Once Mr. King had a cat, and he loved it very much. He called it "Sky", because he thought "Sky" was the strongest name in the world.

    One day he had a meal at a restaurant with his cat. He met his old friend. He told him about his lovely cat and its name. His friend said, "How foolish you are! Sky is not the strongest thing in the world. My cat is called „Cloud' because cloud is stronger than sky." After hearing this, Mr. King called his cat "Wind" because he thought wind was stronger than cloud.

    After a few days he suddenly thought that "Wall" was stronger than wind. And "Mouse" was stronger than wall. So he went to his friend to ask for an idea. His friend said, "Don't you think Cat is stronger than mouse？" "Yes, but..."

    The man thought and thought and then decided his cat's name had better be "Cat" because a mouse was always afraid of a cat. Don't you think Mr. King is very silly or funny？

    One cold winter morning, an old woman had to go to see her doctor. When she walked into the doctor's office, she told him that her right leg hurt and sometimes she could not walk. She asked him what was wrong. She told him that she had never had such a feeling before.

    The doctor checked the old woman carefully, then he said, "You're in good health for a woman of your age. I think the trouble in your right leg is just a matter of old age catching up with you. We get all kinds of illness as we get older. The trouble will almost certainly end in spring. "

    "I don't think so, doctor!" she said. "My left leg is well, and it's the same age as my right one."

    "Today I will give you a special test," said the English teacher with a smile on his face.

    All the students sat up straight and waited for the test to begin. The teacher began to give the test papers to all the students. After he finished handing out the test papers, he asked them to begin.

    The students were very surprised to see that there was not a question but a black dot (圆点) in the center of the paper. The teacher noticed the students' surprise and said, "I want you to write about what you see there." At the end of the class, the teacher took all the students' answer sheets and read the answers. All of them described the black dot. After reading all the answers, the teacher said, "Here everyone only paid attention to the black dot, but no one wrote about the white paper." The whole class listened silently, because they were afraid to fail in the exam. Then the teacher said, "Don't worry about your marks for this test. I just want you to think about our life. The white paper is like our whole life and the black dot in the center of the paper represents (代表) problems in our daily life".

    Our life is a gift given to us by God, with love and care. However, we just pay attention to the problems like illness and poverty, and never see happy things in our life. So we should try to solve our problems and enjoy each moment life gives us.

Drawing on a New Friendship

    Last Saturday, I went to the park to draw. When I finished the outline of a girl, a shadow（影子）fell across my drawing.

    "That's not a bad start", said the shadow. "Do you have any finished drawings?" I looked up to see a girl about my age.

    I was displeased that someone was looking at my drawing and interrupted me. "Not bad?" I asked.

    "No need to be angry." The girl handed a sketchbook(素描本)to me." Want to look at my drawings?"

    I felt curious and traded sketchbooks with her. Her sketches of people were okay, but I was really attracted by her drawings of nature, like trees, rocks, and rivers, all done with great detail.

    "Wow！You have some talent," I said. "What's your name?"

    The girl took back her sketchbook and answered, "Emma Thompson."

    "I'm Alice Ruiz, "I said." You draw so well. Are you in an art class?"

    Emma replied, "No. The art class is full, so I have to wait until next term. Besides, you're a talented one. I really find it difficult to draw people, but you make it look easy."

    "I have a great idea！"I said." Let's draw together！You can draw the nature views on one piece of paper while I draw the people on another. Then we'll exchange and finish each other's drawings. That way, both drawings would show off both of our talents!"

    "That's not a bad idea, Alice, "Emma agreed.

    About an hour later, we completed our drawings. I had drawn a boy walking with his dog. Emma had added a path and some flowers. Emma had drawn a beautiful tree, and I had added a girl reading under the tree.

    "This was a fun idea, "I said." Hey, Emma, would you like to meet me here again to draw together?"

    "See you next Saturday, Alice, "Emma said with a smile.

    One Sunday, Jim went to town to buy new clothes. First he tried on a sweater. He didn't like it, so he returned it to the storekeeper. Then he tried on a T-shirt that had the same price as the sweater. Jim was satisfied with the T-shirt, and he left the store with it. Before he climbed on his horse to go home, the storekeeper and the assistant ran out at the same time.

    "You didn't pay for the T-shirt!" said the storekeeper.

    "But I gave the sweater in exchange for the T-shirt, didn't I?" replied Jim.

    "Yes, but you didn't pay for the sweater!" said the storekeeper.

    "But I didn't buy the sweater." said Jim,

    "I am not so stupid to pay for something that I have never bought."