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.

    Mr Jones, the owner of a farm, was one day driven out of the farm by all the animals he kept．The animals were excited to be masters of their farm．Animals made seven rules of their own and Snowball painted them on the wall．

    ⒈Whatever walks on two legs is an enemy;

    ⒉Whatever walks on four legs, or has wings, is a friend;

    ⒊No animal shall wear clothes;

    ⒋No animal shall sleep in bed;

    ⒌No animal shall drink alcohol(酒);

    ⒍No animal shall kill any other animal;

    ⒎All animals are equal．

    They were nicely written, except that "friend" was written "friend"．Snowball read them out, and all the animals agreed．

    "Now, let's go to the field．Let's get in the harvest more quickly than Jones and his men could do．"

    But at this moment the three cows, who had seemed uneasy for some time, shouted because they hadn't been milked for 24 hours．Then the pigs began to help milk the cows successfully．Soon there were five buckets (桶) of creamy milk at which many animals

    looked with great interest．"What's going to happen to all the milk?" asked one animal．"Jones used to mix some of it in our food," said one of the hens．"Never mind the milk," cried Napoleon, standing in front of the buckets, "the harvest is more important．Mr Snowball will lead the way, and I'll follow in a few minutes．"

    So the animals ran down to the field to begin the harvest, and when they came back in the evening, it was noticed that the milk had disappeared．

    It all started at the beginning of the fifth grade. At first, Carmen wasn't really sure what was happening. In class, she had to squint (眯着) her eyes to see the blackboard clearly. She had to do the same thing when she read street signs, or when she watched a movie.

    It wasn't long before Carmen found herself squinting all the time, but she didn't want anyone to know that. One day, she asked for a desk closer to the blackboard. Her teacher asked if she had trouble seeing the blackboard. Carmen shook her head, but she knew she couldn't pretend(假装) much longer.

    At home, she had to sit closer and closer to the television while watching her favourite shows. Her mother noticed that and said, "Tomorrow I'm calling the eye doctor to get an appointment for you." Three days later, Carmen had" new glasses and the doctor told her to wear them all the time. Carmen frowned in the car the whole way home.

    "All of the kids at school will think I'm a nerd." she said.

    "You look just as beautiful with those glasses on as you do without them," her mother smiled and said. But Carmen didn't believe her.

    The next day, Carmen kept the glasses in her pocket as she walked into the schoolyard. She avoided her friends and stood alone, feeling unhappy. Suddenly, she heard her friend Tracy shout. Carmen ran over. "What's wrong?" she asked.

    "My silver ring is gone!" Tracy cried. "It's very special and I can't lose it!"

    Carmen could tell that Tracy was very sad. They all looked for the ring in the grassy area of the playground.

      ▲   She took the glasses out and put them on. She caught, her breath. Everything looked so different! So clear! She looked down at the ground and a glimmer of silver caught her eye. It was the ring.

    "Here it is. I've found it!" She handed it to Tracy.

    "Thanks, Carmen. I never thought we'd find it," Tracy paused. "Hey, I didn't know you wore glasses. They look great!"

    Carmen had forgotten that she was wearing the new glasses. "Thanks," she replied shyly. As they walked back towards the school building, two more girls from her class complimented (赞美) her on her glasses. Carmen smiled. "Maybe wearing glasses won't be so bad after all," she thought.