Amy had three sons, Dave, Bill and Bob. Every year her sons sent her expensive gifts on her birthday.

The eldest son Dave, had a lot of money and he wanted his mother to have the most expensive gifts, but he didn't know what to buy. So he put an ad in the newspaper. "Wanted—the greatest gift for my mother.”

About a week before his mother's birthday, a man came to his office. He brought a big bird.

“This bird can speak six languages and sing eight songs.”the man said.

“Really?  I'd like to listen to it," Dave said.

The man made the bird talk in French and tell a joke in Japanese. Then the bird sang a beautiful song. Dave was very happy and paid eight thousand dollars for the bird. The next day Dave sent the bird to his mother with a birthday card.

The day after his mother's birthday he called his mother. “Well, mother”he asked, "What do you think of the bird?”

“Oh, it's very delicious, dear.”said his mother.

    Laura is at the airport(机场). She waits for her plane. Her plane is to Berlin, and it is 4 hours away. Laura walks around the shops.

    After an hour she wants to go to the bathroom. But she doesn't find it. “Where is the bathroom?” she says. She starts asking other people. Laura says to a man，“Excuse me, sir, could you please tell me where the bathroom is?” The man says, “You mean the restroom，right?” Laura says, “No, I mean the bathroom.” “Well, the restroom is over there.” He says and walks away.  

    Laura doesn't understand(明白). She asks a woman, “Excuse me, madam, could you please tell me where the bathroom is?” “The restroom is over there,” the lady answers and walks away.

    Laura is confused. “What's wrong? I need to use the bathroom and they tell me to rest!”

    Then Laura gives up(放弃). She feels tired and thinks she needs to rest.  

    She walks to the restroom. Now she is surprised. She realizes(意识到) the restroom is the name for a public(公共的) bathroom!

    I was 10 the year my cousin Marley's parents gave her a painful Christmas surprise: they were getting a divorce(离婚). My aunt went to California, but my uncle decided to get her back. There was one matter: where to put his young daughter. Luckily, my mother loved Marley, giving her more attention than her family ever did.

    On that Christmas Eve, my cousin arrived on our doorstep carrying an old blue suitcase. Before she stepped inside, Marley said, “It doesn't matter. When my parents come back, we'll have a bigger Christmas than this.”

    Late on the night Marley arrived, my mom came into my room, her arms filled with packages.I knew they were my Christmas presents. “I know how you love surprises but we have to decide which ones to give to Marley.”

    My mother carefully opened the gifts. Wow! I saw ice skates, red leather gloves and a dollhouse. The last present was the music box we'd asked the lady at the local store to take down and play for us over and over again.

    “Which ones?” my mother asked. “She can have the ice skates,” I said reluctantly(勉强地). “That's good,” my mother said. She began to tape the packages up again. Then she stopped and asked, “Are you sure about these?” At that moment, I realized she expected more from me than I had already given. So I gave her the music box, too, and ___________. The next morning, Marley's eyes were resolute(坚定的). She expected nothing and wanted us to know she didn't care. But when she saw her name on the biggest box, she couldn't hide her excitement. I thought my happiness would be cut in half. Instead it was doubled.

    Over the last 40 years, Marley and I have grown apart(分离的). But the love we felt for each other that day still remains. Today Marley says, “They were the best presents I ever got.

    Calabash brothers（葫芦兄弟） are seven brave brothers. They live in Calabash mountain. They wear different clothes. The red calabash is strong, but he does not have his own ideas. The orange calabash has two bright eyes and ears. He can see far and hear clearly. The yellow calabash has a hard head. The green calabash can swim. The cyanine（青色的） calabash is good at fire and the blue calabash hides himself very well. The purple calabash has a magic gourd（葫芦）.

    One day a pangolin（穿山甲） breaks the cave and two monsters come out. They are Monster Scorpion（蝎子精） and Monster Snake（蛇精）. The seven brothers must fight with them and save the world.

    Huang Qingyun spends her life telling stories to children. Now though she is in her nineties, she has no plans to stop.

    "I did this for children, from the first day I started to write stories. I am old now, but I still want to go on telling stories to children," Huang said.

    Born in Guangzhou in 1920. Huang spent her childhood in Hong Kong and her favourite hobby was making up stories for her elder sister.

    In 1935, Huang went to university and studied Chinese. During this period, she was greatly influenced by the well-known Chinese educator Tao Xingzhi and decided to become a primary school teacher. However, instead of being a teacher. Huang found another way to educate children. During World War Ⅱ, Huang often told stories to homeless children at the Little Children Society, a charity (慈善机构) set up by a professor from the University of Hong Kong.

    Huang also started a column (专栏) called "Sister Yun's Mail Box" in Xin Er Tong, a children's magazine set up in Hong Kong in 1941. From then, Huang officially started writing and created a large number of stories for children. Huang spent about 30 years at the magazine working as chief editor (主编) in Guangzhou.

    Huang retired in 1987. She moved to Hong Kong and went on creating stories for children, including I Love Hong Kong, Children from Hong Kong and Shoes Brothers.

    "What l wrote were all for children, and for me, writing fairy tales is my favourite," Huang said.