My mom isn't fancy like other moms.They wear fancy clothes and drive fancy cars. My mom wears her gardening clothes when she walks me to school.　

When fancy moms laugh，their laughs sound soft and whispery. You can hear my mom's laugh from down the hall. I show her how to laugh quietly and she practices. But before long she starts laughing even harder than before.

 At the talent show，my mom cheers loudly，“Bravo，everyone！Bravo！”instead of clapping politely the way fancy moms do.

For our class hike（徒步旅行），parents are invited. At breakfast I go over my rules for Mom，“Please don't whistle. Don't laugh loudly. No clapping. And stay in line.”

 The other moms show up wearing fancy jackets and sneakers. My mom wears cutoffs，a floppy straw hat，and her old hiking boots.

We hike along，all in a line. Soon Mom starts to whistle her hiking songs，She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain.I shake my head at her. She stops and whispers，“Oops. Sorry，Jane.”

 We keep hiking. Everything is perfect until…

 Our teacher，Ms. Steele，stops and points，“A snake！”All the moms hold their kids hands and back up，except my mom.“Watch out！It might be poisonous（有毒的）！”Ms. Steele says.

 The other moms shuttle back some more. However，my mom steps forward and says，“Hmm. Let's see what kind it is. Nope，it's not poisonous.”

 I shut my eyes.I know what's coming next. Mom makes a sudden attack.“Got it！”she says. The other moms scream，not sounding fancy at all.

Kids gather around as Mom examines the snake.“It's OK to touch，”she says.

 Everyone's too scared，but I go first.“snakes aren't slimy，”I tell them. Right away，others line up. A couple of the fancy moms come up to touch the snake's tail.

 Later，Ms. Steele tells us to draw our favorite part of the hike. After a while，I look around quickly. Everyone's picture is of Mom and me with the snake.

 As we hike back to the bus，I squeeze Mom's hand.“I'm glad I didn't tell you my don't-catch-snakes rule.”She smiles. But soon，she's whistling her hiking songs again！

 I start to make her silent，then stop. Instead，I take a deep breath and sing out too. Everyone joins in，even the fancy moms.

阅读理解

    Mick Polly，an owner of a toy store，lives with his teenage daughter Carolina in Kentucky．He is known as the Bike Man．Over the past five years，Mick has built hundreds of bikes for needy kids．

    One day in 2012，a 13﹣year﹣old boy with a broken bike walked by Mick's house．"I was working in my garage（车库），and he asked if I could fix it，"says Mick，now 53．

    The boy's bike had a broken wheel．Mick sent a post（帖子） on Facebook，asking his friends if they had the needed part．One friend saw the post and gave away two used bikes．Mick took parts from each to build a new set of wheels for the boy．

    Soon after，Mick repaired a bike for the boy's brother and fixed one for his sister．Word spread，and during the year，he had fixed up lots of bikes for local kids whose parents were not able to afford new ones ．

    "People are throwing away bikes day and night，"says Mick．

    Mick puts the bikes and bike parts in his garage．"I take off the good tires or the handlebars or the seats and use them，"he says．

    Up to now，the bike man has repaired hundreds of bikes and given away nearly 700newly repaired bikes．They're free，but the kids must agree to two things：They have to learn how to put waste things to good use and they have to try their best to study in school．

    If a kid's grades are low，Mick requires a teacher's note"saying that you're doing your best，"Mick says．Mick also hopes the bikes will get kids off the sofa．"When I was growing up，we all rode our bikes，"he says．"Hopefully these kids can get some exercise．"

    A girl complained to her father about her hard life．She didn't know what she had to do and wanted to give up．She felt tired of fighting and fighting．One problem had been finished but another came over．

    Her father，a cook，took her into the kitchen．He poured water into three pans and boiled(煮沸) them．After boiling，in the first pan was put some carrots，the second was put some eggs and the last was put with coffee．

    The girl waited impatiently (不耐烦的)，confused by what her father did．About 20 minutes later，her father took out the carrots and put them in a bowl．He took the eggs and put them in a bowl．After that the coffee was poured into a cup．“My sweet heart，what do you see？” he asked．

    “Carrots，eggs and coffee，” she replied．

    Her father told her to close her eyes and asked her to touch the carrots．She did so and felt that the carrots were soft．After that he asked her to take the eggs and break them．After peeling (剥开) them，she got the eggs，cooked and hard．The last，the father let her smell the coffee． She asked，“What did you do this for，Father？” He explained that each had the same unlucky experience—the boiling water，but each had a different result． The strong and hard carrots had become soft and weak．Thefragileeggs became hard after being cooked． The coffee was very special，they could change water．“Who are you？” asked her father．“When bad luck knocks at your door，what is your decision? Are you carrots，eggs or coffee？”

    It is May, 2050. Frank and Mary wake up in their comfortable house in the morning. They turn on the bedroom computer to read the latest news. They keep on reading The Times for many years. The only difference is that they changed from paper newspapers to electronic newspapers. There is the usual news about space: another space flight has returned from Mars and scientists have discovered a new planet.

    After breakfast, as they watch the screen, Mary orders the cooking robot to make coffee for them. Frank is a computer engineer, working for several companies. He is going to take part in a video conference with his partners all around the world.

    Mary is a medical researcher. She usually works at home. Now she is looking at the shopping channels while her secretary robot is helping her check a new type of medicine.

    Their daughter, Louise, has her own study room at home. She goes to school only one day a week, to play with other students. Louise is studying Chinese in the present. Chinese has become an important language in the world.

    According to the family doctor, Louise will live to at least 130 years old. Her wish is to work for a few decades (十年) and then spend her time on music and painting.

    Mr. Liu is an English teacher in Nanjing. This year, he visits France(法国) for his summer holiday.

    He watches many beautiful buildings and enjoys wonderful song and dance shows there. He also loves French(法国的；法语的) bread, cakes and soup. He has a good time there. But he doesn't feel happy all the time. He wants to visit an art museum. He doesn't know the way.

    So he uses English to ask some French people how to get there. He feels very sad after he finds no one can tell him. At last, a kind lady tells him the way, and says to him, "you are here in France, and people usually speak French only. They can't speak English, so a lot of people don't understand what you say. But even if they understand English, they only talk with you in French, no English."

    When he goes into the museum, he sees so many beautiful pictures and other works(作品) of art. He feels excited and wants to take pictures of what he sees in the museum. At that time, a worker stops him, and asks him not to take any photos. He asks the worker why he can't take any photos in English. The worker doesn't answer, but he points at (指向) a sign on the wall with French words " II est interdit de photographier dans la sallle."