It is nice to hike with kids, but you must know something about hiking if you want to take a happy, relaxing trip.

    Start early, know what to do in a heavy rain and carry sunglasses. Take snacks, toilet paper and a bag with you. Take a whistle(口哨) for kids. You may use it if children run away.

    Find a partner. Kids are naturally competitive, and you can use this to your hike. They will try to do better than each other when they go hiking. They also will keep each other interested in something new.

    Do something easy. It's good to play easy games. You can say "Does anybody see anything red that matches my shirt?" Kids will be easy and happy to answer this kind of questions.

    If you aren't excited, they won't be either. When your kids find something they are interested in, you must show your interest in it, too.

    Twenty years ago, I drove a taxi for a living. Once at midnight, an old lady in her 80s took my taxi. She gave me an address, and then asked, "Could you drive through downtown?"

    "It's not the shortest way," I answered quickly.

    "Oh, I don't mind," she said. "I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice (临终关怀医院）. I don't have any family left. The doctor says I don't have very long time."

    I quietly shut off the meter. "What route would you like me to take?" I asked.

    For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked, the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived, the place where she danced as a girl. As the sun was rising, she asked me to go to the address she had given me.

    "How much do I owe you?" she asked, reaching into her purse.

    "Nothing," I said.

    "You have to make a living," she answered.

    "There are other passengers."

    "You gave an old woman a little moment of joy," she said. "Thank you."

    I drove into the fine morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life. I drove aimlessly（漫无目的地），lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run?

    It's very hot. An old man is sleeping on the chair. A fly(苍蝇) comes and sits on the end of the man's nose.The old man has a naughty monkey. He chases(驱赶) the fly.

    The fly comes back again and sits on the old man's nose again. The monkey chases it away again and again.

    This happens five or six times. The monkey is very angry. He jumps up, runs to the garden and picks up a large stone.

    When the fly sits on the old man's nose again, the monkey hits it hard with the stone.

    He kills the fly and breaks the old man's nose.

    Once there was a small hotel whose keeper was always caring about money.

    One day, a businessman arrived. The keeper looked at the man's thick wallet and thought, "Oh, I wish that all the money could be mine!" The businessman didn't notice that, so he ordered the most expensive room and went to his room to dress for dinner.

    Around the hotel, there were some beautiful ginger(姜) plants. Many people said that eating the buds(芽) of ginger would make a person forgetful.

    The keeper thought, "If I serve some buds of ginger to the businessman, he may be forgetful to take his wallet!" Then she went to the kitchen.

    Soon, businessman came downstairs and asked for dinner. The keeper was very excited as she served the dish to him. "Delicious!" said the rich man. When dinner was finished, he went to bed happily.

    In the next morning, the keeper saw the businessman leaving from the front door. As soon as he was out of sight, she ran up to his room. She looked all over the room for the wallet, but she couldn't find it. Suddenly, she noticed a piece of paper on the floor. It was the businessman's bill(账单). He had forgotten to pay it! She ran down the stairs, out of the front door, and across the road until she was out of breath, but the businessman was already far, far away. "I'm so silly!”" cried the keeper.