One day a farmer went out for a walk with his little son. The farmer wore a pair of wrong shoes. One had thick sole(厚鞋底) but the other didn't. He began to walk and then his feet hurt. When he was just out of the house, he turned to his son and said, “Why is one of my legs longer than the other today?”

      The son looked at his father's legs carefully as he was walking and then laughed, “Oh, no, Daddy. Your legs are all right. You're wearing the wrong shoes.” The farmer was very happy to hear that and said to himself, “What a clever son!” Then he asked his son to go back and got the other pair of shoes for him. The farmer had only two pairs of shoes.

      When the son ran back to the house, he found that the other pair was also a wrong pair. He had to return to his father with nothing in his hands and said, “It's no use changing them, Daddy! The shoes at home are not a pair, either!”

    Whenever there's a terrible storm, there are plenty of sad stories. Many people lost their houses, their cars and their pets. But sometimes these stories have happy endings too.

    A family in New Jersey, US, had a cat named Vivien. She is very smart. She could even draw with her wet paws on the floor. They all love her very much. When hurricane (飓风) Sandy hit America in October, they moved to a safer place-13km away from home. Sadly Vivien went missing. The whole family were worried about her. They put up posters on the Internet to look for her. All the nine family members searched wherever they thought she could stay, but they didn't find it. The family thought Vivien was gone forever.

    But six months later, Vivien showed up at their house, according to Yahoo News. They considered her return as a wonder. No one can be sure where Vivien was for all that time.

    Many animals are good at finding their way home. People usually say that dogs and cats find their way home through using their sense of smell.

    But that doesn't explain how Vivien found her way back. Hurricane Sandy blew away the normal smells of home.

    "I wish she could talk," said her owner.

    Look! This is a picture of my family. I have a big family. They are grandparents, my parents, my sister and I. The old man on the left is my grandfather. He is a farm worker. He likes flowers. There are many flowers on the farm. The old woman next to my grandfather is my grandmother. She likes cooking. My father is on the right of my grandmother. He is 40 years old. He likes playing basketball with his students. The woman next to my father is my mother. She is a manager of a hotel. In front of them are my sister and I. My sister is a student. We are in different classes but the same grade. She is in Class One, Grade Seven. I'm in Class Four, Grade Seven. My sister likes drawing and I like reading.

    Tyler was a troublesome student. He sat in the back row. Every time I called him to answer questions, he'd reply with a flip(轻率的)answer. If he got it wrong, he would get very angry.

    Usually kids could sit quietly in class. However, Tyler was just loud. One day, Tyler was talking while I was teaching. I said to him, "Tyler, why not join in our discussion instead of having one of your own?" He got up from his chair, pushed it over, and shouted something I can't remember. I sent him to the office and he received a week's out-of-school punishment.

    The week was a wonderful time for me, but when it came to an end, I began to feel worried. So I came up with a plan. On the day of his return, I told him I wanted to start over with him. If he felt like he was going to lose control in class, he could step outside the door for a moment.

    From then on, Tyler was a changed student in my classroom. In fact he was a smart child and he even stopped a fight between two students one day. And he never used the privilege(特权)to leave the class for a moment. I believe that just letting him decide for himself made all the difference. When the year was over, he wrote me a thank-you note about how good the year had been for him. I still have it today and find it very moving to reread when I get stressed about teaching.

    "Can I see my baby?" asked the happy new mother. When the baby was in her arms, she couldn't believe her eyes. The baby was born without ears.

    Time proved that the baby's hearing was perfect though he had no ears. He got on well with his classmates. But one day, he said to his mother, tears in his eyes, "A big boy called me a freak(畸形物)."

    The boy's father asked the family doctor, "Could nothing be done?"

    "I believe I could graft(移植)on a pair of outer ears if they could be gotten," the doctor said. They tried to find a person who would be helpful to the boy.

    One day, his father said to the son, "You're going to the hospital, son. Mother and I have found someone who will donate the ears you need. But we must keep it a secret who the person is."

    The operation was a great success, and a new person appeared. His cleverness and hard work made him a very successful person. He married and lived a happy life.

    He would ask his father, "Who gave me the ears? I could do enough for him or her."

    "I can't tell you," said the father. "The agreement says that you are not allowed to know…not yet."

    It was kept a secret for years, but the day did come. He stood with his father over his mother's body. Slowly, the father raised the thick, brown hair. To his surprise, the son found his mother had no outer ears.

    "Mother said she was glad she never had her hair cut," his father said in a low voice, "and nobody ever thought Mother less beautiful, did they?"