You might think that Olympic athletes are the healthiest people in the world. It's true that many are. However, it's also true that many Olympic athletes had to overcome (克服) illness early in their lives.

    One excellent example is Wilma Rudolph. She competed in track-and-field (田径) events in the 1960s Olympics. She didn't win just one gold medal (奖章).She won three. At the time, people called her ”the fastest woman in the world”.

    Actually, as a young child, Wilma could not take part in sports. She had serious illnesses, and then, at the age of 4, she got polio (小儿麻痹症).She lost the function of her left leg, and the doctor said she could never walk again.

Wilma's family did everything they could to help her walk again. Wilma and her mother used to travel 100 miles to get treatments for her leg. Her brothers and sisters took turns to give her leg a daily massage (按摩).Four times a day, they helped her do special exercises for her leg. Amazingly, by the time Wilma was 9 years old, she was able to walk again. Before long, she started playing basketball and running. In high school, she was a track star and then she went to the Olympics.

    Wilma stopped being a runner when she was 22 years old. She then became a teacher and a track coach. Her story encouraged many people to work hard and to overcome difficulties.

      One day a farmer went out for a walk with his little son. The farmer wore a pair of wrong shoes. One had thick sole(厚鞋底) but the other didn't. He began to walk and then his feet hurt. When he was just out of the house, he turned to his son and said, “Why is one of my legs longer than the other today?”

      The son looked at his father's legs carefully as he was walking and then laughed, “Oh, no, Daddy. Your legs are all right. You're wearing the wrong shoes.” The farmer was very happy to hear that and said to himself, “What a clever son!” Then he asked his son to go back and got the other pair of shoes for him. The farmer had only two pairs of shoes.

      When the son ran back to the house, he found that the other pair was also a wrong pair. He had to return to his father with nothing in his hands and said, “It's no use changing them, Daddy! The shoes at home are not a pair, either!”

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    Night after night，she came to help me sleep，even long after my childhood years．

    I don't remember when it first started making me a little angry-my mom's hands pushing my hair that way．But it really made me uncomfortable，for they felt rough against my young skin．Finally, one night，I shouted at her．"Don't do that anymore．Your hands are too rough!" She didn't say anything, but she never did it again．

    Years later, I missed my mother's hands and her goodnight kiss on my face. I was not a little girl anymore. My mom was in her mid—seventies, and her rough hands were still doing things for my family and me．   

    Now my own children have grown up．It was late on Thanksgiving Eve．As I slept in my bedroom，a familiar hand ran across my face to push the hair from my head. Then a kiss，ever so softly, touched my forehead．

    Taking my mom's hand，I told her how sorry I was for that night I shouted at her．But my mom didn't know what I was talking about．She had forgotten it for long．

    That night，I fell asleep with a new appreciation for my mother's caring hands. And the guilt that I had carried around for so long was nowhere to be found．

    The class teacher thought that hobbies were important to children. So she encouraged all her students to have one, and sometimes she arranged hobby shows for their parents to see.

    One morning the teacher told the class to have a holiday and get their hobby things to school before 5:00 p. m. A hobby show would be held the following afternoon.

    So in the afternoon, the students with nothing to show did their lessons at school as usual, while the lucky ones had a holiday to go home for their hobby works.

    When the afternoon lessons began, the teacher was surprised to see that Tommy was not there. "I don't believe Tommy has a hobby, "she thought. However, at a quarter to five, Tommy arrived with a beautiful collection of butterflies(蝴蝶) in a glass case. The teacher liked the samples（标本） very much and put them on a desk in the classroom. But, to her surprise, Tommy picked them up again and began to leave.

    "What are you doing, Tommy? "she asked. "Those things must stay here until tomorrow afternoon. That's when the parents are coming to see them. "

    "I know that, "answered Tommy, "and I will bring them back tomorrow, but my brother doesn't want them to be out of our house at night."

    "But, aren't the butterflies yours?" asked the teacher.

    "No," answered Tommy." They are my brother's."

    "But Tommy, you should show your own hobby here, not somebody else's!"

    "I know that, "answered Tommy. What surprised her most was the answer, "My hobby is watching my brother collecting butterflies."

    A crow, having stolen a piece of cheese, held it firmly in her mouth and stood in a tree. A fox, who was very hungry, took the following ways to get the cheese for himself.

    "How handsome is the crow!" he said. "How beautiful is her shape and how fair her feather! Oh, if her voice were only equal to her beauty, she might rightly be called the queen of birds!"

    This he said in a soft voice. The crow, anxious to show that her voice was equal to her other attractions, made a loud caw, and dropped the cheese.

    The fox caught it as it fell. "My good crow," said he," your voice is all right, but your brain is not good."