Some people remember the things by writing notes to themselves. Then they leave the notes in obvious(明显的) places, such as on the table or on the floor in the middle of the living room. I don't think I like to write notes to myself. Most of the time I lose them or forget to look at them until it's too late. I prefer to use an alarm clock to tell me what I should do. I have ten alarm clocks in my house. They could tell me about things. For example, if I have to make a telephone call at a certain time, I'll set an alarm clock to go off a few minutes early and put the clock by the telephone. Or if I want to watch a certain television program, I'll set an alarm clock at the right time and put the clock on top of the TV set. I can remember almost anything if I use my clocks. However, sometimes an alarm clock goes off and I don't know what it means. I always remember setting it, but I do not know why I set it. If the clock is by the telephone, I know I may have set it to tell me to call someone, but I can't be sure. I might have set it to tell myself that somebody was to call me at a certain time.

    Once a great boxer(拳击手), Tom Brown, went to a restaurant for dinner. He put his bag near the door, but he was afraid that someone would take it away. So he got out a pen and a piece of paper and wrote on it, “The great boxer, Tom Brown, left his bag here and he will be back in a few minutes.”

    He put the paper on his bag and went to have his dinner. When he came back, his bag wasn't there. But he found a piece of paper on the ground. It said, “A great runner took away your bag, and will not be back.”

    Tina woke up at midnight. She looked out of her window and saw a yellow light in the sky. It suddenly dived towards the ground. She heard a noise and saw a red light.

    The next morning, Tina mentioned it to her brother Tom. "I'm sure something landed in the forest near the hills as I heard a loud noise last night" she said, "Let's go there and have a look after school."

    At 6 p.m., Tina and Tom reached the forest. They heard some voices speaking a strange language, so they hid behind some gees and kept quiet. Then they saw an alien! It was tall, with a round head and a silver body. It was standing next to a long spaceship.

    The children were frightened. Suddenly, another alien appeared from the trees in front of them. It discovered them and made a terrible noise! The children ran away in fear.

    The next morning, Tina and Tom told their parents about the strange aliens. "They were very ugly. They had some hair, but they didn't have any feathers." said Tina.

    "There was something written on the spaceship," said Tom. "It looked like this. I wonder what it means." He drew some lines on a piece of paper.

    But Dad said, "Since no one else saw these aliens. I refuse to believe you. Now go to school!"

    The children opened their wings and flew to school together.

    Dad looked at the piece of paper with the strange marks on it. "It looks strange," he said, as he looked at the word "EARTH".

    Watching some children trying to catch butterflies one August afternoon, I thought of my unforgettable experience in my own childhood. When I was a boy of twelve in South Carolina, something happened to me that made me never put any wild creature in a cage.

We lived near a forest, and every evening at dusk the mockingbirds would come and rest in the trees and sing. Their singing is the most beautiful sound I've ever heard.

    I decided that I would catch a young bird and keep it in a cage and in that way, I would have my own private musician.

    I finally succeeded in catching a young bird and put it in a cage. At first, being frightened, the bird fluttered(扑腾) in the cage, but finally it settled down in its new home. I felt very pleased with myself and looked forward to some beautiful singing rom my little musician.

    On the second day, my new pet's mother flew to the cage with food in her mouth. The baby bird ate everything she brought to it. I was pleased to see this. Certainly the mother knew better than I how to feed her baby.

    The following morning when I went to see the bird again, I found it on the floor of the cage, dead. I was terribly surprised! What had happened! I had taken good care of my little bird.

    Arthur Wayne, the famous ornithologist, who happened to be visiting my father at the time, hearing me crying over the death of my bird, explained what had happened. "Mother mockingbird, finding her young in a cage, will sometimes bring it poisonous berries(毒莓). She thinks it better for her young to die than to live in a cage."

    Since then I have never caught any living creature and put it in a cage. All living creatures have a right to live free.