A very new, young officer was at a station. He was on his way to visit his mother in another town, and he wanted to telephone her to tell her the time of this train, so that she could meet him at the station in her car. He look in all his pockets, but he did not have the right money for the telephone, so he went outside and looked around for someone to help him.

    At last an old soldier came by, and the young officer stopped him and said, "Have you got change for ten pence?"

    "Wait a moment." the old soldier answered. He began to put his hand in his pocket, "I'll see whether I can help you."

   "Don't you know how to speak to an officer?" the young man said angrily. "Now let's start again. Have you got change for ten pence?"

  "No, sir," the old soldier answered quickly.

A Father and a Son

    Passing through the Atlanta airport one morning, I caught one of those shuttles that take travelers from the main terminals (航站楼) to their boarding gates. Not many people consider them fun, but on this Saturday I heard laughter. At the front of the first shuttle were a man and his son.

    We had just stopped to let off passengers, and the doors were closing again. “Here we go! Hold on to me tight!” the father said. The boy, about five years old, made sounds of happiness.

    “Look out there!” the father said to his son. “See that pilot? I bet he's walking to his plane.” The son turned his neck to look forward.

    As I was early for my flight, I decided to go back to the terminal. Where I went back again, I saw that the man and his son had returned too. I realized then that they hadn't been heading for a flight, but had just been riding the shuttle.

    “I want to ride some more!”

    “More?” the father said, mock-angry but clearly pleased. “ You are not tired?”

    “This is fun!” his son said.

    “All right.” the father replied, when a door opened, we all got on.

    There are parents who can afford to send their children to Europe or Disneyland, and there are parents who live in million-dollar houses and give their children cars and swimming pools, yet something goes wrong.

    “Where are all those people going, Daddy?” the son asked.

    “All over the world,” came the reply.

    The other people in the airport were leaving for far destinations (终点) or arriving at the ends of their journeys. The father and son, though, were just riding this shuttle together, making it exciting, enjoying being together.

    So many troubles in this country. So many questions about what to do. Here was a father who cared about spending the day with his son and who had come up with this plan on a Saturday morning.

    The answer is so simple: parents who care enough to spend time, and to pay attention and to try their best. It doesn't cost a cent, yet it is the most valuable thing in the world.

    The shuttle picked up speed, and the father pointed something out, and the boy laughed again.

    Zheng He was an amazing man. He was born in 1371. Eleven years later, he was caught by the army of a rich young man called Zhu Di and made to work for him. Over time the rich man saw that Zheng He was very clever and strong and they became close friends. In 1403 Zhu Di became the emperor of China and he asked Zheng He to join his government.

    The emperor wanted to learn more about the world and show other countries his power. He ordered many new ships to be built and made Zheng He their leader. Between 1405 and 1433, Zheng He led seven sea trips to different parts of the world. He certainly travelled to India, Africa and the Middle East. A few people think his ships have even reached South America and Australia.

    Each trip lasted between two and four years and it is believed that he sailed more than 50,000 kilometres during the years of his travels. Zheng He led a fleet with about 28,000 men and over 300 ships, such as boats for food, water and even soldiers' horses.

    On these trips he brought with him many Chinese goods like silk and medicine to give to foreign kings or to sell for local goods. He returned from each trip with boats which were filled with expensive things such as gold and treasure, foreign guests and strange animals like a giraffe.

    It is a pity that we may never learn everything about Zheng He's travels. The Columbus of the East, Zheng He, died in 1433. After that, the new emperor had these trips stopped and he burned almost all the books about Zheng He's travels, because he believed the trips were unlucky and too expensive. It is only in the last 50 years that historians have begun to carefully study the adventures of great Zheng He.

    Last Friday a storm swept through two villages in the New Territories, destroying(摧毁) fourteen homes. Seven others were so badly damaged (破坏) that their owners had to leave them, and fifteen others had broken windows or broken roofs. One person was killed, several were badly hurt and taken to hospital, and a number of other people received smaller hurt. Altogether over two hundred people were homeless after the storm.

    A farmer, Mr. Tan, said that the storm began early in the morning and lasted for over an hour. "I was eating with my wife and children," he said, "when we heard a loud noise. A few minutes later our house fell down on top of us. We tried our best to climb out but then I saw that one of my children was missing. I went back inside and found him, safe but very frightened."

    Mrs. Woo Mei Fong said that her husband had just left for work when she felt that her house was moving. She ran outside at once with her children. "There was no time to take anything," she said." A few minutes later, the roof came down."

    Soldiers helped to take people out of the flooded (水淹的) area and the welfare department (福利机构) brought them food, clothes and shelter.