As he was sitting up in bed, Bunny heard a big noise on the roof(屋顶) and a sound downstairs. It was Santa Claus, he realized. Bunny jumped out of bed and ran down the hall to the stairs. He hoped to take a look at the old man before Santa left for his next stop.

By the time Bunny was at the bottom of the stairs, everything was silent again. Lots of presents were put under the Christmas tree, but Santa was gone. A little disappointed(失望的), Bunny turned to climb back upstairs when he heard a cry.

“Hello,”said Bunny. "Is somebody there?”

He was answered by another cry. Bunny looked around the big pile of presents to see what was making the noise. Right under the tree was a funny looking brown animal with big feet and sad eyes. It also had antlers(鹿角) on its head. Bunny almost mistook it for a dog.

“Are you a reindeer?”asked Bunny.

“Yes,” replied the brown animal with antlers. “My name is Ralph.”

“And you were pulling Santa's sled(雪橇)?”

“I was until I got air-sick,”replied Ralph. “Santa had to leave me here and go on with the other seven reindeer.”

“Isn't it a bit unusual for a reindeer to get air-sick? I mean, isn't flying what reindeer are famous for?”

“Not me, I'm afraid. It makes me scared. I always feel sick when it comes to flying,”replied Ralph. "But everyone wanted me to pull Santa's sled, so when it was my turn I gave it a try. I'm afraid I just wasn't cut out for the job. Now I'm stuck here and I don't know how to get back to the North Pole.”

“Well, if you like, you can stay with us as a friend," said Bunny. As he made the offer, Bunny suddenly realized the special present he wanted from Santa was a new friend!

    Many say their most painful moments are saying goodbye to those they love. After watching Cheryl, my cousin, watch her mother suffer for six months before dying, I think the most painful moments can be in waiting to say goodbye.

    Cheryl made the two-hour trip over and over to be with her mother. They spent long afternoons holding hands and sharing memories.

    Each time she kissed her mother before leaving, her mother would feel sad and say, “I'm sorry you drove so far and sat for so long, and I didn't stay up long to talk with you.”

    Cheryl would tell her not to worry. It didn't matter. But still her mother felt she had let her down and said sorry at each goodbye.

    “Mom, do you remember when I made the high school basketball team?” Cheryl's mother nodded.

    “You'd drive so far and sit for so long, and I never even left the bench to play. You waited for me after every game and each time I felt bad and said sorry to you for wasting your time.” Cheryl gently took her mother's hand.

    “Do you remember what you'd say to me?”

    “I would say I didn't come to see you play. I came to see you.” “And you meant those words, didn't you?”

    “Yes, I really did.”

    “Well, now I say the same words to you. I didn't come to see you talk. I came to see you.” Her mother understood and smiled as she fell asleep.

    Their afternoons together passed quietly into days, weeks, and months. To the last day they cared each other in silence, love given and received just by seeing each other.

C

    When the American were getting ready to send their first men to the moon, an old Australia was watching TV in a restaurant(饭店). There was an Englishman in the restaurant, too, and he said to the Australian, "The Americans are clever, aren't they? They are going to send some men to the moon. It is a very long way from our world(世界) . " Oh, that's nothing." The Australian answered quickly. " Our country is going to send some people to the sun in a few months. That's much farther(更远) away than the moon, you know."

    "Oh, yes, it is," the Englishman said, " but the sun is too hot for people to go to ."  The Australian laughed and said, "We won't go to the sun in the day, of course. We will go there at night."

    When I was a kid, I did something really terrible. My father bought me two goldfish and named them "Iasc" and" Iasc Elie". He told me that meant "Fish" and "Other Fish" in Irish. To an eight-year-old child, the names seemed really boring.

    These boring names made me feel the goldfish were boring, too.  They did nothing more than swim around in their bowl. Sometimes, for fun, they would swim to the bottom of their bowl and dance around along the bottom, looking for interesting pieces of gravel.

    I tried many ways to make the goldfish more exciting. The most interesting thing was to see how long they could live out of the water. I took a fish out of the water with my hands and watched it gasping for air. Then I put it back in the bowl.  And then I would take them out of the water again, for longer and longer each time.

    Iasc and Iasc Elie started swimming towards the top of the water, not moving very much. Then they started floating on the top of the water. In other words, they were dead.

    I thought that bigger pets are more exciting, such as a cat and a dog. It would live longer than a goldfish, and then I kept a dog as my pet.

    Just as I came back home, I heard a sound coming from the bedroom upstairs-it was from my favourite violin.

    "Thief!"

    I rushed upstairs and saw a boy in dirty clothes pulling my violin down. At first sight, I found a new pair of shoes missing. It seemed he was surely a thief.

    However, when I saw his eyes full of fear, my anger disappeared. I smiled and asked," Are you Mr. Ram's student Rubens? I'm his butler (男管家). I've heard Mr. Ram say his student will come. It must be you."

    "Has my teacher gone out?" the boy said, "I think I'd better visit him again in a while."

    I nodded and asked him, "Do you like playing the violin?"

    "Yes, but I'm too poor to afford one." the boy replied.

    "Then, I'll give you this violin." The boy looked at me surprisingly, but he picked up the violin. While going out of the room, he suddenly saw a huge photo of me playing the violin at the Grand Theatre of Sydney on the wall. His face turned pale. He stood there for a moment and ran out. He must have understood what had happened because no master (主人) would put up the butler's photo on the wall of his living room.

    A few years later, at a music competition in Melbourne, I was invited to be the judge (评委). Finally, a violin player called Merritt won the first prize.

    After the prize-giving, Merritt ran to me holding a violin box, his face red, and asked," Mr. Brian, do you still know me? You gave me the violin, which I have treasured ever since! Today, I want to say sorry and give back this violin to you without regret…"

    He was just the "Mr. Ram's student"!

    Most children love toys. But do you make your own toys? Seventh-graders at Central Middle

    School in Connecticut, US, really did. They made toys using a 3-D printer(打印机) in science class.

    They made a red and blue soccer table, a catapult(弹弓) and a scooter(踏板车).

    But these toys are not for themselves. They will donate them to poor children in Haiti. "By doing so, students feel that they can help others," science teacher Kate Bruzinski told the Greenwich Time.

    Bruzinski teaches the students how to use 3-D printers. They printed(打印) parts of toys. They worked in groups of four. It took them six to seven weeks to make the toys. They drew pictures for the toys, found materials(材料) and then built them.

    Soon, these toys will meet their owners in Haiti. Students are happy about that.