When I was about twelve years old, a girl in my class liked to point out my shortcomings(缺点). She said I was very thin; I wasn't good at math; I talked too much; I was too proud, and so on. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.  He listened to me quietly, and asked, "Are those things true or not? Jane, didn't you ever think about what you're really like?" Then he added, "Well, you have that girl's opinions.  Make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true."

    I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I found out that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn't change, like being very thin, but many I could and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I got a clear picture of myself.

    I brought the list back to Daddy, and he said, "Now you know better about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just close your ears angrily and feel hurt. When something said about you is true, you'll find it will be of great help to you. Don't shut your ears. Listen to the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do. "

    Daddy's advice has returned to me at many important moments. In my life, I've never had a better piece of advice.

    Look at the picture. Who is the girl? She is my friend. Her name is Alice Black. She is an English girl.

    Alice has a big family. Her grandparents have two daughters and one son — her father. Alice lives with her grandparents, parents, two brothers and one sister. Alice has two dogs — Bobby and Tony. Bobby is black and Tony is white. Alice likes them very much. Alice is a middle school student. She has a good friend at school. Her name is Helen. They are cousins, too.

    Want to say "hello" from Disneyland? Send a post card!

    Beautiful scenes（戏剧）of paradise (乐园),wild animals, silly pictures — you can find them all in one place. Where? On a post card! Have people always sent post cards? No. Before post cards, people liked sealed letters.

    The idea for the first decorated (装饰) post card came to John P. Charlton in 1861. He thought a simple card with decorations would be a great way to send a note. Then in the late 1800s, post cards with pictures appeared. By law, people had to write their note on the front ——on the picture! The back was only for the address. Several years later, England allowed a divided-back post card. Then people could write their note on the back left side and put the address on the right. During the early 1900s, the golden age of post cards, picture post cards became a craze of the world. In 1908, Americans alone mailed over 677 million post cards. Today, post cards are the third most popular collection in the world after stamps and coins.

    Issumboshi was a one-inch boy, and he was so small that he could not do any useful work on the family farm. His grandfather became tired of feeding such a useless man and sent him away to the city.

    “Learn to become a warrior(武士),”he told his grandson.“Then perhaps you will grow into a man of normal height.”

    To help the little man on his way, his grandfather gave him a cup to use as a boat on the river, his mother gave him two long grains of rice to use as oars and his father gave him a pin to use as a sword.

    Issumboshi's journey was long and dangerous. However, because he was so brave and clever, he at last reached the city safely.

    To his surprise, the streets were empty. The people of the city were hiding in their houses from a powerful giant.

    Immediately, brave Issumboshi went out to meet the giant. The giant tried to pick him up and eat him, but Issumboshi was so small and quick that the giant could not get hold of him.

    Issumboshi struck again and again at the giant with his sword. Before long, the giant fell to the ground and died from a thousand wounds.

    “Oh, what a great warrior he is!”the people of the city shouted as they came out of their houses.“What a great hero this young man is!”Hearing this, Issumboshi felt so proud that he stood up straight. He told himself, “I am already taller than I was. How wise my grandfather was to send me to the city!

    We never forget when Perronet came to us. It was on a spring afternoon. We never knew who drowned Perronet, but David pulled him out of the water and saved his life, People sometimes asked us what kind of dog he was, but we never knew, except that he was the nicest possible kind. Mother said we could not afford him because of the tax(税) and his keep. The tax was five shillings(先令), but it was nearly a year before the time when it must be paid. At last, we decided that all three of us would give up sugar toward saving the cost of his keep. It was the hardest for David because he was fond of sweet things, but then, he was fond of Perronet. So we all gave up sugar, and Perronet was allowed to remain.

    We were very happy that summer. The boys were especially happy. The only thing that vexed me was Perronet's tax money, for months and months went on and we didn't save it. One day, I found David alone with Perronet in his arms. He was crying, and feeding Perronet with cake. I can't bear to see boys cry. I begged of David to stop, and told him I should certainly think of something.

    One day, we were all in school. The schoolmaster told us that there was to be a flower show for the school children this year, and that an old gentleman would give prizes to the best arranged wild flowers. There was to be a first prize of five shillings, and a second prize of a half crown, for the best collection of wild flowers, with their names upon them. I squeezed(挤) David's arm, and whispered, "Five shillings!"

    I thought I could never get my lessons that day, for all day I was thinking about Perronet's tax money. At night, I said to them, "Look here! I'll make a collection of flowers. You two can make a collection of mosses(苔藓). There are ten kinds of mosses by the river, and we have names of our own for them." The boys agreed. Richard made me a box. We put wet sand at the bottom, then feather moss, and into that I stuck the flowers. I got all the flowers and all the grasses ready and printed the names on pieces of cardboard, to stick in with them. I didn't like it when it was done, but Richard praised it and that cheered me. I thought their mosses were beautiful.

    The day of the flower show was very hot. When we reached the tent, it was filled with grown-up people. It was very hard work getting about and trying to see the stands with flowers. We kept seeing tickets with "First Prize" and "Second Prize". It made me feel sick with heat and anxiety, to think of them. We had walked slowly all round the tent. We had seen all the cucumbers, onions, lettuce, grapes, long potatoes, round potatoes and everything else. At last we saw my collection! It had a label on it, marked "First Prize", and next to it came the boy's moss, marked "Second Prize". We cried "Perronet is paid for!"

    Abby's father was taking her to visit her grandmother. Abby was going to be away for three months. "I can't leave Tobias behind," she said. "You will have to," said her father. "You can't take Tobias into another country."

    Abby thought it was silly rule. "I will take him," she said to herself. So she put him in a sock and packed it in her bag.

    At the airport, Abby put her bag by the x-ray machine. Abby felt her legs shaking as the bag was going through the machine. She hoped Tobias in the bag made no noise. The woman by the machine smiled and said, "Have a good flight."

    On the plane, Abby waited until her dad and the woman next to her fell asleep. Then she opened the sock to look at Tobias. But he jumped out of the sock and landed on the woman's knee. The woman cried loudly, "A mouse!" Abby quickly put Tobias into the sock and back into her bag.

    Before they landed, Dad filled out a form, choosing no to: Are you bringing any live animals into the country?

    She saw the man frown (皱眉) as her bag went through the x-ray machine. She watched when he opened the bag and pulled out the sock.

"Come with me, please."

    Abby followed her dad into a small room. There was a police officer and Tobias in the sock was on the desk. The police officer talked to Abby's dad, "You have tried to smuggle (走私) an animal into this country." Abby felt fear came all over her body. "It's my fault (过错)," she said in a small voice. "I didn't want to leave him behind." "Have you ever been in trouble before?" the officer asked as he wrote "animal smuggler" next to her name. Abby opened her mouth but no sound came out.

    Tobias had to be in quarantine (隔离) for six months, which cost a lot of money. And Abby wouldn't be able to visit her grandmother again. Now, she learned there was a good reason for rules.