Shi Li and Cui Jiping are husband and wife. They are disabled. They completed the first Chinese encyclopedic(百科知识的) dictionary for deaf people and people with hearing problems.

    He met her at a party. However, she never paid any attention to him. After the party, he invited her for coffee. In order not to be rude, she went along.

In a nice coffee shop, he was too nervous to say anything. Suddenly, he asked the writer, "Could you put some salt in my coffee?" The waiter and she looked at him in surprise. "Why salt with coffee?" she asked. "I used to live near the sea. Whenever I drink salty coffee, it reminds me of my hometown and my parents," he answered.

    She was touched. A man who is homesick(想家的) must love his home. So she talked with him a lot and slowly found she was just the man she was looking for.

    Later they married and lived happily together and every time she made coffee for him, she put in some salt. After 40 years, he passed away and left her a letter, which said, my dearest, please forgive my life-long lie. Remember the first time we met? I was so nervous that I asked for salt instead of sugar Dear, I don't exactly like salty coffee. But having you with me was my greatest happiness.

    When my first wartime Christmas came, I was in basic training in New Jersey and not sure if I would make it home for the holidays. Only on the afternoon of December 23 was the list of men who would have the three-day holiday posted. I was one of the lucky soldiers. It was Christmas Eve when I arrived home, and a little snow had fallen. Mother opened the front door. I could see beyond her, into the corner of the living room where the tree had always stood, there were lights, all colors, and ornaments (饰品) shining against the green of a pine.

    “Where did it come from?” I asked.

    “I asked the Gates boy to cut it,” my mother said. “I wouldn't have had one just for myself, but when in great need…such a rush! He just brought it in this afternoon.”

    The pine reached to the proper height, almost to the ceiling, and the Tree Top Crystal Star was in its place. A few green branches reached out a little awkwardly(难看) at the side, I thought, and there was a bit of bare trunk showing in the middle. But the tree filled the room with warm light and the whole house with the pleasant smell of Christmas.

    “It's not like the one you used to find,” my mother went on. “Yours were always in good shape. I suppose the Gates boy didn't know where to look for a better one. But I couldn't be fussy because he had tried his best.”

    “Don't worry,” I told her. “It's perfect.”

    It wasn't, of course, but at the moment I realized something for the first time: all Christmas trees are perfect.

    Michelle and Ryan often stopped by a pet shop on their way home from school. They stopped for Sugar and Spice. Sugar and Spice were two cats that shared a cage. They were cute and played nicely together. Michelle and Ryan thought that they must be best friends like them.

    Things got busy at school, so Michelle and Ryan didn't have time to stop by the pet shop. How they missed seeing Sugar and Spice! One Sunday morning, Michelle went to the supermarket. Her mother asked her to buy some fruit. She was happy that she could stop by the pet shop to have a look. To Michelle's surprise, Spice wasn't there. She only saw Sugar. Maybe someone bought Spice and the two best friends would never be together again. She went home in tears.

    Two days later Ryan's parents held a birthday party for him. At the party Michelle, Ryan and their friends played games, sang and ate cake. Then came the best part—the presents. Ryan's dad brought out a small box with holes in it. Ryan carefully opened it and found Spice inside!

    Ryan was excited to have a new cat, but he was also sad that Spice was not with Sugar any more. Ryan's dad realized his sad feeling and motioned (示意) to Michelle's mum. Then she walked in with a small box with holes in it. The box looked just like the one that Ryan got. Michelle's mum asked Michelle if she wanted an early birthday present. But before Michelle could answer, Ryan took the box aside and Sugar jumped out! Sugar and Spice started playing together. Ryan looked at Michelle and said. "This is the best birthday ever!"

    Is handwriting (书写) important? Yes, the 10-year-old girl Alyssa thinks so. She is a fifth-grade student from Mason County, the USA. She's the champion (冠军) for her grade level in the National Handwriting Contest in 2012.

    After she got the news, Alyssa was surprised that she could be the first. "I'm really happy," she said. "I'm really surprised, too. I didn't know I was that good."

    To enter (参加) the contest, each student had to write the sentence (句子) "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog". It is a common English sentence, but it uses every letter of the English alphabet. Teachers were invited to be judges. They could decide who wins the contest.

    Alyssa enjoys handwriting, and wants to write adventure (冒险) stories when she gets older. "From the third grade we started learning handwriting," Alyssa said. "All the letters look pretty. It makes me think of art."