I was small for my age. I was shy and sometimes it was hard for me to make friends with others. However, learning came fairly (相当地) easy for me. I was the best in most of my classes, but PE class was my nightmare (噩梦) and made me feel that I was not as good as the others. Miss Forsythe was our PE teacher. She was young and energetic. Everyone liked her. She said that we all had to come to her classes. No one could hide from Miss Forsythe!

    One day she told me that she wanted me to play a game with another girl in a PE show. I was rather worried that I wouldn't do a good job as she explained her idea, but she was excited. With her encouragement, I had no choice but to agree.

    It was a "boy meets girl" game. I played the boy and my classmate, Margaret Ann. played the girl. We were dressed in evening clothes and danced around the floor. According to Miss Forsythe. I had to pick up Margaret Ann when we finished the dance. Since I was not strong enough to pick the tallest girl up, it was she who picked me up. I suddenly felt ten feet tall! It was a huge success and everybody applauded (鼓掌) for our excellent performance. What a wonderful ending! Afterwards. I smiled confidently. Miss Forsythe's understanding and willingness to create a place for me in her show (which certainly did not need me) gave me some much needed confidence. She was and always will be my favorite teacher.

Can you imagine what the human body in the future will be like? Our class had a discussion about it. Tiantian, an AI (artificial intelligence人工智能) robot, also joined us. Here are our guesses.

{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Humans are now ten centimeters (厘米) taller than 150 years ago. So, in the future, people will probably be even taller. Why? Because most of us today have much better food than those in the past.

You must say that people will be stronger according to the first guess. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} With the development of science and technology, we won't have much physical work to do. If people get used to this kind of lifestyle, we will probably lose most of our muscles (肌肉).

Next, let's come to our hands and feet. We are already using our feet less, and our hands more. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} At the same time, our fingers and our eyes will both get better because they'll have to do more work together.

Here comes the most interesting one—it's very possible that people will have four toes (脚趾), not five. The little toe really isn't needed anymore. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Let's wait and see.

Last but not least—people won't have as much hair on their bodies as now, since we don't need it to keep ourselves warm.

What do you think of our guesses? {#blank#}5{#/blank#} With the rise of AI, will we lose the ability of thinking independently?

A. But you're wrong.

B. Will all these things happen?

C. Let's start with people's height.

D. Will it still be there in the future?

E. So we can expect our legs will get shorter and our feet smaller.

Mr. Watson's store sold many different things. Every day, Jess came to the store and he loved to look at the pipes. One pipe especially caught his eye. He imagined that some day he would be a grown man and could smoke a pipe, just like his father that he didn't remember.

Jess reached out and touched the pipe. He kept thinking that when he was old enough, he would go to work and his mother could stay home. He would not have to wait three hours after school until she came.home from her job. Oh, why? He wondered, did it take so long to grow up and take his father's place.

He looked around the store and put the bowl of the pipe in his hand. He just wanted to get the feel of it- nothing more.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around quickly. It was Mr. Watson, the friendly store owner.

"Hello, Jess," Mr. Watson smiled, and kept on walking. Jess struggled to answer but could not get his voice up. He swallowed and smiled back weakly.

The store seemed extremely warm. Jess watched his feet begin to move and take him out of the store. Like sleepwalking, he moved towards the ground. He looked around and saw the empty swing. Sitting on the swing, a sharp pain caught him in the stomach. He knew it was the pipe he felt. He had walked out of the store with it!

The sun was slipping down through the trees and it was time to go home. His mother would look at him and she would know. She always knew. A bot tear ran down his cheek. She trusted him. He remembered the nice way she said, "You're a little man now, Jess." Her trust in him was all he could think about now. The pipe and its magic power meant nothing. His dream of growing up meant nothing.

Looking at the long shadows of the trees coming towards him, Jess now knew what he had to do. He jumped out of the swing and started running. His feet were quick, decisive, taking him straight back to the store like an arrow. Mr. Watson was just inside the door. Suddenly and blindly he held out the pipe. Mr. Watson gently took the pipe from the boy's hand and patted him on the

shoulder. Jess felt the warmth of Mr Watson's big hand, and felt his shoulders had become a little broader and stronger.