The message was short. I read it three times: "Hey, Mom, can I come to see you guys?"I wrote back: "Yes!”He said he hoped to make it in time for dinner.　

 I made a quick run to the market, put sheets on the guest bed and set the TV to record the Warriors' game, so if traffic was awful, he wouldn't have to miss the first half. Then I began cooking, cleaning, watching the clock and listening for his footsteps coming up the walk.

 It's called waiting. I'm good at it. When he was a newborn, I'd wait for him to go to sleep. Soon then I'd stand by his bed waiting for him to wake up. I waited, as he learned to do things like walking , talking and feeding himself; throwing a ball, riding a bike and reading a book.

 I waited for him to start preschool, primary school, middle school and college.

 I waited with dread for him to start driving. And I waited up every time he came home late.

I wait for my son to grow up, but that doesn't mean the waiting game is over. It never really ends.

 Mothers wait for all kinds of reasons—good news or bad, happiness or heartache. But the waiting is soon forgotten, usually, the minute a long awaited child walks through the door.

 My boy will be here soon. But if he's late, I can wait. I'm good at it. And he's worth it. I will always leave a light on for him. 

    Mr Guo is a teacher from Xi'an．He asked his students to hand in their homework through a QR code （二维码）．"We spent an hour or two in class learning how to generate （使产生） the codes，and in the end everything gets easier，"said Guo．"When students finish the homework，they keep it on WeChat （微信）．Then，each student makes his own QR code and gives it to me．So I can check their work everywhere using my computer or telephone．"

    The QR codes can be sent to Mr Guo by email，QQ and WeChat．When Guo scans （扫描） his students'QR codes，their homework appears on his phone．He finds that their homework becomes more creative （创新的），with many pictures，music and even videos．

    Guo's students like the new way and think it is interesting．"We are living in the information age．Many students like to work with computers，which makes learning more fun．"said Tingting，a student of Guo's．

    "The paper is not easy to keep，but the code is easy to keep and share．"Guo said．" It is worth trying to use new technology in education．Education itself is a kind of creation．I don't want my students to fall behind the times．"

    However，some parents are worried．They are afraid that their children will spend too much time on computers and less time communicating with teachers．But in fact，it's unnecessary．Students still need to look up information in books and write it down when they do their homework．They only use the code when they hand in their work，which doesn't take them too much time．Also for teachers，it allows them to check the students'work at any time．And it's also an easy way to share homework with other students．

    It was summer. A duck was sitting on many eggs in her house. Her little ducks were going to come to the world. One little duck after another came out from the eggs. The last baby was big and ugly. His brothers and sisters weren't willing to play with him because he was too ugly. Even his mother hated him too. And the girl who fed them kicked him.

    The poor little duck was so sad that he ran away from home in the winter. On his way, a big dog appeared, but the dog did not come close to him. "Oh, I am so ugly that even the dog won't bite me." the duck said to himself.

A kind farmer took him home when the weather got colder. He stayed there for a whole winter and left when the spring came.

    One day, he met three beautiful white swans (天鹅) when he was swimming in a lake. They swam toward him. He was afraid to make friends with them. But what did he see in the clear water? He was no longer a dark grey ugly duck. He was a beautiful swan himself. How amazing! He never dreamed that he could be so beautiful.