Bob Smith is old. He has two big houses and a new car. He has no wife， but he is a father of four children. He has two sons and two daughters. One son is from (来自于) Canada. His name is Jack. The other (另一个) is from England. His name is Mike. One of his daughters is from China. Her name is Meimei. She is eleven years old. The other is from America. Her name is Lucy. She's eleven, too.

    Bob Smith is not the children's real father, but he loves them very much. The children love their “father”, too. Bob Smith has many toys (玩具) for the children. He gives different (不同的) toys to different children. The boys play with toy cars. The girls play with doll (娃娃) and toy animals. Bob Smith is their good friend.

    Gareth Ellis, 13, is the youngest son of Alan, an engineer, and Kath, a teacher. His older brothers work in banking and computers, but Gareth's dream was always to become a clown(小丑).Three years ago, Alan, Kath and Gareth joined the circus(马戏团). People laugh when we tell them,' saysKath. 'But it's true. Gareth has wanted to be a clown since we took him to the circus when he was three.'

    When Alan lost his job, he and Kath decided to see if they could find full-time circus jobs. They both got jobs with a famous circus and Gareth began training to become a clown. He calls himself Bippo. They travel with the circus during the summer and return home for the winter. Gareth's brothers are old enough to look after the house while they are away.

    'I can't say it was easy,' says Kath. 'There was a lot to think about and organize. We only had a car and a very small caravan(大篷车)to sleep in, and we were leaving behind our lovely house. The only thing Gareth missed was his long, hot baths.'

    'People ask about my education,' says Gareth, 'but from the beginning, wherever we go, someone has always come to teach me. I follow the same books as everyone back at school and I've got a computer. I've never fallen behind my classmates.'

    And the future? 'It was a difficult decision,' says Kath, 'but there was no other way to teach Gareth about being a clown. I'm happy to say it's working, and we're enjoying it.' And Gareth? 'I'm going to be the main clown in a circus one day', he says, 'perhaps Bippo's circus.'

    Some boys like wearing the same kinds of clothes as girls, and some of them have long hair. So sometimes it's difficult to tell whether（是否）they are boys or girls. Today is Sunday. I have a walk with my grandmother in the park. My grandmother is 80 years old and she can't see well. After some time, my grandmother is tired（疲倦的）, so she sits down on a chair. There is another person sitting on the chair, too.

    "Hello," my grandmother says to the person with long hair next to her. "Can you see the person with long hair under the big tree? Is it a boy or a girl? "

    "Which（哪一个） one?" asks the person.

    "The one eating under the big tree," says my grandmother.

    "The boy?" says the person. "He's my brother Mark."

    "Oh," says my grandmother, "I don't know you are his sister."

    "No, I'm not his sister. I'm his brother."

    George works in a small hotel. One day, it was raining heavily, an old couple (老夫妇) came to the hotel and asked for a room. George said to the old man, "I am sorry, sir, now all the rooms in the hotel are full, but I have another room left." Then George went to do some cleaning in the room and showed it to the old couple.

    The next day, the old couple wanted to pay for the room. George said, "It is free because it is my own room. I think there may be no rooms in all the hotels in the city. But it was not good to let you out in a heavy rain." The old man said, "You are so kind, and you are the best worker of the hotel." The old couple thanked George and left.

    A few months later, George got a letter with an air ticket to New York and a job offer (工作聘书). When George got to New York, he saw the old man. The old man showed him a large and beautiful hotel and said to George, "This is my hotel. I hope you would take charge of it for me." Then George became the manager (经理) of the big hotel in New York.

    In fact, the old man was quite rich. He had the big hotel and believed George could do the job well.