The USA is the fourth largest country in the world in size after Russia, Canada and China. The population(人口) of the USA is the third largest in the world.

   The Mississippi River is the longest river in America. It's over 6,000 kilometers long. The Mississippi River has been called the "Father of Waters" or "Old Man River". The most important lakes in the United States are the Great Lakes. They are Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. All of them are between Canada and the United States except(除了) Lake Michigan.

   Let us talk about American education(教育). There are two kinds of schools in the United States: public schools and private schools. Most children go to public schools. Their parents do not have to pay for their education. If a child goes to a private school, his parents have to pay for their schooling. Children start school when they are five years old. Most students are eighteen years old when they leave secondary(中级) schools.

    A young lady was driving alone through the street. It was dark and rainy. Suddenly she saw an old woman by the side of the road, holding up her hands as if she wanted a lift(搭便车). “I can't leave her out in this weather,” the young lady said to herself. She stopped her car and opened the door.

    “Do you want a lift?” she asked. The old woman nodded and got on the car. After a while, she said to the old woman, “Have you been waiting for a long time?” The old woman shook her head, “Strange” the young lady thought. She tried again, “Bad weather, isn't it?” The old woman nodded.

    Then the young lady noticed the old woman's hands, which were large and hairy. Suddenly she realized the woman was a man! She was frightened at first. Then she stopped the car. “I couldn't see out of the rear screen(后挡风玻璃),”she said, “Would you mind cleaning it for me?”

    “The old woman” nodded and opened the door. As soon as “she”got out of the car, the frightened young lady drove off as fast as she could.

    When she got home, she noticed “the old woman” had left her handbag behind, she picked it up and opened it. Inside there was a gun.

    A son took his old father to a restaurant for an evening dinner. His father was very old and weak. So while his father was eating, he always dropped(落下) food on his clothes. Many people in the restaurant watched him in disgust(厌恶地), but his son kept quiet.

    After he finished eating, his son quietly took him to the washroom, washing the food and the other dirty things carefully. When they came out, the whole restaurant was watching them in silence.  The son paid the waiter for their food and started walking out with his father.

    At that time, an old man in the restaurant called out to the son and asked him, "Don't you think you have left something behind？"

    "No sir, I haven't," the son replied.

    "Yes, you have! You left a lesson for every son and hope for every father," the old man said.

    The restaurant went silent. No one said anything.

    Mr. Black was walking in the forest. He was scared when he heard a terrible noise. But he could not get out of the forest. His friends were waiting for him in a village outside the forest. They would give him a lot of money if he took a tiger to them, or they were going to laugh at him.  

    Mr. Black liked hunting（打猎）. He usually killed some birds and small animals. But a week before, after he drank too much, he called himself a brave hunter（勇敢的猎人）. So his friends bet（打赌）him twenty thousand dollars if he could kill a tiger.

    Suddenly, he heard a little noise. He ran to a big tree, and climbed up it quickly. He didn't come down until he saw it was a farmer. He went close to him and asked," Excuse me, sir. Are there any tigers in the forest?"

    "Yes," said the farmer. "I saw a lot of tigers' tracks about a kilometer north near here."

    "Good!" Mr. Black said in a hurry. "Which way is to the south, then?"

    Long long ago, there was a beautiful little girl. She was alone because she had no family and no home. She only had her clothes and some bread. But she was very kind.

    A man asked her if she had something to eat. She gave him her bread. A child cried and told her that his head was very cold. So she gave him her hat. Then, she met a child with no coat. She gave him her coat.

    One day, in the cold dark forest, she met another child who asked for her dress. The little girl thought that it was dark and nobody could see her, so she gave her dress away. At last, she had almost nothing: no family, no where to live, nothing to eat and little to wear.

    Suddenly, stars fell from the sky. These stars became pieces of money and a beautiful dress.

    The little girl was rich for the rest of her life and she still helped the people in need with her money.