Mr. and Mrs. Albino, with 64 children, have the world's largest family. Not one of their children is adopted(领养).

When people hear about the Albinos' large family, the first question they ask is, "How is it possible? How can one woman give birth to 64 children in her lifetime?" The answer is simple: {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

Soon after the Albinos got married, the children came quickly, in twos and threes. The first 21 children were boys. Mrs. Albino loved her sons, but she wanted a daughter very much.

The Albinos spent the early years in Argentina. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} To travel from Argentina to Chile, they had to cross the Andes Mountains. Mr. and Mrs. Albino and their 21 sons made the difficult, two-week journey on mules. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

During the snowstorm, Mrs. Albino gave birth to triplets, a boy and two girls!

The oldest Albino children are in their thirties and forties. They are on their own now, but 18 of the Albino children still live with their parents. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} The shack has electricity but no toilet or running water. The children wash in a small bowl in the dusty backyard.

At times there is very little food in the Albinos' small house when there is not enough food for everyone, Mrs. Albino makes sure the youngest children do not go hungry. "The smallest eat first, and then the bigger ones. We've always done it that way," she says. Obviously, the Albinos do not have enough money for their big family, then, do they continue to have children?

The Albinos do not use birth control because it is against their religion(宗教). They could let other people take care of their children, but Mrs. Albino will not allow it, "When my two brothers and I were babies," she says, "our mother left us at an orphanage(孤儿院) and never returned. We lived there together until we were five. Then a couple adopted my brothers and I was left behind. I was heartbroken.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Even if I didn't have much money, I would always take care of my children by myself." Mrs. Albino has kept her promise.

    I'm not much of a crier most of the time. But {#blank#}1{#/blank#} when I was reading a book on a plane, I started crying. Of course, it came as a big surprise when tears came up, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't {#blank#}2{#/blank#} myself.

    Oh no, not this now. I thought to myself. But even as the thought entered my brain. I felt the {#blank#}3{#/blank#} hot drop of salty water coming down my face. I put my head down, hoping that I could go on reading.

    In fact, the harder I tried, the more tears pushed their way out of my eyes. You could guess how surprised the man next to me looked.

    My head {#blank#}4{#/blank#} in shame. He must think I was crazy. Maybe I could turn towards him, hold up the cover of the book and say in my crying voice. "I'm sorry, sir. It's just a really good book!" But I didn't, say anything. Instead, I just put my head back against the {#blank#}5{#/blank#} and let the tears run. Do you know what decision I made while I was crying? My decision was that it was OK if he thought I was crazy. I preferred to be crazy instead of being the kind of person who wouldn't cry when the situation called for it, or who wouldn't let {#blank#}6{#/blank#} feel anything at all.

    I've been that girl who has spent so much time trying to make sure people didn't think f was crazy. But now I don't want to be that girl any more —that bored and {#blank#}7{#/blank#} girl. I'd rather {#blank#}8{#/blank#} this girl who is able to forgive (原谅), love and act, even if it means being disappointed or being hurt again and again.

To My Best Friend

On a sunny morning, I am listening to the music. The soft music reminds me of my best friend, Sarah. There are many things I want to say to her.

Thank you for being there for me throughout all of the seasons of my life — the ups and downs, the beautiful and the ugly. You have offered me a shoulder to cry on whenever life has become hard. You have helped me in ways I didn't even know.

{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Whether it's been sending me the funniest pictures on the Internet or singing with me my favourite singers' songs, you have given me some of the best laughs of my life.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Whenever I have doubts about myself, you remind me of who I am and why I should be proud to have grown into the person I am. And thank you for always being honest with me. Whenever I make a stupid mistake, you always bring me around to face reality.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}Without your encouragement, I wouldn't have applied for(申请) and landed the well-paying job that I now have.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#}You have taught me what it means to be a loving friend and what it means to receive love. There is something special about our friendship that cannot be found in any other relationship I've ever had.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#}No words could ever describe how thankful I am to have you in my life. And I'll always try my best to be the best friend for you.

Today there are policemen everywhere, but in 1700 London had no policemen at all. A few old men used to protect the city streets at night and they were not paid much. 

About 300 years ago, London was starting to get bigger. More and more people went to live and work there. However, there were many thieves in the streets, so most people wanted to stay in their homes as much as possible. 

In 1750, Henry Fielding started to pay a group of people to stop thieves. They were like policemen, but they were called "Bow Street Runners" because they worked just near Bow Street. Fifty years later, there were 120 Bow Street Runners, but London became very big and needed more policemen. 

In 1829, the first London Police Force was started with 3, 000 officers. Most of the men worked on foot, but a few rode horses. And until 1920 all the police in London were men. 

Today London Police are quite well paid and for the few police officers who still ride horses, the pay is even better than for the others.