A lot of boys and girls in western countries are wearing the same kind of clothes, and many of them have long hair, so it is often difficult to tell whether they are boys or girls.

    One day an old man went for a walk in a park in Washington and when he was tired, he sat down on a chair by a swimming pool. A young person was standing on the other side of the pool.

    "Oh!" the old man said to the person sitting next to him. "Do you see the person with the loose clothes and long hair? Is it a boy or a girl?"

    "A girl," said his neighbor. "She is my daughter."

    "Oh!" the old man said quickly. "Please forgive me. I didn't know that you were her mother."

    "I'm not," said the person. "I'm her father."

D

    Lisa likes going shopping very much. She often goes to clothes stores with her classmates on weekends. One day she sees a colorful sweater in the Fashion Clothes Store. It's a red-blue-yellow sweater. There is a card on it. It says 80 yuan. Lisa goes home quickly and collects(搜集) all her money. But she feels sad. She's only got 65 yuan.

    After two weeks, the Fashion Clothes Store has sweaters at very good prices——only 80%. Lisa thinks she can buy the sweater with 64 yuan. When she sees the card, it says 100 yuan.

    Some weeks later, the store says their sweaters are on sale. You can only pay(支付) 50% for the sweater. Lisa thinks she can get the sweater this time, because it only costs 40 yuan. But when she sees the card, she is very angry. It is 160 yuan.

    There are four people in Simon's family. They have different habits.

    ◆ Simon's father is a doctor. He works in a hospital. He likes reading books very much. There are many books in his bedroom. He doesn't like going to the cinema.

    ◆ Simon's mother is a music teacher. She likes listening to music, but she has no time to go to concerts.

    ◆ Simon's brother is seven years old. He likes watching cartoons. He usually watches cartoons when his parents aren't at home.

    ◆ Simon is a middle school student. He likes playing football. He often plays football with his friends after school. He likes playing computer games at home. But he doesn't like watching TV.

    "Look here, Watson," Holmes said after we finished lunch. "Please sit down. I want to talk to you. I don't know what to do, and your advice is important to me. You smoke your cigar (雪茄烟) while I explain."

    "Please continue," I said, as I lit my cigar.

    "Now there're a few important points in young James' story. One, his father cries Coo-ee before he sees him. Two, he talks about a rat (老鼠). I think young James is telling the truth (真相)."

    "So why did Mr. McCarthy shout Coo-ee then?"

    "Well, he was not shouting Coo-ee to his son. It was by chance that James heard. The Coo-ee was to call the person he was meeting. But Coo-ee is an Australian cry, Australians usually say it when they meet to catch attention. Perhaps Mr. McCarthy was meeting someone from Australia."

    "I see. But why did he talk about a rat, then?" I asked.

Holmes took a piece of paper from his pocket and put it on the table.

    "This is a map of Australia," he said. He put his hand over part of the map. "Now, Watson, what can you read there?" he asked me.

    "ARAT," I read.

    "And now?" Holmes moved his hand.

    "BALLARAT," I read.

    "Yes. That was the word the dead man said. It's a place called Ballarat. His son only heard the 'rat' part of the word. Old Mr. McCarthy was trying to say where his murderer was from, the town of Ballarat. The grey cloak is point No. 3. If James is telling the truth, there was a grey cloak (斗篷). So now we have an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak."

    "Great!" I replied.

    "And it's someone who lives nearby, as the Boscombe Pool isn't open to the public. Only people from the farm nearby or the Turner house can go there," said Holmes.

    "That's wonderful, Holmes!" I exclaimed.

    One day, an 11-year-old girl asked her dad," What are you going to get me for my 15th birthday? "The father replied, "Don't worry about that. We still have plenty of time."

    But on a day after her 14th birthday, She passed out(昏倒) and was rushed to the hospital. The family learned that the girl had a serious heart disease and that she might die. At night, she asked her dad, "Daddy, have they told you that I am going to die?" The father replied, "No, you will live as long as anyone else." She wondered and asked, "How can you be sure?" He smiled to her and said," I just know it?"

    After the girl turned 15, She had a heart transplant (心脏移植手术). After she came back from the hospital, she found a letter on her bed. It said, "My dearest daughter, one day you asked me what I would give you for your 15th birthday. I wasn't sure then. But now you know that my present to you is my heart." The father had given his heart to his daughter.

    Parents are selfless (无私的). They even make great sacrifices to make their children grow up happily. Keep this in mind when you feel angry toward your parents. Always, they're just doing what they think best for you.