Amy had three sons, Dave, Bill and Bob. Every year her sons sent her expensive gifts on her birthday.

The eldest son Dave, had a lot of money and he wanted his mother to have the most expensive gifts, but he didn't know what to buy. So he put an ad in the newspaper. "Wanted—the greatest gift for my mother.”

About a week before his mother's birthday, a man came to his office. He brought a big bird.

“This bird can speak six languages and sing eight songs.”the man said.

“Really?  I'd like to listen to it," Dave said.

The man made the bird talk in French and tell a joke in Japanese. Then the bird sang a beautiful song. Dave was very happy and paid eight thousand dollars for the bird. The next day Dave sent the bird to his mother with a birthday card.

The day after his mother's birthday he called his mother. “Well, mother”he asked, "What do you think of the bird?”

“Oh, it's very delicious, dear.”said his mother.

   I always take my vacations at home．But this summer，I want to do something different．I'm going sightseeing．Next week I am leaving for Hainan．I am staying there for two weeks．Then I'm going to Tibet．Of course，I'm taking a lot of photos．I can't wait!

   I think the best place for a summer vacation is the seaside（海滨）．I'm going to Hawaii on August 1st．It has fantastic beaches and I like the sand，the sea and the sun．I'm staying there for three weeks．There are lots of exciting things to do there．

   This summer vacation，I'll be busy．I'm going to Europe to visit my grandparents in Paris and my uncle in London．I plan to go to New York，because I want to meet my pen pal Tony．

    Michael Jordan is the most famous basketball player in the world. He was born in Brooklyn, New York. He didn't like to talk to other people about himself. He was also very short. He didn't play very well when he joined the basketball team in his high school at first. But the next year things changed greatly for him as he grew much taller.

    Michael Jordan became famous when he joined the university basketball team in North Carolina. Michael used his speed and strength (力量) to reach the basket again. He played so well that people called him “Air Jordan”.

    After college, Michael became a basketball team member in the Chicago Bulls. The NBA was very surprised at this high-flying player. He was named “Rookie” (新秀) of the year in 1985 and “Most Valuable (价值的) Player” in 1987. He once set a record (创纪录) by getting 63 points in one game.

    It was just three degrees above zero. "That's cold," thought Jane as she got ready to deliver her morning papers. Jane had 50 customers, and on cold mornings when she couldn't ride her bicycle, it took her more than an hour to make her rounds. As she collected her papers and put them into a big canvas bag, Jane regretted that she hadn't finished her math homework the night before. There was still time. She'd hurry with the papers and finish the math before breakfast.

    Less than an hour later, Jane was nearly finished. She had only five customers to go. She could then head for home to complete her math while her room fixed breakfast. As she rounded the corner, she saw a car in the middle of the street. It was Mr. Zimmerman, the elder man, who walked with a walking stick. His car was out of gas. "I'd like to help Mr. Zimmerman," thought Jane, "but if I do, I won't have time to do my homework." She hated to think what Mr. Roberts would say if she hadn't completed her papers.

    "It's his own fault for running out of gas," Jane talked to herself. "The station is only a half mile down the street. Surely Mr. Zimmerman can walk that far, even on a cold morning like this — can't he?" As she walked down the street, Jane wondered what to do.

    Once upon a time, a young man wanted to go to a village on business. Halfway there was a mountain. Before he left home, his family warned him to stay calm and climb onto trees if he was in face of beasts. In this way, the beasts couldn't do anything to him.

    The young man remembered these words and began his trip.

    He walked for a long time carefully and found that no beasts were out there. He thought his family's worries were superfluous. And he became relaxed as he walked. Just at that moment, he saw a fierce tiger running to him and he climbed onto a tree nearby at once.

    The tiger roared around the tree and even jumped to reach the man. The young man was too scared to hold the tree and fell right on the back of the tiger. Full of fear, he had to hold the tiger tightly. The tiger thought that must be a giant beast. So it was afraid and started running madly.

    People on the road didn't know what happened and said, "Look at the young man. He is riding a tiger!" "Cool!" "Superman!"

    Hearing these words, the young man was very angry. "Why can't they see I'm suffering a lot? Don't they understand I am in fear and almost scared to death? "he said to himself.