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. 

     Betty loved only one thing in life—chocolates. She enjoyed every kind, like chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream（冰淇淋）and so on.

On Betty's birthday, her best friend, Lisa, wanted to prepare(准备) her dinner at a restaurant.

  “Well, today is my birthday and I can order anything, right?”Betty asked Lisa.

  “I guess so,” said Lisa, “But you shouldn't eat too much.”

    At the restaurant, Betty ate a lot of chocolates and a large box of chocolate ice cream. When the dinner ended, she didn't look well.

 “You surely ate a lot!”Lisa said to her.

 “I know, but now I need something else.”Betty said.

 “What? More chocolate?”Lisa asked.

 “No, a doctor.” Betty said, “I'm not feeling（觉得）well.”

    We were on a visit to Monkey Island. Jim thought we should try water skiing(滑水).

    We can get a boat and ski at Monkey Island.

   Don't go water skiing near Monkey Island today,” said the woman standing near the boats. “There might be sharks（鲨鱼） in the water.”

    “I don't think so.” said Jim who thought he knew everything.

    “I wouldn't go water skiing in the sea near Monkey Island today,” said the man with the woman. “They saw sharks in the water yesterday.”

    “The sharks won't hurt me,” said Jim with a big smile on his face.

      Another man getting out of a boat said, “I'm sure we just saw a shark in the water a few minutes ago.”

    “Don't worry about me,” said Jim. “I don't worry about sharks.”

    Jim and his two friends, Bill and Bruce pushed the boat into the water. Jim was driving the boat. He drove very fast and sprayed water on everyone standing near the boat.

    Jim drove the boat to the middle of the sea near Monkey Island. Everyone could see him and the boat. He wanted to show everyone how well he could water ski.

    “You drive the boat, Bill,” Jim said. “Bruce, you watch me and the rope while I water ski.”

    “What about the sharks?” asked Bill.

    “Forget about the sharks,” said Jim. “I'm not afraid of sharks.”

    Jim got into the water. He was putting his feet in the water skis. Then Jim felt something large and hard touch his leg as it swam past him. Suddenly, a brown fin(鳍) moved through the water towards Jim.

    Later, when Bill and Bruce stopped laughing, they said, “We never saw anyone move so fast! You were running on top of the water to get back in the boat! You even left the water skis in the water.

    “There it is again! Shark! Shark!” cried Jim.

Everyone laughed—even the people standing on shore.

    The dolphin（海豚） came to surface again, took a deep breath, smiled at Jim and went back down into the deep water.

    When Abe Lincoln was just a boy, he had to help his father to look after his farm. It was hard work and there wasn't any interesting thing 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 town. That was a long way and it took her a long time to get to 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, 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.”

    My name is Lisa Gibson. I am from America. I am 12 years old. And I am a student at No.2 Middle School in Beijing. Mrs. Wang is our Chinese teacher. My friend is also(也) a student here. Her name is Maria Smith. She is from England. She is 13 years old. Maria and I are new students in No.2 Middle School. We like our Chinese class.