Mr and Mrs Albina, with 64 children, have the world's largest family. Not one of their children is adopted（领养）.
When people hear about the Albinas' large family, the first question they ask is, "How is it possible? How can one woman give birth to 64 children in her lifetime?" The answer is simple: Every time Mrs Albina gave birth, she had twins or triplets.
Soon after the Albinas got married the children came quickly, in twos and threes. The first 21 children were boys. Mrs Albina loved her sons, but she wanted a daughter very much.
The Albinas spent the early years in Argentina. Then they decided to move to Chile. To travel from Argentina to Chile, they had to cross the Andes Mountains. Mr and Mrs Albina and their 21 sons made the difficult, two-week joumey on mules. One night there was a terrible snowstorm in the mountains. During the snowstorm, Mrs Albina gave birth to triplets, a boy and-two girls!
The oldest Albina children are in their thirties and forties. They are on their own now, but 18 of the Albina children still live with their parents The family lives in a two-room shack in Colina Chile. The shack has electricity but no toilet or running water. The children wash in a small bowl in the dusty backyard.
At times there is very little food in the Albinas' small house. When there is not enough food for everyone, Mrs Albina makes sure the youngest children do not go hungry. "The smallest eat first, and then the bigger ones. We've always done it that way," she says. Obviously, the Albinas do not have enough money for their big family. Why, then, do they continue to have children?
The Albinas do not use birth control because it is against their religion (宗教）.They could let other people take care of their children, but Mrs. Albina will not allow it. "When my two brothers and I were babies," she says，"our mother left us at an orphanage（孤儿院）and never returned. We lived there together until we were five. Then a couple adopted my brothers, and I was left behind. I was heartbroken. I promised myself that when I became a mother, I would never give my children away. Even if I didn't have much money, I would always take care of my children myself." Mrs Albina has kept her promise.

    It is over a year now since Cathy came to China. She is now living in Nanjing and has worked in a computer factory for six months. The factory is in the north of the city, and her flat is in the south. But, she has never been late for work.

    Cathy is very popular in the factory. She is kind to everybody and gets on well with the Chinese workers. After work, in the evenings they visit each other and talk about almost everything.

    However, Cathy has made up her mind to leave the factory. She is going to find a job in a travel agency(旅行社). “If I work in a travel agency, I'll be able to meet more people. I can learn more about China，” she told her friends.

    One day last week she had a talk with the manager of the travel agency .He seemed pleased with her Chinese. At the end of the talk, he said, “I'll give you a ring in a week and tell you the result.” Now Cathy is waiting for the answer.

    Do you think there is a ghost in the world? More than 20 years ago, a student jumped from the top of the clock tower in the University of Birmingham. He did this only because he failed his final exam.

    After his death, a superstition（迷信） began: Anyone who walks under the clock tower will have bad luck in his exam. Years later, students there still remembered the story of the tower. Although Birmingham is the second largest city in Britain, the university is green and quiet. The grass around the tower has been worn away by the feet of students who refuse to pass underneath the tower.

    The university had to pave（铺） extra paths, so students could walk to their classrooms without passing under the most terrible area. But, one day just before an important exam, a top student in the university walked under the clock tower because he was lost in thought. However, he got high marks in the exam the next day. Quickly students all knew about it. Then they realized that the most important thing is working hard.

    Whenever I go under the clock tower, I will tell myself, "Working hard is the key to success."

    Once upon a time in Greece, there lived a young man called Narcissus. He lived in a small village and was famous on land because he was quite handsome. Villagers would turn up in the street to stare at the beautiful child.

    When he grew up, people always said, "How handsome Narcissus is!”Villagers thought that Narcissus could not be more handsome than he already was. But as years passed, Narcissus became a teenager. His beauty increased and became so great that he was known all over the country.

    As he grew, Narcissus was very proud of his good-looking face.

    "Oh! You are so handsome, Narcissus!" Narcissus said one day as he looked into a pool. "There's nobody more handsome in the whole world! I'd love to kiss you. And that's just what I'll do!”

    He leaned closer to the water. Suddenly he lost his balance and fell into the pool.

    Narcissus tried to reach the bank of the pool, but he could not swim and he drowned.