Joe was an old man. The 75-year-old lived very happily in a village and had a beautiful family. Joe had four grandchildren, and they visited him during their holidays.

During one vacation, Joe was preparing his home for the kids: cleaning and buying their favorite foods. After he finished working, he realized he lost his favorite watch. The watch was a gift from his wife when their first child was born. Joe loved the watch very much, especially after his wife's death. He was very upset about losing it.

    Once his grandchildren came, they promised him they would find the watch.

    One granddaughter asked: "Grandpa, do you remember when you saw the watch last before it went missing?"

    "I guess when I was cleaning the barn(谷仓)!" Joe replied.

    The children looked for more than two hours with Joe, but they could not find it. The kids were now also sad, but they tried to comfort(安慰) their grandfather.

    One grandson went back to the barn to search again. Joe asked why he was going there a second time. But the little boy just asked the others not to follow him and to remain silent.

    He was there for about fifteen minutes and then rushed to his grandfather. He found the watch and happily gave it to Joe.

    Joe was surprised and asked how he was able to find it. The little boy replied: "I sat there without making a noise, and the barn was so silent. After a few minutes, I heard the ‘tick, tick' sound and found the watch."

    Joe hugged and thanked the little boy.

    John is a very strong man. He gets a job cutting trees. His boss gives him an axe. The first day, John cuts down eighteen trees. “Good!” the boss says. Happily, John tries harder the next day, but he only cuts down fifteen trees. The third day he even tried harder, but can only cut down ten trees. Day after day, he cuts down fewer trees.

    “ I must be losing my strength ( 力气 ),” John thinks. He goes to the boss to say sorry and says that he does not know what is going on.” “When is the last time you sharpen ( 使锋利 ) your axe?” the boss asks. “I'm busy cutting trees, so I have no time to do it.”

    When John is working hard, he doesn't work “smart”. He doesn't think about the best way to do this job.

    Mrs.White had a lovely young cat，and it was the cats first winter.One evening，it was1 outside when it began to snow.Mrs.White2 everywhere and shouted its.But she couldn't find it.So she3 the police，and said，"I4 a cat.Did anyone find one？""No，Madam" answered the policeman at the other end."I will ring you up if someone finds it.What5 is your cat？""white.""I think it may be in the snow.But don't worry.I know cats are really very6 animals."They sometimes live for a few days in the snow, and they're quite all right" Mrs.White felt7 when she heard this."Yes，yes.I think you are8"She said，"and my cat is very clever.She can almost talk." The policeman was getting tired.He said，"9 don't you put down your telephone？Perhaps she is trying to 10you now.

    Do you have to be very smart to live a happy life? The character of McDull (麦兜) tells you that this is not true. He is famous for having a birthmark on his right eye. He is not very clever, but he has a heart of gold. He is also happy, with lots of dreams. McDull wanted to visit the Maldives (马尔代夫). But his mother didn't have enough money for a trip there. So she lied to him and took him to a place called Hong Kong. The place has a sign that says, “Go to the Maldives.” It made McDull very happy. He thought he was really excited in the Maldives!

    McDull is just a common pig. He has many dreams, but they never come true. That doesn't stop him trying. McDull lives his life in a simple and happy way. His idea towards life is “Never give up”.

    The cartoon pig character was created in Hong Kong by Alice Mark and Brian Tse. McDull first showed up as a character in the McMug comics. McMug is another cartoon pig. But McDull is more popular with a huge number of fans everywhere!

Dear Sally,

Thank you for your email. Do you want to know about my school days? From Monday to Friday, I'm1 . Every day I have six lessons. In the morning I have2 lessons and in the afternoon I have two. In the evening I3 have lessons. I'm at home with my family. At school, my favorite4 is Chinese. Why do I like it? Because it's very interesting and relaxing. My favorite day is5 . On that day I have Chinese — my favorite subject. And I can have two free days after that day.

Yours,

Mary