Sally was a student. It was going to be her mother's birthday. She wanted to buy her a gift that would be nice and useful but not expensive.

    A week before her mother's birthday， she went shopping after a quick and simple lunch. When she had been looking for half an hour， she found a shop that was selling cheap umbrellas， and decided to take a black one， since her mother had lost hers the month before.

    She thought， “You could carry that when you are wearing clothes of any color.” So she decided to buy a lovely black umbrella and took it back to school with her until her classes had finished.

    On her way back home in the train that evening， she felt hungry because she had such a small lunch that she went along to the buffet car（餐车） for another sandwich and cup of coffee. She had left the black umbrella above her seat in the compartment（车厢）， but when she got back， it had gone! When she had left the compartment， there had been no other passengers in it， but now there were three.

    Sally began to cry when she saw that the umbrella was no longer there. The other passengers felt very sorry for her and asked what the matter was. She told them that the black umbrella she had bought for her mother was gone， and that she had to get out at the next station. After the three other passengers heard it， they asked her for her mother's address so that they could sent the umbrella to her if someone had taken it by mistake and brought it back after Sally had got out of the train.

    The next week， Sally heard from her mother. It said， “Thank you very much for your lovely gifts， but why did you send me three black umbrellas?”

    "Colour, colour, colour!" are the words of the artist Eric Carle. Eric is like the king in the world of children's books. He has written over 70 children's books. His most famous book. The Very HungryCaterpillar, is common on children's bookshelves all over the world. What most people don't know is that Eric also makes art for adults, which is called "ArtArt". People didn't know about it, because he didn't show it to the public until he was 84 years old!

    Like Eric's children's books, his "ArtArt" is full of bright and clear colour. He says that he loves colour so much because he missed it during the war in Germany. Eric was born in New York in 1929, but moved to Germany with his family when he was 6. When he was 10, World War Ⅱ began. He noticed that all the houses and buildings in his town were painted grey, brown or dark green. It was a sad time, and it seemed like there was no colour anywhere.

    At the end of the war, "when colour came back", Eric explains, "I just loved it so much. I keep saying that I wish our eyes could see more colour. Colour is a very important part of my work."

    That's true. Eric paints bright colours on Paper, cuts out shapes, and then glues them onto another piece of paper. This method is called collage (拼贴画). In fact, it is what led Eric to his "ArtArt".

    Eric's "ArtArt" includes large collages as well as paintings, photographs and even costumes. In all these works, he uses all kinds of colours—everything from purple to light green to orange. Now that's a lot of colour!

A Family Photo

Do you like listening to mom？You may say no. Lately，scientists know the reason for it. They find that kids' brains （大脑） enjoy their mothers' words. But when they get older，they like listening to friends' words. 

A scientist named Danel Abram scan （扫描） students' brains （ages from 7 to 16）. When they listen to mothers' words，their brains are active. Students aged 7-12 years answer mom's words more actively. But starting from ages 13 to 14，students talk more with friends. 

Why is this？First，when we grow up，we have more time to study and play with friends，so we think what other people think is more important. Second，this is a time when we think and see the world in our own eyes. 

Next time，when your parents feel sad about this，you can share your feelings and tell them reasons. Anyway，we are sure to grow up and say goodbye to our yesterday's life. 

Hello, everyone!My name is Liu Wei. I am 12 years old. I was born in Nanjing. I am a friendly and honest boy. I have a happy family. There are four people in my family—my father, my mother, my sister and me. 

My father looks strong. He is a doctor in a hospital near my home. He is so busy that he has no time to play with me. But I know he loves me. He likes running, swimming and playing basketball. 

My mother is tall and slim. Her hair is long and black. She has many hobbies. She is good at planting vegetables and flowers. She also enjoys traveling with me. My mother does a lot for me. She always looks after me well. And she is very strict(严格的)about my study. 

My sister is 13 years old. Her name is Liu Li. She has big eyes. She looks cute. In her free time, she likes reading, dancing and listening to music. We study in the same school. She is good at all her lessons. She wants to be a Chinese teacher when she grows up. 

I love my family very much. I hope all my family members always stay happy and healthy.