Frank was clever, but he never liked to work hard. He often said to his friends, "If you work hard, you will make a lot of money, but it is not so good. I want easy work and a lot of money. That's the most interesting thing in the world."So he could only be a thief. But he still thought it was too much work, so he only told his friends what to do and got money from them.

    One day, Frank sent one of his friends to a very large and beautiful house. He told him to get money from that rich family. It was evening, and a man and a girl were in the room. They were playing a duet（二重奏） on a piano. Then the thief came into the house. 

    When he returned, Frank asked him what he had got. But he said, "I didn't take anything. That family can't have much money. You know, two people were playing on the same piano there. They did not have money to buy another piano."

A

    When I was a little kid, a father was like the light in the fridge. Every house had one, but no one really knew what either of them did when the door was shut.

    My dad left the house every morning and always seemed glad to see every one again at night. He opened the jar of pickles when no one else at home could. He was the only one in the house who wasn't afraid to go into the basement by himself. 

    Whenever it rained, he got into the car and brought it around to the door. When anyone was sick, he went out to get the prescription(处方) filled. He set mousetraps. He cut back the roses so the thorns(刺) wouldn't hurt you when you came to the front door. He oiled my roller skates, and they went faster. When I got my bike, he ran alongside me for at least a thousand miles until I got the hang of it. He signed all my report and cards. He took a lot of pictures, but was never in them. He tightened up Mother's sagging(松垂的) clothesline every week or so.

I was afraid of everyone else's father, but not my own. 

    Whenever I played house(玩过家家), the mother doll had a lot to do. I never knew what to do with the daddy doll, so I had him say, "I'm going off to work now," and threw him under the bed.

    When I was nine years old, my father didn't get up one morning and go to work, he went to the hospital and died the next day. 

    There were a lot of people in the house who brought all kinds of good food and cakes. We had never had so much company before. 

    He never did anything; I didn't know his leaving would hurt so much.

    Fifteen hours is a long time to be on a plane, but you know, Africa is a long way from America. Finally, we're in Namibia, a country in southwest Africa. Namibia is about one size of California. However, it is home to just over two million people. And the country's main airport is 45 kilometers east of its capital, Windhoek.

    Now we are in a wildlife park. We will spend five days finding ways to protect this area's wildlife. At the moment, my wife and our two kids are enjoying some local dishes. I'm talking with workers in this park. I'm so much looking forward to the following days!

—Thomas

    Yesterday morning, I had nothing to do. So I went to visit the Eiffel Tower, a symbol of Paris. It was my first time there, so I took a lot of photos.

    Finally, the big moment came! A lot of artists came to watch my show. It was a great success. After the show, I attended a big party. It was great, but I felt so sleepy after it.

    When I got back to my hotel, it was already1:15 am. I went to bed without washing. I just needed a good rest before my two—hour journey home by plane.

—Jessica

    Mike and Julia always wanted to be sure they were doing the right thing before they made important decisions.

    When they wanted to buy a car, it took a long time for them to decide which one to buy. They looked at all the different cars carefully. It had to be the right size, the right color and the right price. Finally, they chose the car they wanted.

    When they went out for dinner, it always took a long time before they chose what to eat. They carefully read the menu and discussed all the choices together. They were patient and never in a hurry.

    After a while they had a baby boy, they were happy and called him Jordan. Jordan smiled a lot, but he didn't make any noise. He never cried. All their friends said, "He's such a nice quiet baby!"

    Jordan learned everything that other babies learn. He learned to walk. He learned to go to the bathroom by himself. He learned to sleep in the bed. He learned to sit on a chair and eat at the table. However, he didn't learn how to talk and he still never cried. But Mike and Julia didn't worry about it too much. They just waited. They were confident Jordan would talk one day.

    One day, while eating dinner, Jordan suddenly said, "Mother, I think the soup needs a little more salt."

    Mike and Julia were surprised, "You can talk!" said Julia.

    "Of course I can talk!" said Jordan. "After all, I am three years old."

    "Why didn't you talk before?" asked Mike.

    "I didn't need to," said Jordan. "The food was always good before."