B

    When I was a little girl, my father loved to play catch (抛接球游戏) with me. I wasn't very good, but he would encourage me. He was always telling me “keep your eye on the ball” as I would not be able to catch even the easiest of throws.

    As I got older, we didn't play catch as much. If I had a problem, I would go to my father to ask for his advice. He would try to joke with me and say “keep your eye on the ball”. We would both laugh because usually that advice did not apply to(适用于) the problem, but he would try to make me smile.

    My father became ill in 1995 when I was 23. As he suffered from a stroke (中风), he could not speak. There weren't any more conversations. He could only mouth words, which were sometimes hard to understand. After a while, I seemed to be pretty good at reading his lips (嘴唇), even better than the nurses who were caring for him.

    During our last conversation, I was telling him about a problem I was having with my then boyfriend. Once again, I could read his lips： “Keep your eye on the ball.” We both smiled.

    That was the last time I saw my father before he passed away.

    Since then, when I get into a stressful situation I tell myself “keep your eye on the ball”.

The story of the red-crowned crane

    Have you ever heard of the song "The story of the red-crowned crane"? It is about a girl called Xu Xiujuan.

    Xu xiujuan was born in Zhalong, Heilongjiang Province in 1964.Her father's job was to look after red-crowned cranes. Xiujuan started helping her father when she was young. She soon showed a great love for these white birds. She become good at raising them.

    When Xu Xiujuan was 21, she got a job at a nature reserve in Jiangsu Province . She enjoyed taking care of the baby cranes. If a bird become sick, she took good care of it stayed with it every day until it was strong enough to fly again.

    In September 1986, one of the birds went missing .The workers in the nature reserve looked everywhere, but no one could find it. Xiujuan was very worried. She looked for it day and night for two days. On the second night, while she was looking for the missing bird, she fell into a river and died. She was only 23.

    Later, a song was written in memory of Xiujuan. Though Xiujuan died young, people always remember her when they hear the song or see a red-crowned crane.

    A doctor entered the hospital hurriedly after being called in for an important surgery (外科手术). He found the boy's father in the hall waiting worriedly.

    On seeing him, the father cried out, "Why did you take all this time to come? Don't you know that my son is in danger? Don't you have any sense of duty?"

    The doctor smiled and said, "I am sorry. I wasn't in the hospital and I came as fast as I could after receiving the call and now, I wish you'd calm down so that I can do my work."

    "Calm down?! What if your son was in this room right now? Would you calm down? If your own son dies while waiting for a doctor, then what will you do?" said the father angrily. The doctor smiled again and replied, "We will do our best and you should also pray (祈祷) for your son's healthy life."

    The surgery took some hours after which the doctor went out happy, "Thank goodness! Your son is saved!" And without waiting for the father's reply he carried on his way running by saying, "If you have any questions, ask the nurse."

    "Couldn't he wait some minutes so that I can ask about my son's state?" shouted the father when seeing the nurse minutes after the doctor left.

    The nurse answered, tears coming down her face. "His son died yesterday in a road accident. He was  at the burial (葬礼) when we called him for your son's surgery. And now that he saved your son's life, he left running to finish his son's burial."

Bryan ran home." Dad! Look!" he called excitedly."I found the cutest pet in the river! I named him Hoppy."

Dad had a closer look," Oh, a frog! How handsome!"

" Do you think Hoppy will like it here?"

" Why don't you keep him for a while, and then we' ll see how he's going."

Bryan found a shoebox. Using a pen, he poked(戳) air holes in the top of the box." Welcome to your new home. In you go, Hoppy."

" Are you hungry?" Bryan asked. He lifted his frog out of the box and put some sandwich pieces in front of him." Eat up, Hoppy." Bryan watched... But Hoppy didn't eat. Bryan waited... Hoppy just sat and stared (瞪眼看)." Don't you like sandwiches?"

Bryan put Hoppy back in the box."I think Hoppy's tired. I'm going to make him a comfortable bed." Bryan cut the old newspapers into pieces and put them into the box. He put Hoppy on his new bed." Are you cozy now? I' ll tell a story to help you sleep." When the story was over, Hoppy was still awake.

" Can't you sleep? Why?" Bryan asked. Hoppy just sat… and stared. Bryan didn't know what to do and sat thinking.

" How are you getting along?" Dad asked.

Bryan cried," Hoppy doesn't want to eat or sleep."

" Think about what he really needs."

A little later, Bry an ran into the house looking for his dad." Whoa!" said Dad." What's the hurry? And where's Hoppy?"

"I took him back to the river," Bryan said." He was sure glad to be home! When I put Hoppy down, he jumped into the river, caught a fly and ate it. Then, guess what!"

" What?"

Bryan laughed." Just before Hoppy jumped into the water, I think I saw him smile at me."

Hi, I'm Tom. I have a pencil box. It's big and it's purple. It's my good friend. It's from my mom. What's in the pencil box? My ruler is in it. It's blue and red. That is a pencil. It is black and white. It's not my pencil. It's Cindy's. She likes black and white. You can see a green pen and an eraser in it, too. The pen isn't mine. I find(找到) it in the classroom this morning. It's Tim's. His name is on it. He isn't at school now. Tim's telephone number is 8069-4725. I can call(打电话) him. The nice eraser is my sister, Linda's.

"The baby is fine. I will come next month," Wang Qiujiao says to the grandma of the baby. Wang Qiujiao is a village1 in Zhumei Village, Hezhou City of South China's Guangxi. She is 77 years old,2 she still tries her best to help villagers. 

51 years ago Wang 3 working as a doctor in her home town — Zhumei Village. The village is very 4 the city and there are many mountains around it. At that time, there wasn't even a flat (平坦的)5 for bikes, so people had to travel on foot. Of course, there weren't any doctors6 . Villagers had to walk long to the city to see a doctor when they 7 ill. So if they didn't have serious health problems, most villagers wouldn't 8 to see a doctor. Wang Qiujiao knew the 9 in her home town well. After thinking twice, she gave up her job in Nanning and 10 returned to her home town as a village doctor in1973. Wang often walked to visit the patients (病人)11 her medical box. Sometimes it took her more than one hour on the way. In2015, she became 12 as "the most beautiful village doctor" in Guangxi. People like her and respect (尊敬) her. 

"The 13 of the village is much larger than before, and the traffic is much better. However, most young people leave home to 14 better jobs in the city. So I have to help look after old people and children when 15 become ill," Wang says. Now, her son also works as a village doctor like her.