Droughts (干旱)are common in Kenya. Before, they came every 10 years, but now they seem to be hitting us more often and for a longer time.

    We gave the droughts names :“longoza”was the drought when many animals died ; there was the drought of the “planes” because food was dropped from the air by planes; and one particularly bad drought was called “ man who dies with his money in his fist (拳头)”，because, even if there was money, there was simply no food to buy.

    I was born in 1951 in Machakos. From what my mother tells me, when I was 7, there was a serious drought. I clearly remember the terrible weather and the hunger. I can't tell you how many times I went to bed without eating. “ I slept like that, ” is how we described it. I can't count the number of days when “ I slept like that,” or describe the feeling of going to sleep hungry, knowing I'd wake up and there would still be no food for breakfast.

    My father would leave early in the morning carrying a little basket to ask for food on credit (赊欠). Each night he would return home around 10:00p.m. My mother would try to encourage me by telling me to keep the water in our pot boiling so that when my father arrived we could quickly cook any food he brought in the already prepared water. I would keep the fire burning and the water boiling, along with the hopes that we would eat that night. But my father would arrive frustrated and empty -handed. And I would sleep like that.

    A man was visiting a rich person's house. As he went along, he saw a box of apples on the side of the road. He said, "I do not want to eat those apples. The rich man will give me very nice food to eat." Then he took the apples and threw them away in the dust(尘土).

    He went on and came to a river. The river had gotten so high, and he could not get through it. He waited for some time and said," I cannot go to the rich man's house today, for I cannot get over the river."

    He started to go home. He had eaten no food that day. And he was very hungry. He came to the apples, and he was glad to take them out of the dust and eat them.

    Do not throw good things away. You might be happy to have them later.

Dear Yang Kai,

    Would you like to go out for a picnic with my brother and me at 3: 30 on Sunday afternoon?

    We will have the picnic in Yingze Park. You know where it is, don't you? You can take the No. 6 bus to the park. After you go into the park, walk straight on for about five minutes until you come to a small but clean river. There is a bridge over it. Go across the bridge and turn left. After walking for ten minutes, you will come to a hill. Walk to the other side (边) of the hill and you will see a lake (湖). We will have the picnic by the lake.

    I'm sure you will find us easily. Don't forget (忘记) the time.

Yours,

Hao Gang

    Whenyou enter my home for the first time, you will always be impressed with a smalland white envelope（信封）. No name, no address. Ithas hung on our Christmas tree for about 10 years.

    Itall began because my husband Mike hated Christmas. He didn't hate the truemeaning of Christmas, but the commercial（商业的） way ofit, spending too much on the usual Christmas gifts, such as rushing into astore to buy a tie for Uncle Harry.

    Knowinghe felt this way, I decided not to buy the usual gifts, such as shirts andsweaters. I reached for something special for Mike. The idea came in an unusualway.

    Ourson Kevin, 12, was wrestling（摔跤） at the school. BeforeChristmas there was a match against a team helped by a city church, mostly poorkids. As the match began, I was surprised to see the other team wrestling onlywearing the old clothes because they couldn't afford the wrestling uniforms, whileour boys in their blue and gold uniforms. Of course, we ended up with beatingthem.

    Mike,seated beside me, shook his head sadly," I wish just one of them couldhave won. In fact, they could if they had worn the uniforms. They have talentfor wrestling, but losing like thiscould take the heart right out of them."

    Mikeloved kids-all kids and he knew them, having trained kids football andbaseball. At that time, I thought of the idea for the gift.

    Thatafternoon, I went to a store and bought some wrestling uniforms and sent themto the city church for the kids without leaving my name.

    OnChristmas Eve, I put the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mikewhat I had done and telling him that this was his gift from me. His smile was thegreatest thing about Christmas that year and the next years.

    Yousee, we lost Mike now. But every Christmas Eve I would put an envelope on thetree, and in the morning, three more joined it. Each of our children hadsecretly put an envelope on the tree for their dad.

    Mike'sspirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us.

Hi, everyone! My name is Sheldon Cooper. I'm from America. I'm twelve years old, but I'm a middle school student. I like science very much. 

My father is a PE teacher. He teaches students to play football in my school. My mother is a beautiful woman with blue eyes. I am like her. My eyes are blue too. Missy is my aunt. She is a nice woman. Her eyes are brown. My brother's name is George. He likes to play football. He is fifteen years old, but we are in the same class. George isn't happy about it. 

This is my family. Meet my family on Young Sheldon.