My mom isn't fancy like other moms.They wear fancy clothes and drive fancy cars. My mom wears her gardening clothes when she walks me to school.　

When fancy moms laugh，their laughs sound soft and whispery. You can hear my mom's laugh from down the hall. I show her how to laugh quietly and she practices. But before long she starts laughing even harder than before.

 At the talent show，my mom cheers loudly，“Bravo，everyone！Bravo！”instead of clapping politely the way fancy moms do.

For our class hike（徒步旅行），parents are invited. At breakfast I go over my rules for Mom，“Please don't whistle. Don't laugh loudly. No clapping. And stay in line.”

 The other moms show up wearing fancy jackets and sneakers. My mom wears cutoffs，a floppy straw hat，and her old hiking boots.

We hike along，all in a line. Soon Mom starts to whistle her hiking songs，She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain.I shake my head at her. She stops and whispers，“Oops. Sorry，Jane.”

 We keep hiking. Everything is perfect until…

 Our teacher，Ms. Steele，stops and points，“A snake！”All the moms hold their kids hands and back up，except my mom.“Watch out！It might be poisonous（有毒的）！”Ms. Steele says.

 The other moms shuttle back some more. However，my mom steps forward and says，“Hmm. Let's see what kind it is. Nope，it's not poisonous.”

 I shut my eyes.I know what's coming next. Mom makes a sudden attack.“Got it！”she says. The other moms scream，not sounding fancy at all.

Kids gather around as Mom examines the snake.“It's OK to touch，”she says.

 Everyone's too scared，but I go first.“snakes aren't slimy，”I tell them. Right away，others line up. A couple of the fancy moms come up to touch the snake's tail.

 Later，Ms. Steele tells us to draw our favorite part of the hike. After a while，I look around quickly. Everyone's picture is of Mom and me with the snake.

 As we hike back to the bus，I squeeze Mom's hand.“I'm glad I didn't tell you my don't-catch-snakes rule.”She smiles. But soon，she's whistling her hiking songs again！

 I start to make her silent，then stop. Instead，I take a deep breath and sing out too. Everyone joins in，even the fancy moms.

A

    Nick, 13, is tall and strong. He is good at running. Two weeks ago a new student came. His name is David. He is thin and short. He plays soccer well, and he can run very fast. Larry told Nick about it. Of course, Nick did not believe it.

    “Why not have a race with him?” said Larry.

    “Good idea!” said Nick. “I'll have a race with him after school.”

    After school, Nick went to the playground. He did some warm-up exercises for half an hour, and got ready for the race. He was sure that he could win it. Larry had to take part in a club activity that afternoon, so he could not watch the race between Nick and David.

    That evening Larry went to see Nick. They began to talk about the afternoon race. Nick's grandmother heard them in the next room. She came in and asked, “Which place?”

    “The second place,” answered Nick.

    His grandmother was very happy to hear that, and asked, “Which place did David win, then?”

    “The last but one.”

    When I was 13 years old, the doctor said that I had a kind of attention disorder. So when everyone else in the class was focusing on tasks, I couldn't.

    In my first class, Mrs Green asked us to read a story and then write on it within 45 minutes. I raised my hand right away and said, "Mrs Green, you see, I have attention problems. I might not be able to do that."

    She looked at me and said, "You are no different from your classmates, young man." I tried, but I didn't finish the reading. So I took it home.

    In my bedroom, it was so quiet and the story suddenly became clear to me. It was about a blind person, Louis Braille. He lived in a time when the blind couldn't get much education. But Louis didn't give up. Instead, he invented a reading system which opened up a new world to the blind. Wasn't I the "blind" in my class, being made to learn like the "sighted (有视力的)" students? My thoughts spilled out and my pen started to dance. I completed the task within 40 minutes. Indeed, I was no different from others. If Louis could find his way out of his problems, why should I ever give up? I didn't expect anything when I handed in my paper to Mrs Green, so when it came back to me the next day with an "A" on it, I couldn't believe my eyes. At the bottom of the paper were these words, "See what you can do when you keep trying."

    Yasutaro Koide, the world's oldest man, died at the age of 113, in Nagoya, Japan on January 19, 2016. But along with his many years, Koide also left us with a piece of advice for a long and fruitful life.

    Koide was born on March 13, 1903. He learned sewing and worked as a tailor(裁缝) for a men's clothes shop in most of his life. He moved to live with his daughter when he was 107 years old. When he turned 110, Koide could still read newspapers without glasses and could eat well without dentures(假牙). In August, 2015, Guinness World Records confirmed(认证) that he was the world's oldest man.

    Koide always loved sitting in front of his sewing machine, enjoying making all kinds of clothes by hand. Being a tailor was his only and last job before his death.

    When he was given the world record in 2015, he told reporters about his secret of living a long life, "No smoking or overdrinking! Be happy about everything. Never overdo things. Work and live with happiness.