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    Tom lives in a town near New York. His father has a shop there and his mother is a doctor. Tom is seven years old this year and begins to go to school this September. It is a little far from their shop and his father drives a car to take him to take him to school five days a week. So he is never late for class and his father likes him very much.

    It is Monday today. Miss Green is teaching them to count(数数) from one to ten in the morning. Tom is study hard. Soon he can count them. Miss Green is very happy and asks, "How many people are there in your family, Tom."

    Tom stands up and says, "Two, Miss Gao."

    "Who are they?"

    "My father and my mother."

    "Oh," Miss Green is surprised(吃惊). She says "Then there are three people in your family."

    "But now I'm not at home. I'm at school, you know."

    An old man went to live with his son, his daughter-in-law, and a four-year-old grandson. The old man's hands trembled, his eyesight was very poor, and he couldn't walk steadily(平稳地). The family ate together nightly at the dinner table. But the elderly grandfather's shaky hands and failing sight made eating rather difficult. Rice often dropped on the floor.

    The son and the daughter-in-law became angry with the old man, so they put a small table in the corner. There, the grandfather ate alone, while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner at the table. Since the grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl.

    The four-year-old son watched it all in silence. One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with a piece of wood on the floor. He asked the child sweetly, “What are you making?” The boy answered, “Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and mama to eat your food from when I grow up.” The four-year-old son smiled and went back to work. The words struck the parents so that they were in silence. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks（脸颊）. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done. That evening the husband took grandfather's hand and gently led him back to the family table.

    Like most of her friends, Georgie Sanderson has 24-houpa-day access(使用权) to technology through her mobile phone, iPod Touch and home computer. But the 15-year-old girl says she is too busy to spend her days on Facebook. She only uses it once or twice a day. "The 10th grade is busy, and I have to work hard. Even when I'm not studying, I have better things to do with my time, such as being outside or spending time with my friends," she says. Georgie has a part-time job. She watches TV for a while in the afternoon and she helps with the housework.

    Georgie's words prove the findings of a new report. According to the report, teenagers today are not completely dominated(支配) by technology, although they have been into a digital(数字) world. They spend most of their time on their homework, TV, part-time jobs, hobbies, sports, friendship or reading instead of playing or chatting on the computer. But the report also finds that mobile phones are important to teenagers. 95 percent of 18 year-olds have got one mobile phone, and 82 percent sleep with their mobile phones on and beside them all night.

    For Georgie, sleep is more important than texting others. Georgie is also careful about the use of IT. She says, "Social media is helpful, but it is so distracting(使人分心的). I only use it when I do need to use it."

    In 1996, Subaru Takaiashi sailed alone across the Pacific Ocean. Many other people did this before Subaru, but he was special. At 14, he was the youngest person to sail across the Pacific by himself.

    Subaru left Tokyo on 23 July, 1996. His boat was 30 feet (9 metres) long. In the boat, he had a two-month supply of food and water. He also had a radio and other modern equipment for sailing.

    The beginning of this trip went very well. Subaru often talked to his parents by radio. He didn't have any problems with his boat. Then on 11 August, the engine in his boat quit. This affected his navigation(导航)equipment. Then five days later, his radio quit. So he wasn't able to communicate with anyone. And he was still 2,770 miles (4,490 kilometres) away from his destination-San Francisco.

    By the end of August, many people believed that Subaru was lost. No one was able to contact him by radio. His parents expected him to arrive in San Francisco on 3 September, but he didn't. Then, on 13 September, Subaru sailed into San Francisco. After 55 days in his boat, his trip was finally over.

    Many people believe that Subaru was too young to sail alone. They say that parents shouldn't allow children to make such dangerous trips. However, other people say that children should have adventures, too.

    Abby's father was taking her to visit her grandmother. Abby was going to be away for three months. "I can't leave Tobias behind," she said. "You will have to," said her father. "You can't take Tobias into another country."

    Abby thought it was silly rule. "I will take him," she said to herself. So she put him in a sock and packed it in her bag.

    At the airport, Abby put her bag by the x-ray machine. Abby felt her legs shaking as the bag was going through the machine. She hoped Tobias in the bag made no noise. The woman by the machine smiled and said, "Have a good flight."

    On the plane, Abby waited until her dad and the woman next to her fell asleep. Then she opened the sock to look at Tobias. But he jumped out of the sock and landed on the woman's knee. The woman cried loudly, "A mouse!" Abby quickly put Tobias into the sock and back into her bag.

    Before they landed, Dad filled out a form, choosing no to: Are you bringing any live animals into the country?

    She saw the man frown (皱眉) as her bag went through the x-ray machine. She watched when he opened the bag and pulled out the sock.

"Come with me, please."

    Abby followed her dad into a small room. There was a police officer and Tobias in the sock was on the desk. The police officer talked to Abby's dad, "You have tried to smuggle (走私) an animal into this country." Abby felt fear came all over her body. "It's my fault (过错)," she said in a small voice. "I didn't want to leave him behind." "Have you ever been in trouble before?" the officer asked as he wrote "animal smuggler" next to her name. Abby opened her mouth but no sound came out.

    Tobias had to be in quarantine (隔离) for six months, which cost a lot of money. And Abby wouldn't be able to visit her grandmother again. Now, she learned there was a good reason for rules.

    One day an American was in Africa. He wanted to go to a small village in the hill. He got on a bus and the driver said: "The yellow ticket is one dollar. I have two other tickets. The red one is fifty cents, and the green, ten cents." "A green one, please "said the man. The bus started to get up the hill. Suddenly it stopped. "Red ticket passengers, get out and walk. Green ticket passengers, get out, close the door, and push the bus." shouted the driver.