A teenage girl couldn't stand her parents' family rules, so she left home.
She wanted to be famous. But she had poor education and several years later she had to ask for food on the street for a living. Now her father has died. Her mother is an old woman. But she is still looking for her daughter. She has been to every corner of the city. Everywhere she goes, she puts up a big photo of herself on the wall. At the lower part of the photo she writes,“I still love you . . . , come back home!”
One day, the daughter saw one of the photos. The face was familiar（熟悉）. “Is that my mother?” she moved closer and read the words“I still love you ...” She cried. When she got home, it was early morning. She knocked on the door. The door opened itself. She rushed to her mother's bedroom. Her mother was sleeping. She woke her mother up,“It's me! Your daughter is back home!” The mother and daughter held each other, full of happy tears. The daughter asked, “Why is the door not locked? A thief could get in.” The mother answered softly, “The door has never been locked since you left.”
The door of parents' love for their children will never be closed.

D

    Mike Myers is a teacher at Chauncey Rose High School in Terre Haute, Indiana. Last year, he taught his students about the world's rain forests. They learned that rain forests are important because the plants and animals of the rain forest give us food, wood, and medicine.

    Destruction of the world's rain forests is a serious problem. Unluckily, rain forests are disappearing at a rate of 80 acres per minute! As part of a class project, Myers' students bought three acres of rain forest in Central America. They paid $25 per acre. The students hope that the land they bought will be protected and not destroyed. The students became so interested in rain forests that they decided to get a closer look at a real rain forest.

    So last June, Myers and four of his students took a boat ride down a river. They saw alligators and crocodiles. In the middle of the week, a guide took Myers and his students into the rain forest. "The monkeys were not happy that we were in their forest. They broke small branches off the trees and threw them at us," one of the students said. "It was a great learning experience for all of us," said Myers.

    Each student chose something specific about Costa Rica to study involving the plants, animals, food, and culture. During the last few days the group had time to do fun activities. They went whitewater rafting and horseback riding, and visited Costa Rica's active volcano.

    Myers hopes to make the trip every year with a different group of kids.

I think the most terrible thing in life for my little brother is getting up in the morning. He is almost sick when my mother calls," Herbert! It's seven o'clock! Get up!" Hebert answers," I'm coming!" and goes right back to sleep. I'm not all like my brother. I don't like to go to bed at night but I don't mind getting up in the morning. I usually wake up before my mother calls me. I jump out of bed and go into the bathroom to take a shower. I get dressed, brush my teeth, comb my hair, and get ready to go downstairs for breakfast as soon as my mother calls.

    But not for Herbert. He just sleeps. After calling a few more times my mother has to come upstairs and pull Herbert out of bed. It's that way every day with my little brother. Perhaps some day he'll learn to get up on time, but I really don't think so.

    Kate and Ann are new students. Kate is twelve. She is from America. Ann is eleven. She is from England. They arc in Class 5 Grade 7. They can speak English very well and Kate can speak a little Chinese, but Ann can't. They live m Shanghai with their parents. Ann's mother is a teacher. Kate's father is a teacher too. Kate and Ann are studying in the same school. On Sundays, they often play table tennis with their Chinese friends. They love China and their Chinese friends.

The Picture of Peace

When Mike was seven, he knew his dream was to be a photographer. He kept working on it for years. Recently, he was trying to take a picture of a sunset(日落) to enter the school1 competition. 

"Mom，it has been cloudy these days. I don't think I can get this picture!" Mike complained. 

"Why not use one of your photos on the computer?" suggested Mom. 

"I can't-the rules say the photos have to be taken with a traditional camera. We hand in a roll of film, it gets developed(冲洗胶卷), and we2 one photo for the competition. "

"Why is a sunset so important?" Mom asked. 

"The3 of the competition is peace，" Mike explained, "and I feel most peaceful seeing a sunset. "

Zach, his six-year-old brother came out of the bedroom. " Hey, you want to take a picture of me? Look!" He put both arms over his head. 

"Not right now, " said Mike, laughing. 

That very afternoon, Mike felt excited when he saw clear skies. He carefully lined up his shot(镜头) and waited4 till the sun reached the ground. 

"That's it! Perfect!" he shouted cheerfully. 

The next morning, Mike noticed he could take one more picture to complete the roll of film, so he walked into Zach's room. Zach was 5 quietly with a teddy bear under his arm. Mike didn't wake Zach up, and carefully took a picture of him. 

A week later, Mike got the photos. The sunset picture was the one he was most6 to see. There it was! It was as nearly perfect as Mike had expected. 

Then, he looked through the other photos. Suddenly，he stopped. His eyebrows(眉毛) rose as he 7 the photo of Zach. He looked back at the photo of the sunset，which seemed less perfect now. He 8 the two choices. Finally, he decided to hand in the photo of Zach for the competition.