Lily comes from England. She is a nice girl. Her eyes are big and her mouth is small. She has a big family（家庭）. Her father is Jack Smith, and her mother's name is Kate Smith. They are very kind (和蔼的). Lily has a sister and a brother. Her sister is Helen, and her brother is Paul. Helen has long hair and a round face, but Paul has short curly（卷曲的）hair and a long face. They are in the same school. They like their teachers very much（非常）.

    When the man's wife died，their youngest baby was 2 years old．They had six other children一three boys and three girls．aged from 4 t0 16．

    The man's parents and his wife's parents came to visit them．

‘‘We've been talking about how to make this work，"they said．"There's no way you can take care of all these children and work to make a living．So，we've decided to place each child with a different uncle and aunt．"

     The man refused．Over the next few weeks，he moved the family to a tiny town and his business developed quickly．People came from far away to do business with him．And the children helped him both at home and at work．

The children grew up and got married．Five of the seven went off to college．The children's success was a source of pride to the father．

    Finally，the youngest daughter，who was 2 years old when the mother died，got married．With his life's work done，the father died．

This man's work had been the lonely but joyful task of raising his family．This man was my father．I was the 1 6-year-old，the oldest of seven．

    Nina Martinez leaves the classroom and walks down the hall. She feels bad this morning, because she's going to sing in the school Talent Show(达人秀). She loves to sing but she doesn't like singing in front of other people.

    Nina stands at the door for a moment, and then goes inside. In the room many children are talking happily. Nina sees Luz, James and others from her class. Some teachers are sitting on the chairs. They're waiting for the children to get quiet.

    "Nina Martinez!" someone calls out. It is Mrs. Brent, the music teacher.

    Nina stands up from her chair. She feels small as she walks to the front. Her face is hot, but her hands are as cold as ice. She wants to sing, but the song doesn't come out.

    "Close your eyes just as you are alone," says Mrs. Brent. "Forget(忘记) about everyone else. Just sing."

    Nina is worried, but she gives it a try(尝试). She closes her eyes and sings out. The song is out like milk.

    After the show, Mrs. Brent says to her, "Nina, you are great in the show!"

    At that moment, Nina says "Thank you" to Mrs. Brent happily.

    There are four people in Simon's family. They have different habits.

    ◆ Simon's father is a doctor. He works in a hospital. He likes reading books very much. There are many books in his bedroom. He doesn't like going to the cinema.

    ◆ Simon's mother is a music teacher. She likes listening to music, but she has no time to go to concerts.

    ◆ Simon's brother is seven years old. He likes watching cartoons. He usually watches cartoons when his parents aren't at home.

    ◆ Simon is a middle school student. He likes playing football. He often plays football with his friends after school. He likes playing computer games at home. But he doesn't like watching TV.

    Lisa was a single mother who lived with her little son. She lost her job two years ago and they had a very hard life. Being poor was terrible. Her heart was broken every time her son asked, "Can I have some more bread and jam please, Mommy?"

    One day, when her son asked the same question again, she decided to prepare a big meal for him with the only 6 dollars in her hand. She went to the supermarket, bought some food and cooked at home. Lisa was a shy mother, but she was strong— minded. "It's time to make a change, "she thought. She used to love writing. In order to make some money, she began to write articles for magazines day and night.

    Things went better. The local food bank started to provide her with some free vegetables every month. Her son finally had enough to eat. Once he told Lisa that the dishes she made were delicious. Suddenly, an idea came to Lisa's mind, "Why not share my recipes (食谱) on the Internet? "She did. Many people liked her recipes and she became popular.

    Soon after that, some reporters interviewed her and asked her to write a book on cooking. When Lisa got the money for the book she wrote, she had a good sleep for the first night during the two years. Now Lisa has a well—paid job and a beautiful home, but she'll never forget the days when she worked hard for a good life.