). A judge asked if he heard the whistle when he was running across the street. He said that something was wrong with his ears and he could hear nothing.“But you heard me this time,” said the judge.“Oh, I'm sorry. Now I can hear with one ear.”“Cover (盖住) the ear with your hand and listen to me with your deaf (聋的) one. Well, can you hear me?”“No, I can't , sir.”“You told a lie. There is nothing wrong with either of your ears,” the judge said.

    In 1933 an unknown American called Clarence Nash went to see the filmmaker Walt Disney. He had an unusual voice and he wanted to work on Disney's cartoon (动画片) film for children. When Walt Disney heard Nash's voice, he said “Stop! That's our duck!”

    The duck was the now famous Donald Duck, who first appeared in 1934 in the film The Wise Little Hen. Donald lived in an old houseboat (水上住家) and wore his sailor jacket and hat. Later that year, he became a star after an eight­-minute Mickey Mouse film. The cinema audience liked him because he was lazy and greedy (贪婪的), and because he lost his temper (发脾气) very quickly. And they loved his voice when he became angry with Mickey's eight nephews (侄子). Soon Donald was more popular than Mickey Mouse himself, probably because he wasn't a goody-­goody like Mickey.

    In the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, Donald and his friends Mickey, Goofy and Pluto made hundreds of Disney cartoons. He also made educational films about the place of the USA in the world, and safety in the home. Then in 1966, Donald Duck and his voice disappeared — there were no more new cartoons.

    Clarence Nash died in February, 1985.But today's children can still see the old cartoons on television and hear that famous voice.

    I used to think courtesy (礼貌) was a thing of the past. However, I changed my mind when I met a courteous man.

    Last Saturday, I went to a cafe with my daughters. It was crowded with the usual loud crowd and we had to climb up the stairs to find an empty table. After enjoying coffee and snacks, we were ready to come down the stairs, where the narrow space made climbing down only possible in a single line, with hardly any space for another person to either climb up or come down.

    Just as I was in the middle of my descent (下去), a man got to the main entrance (入口) of the cafe which was right in front of the staircase. I was sure I would be pushed by the man who would want to go up in a hurry. Anyway, I kept coming down as fast as I could. My daughters were already down, looking up at me worriedly, hoping I would get down before the stranger went up the stairs.

    Nearly getting down, I noticed the man still standing near the door. Later, I passed him at the entrance door which he kept holding open. I looked back thinking he was still at the door, deciding whether to go in or find another less crowded place. However, I saw him going up the stairs, two at a time.

    I told my daughters about it and all of us felt bad for we did not even thank the courteous gentleman.

  The Vietnam(越南) War broke out. The young husband 1the army and died in the war. His wife and son began to have a 2life after that. Even though their life was very hard and sometimes they didn't have enough food to eat, the 3still decided to raise her son by herself.

  Several years later her son immigrated(移民) to America 4finally become an engineer. He often sent letters to his mother with much money. However, with many excuses, the son 5to come back home to visit his mother.

  6his mother died, the son returned. But he didn't cry. His mother left a box behind. During the funeral(葬礼), the son opened the box and 7cried and shouted, "Mom! Mom!"8looked at each other and then looked at the box. It was full of $ 100 bill and a piece of paper.

  It read, "Son, I don't spend too much money. I miss you a lot. Every time I heard a motorcycle 9. I ran out of the door but it wasn't you. I stayed money 10you in case (以防) you get sick."