Hi! I'm Maria. I have two boys. Tom is three years old and Tim is one year old. My family moved into an apartment a few months ago. Our house is on the second floor. But our neighbour downstairs complains at least once a day and we have got her note, saying "Please stop running and jumping on the floor."

    Since then, I have to do everything to keep the boys busy or out of the apartment during the day, but this can't stop my kids from making noise. They are just children under the age of four. Now the lady downstairs often bangs the walls when my boys run and jump in the rooms.

    However, she often plays movies loudly late at night. The noise wakes up my children at night and makes them cry.

    At the same time, we have another problem. The person on the third floor often walks too hard and wakes up my boys at 5:30 a.m. , but I think we have to face it.

    Usually my boys are sleeping from about 8:30 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. the next day. At least they don't annoy the neighbour downstairs during the hours.

    It is believed in some ways that the daughter is father's lover. But my experience has taught me in a different way. For a long time my father has been a very vague figure(模糊形象)to me. He was a man of few words, tall but slim and nothing else.

    When I was in primary school, my father was never there to pick me up, and he never came to any of my parent-teacher meetings. He was always busy doing projects. I remember when I was in middle school and my head was badly hurt in a PE class. During my operation my father was nowhere to be found. This hurt me most. At that moment, I considered my father as a cold-blooded man who did not care about me at all.

    But things seemed different at my high school graduation ceremony where I was chosen to represent my class and give a speech. My father, once again, told me he had a business trip in a place outside the city and would be unable to show up(露面), "Don't come. I will be very nervous if I see you. "I told him.

    I remember my speech went smoothly. After the ceremony was over and I was about to leave, I suddenly noticed a familiar looking man sitting in a corner of the hall. It was my father！I was so surprised that I rushed to him with tears running down my face. "Well done," he said. His eyes were also filled with tears.

    Later, I found out that my father had managed to finish his work by staying up late, and he drove for eight hours to get back. He had been sitting in the corner because he didn't want me to see him. My father remembered every word in my speech.

    For much of my life I described my father was a cold-blooded man who only cared about his work. But when I thought deeply about this, it was obviously not true. At my graduation ceremony, I could feel my father's deep love. The fact is that seeing is not believing, and seeing may not be the fact if we don't perceive(感知)the world with our hearts and minds. There's no doubt that life doesn't lack(缺少)love, but sometimes our eyes have trouble seeing it.

    Are you always happy during your vacation? Many people may say "yes". But last week I had a bad vacation.

    My parents and I took a bus to the Great Wall We got on the bus at 7:00 a, m. But on the half way, there was something wrong with the bus. After an hour, it started again. It was about 11:00 a. m. when we got to the Great Wall.

    We were excited when we stood on the Great Wall. My father took out the camera and wanted to take some photos. But just then, it started to rain. We had to go back to our bus. When we wanted to eat something, we found we left our food at home.

    A boy was sitting on the steps of a door one day. He had a stick in one hand,1in the other hand a large piece of bread and butter, which somebody had kindly given him. While he was eating it and singing a song happily, he saw a poor little dog quietly2not far from him. He called out to it, “Come here, poor dog!”

    Hearing this, the dog woke up, rose with its ears3and wagged its tail. Seeing the boy eating, it came near him. The boy held out to it a piece of his bread and butter. As the dog stretched out its head to take the4, the boy quickly drew back his hand and hit it5on the nose. The poor dog ran away,6loudly, while the cruel boy sat, laughing at the trick he had done.

    A gentleman, who was looking from a window on the other side of street, saw what the7boy had done. Opening the street door, he called him to8over, at the same time9up one dollar between the finger and thumb.

    “Would you like this?” said the gentleman.

    “Yes, if you10, sir,” said the boy, smiling, and he quickly ran over to seize the11.

    Just as the boy stretched out his hand, the gentleman hit12on the knee with an umbrella. “Why did you do that?” shouted the boy angrily. He made a very13face and cried, “I didn't hurt you, nor ask you for money.”

    “14did you hurt that poor dog just now?” said the gentleman. “It didn't hurt you, nor ask you for bread and butter. As you served it I have served you. Now, remember it can feel as well as you, and learn to behave15towards animals in future.”

    Twenty years ago, my father, John, wanted to be a businessman. He wanted to be rich. So he worked very hard and every day he went home very late.

    One night when he came home from work, a robber stopped him and wanted to take his money. My father was very afraid. He didn't want to lose his money. But he didn't know what to do. Luckily a policeman came and caught the robber. My father thanked the policeman politely.

    Now my father is a policeman. He wants to help other people.

A Family Photo