My mother only had one eye. I hated her, as she was such an embarrassment (难堪）for me. She ran a small shop at a market, selling anything for the money we needed.

    One day, my mom came to my school. I threw her a hateful look and ran out. The next day, my classmates shouted, “Your mom only has one eye!" and they taunted me. My face turned red.

I wished that my mom would just disappear from this world, so I said to her, “Mom, why don't you have the other eye? You make me a laughingstock.” She didn't say anything. Maybe it was because my mom hadn't punished me, so I didn't think that I had hurt her feelings very badly. I decided to study hard so that I could leave her for the rest of my life. I made it at last. Now I'm living happily as a successful man in another country.

Many years later, I received a letter, which said, “I think my life has been long enough now， but would it be too much to ask if I wanted you to visit me once in a while? I'm sorry that I am an embarrassment for you. You see, when you were very young, you got into an accident, and lost your eye. As a mother, I couldn't stand watching you having to grow up with only one eye, so I gave you mine. I was so proud of my son that was seeing a whole new world for me, in my place, with that eye. I was never angry with you for anything you did. I miss the time when you were still young around me. You mean the world to me. I love you.” I can't help crying with the letter in my hand.

    There are three people in Yang Yang's family. They like different kinds of food. Yang Yang likes rice a lot. But she doesn't like chicken at all. Her father is from Shanxi. He doesn't like rice at all. He likes chicken and bread very much. Her mother is from Dalian. She doesn't like rice or bread at all. But she likes fish and vegetables a lot. They love each other and help each other.

    Alan comes from New York, and now he is having a great time visiting his aunt in China. Today is Sunday. It's his eleventh birthday. He gets up early and wants to make a cake for his birthday party in the afternoon.

    When he comes out of his bedroom, he sees a big bowl of noodles on the table. It's a bowl of tomato and egg noodles. Alan usually has bread and milk for breakfast in America. Alan likes the tomato and egg noodles, but he still wants to know why his aunt cooks noodles this morning

    "It's your birthday today," his aunt says, *in China, many people eat very long noodles on their birthdays. It's a symbol of long life. We never cut up the noodles, and we call the long noodles changshou noodles.”

    "Thanks. I think it's my first special gift I get for my birthday," says Alan.

    Chopsticks were invented in China. There are many stories about who may have invented them. One of them is about Dayu.

    Dayu was an ancient Chinese leader who helped his people fight floods. He was always busy and often ate in the wild. He used a pot to boil (煮沸)water and cook animal meat. Most of the time, he was in a hurry and didn't want to wait to eat. But the meat was too hot to pick up with his hands. In those days, people ate only with their hands.

    So Dayu picked up some twigs (树枝)to help him hold the meat. The twigs later became the chopsticks we know today.

    But of course, this is just one story. The earliest chopsticks we have found so far are more than 3,000 years old, dating back to the Shang Dynasty (朝代).The six bronze chopsticks were found in the Ruins of Yin (殷墟)in Anyang, Henan.

    At first, chopsticks were just used as cooking tools. It was only after some time that people started to use chopsticks to eat.

    In 1996, Subaru Takaiashi sailed alone across the Pacific Ocean. Many other people did this before Subaru, but he was special. At 14, he was the youngest person to sail across the Pacific by himself.

    Subaru left Tokyo on 23 July, 1996. His boat was 30 feet (9 metres) long. In the boat, he had a two-month supply of food and water. He also had a radio and other modern equipment for sailing.

    The beginning of this trip went very well. Subaru often talked to his parents by radio. He didn't have any problems with his boat. Then on 11 August, the engine in his boat quit. This affected his navigation(导航)equipment. Then five days later, his radio quit. So he wasn't able to communicate with anyone. And he was still 2,770 miles (4,490 kilometres) away from his destination-San Francisco.

    By the end of August, many people believed that Subaru was lost. No one was able to contact him by radio. His parents expected him to arrive in San Francisco on 3 September, but he didn't. Then, on 13 September, Subaru sailed into San Francisco. After 55 days in his boat, his trip was finally over.

    Many people believe that Subaru was too young to sail alone. They say that parents shouldn't allow children to make such dangerous trips. However, other people say that children should have adventures, too.

    Mr. Liu is an English teacher in Nanjing. This year, he visits France(法国) for his summer holiday.

    He watches many beautiful buildings and enjoys wonderful song and dance shows there. He also loves French(法国的；法语的) bread, cakes and soup. He has a good time there. But he doesn't feel happy all the time. He wants to visit an art museum. He doesn't know the way.

    So he uses English to ask some French people how to get there. He feels very sad after he finds no one can tell him. At last, a kind lady tells him the way, and says to him, "you are here in France, and people usually speak French only. They can't speak English, so a lot of people don't understand what you say. But even if they understand English, they only talk with you in French, no English."

    When he goes into the museum, he sees so many beautiful pictures and other works(作品) of art. He feels excited and wants to take pictures of what he sees in the museum. At that time, a worker stops him, and asks him not to take any photos. He asks the worker why he can't take any photos in English. The worker doesn't answer, but he points at (指向) a sign on the wall with French words " II est interdit de photographier dans la sallle."