A few years ago, the company I worked for sent my wife and me to live in New York for a year. I've always loved running, so I was happy when I found out the house we lived in was next to Central Park. This means I could go to the park to run every morning before I went to work.

      A lot of people had told me to be careful of robbers in the park, so usually I didn't take any money with me. But one morning, my wife gave me a $10 bill and asked me to buy some bread on the way.

      While I was running through the park, another runner knocked into me. Just as I was wondering what was happening, he said sorry to me and went on running. I thought it was kind of strange, and suddenly I thought of my money, so I checked my pocket and found that my money was missing. Without thinking twice, I ran after that runner. The minute I held him by the arm, I shouted, “Give my money back! Now!” I'm not usually a hot-headed person, but I got really angry this time. He seemed to be afraid and he took out the money and gave it to me. Then he ran away as quickly as he could.

      I bought the bread and went home. As soon as I got home, I began to tell my wife my story. “You won't believe what happened to me.” I started. She immediately stopped me, “I know, you left the money for the bread on the kitchen table.”

    I was 10 the year my cousin Marley's parents gave her a painful Christmas surprise: they were getting a divorce(离婚). My aunt went to California, but my uncle decided to get her back. There was one matter: where to put his young daughter. Luckily, my mother loved Marley, giving her more attention than her family ever did.

    On that Christmas Eve, my cousin arrived on our doorstep carrying an old blue suitcase. Before she stepped inside, Marley said, “It doesn't matter. When my parents come back, we'll have a bigger Christmas than this.”

    Late on the night Marley arrived, my mom came into my room, her arms filled with packages.I knew they were my Christmas presents. “I know how you love surprises but we have to decide which ones to give to Marley.”

    My mother carefully opened the gifts. Wow! I saw ice skates, red leather gloves and a dollhouse. The last present was the music box we'd asked the lady at the local store to take down and play for us over and over again.

    “Which ones?” my mother asked. “She can have the ice skates,” I said reluctantly(勉强地). “That's good,” my mother said. She began to tape the packages up again. Then she stopped and asked, “Are you sure about these?” At that moment, I realized she expected more from me than I had already given. So I gave her the music box, too, and ___________. The next morning, Marley's eyes were resolute(坚定的). She expected nothing and wanted us to know she didn't care. But when she saw her name on the biggest box, she couldn't hide her excitement. I thought my happiness would be cut in half. Instead it was doubled.

    Over the last 40 years, Marley and I have grown apart(分离的). But the love we felt for each other that day still remains. Today Marley says, “They were the best presents I ever got.

    We walked all afternoon with Infadoos and Scragga. Their men walked about a hundred metres ahead of us.

    “When did your people, the Kukuana, come to this place?”

    “They came from the north many thousands of moons ago,” Infadoos explained. “When they reached the mountains, they could go no farther. They stayed here where the land is good and there is water.”

    “Do you live here in peace?” I asked.

    “There have been two wars. Once an army came down from the north, but we killed most of them. Soon after that, we fought among ourselves.” He said, “The king at that time had two sons—twins. When he died, both young men wanted to be king. One of the twins, Twala, killed the other and became king.”

    “Did the dead man have a wife and children?” I asked. I knew that if he did, the fighting could start again one day.

    “Yes. He had a wife, Imotu, and a son, Ignosi. They ran away.” He pointed to a village a short way ahead. “That is the village where Imotu and Ignosi first hid,” he said. “We shall stay there tonight.”

    As soon as we were within a mile or so of the village, an army of men came out. As we passed them, they shouted a welcome.

    Their women were in the village. They stopped whatever they were doing to watch us pass by, but they were not rude. As soon as we were comfortable in a hut, they came with milk, honey, and cooked food.

    A young man brought a fat young ox which he killed and cut into pieces. We took a few pieces for ourselves and gave him the rest. We don't want them to think we were selfish.（选自《所罗门王的宝藏》，有删节）

A

    Tom lives in a town near New York. His father has a shop there and his mother is a doctor. Tom is seven years old this year and begins to go to school this September. It is a little far from their shop and his father drives a car to take him to take him to school five days a week. So he is never late for class and his father likes him very much.

    It is Monday today. Miss Green is teaching them to count(数数) from one to ten in the morning. Tom is study hard. Soon he can count them. Miss Green is very happy and asks, "How many people are there in your family, Tom."

    Tom stands up and says, "Two, Miss Gao."

    "Who are they?"

    "My father and my mother."

    "Oh," Miss Green is surprised(吃惊). She says "Then there are three people in your family."

    "But now I'm not at home. I'm at school, you know."

    On December 14，2017，we were sorry to hear that Yu Guangzhong, a famous poet died of illness in Taiwan. He was born in Nanjing in 1928. His mother's hometown is in Wujin，Changzhou. So he called himself a southern person.

    Later, he went to Taiwan. In 1952 he graduated from Taiwan University. Then he graduated from University of LOWA in 1959. He taught at Soochow University, Normal University, Taiwan University , and Chengchi University. He got a lot of prizes in literature(文学)，such as.Wu San lien Literature Prize, China Times Award, Golden Tripod，National Arts Award and all the major(主要的)Awards in Taiwan. He is famous both in Taiwan and in Mainland.

    He was in Taiwan, but he always missed his hometown in Mainland. In one of his poems Nostalgia(乡愁) ，he showed his feeling of homesickness. Let's enjoy his famous poem Nostalgia.

Nostalgia

When I was young，                   But later on,

Nostalgia was a tiny, tiny stamp.          Nostalgia was a low，low  grave.

Me on this side，                      Me on this side，

Mother on the other side.                And my mother ;inside.

When I grew up，                     And at present，

Nostalgia was a narrow boat ticket.        Nostalgia becomes a shallow strait.

Me on this side，                      Me on this side，

Bride on the other side.                  Mainland on the other side.