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.

    Alice's class planned to make a class newspaper. All the students wrote stories, articles or poems for it. One day Alice said to the teacher, “Most newspapers have advertisements. Can we put some in our newspaper?”

    The teacher agreed at once. She made Alice the advertising manager, and then Alice asked her classmates to advertise in the newspaper. Here are some of the ads Alice received.

    I am Tom. My mom told me my first and second words were "Mommy" and "Daddy". The next one was "No". I didn't want to eat vegetables. I didn't want to go to bed early. I didn't want to study in the school. Being the "baby" of the family (I have two sisters)，I said a lot of "No".

    When I became a middle school student, my father had a talk with me. He asked me to say "Yes" more than "No". "You can have a different life when you do that," he said.

    Then I began to say "Yes" more. When mom asked me to give her a cup of tea, I said "Yes". I saw a big smile on her face. When Dad asked me to buy some food for him，I said "Yes". When he said "thanks" to me, I felt excited and happy. When I met problems in study, I said "Yes, I can do it!" I began to study hard and got good grades.

    Saying "Yes" can bring good luck to me and make me happy. Let's say "Yes" to life. Say "Yes" when others ask for help. Say "Yes" to make this world be a good place.

D

    As the saying goes, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” This is the way the charity organization Heifer International (国际小母牛慈善组织) wants to end world hunger.

    It began in the 1930s when an American farmer, Dan West, went to Spain to help people in need. He tried to feed the people with milk. But it seemed that there would never be enough milk. It made him think that what they needed was “not a cup, but a cow”.

    Dan West returned to America. He worked together with some friends to find ways to end hunger. He believed giving animals and providing training would stop world hunger. With his help, Heifer International was set up.

    On Heifer International's website, you will see a list of animals like cows, chickens, pigs and even fish and bees. You can offer help by buying some animals for one certain family. Those animals will have babies get better lives, they will pass on the act of kindness to others. More importantly, you are buying the resources (资源) for programs run by Heifer International to help more families.

    The programs also help small-sized farms. As a rule, each farmer must give his animal's first female (雌性) baby to another in need. Heifer International also provides training on animals' health and feeding. And these farmers all agree to teach others what they have learned as another rule.

    However, there is still a long way to go. The milk may run out. But if families have their own cows, they can get plenty of milk to feed themselves. The organization wants the farmers to go on working together, helping each other and learning from each other. Maybe hunger can really be stopped.

    There once lived a rich businessman who had a lazy son. The businessman wanted his son to realize the value of labor.

    One day, he told his son, "Today, I want you to earn something. If you fail, you won't have your meal tonight."

    The boy didn't want to find a job, so he asked his mother for help. She gave him a gold coin. In the evening, when the father asked his son what he had earned, the son showed him the gold coin. The father then asked him to throw it into the well (水井). The son did as he was told.

    The father guessed that the gold was from the boy's mother. The next day, he sent his wife to her parents' home and asked his son to earn something. Since no one helped him, the son had to go to the market to look for a job. A shopkeeper told him that he would pay him a coin if he carried heavy tools for him. The son accepted. As he returned home and gave the coin to his father, he was asked to throw it into the well. The boy cried, "Dad! My body is aching. I'm tired. How are you asking me to throw my hard-carned coin into a well?"

    The businessman smiled. He told his son that one feels pain only when the fruits of labor are wasted. The son realized the value of hard work. He promised not to be lazy any more.

  The Vietnam(越南) War broke out. The young husband 1the army and died in the war. His wife and son began to have a 2life after that. Even though their life was very hard and sometimes they didn't have enough food to eat, the 3still decided to raise her son by herself.

  Several years later her son immigrated(移民) to America 4finally become an engineer. He often sent letters to his mother with much money. However, with many excuses, the son 5to come back home to visit his mother.

  6his mother died, the son returned. But he didn't cry. His mother left a box behind. During the funeral(葬礼), the son opened the box and 7cried and shouted, "Mom! Mom!"8looked at each other and then looked at the box. It was full of $ 100 bill and a piece of paper.

  It read, "Son, I don't spend too much money. I miss you a lot. Every time I heard a motorcycle 9. I ran out of the door but it wasn't you. I stayed money 10you in case (以防) you get sick."