Sally was a student. It was going to be her mother's birthday. She wanted to buy her a gift that would be nice and useful but not expensive.

    A week before her mother's birthday， she went shopping after a quick and simple lunch. When she had been looking for half an hour， she found a shop that was selling cheap umbrellas， and decided to take a black one， since her mother had lost hers the month before.

    She thought， “You could carry that when you are wearing clothes of any color.” So she decided to buy a lovely black umbrella and took it back to school with her until her classes had finished.

    On her way back home in the train that evening， she felt hungry because she had such a small lunch that she went along to the buffet car（餐车） for another sandwich and cup of coffee. She had left the black umbrella above her seat in the compartment（车厢）， but when she got back， it had gone! When she had left the compartment， there had been no other passengers in it， but now there were three.

    Sally began to cry when she saw that the umbrella was no longer there. The other passengers felt very sorry for her and asked what the matter was. She told them that the black umbrella she had bought for her mother was gone， and that she had to get out at the next station. After the three other passengers heard it， they asked her for her mother's address so that they could sent the umbrella to her if someone had taken it by mistake and brought it back after Sally had got out of the train.

    The next week， Sally heard from her mother. It said， “Thank you very much for your lovely gifts， but why did you send me three black umbrellas?”

    The lion says that he is________So he asks all the animals to come and listen to his last wishes.

    The cat comes to the lion's cave(洞穴). He stands there and goes in. Then a sheep goes in. Before she comes out, a rabbit goes in to hear the last wishes of the king of animals.

    But soon the lion looks well again, and goes out of his cave. He sees a fox(狐狸) waiting outside. “Why don't you come in?” asks the lion to the fox.

    “I beg your pardon,” says the fox, “I see many animals go into your cave, but nobody comes out. Before they come out again, I will wait outside.”

    Barbara Finch, from England, started a friendship with Elizabeth Martin from New Zealand when the two were just 14 years old. And they have been penfriends for the past seventy years.

    "Seventy years is a long time and such a lot has happened," says Barbara. "I've lost my husband and my son, and she's lost her husband and her daughter. With things like that, her friendship means a lot to me."

    The two started writing letters to each other in November 1947. At that time, Barbara was a pupil. In her school, there was an exchange teacher from New Zealand. She helped her students to find penfriends from her country. Among the many penfriends, Barbara and Elizabeth were the only pair to form a long-term friendship.

    Now both 84, the pair continue to send weekly emails to tell each other about their daily lives. Barbara, who's a proud great-grandmother, has kept every single letter and card Elizabeth sent her over the years.

    "We email each other now rather than write letters, partly because it's quicker but mostly because there's no cost," Barbara says.

    The pair not only write to each other, but they also meet face to face. They have visited each other 15 times—Barbara flying to New Zealand 10 times and Elizabeth flying to England 5 times.

    "Her family has become a second family to me. She says I am the sister she never had," Barbara says.

    Like many high school graduates, Maggie Doyne didn't go straight to college. She decided to travel and arrived in western Nepal in 2006. A war had just ended there and left many children living on the streets. They were often forced to work at hard physical jobs for little money.

One day, while walking down a country road, Doyne saw a little girl breaking up rocks. She soon learned that 7-year-old Hima sold the rocks to support her family. With deep sadness, she decided to pay Hima's tuition(学费) for school. Encouraged by the changes in the child, Doyne thought, "If we can help one child, why not 10？"

    Doyne felt that the street children's greatest need was a home. She found a piece of land for sale and bought it with $5,000 she saved from years of babysitting (当临时保姆). In 2008 the Kopila Valley Children's Home was set up. With the help from the community, another goal was reached in 2010—the Kopila Valley School. Over 350 children now attend the school and over 50 live in the home.

    Today, Doyne lives in the home and is "mum" to the kids.

    A woman bought a parrot from a pet store. However, the woman decided to return the parrot to the shop the next day.

    "This bird doesn't talk," she told the pet shop owner.

    "Does he have a mirror in his cage(笼子)?" the owner asked. "Parrots love mirrors."

    The woman bought a mirror and left. The next day she came back, saying that the bird still wasn't talking.

    "How about a ladder? Parrots love ladders," the owner said. The woman bought a ladder and left. But the next day, she was back.

    "Does your parrot have a swing? No? Well, once he starts swinging, he'll talk," the owner said.

    The woman then bought a swing and left.

    When she walked into the store the next day, she began to cry. "The parrot died," she said.

    The pet store owner was shocked. "I'm sorry. Tell me, did he ever say anything?" he asked.

    "Yes, right before he died," the woman answered, "in a low voice, he asked me, 'Don't they sell any food at that pet store?'"

    Sometimes we forget what's really necessary in life. We sometimes have lots of things to do at once, but we forget to deal with the most important things first. We have to remember to "feed the parrots" in our lives.

    It was Mother's Day. Chatham was driving his new blue car and enjoying the beauty of nature. A flower shop by the road came into his eyes. So he stopped his car and took a look at some of the flowers. Just then he found a small, cute girl standing next to the shop. She was counting the money in her hand. It seemed that she was a little unhappy.

    He went up to her and asked, "Can I help you?"

    "I want to buy some red flowers for my mother. But I have only eighty rupees(卢比)," said the girl.

    Chatham smiled and asked her to take him to the shop. He bought a big bouquet(花束)for her and said, "I can take you to your mother." The girl was very happy.

    Finally they got to a grave. "Thank you, Uncle." Then she ran to the grave and put the roses in front of it.

    Chatham stood there without words in a minute. He then made a U-turn(掉头)and drove back to the same flower shop. He picked some pink roses and drove down two hundred miles to meet his old mother.

    His mother was happy to see him. But she said, "Why do you drive down all the way? You could talk to me over the phone. "

    He just kissed his mother and said, "Happy Mother's Day!"