Little Mike's grandma died weeks ago. He missed her very much. One afternoon Mike went to the city park. His grandma used to go there. There he saw an old lady. She looked very kind. She was sitting there, watching pigeons (鸽子). Little Mike went up and sat next to her. He took out his food and drinks, and gave some to her. She smiled at him .Her smile was very sweet. She seemed to understand him, and she smiled again. Mike was very glad.

       They sat there all the afternoon, eating and talking. As it grew dark, Mike got up to leave. Before he left, he hugged the old lady and she gave him her sweetest smile.

     When Mike got home, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face.“I met a granny in the park. Her smile was like the kind of my grandma's.” said Mike.

     The old lady also returned to her home happily. She told her son she had food and drinks with a little boy. “He was as lovely as Brittany.” She said. Her son was surprised, because he had never seen her so happy since Brittany, her grandson, died weeks ago.

B

    My grandfather Jack is 96 years old, and he has had an interesting life. He has travelled a lot in his life in the Far East. He visited the Taj Mahal in India and the Pyramids in Egypt. He hunted（狩猎） lions in Africa, and rode a camel in the Sahara Desert. He says the most beautiful place he has travelled to is Kathmandu in Nepal.

    Jack has married twice. His first wife died when she was 32. He met his second wife Maria while he was cycling round France. They have been married for 50 years, and they have lived happily in a small village since they got married.

    Jack says that he has never been ill in his life. The secret of good health, according to my grandfather, is exercise. He goes swimming every morning. He has done this since he was a boy. He also has a glass of wine every night! Perhaps that is his secret!

    Long ago, a wolf called Howler lived in a valley where lots of fruit trees grew. He often tried to climb up the trees to eat the fruit, but couldn't reach.

    In the valley, an old man named Martin also had a few fruit trees that he looked after very well. But as he was getting older, he noticed that he didn't have the strength to pick the fruit.

    Martin had the most beautiful fruit trees in the valley, which was why Howler had his eye on them. One day he decided to steal the fruit and started jumping up and down the tree.

    Martin looked out of the window and realized that the wolf was trying to steal fruit from his beautiful trees. Howler jumped and jumped, but he couldn't reach even the lowest branches of such a big tree.

    Seeing this, Martin had a great idea: he offered Howler a ladder to climb up, but in return the wolf would have to give him half of the fruit. Howler accepted the deal and began to collect the fruit. For the whole morning, he went up and down the ladder filling his basket with the fruit.

    Howler soon realized that he could eat all the fruit if he didn't give Martin some. He thought up a new and secret plan. Martin, on the other hand, trusted Howler and even began to think they would be friends forever.

But the wolf stole the ladder and went off to other trees in the area for more fruit.

    Realizing that the ladder was missing, Martin went looking for it. Martin felt very disappointed at the trick and no longer trusted Howler. Though he wasn't angry with the wolf and they became friends again, he never made any more deals with him.

    At last, Howler learned that he shouldn't trick people and he should keep promises. He also learned that if he had been honest and not greedy, he would still have been able to enjoy more delicious fruit.

    A little girl's interest in wanting to talk about Chinese food put her on a path to study the language.

    Isabelle first became interested in Chinese when she was 5. “We were at a Chinese restaurant . She was watching a man making noodles. She was so excited that she wanted to talk with him. Unfortunately, he didn't speak English. On the way home, she said she wanted to learn Chinese,” said Isabelle's father.

    “I totally fell in love with the language. It's so beautiful and unlike anything I've ever heard before,” said Isabelle, whose Chinese name is Bao Ling. she is now 12 and very good at Chinese, she can even watch movies and TV from China without subtitles. Some of her favorite Chinese cartoons are Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf, Big Head Son and Small Head Dad, which are very popular in China.

    Isabelle studies at the Confucius Institute (孔子学院) near her home, the William & Mary Confucius Institute. “It is just the beginning of a fantastic ongoing adventure, all thanks to the Confucius Institute,” she said.

    The WMCI offers courses on many aspects (方面) of Chinese culture, from travel tips to calligraphy(书法), to tai chi, cooking and music. The first course that Isabelle took was a cooking class. She then tried tai chi and kung fu through the WMCI.

    Next year, through the WMCI, Isabelle will join the JNCLNCLIS (languagepolicy.org) to ask for more aid for language instruction in public schools.

    “I want to thank the Confucius Institute for sharing the wonderful language and culture of China to the world,” she said. “It has been a wonderful journey for all of us,” said her mother.