Mr. and Mrs. Green were very worried about their son, Daniel. He was born normal (正常) in every other way,1 seemed to be dumb (哑的). Mr. and Mrs. Green tried everything to get him to 2, but with no success.

    When Daniel was six years old, the best doctors in the town examined (检查) him3, but could find nothing wrong. And he seemed to be smart. It was just that he 4 spoke.

    “There might be something wrong with his 5, and he doesn't know he's able to speak,” one doctor said.

    “But he can read and write,” said Mr. Green, “We've written him notes, telling him to speak some day.”

    “It's certainly very 6,” another doctor said. “Perhaps he will be able to speak some day.”

    7passed. Daniel went to university. But he didn't speak a single word.

    Then one day Daniel was having a meal with his parents. Without any warning, he looked up from his 8 and said, “Pass me the salt, please.”

    Mr and Mrs Green were excited. “You spoke! You spoke!” they cried. “Why have you 9 so long to speak?”

    “I didn't have anything to say,” he said. “Until now everything was10. But you forgot to put salt in these potatoes.”

    Jeff is fifteen now, but he's still in Grade One. He likes playing1, he often plays it with his friends, but he does not like to use his head. He does not listen to his2in class, so he can not do his homework. His teachers don't like him. They tell his parents3it, and they do not know what to do.

    It's Sunday today. Jeff gets up4in the morning. After breakfast, his mother tells him to do his homework. He goes to his bedroom.5his mother is busy with her housework, Jeff goes out with a ball. Now it's time for lunch, but she can't 6Jeff.

    Later he comes back. His parents look very angry, but say7. After lunch, Jeff wants to go out again. His father stops him and8, “Is your homework over?''

    “No,” answers the boy, “I can't do it.” His father pulls(拉、拽)him by the9and says, “Where is your ear?” “Oh，dear!" Jeff calls out, “It's in your10.”

    When I was a little girl, I remember that when my dad was repairing something, every time he asked me to 1the hammer(锤子) for him, just so we would have a time for a 2  with each other. I 3  saw my dad drinking or taking a night out. All he did after work was taking care of his family.

    I grew up and left home for college and since then, my dad had been calling me every Sunday morning, no matter what. And when several 4  later I bought a house, my dad was 5  it by himself for three days in the 38℃ summer heat. All he asked was to hold his paint brush and 6  to him. But I was too 7  in those days. I did not find any time for a conversation with my dad.

    One Sunday morning we had a telephone talk 8 usual, I noticed that my dad had   totally 9  some things that we talked lately. I was in a hurry, so our conversation was a bit  10. Few hours later that day came a call. My father was in a  11  with an aneurysm(动脉瘤). Immediately I bought a ticket for a flight and on my way I was thinking about all12occasions(场合) to have a talk with my dad.

    By the time I 13  at the hospital, my father had passed away. Now it was he who did  not have 14  for a conversation with me. After his death, I 15  much more about him, and even more about myself. All he ever asked me was my time. And now he has all my attention every single day.

    "Can I see my baby?" asked the happy new mother. Unluckily, she found her baby had been1without ears when it was in her arms.

    Time proved that the baby's2was perfect. He got on well with his classmates. But one day, he rushed home and said to his mother3tears in his eyes, "A boy, a big boy4me a freak(怪胎)."

    As the boy5, he developed a talent for art and music.

The boy's father had a meeting with the family doctor. "Could anything6done?" He asked the doctor.

    "I believe I could graft(移植) a pair of outer ears7you could get them," the doctor said.

    However, two years8, nobody wanted to offer the young man ears. Then one day the father said, "Son,9will offer his ears to you. But it's a secret. The operation was a great10.

    Time kept the secret, but the day did come. The young man stood with his father11his mother's body. Slowly, the father held out a hand and raised the thick, brown hair.12, the son found his mother had no outer ears.

    "Mother said she was glad that she13let her long hair cut," the father said gently," and nobody ever thought Mother14beautiful, did they?"

    Real15lies not in what is done and known, but in what is done but not known.

    There was once a young mouse that lived in a hole. One day, the young mouse looked out of the hole, a nice smell came to his1. "Cheese!" the mouse said happily to2. "I'll have it for breakfast." But he remember his3words," Always wait before you go for a piece of cheese." So the young mouse waited4. Then he heard a quiet "meow" and he knew the cat was there. "I'm glad that I listen to my parents and learned to5." he said.

    The next morning, the nice smell came to his nose again. This time he did not hear any cat's noises,6very quiet "woof, woof". "It's a dog!" he thought. "If the dog is there, the cat won't be there. So I'm7." Then the mouse ran out of the hole and started8the cheese. He didn't see the cat9the cat caught him. When the cat finished the10, he said to himself, "I'm glad that I listened to my parents and learned a second language."