It's not easy to be an astronaut's son. Everybody expects you to be special or perfect. I often wonder how my father ever had a son like me. I mean he's so special and so good at everything he does. Even in middle school he was class president and captain of the football team.
    Well, to be honest, I often dream about being some kind of hero or doing something special—like saving a child from a burning building or discovering a new star. I was daydreaming at school one morning when my teacher said there would be a Father's Day writing competition for the whole school. “I hope we have a winner right here in my class.”
    When I got home, I started to think about what to write. My father is an astronaut. No, I wouldn't start like that．That was the way others saw him. How did I see my father? Hmm.
    I saw him sitting with me in the dark when I had a terrible dream. I remembered how he hugged me for hours when my dog Spotty was killed by a car. Yes, these were the things I was going to write. To me, he wasn't just a world—famous astronaut．He was my dad.
    My parents and I went to school on Thursday night. There were so many people in the big hall! My dad looked at me, and I shrugged(耸肩).
    The third prize was announced and it was not me. I was relieved(释然) and disappointed at the same time. The second prize was announced. It was me.
    I went up to the stage and read what I had written,“My father's son”. When I finished, the people stood up and cheered. I saw my father blowing his nose. Tears were running down my mother's face. Dad cleared his throat and put his hand on my shoulder. "Son, this is the proudest moment of my life."
    It was the proudest moment of my life, too. Maybe I'll never be a great hero or win a Nobel Prize, but it was enough just to be my father's son.

    One afternoon I visited an art museum while waiting for my husband to finish a business meeting. I was looking forward to a quiet view of the art works.

    A young couple viewing the paintings ahead of me chatted nonstop (不停) between themselves. I watched them a moment and found the wife was doing all the talk. I admired (赞赏) the husband for putting up with her continuous (持续的) talk. Distracted (分心) by their noise, I moved on.

    I met with them many times as I moved through the different rooms of art. Each time I heard her continuous talk, I moved away quickly.

    I was standing at the counter (柜台) of the museum gift shop when the couple came near to the exit. Before they left, the man reached into his pocket and pulled out a white thing. He extended (展开) it into a long stick and then tapped (敲打) his way into the coatroom to get his wife's jacket.

    “He's a brave man.” The salesman at the counter said, “Most of us would give up (放弃) if we were blind (瞎的) at such a young age. But he said his life wouldn't change during his recovery (恢复). So, as before, he and his wife come in when there's a new art show.”

    “But how does he enjoy the art?” I asked, “He can't see.”

    “Can't see? You're wrong. He sees a lot. More than you or I do.” The clerk said, “His wife describes each painting so he can see it in his head.”

    I learned something from the couple that day. I saw a young wife describing paintings to a person without sight (视力) and a husband who would not allow blindness to change his life. And I saw the love shared by two people as I watched this couple walk away hand in hand.

    I have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch(牧马场). The last time I was there he told me his story. When he was young, his family was too poor to have a house to live in.As a result , when he was in high school, all the students were asked to write a paper about what they wanted to be and do when they grew up. That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of owning a horse ranch. He also drew a picture to show a 4,000-square-foot house that would sit on a beautiful farm. The next day he handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F. Roberts asked, “Why did I receive an F?” He teacher said, “This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money.” Then the teacher added, “If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will reconsider your grade.”

    The boy went home and thought about it for a long and hard time. He asked his father what he should do. His father said, “ Look, son, you have to make up your own mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision for you.”Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same paper, making no changes at all. He told his teacher “you could keep the F and I still keep my dream”.

    He tells me this story because I am sitting in his 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of the 200-acre horse ranch. “I still have that school paper now.” He added, “The best part of the story is that two years ago that  teacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week.” When the teacher was leaving, he said, Look, Monty, I can tell you this now. When I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer.During those years I stole a lot of kids' dreams. Luckily, you had enough gumption not to give up on yours. .”

    One night a patient went fishing in another man's boat outside Albert Smith's hospital. The owner of the boat thought he should get all the fish from the patient.

    Dr Smith said to the boat owner, "You are right because you didn't allow him to use your boat. But you are wrong because you are careless and lazy. You seldom(很少) put your boat in a safe place and fasten it with a lock. Because of your laziness you were asleep on this moonlit night instead of making use of the good time to fish. "

    He turned to the patient, "But you are wrong when you took the boat without asking the owner's permission(允许). You are right because you are not so lazy as he is, and you did not want to let the moonlit night go by without making use of it. "

    Dr Smith divided the catch(捕捉物) among the patient, the boat owner and the hospital .

    The Lost Thing is a story about a young man. He often wears a pair of glasses. He likes collecting(收集)bottle caps when he's travelling around the world. One day, he takes an old train to the beach. He sees a strange red teapot(茶壶)。It is about 3-4m tall. It's very friendly to him. They play with a ball in the afternoon. When the sun goes down, he starts to know that his friend doesn't have the owner(主人). He thinks, "It might be a lost thing." He wants to know more about the red teapot, so he tries to help it find its owner. Will the teapot find its owner? It's a secret.

    Charlotte's Web (《夏洛特的网》) is a classic children's novel written by an American author, E.B. White. The novel tells the story of a pig named Wilbur and his friendship with a spider (蜘蛛) named Charlotte.

    Wilbur is the 11th baby of his mother. Since his mother can only feed ten babies at one time, the farmer plans to kill Wilbur. Kind-hearted little Fern saves him and scents him to a nearby farm. Animals on the farm refuse to befriend Wilbur, so Wilbur feels lonely. However, Charlotte welcomes this new member and is glad to make friends with him.

    Knowing what is going to happen to Wilbur (as the farm owner plans to kill him for sale), Charlotte promises to make a plan to save his life. She writes a lot of good things about Wilbur on her web and makes him famous. Charlotte succeeds in saving Wilbur's life, but she dies as she is too old. Luckily, she leaves three baby spiders. More and more generations of spiders continue to be with Wilbur.