I've loved my mother's desk since I was just tall enough to see above the top of it as mother sat doing letters. Standing by her chair, looking at the ink bottle, pens, and white paper, I decided that the act of writing must be the most wonderful thing in the world. Years later, during her final illness, mother kept different things for my sister and brother. “But the desk,” she would say again, “it's for Elizabeth.” I never saw her be angry, and never saw her cry. I knew she loved me—she showed it in action. But as a young girl, I wanted heart-to-heart talks between mother and daughter. They never happened. And a gulf opened between us. I was “too emotional(易动感情的)”. But she lived “on the surface(表面)”. As years passed I had my own family. I loved my mother and thanked her for our happy family. I wrote to her in careful words and asked her to let me know in any way she chose that she did forgive(原谅) me. I posted the letter and waited for her answer. None came. My hope turned to disappointment(失望), then little interest and, finally, peace— it seemed that nothing happened. I couldn't be sure that the letter had even got to mother. I only knew that I had written it, and I could stop trying to make her into someone she was not. Now the present of her desk told, as she'd never been able to, that she was pleased that writing was my chosen work. I cleaned the desk carefully and found some papers inside —a photo of my father and a one-page letter, folded(折叠) and refolded many times. Give me an answer, my letter asks, in any way you choose. Mother, you always chose the act that speaks louder than words.

    The USA is the fourth largest country in the world in size after Russia, Canada and China. The population(人口) of the USA is the third largest in the world.

   The Mississippi River is the longest river in America. It's over 6,000 kilometers long. The Mississippi River has been called the "Father of Waters" or "Old Man River". The most important lakes in the United States are the Great Lakes. They are Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. All of them are between Canada and the United States except(除了) Lake Michigan.

   Let us talk about American education(教育). There are two kinds of schools in the United States: public schools and private schools. Most children go to public schools. Their parents do not have to pay for their education. If a child goes to a private school, his parents have to pay for their schooling. Children start school when they are five years old. Most students are eighteen years old when they leave secondary(中级) schools.

    One day, my wife and I went shopping. We took the car as we had a lot of things to buy, because my brother and his family were going to spend the weekend with us. We stopped the car in front of the shop. An hour later we came back to the car with a lot of things. Then the trouble(麻烦) started. We could not open the door.

    "Oh, dear," said my wife, "what are we going to do?"

    "Let's ask that policeman," I said.

    The policeman was very kind and glad to help us. Soon he got the door open. Just at that moment, an angry man came up and shouted. "What are you doing with my car?" We looked at the number of the car, and our faces turned very red.

    Once upon a time, there was a little bird named Birdie. She was afraid to fly and always hid in the bushes. Some big crows(乌鸦) often made fun of her by saying, "You can't flyyyy. You are afraid to flyyyy. " Near the bushes, there lived some squirrels (松鼠). Every day, they would "fly" around the branches and "fly" up and down all the trees in the forest.

    One day, these squirrels asked Birdie to join them. Birdie came out of the bushes and wanted to have a try. The crows noticed that and started to laugh at her. They cried, "You can't flyyyy. You are afraid to flyyyy. " Birdie was so sad that she began to flap (拍打) her wings and shouted loudly, "I can fly!" The little bird flapped her wings so hard that she began to fly. These squirrels couldn't believe their eyes. They shouted cheerfully, "Birdie, you're flying! I'm flying?" Birdie said, "I am flying!" She was so excited that she flew up and down, and in and out of all the branches. Then she flapped her wings as hard as she could and flew all the way to the top of the tallest tree. Birdie wasn't afraid of flying anymore, and those big crows never came to bother her ever again.

    Arriving in Sydney on his own from India, my husband, Rashid, stayed in a hotel for a short time while looking for a house for me and our children.

    During the first week of his stay, he went out one day to do some shopping. He came back in the late afternoon to discover that his suitcase was gone. He was extremely worried as the suitcase had all his important papers, including his passport.

    He reported the case to the police and then sat there，lost and lonely in strange city, thinking of the terrible troubles of getting all the paperwork organized again from a distant country while trying to settle down in a new one.

    Late in the evening, the phone rang. It was a stranger. He was trying to pronounce my husband's name and was asking him a lot of questions. Then he said they had found a pile of papers in their trash can（垃圾桶）that had been left out on the footpath.

    My husband rushed to their home to find a kind family holding all his papers and documents. Their young daughter had gone to the trash can and found a pile of papers. Her parents had carefully sorted them out, although they had found mainly foreign addresses on most of the documents. At last they had seen a half-written letter in the pile in which my husband had given his new telephone number to a friend.

    That family not only gave back the important documents to us that day but also gave back our faith and trust in people. We still remember their kindness and often send them a warm wish.