One afternoon, Kate and her brother, Bob, went out to play. Kate was eight, and Bob was ten. "Let's go to the bridge and we can see fish in the river." said Kate.

    "I don't know…" Bob said." Mum told us, "Don't go on the bridge." She said it's dangerous.

    Kate said," I am not afraid. Are you?"

    They walked onto the bridge and began looking for fish in the river. The bridge was a train bridge. Trains went over the bridge three times a day.

    The children were standing in the middle of the bridge when they heard a loud noise. "A train is coming!" Bob shouted. "Run!" He ran to the end of the bridge. He was safe.

    Kate ran, too, but she fell. The train was coming fast. Kate ran towards Bob. She fell again right on the train tracks（铁轨）. There was no time to leave. She had to lie down between the tracks. A few seconds later, the train went over the girl, but she was not hurt at all. She stood up and said to Bob, "Don't tell Mum! Don't tell Mum!"

    At last their mother found out the story. She was angry because they went on the bridge. But she was happy that Kate was all right.

    "Why do I live? Why do I wish for anything, or do anything? Is there anything in my life that will not be destroyed by my death?" Like Leo Tolstoy, the famous Russian writer, many people ask these difficult questions. Tolstoy spent his whole life trying to answer these difficult questions.

    As a young man, he thought people could achieve perfection if they tried hard enough. So he worked very hard to be the best in everything. He thought that he would find meaning and truth in success.

    In 1850s. Tolstoy wrote his first stories. He wrote about his life in the army. He also told stories about his childhood. These works were published and Tolstoy became a well-known writer.

    He earned the respect he always wanted. Many rich and smart men met and talked with Tolstoy. Some of them were writers like him. They talked a lot about faith (信仰) and the meaning of life. But soon Tolstoy recognized that these men were not perfect. Now he knew they could not answer his questions about faith.

    So in the 1860s, Tolstoy tried a different way to find the meaning of life. He opened a school for the children of his serfs-the people who worked on his land. These workers were very poor. He wanted to help them because he thought they were more honest than the rich people he knew.

    Tolstoy learned a lot from his workers. He understood how they worked hard to support their families. He began to believe that marriage and family would give his life meaning. So in 1862, Leo Tolstoy married a young woman named Sonya Behrs.

    The next 15 years were the best years of Tolstoy's life. It was during this time that he wrote his most famous books-War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Many experts say that War and Peace is one of the greatest books ever written. In these books, Tolstoy believed humans should live a simple life and take care of their families. Tolstoy thought this would satisfy him and bring him happiness.

    Leo Tolstoy is still a very respected writer today. His faith and writings have influenced many people all over the world.

    When I was a little child, my mom sometimes liked to make breakfast food for dinner. And I remember one night she made breakfast after a long, hard day at work.

    That evening, my mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and burned cookies in front of my dad. I remembered waiting to see if anyone would say anything. Yet all my dad did was to reach for his cookie, smile at my mom and ask me how my day was at school. I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him eat every bite of that cookie!

    When I got up from the table that evening, I remembered hearing my mom say sorry to my dad for burning the cookies. And I'll never forget what he said, "Dear, I love burned cookies."

    Later that night, I went to kiss Dad goodnight, and I asked him if he did really like his burned cookies. He kissed me and said, "Your mom had a hard day at work today, and she's very tired.  Besides, a little burned cookie never hurt anyone!"

    Life is full of imperfect(完美)things and imperfect people. We need to learn to accept each other's faults and differences.