Mary is an American girl. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Smith find work in China. So they live in Wuhan now. Mr. Smith works in a big shop. Mrs. Smith teaches English in a middle school. Mary goes to that school on weekdays. On Sundays she goes shopping with her mother. She likes dumplings very much. Every time they'd like many dumplings. It's 6:30 in the evening now. Mrs.Smith is cooking. Mr. Smith is helping her with the housework. What's Mary doing? She is doing her homework carefully.

    Mike gets up at half past seven. He has an egg and some milk for breakfast. Then he goes to school. When he is on his way to school, he is thinking, “I told my teacher that my mother w as ill on Monday. I told him my bike didn't work on my way to school on Tuesday. What should I say today? Mike thinks it over, but he doesn't have a good idea.

  “May I come in?” says Mike at the door.

  “Oh, my boy,” says Mr. Brown. “Please look at the clock on the wall. What time is it now?” “It's eight ten,” says Mike. Mr. Brown is not happy and says, “You are late for class three times this week. If all the students are like you, the clock is no use, I think.” “You are wrong, Mr. Brown,” says Mike. “If I don't have the clock how do I know I am late for school?”

    Fred is eight years old. He goes to school near his home. He always goes there and comes home on foot. One day he comes home from school late. His mother sees him and asks him, "Why are you late, Fred?"

    "My teacher is very angry and asks you to go to her office tomorrow."

    "To her office? Why?" his mother asks. "Because she asks a question in the class." Says Fred. "Nobody can answer it, but I can."

    "You are so clever, my son." His mother says with a smile.

    Her question is "Who puts the tomato on my chair and makes my trousers dirty?" says Fred.

    When Abe Lincoln was just a boy, he had to help his father to look after his farm. It was hard work and there weren't any interesting things for him. Abe wanted to go to school, but there was no school there. Abe was sad most of the time.

    Mrs Lincoln loved the boy very much. She tried her best to make Abe happy. One early morning, she got up early and went to the town. That was a long way and it took her a long time to get to the town. She bought something there and went back. And it was late in the evening when she got home.

    The next morning Mrs Lincoln said to Abe, "Today is your birthday. We're going to have a party. "She put some food on the table, and then brought out a present. "A book！"Abe cried. It was an old book, but he liked it. A smile came to his face. He looked up at Mrs Lincoln and said, "Thank you, Mum."