Four men who would become fathers were in a hospital waiting room while their wives were going to give birth to their babies. The nurse arrived and proudly said to the first man, “Congratulations, sir. You're the father of twins!”

    “What a surprise! Believe it or not! I work for the Minnesota Twins Baseball teams!”

    Later the nurse returned and congratulated the second father on the birth of his triplets (三胞胎).

    “Wow! That's unbelievable! I work for the 3M Company.”

    An hour later, the nurse returned to congratulate the third man on the birth of his quadruplets (四胞胎). Surprised, he only could answer, “I don't believe it! I work for the Four Seasons Hotel!”

    After this, everyone turned to the fourth man who had just fallen down. The nurse ran fast to his side. As he slowly came to himself, they could hear him speak in a very low voice over and over, “I should never have taken that job at 7-Eleven. I should never have taken that job at 7-Eleven. I should never have taken that job at 7-Eleven.”

    I am Frank. In our western countries, there are four seasons or 365 days in a year. Usually, we sleep 8 hours every day. So we have 122 days for sleeping. Then our study or work time is only 243 days left. But there are 52 weekends in a year. Each weekend is two days. We lose another 104 days a year for work. It takes up about one hour to have breakfast and supper. This comes to 15 days over a year. Four free hours each evening takes up 61 days. But we can't work all the time, so we need holidays. We have to remember that we get 2 days' holiday at Easter, 3 at Christmas and 1at the New Year. There are also 4 Bank holidays. Take those 10 days away and we have 32 days for work. But then we have one and a half hours' lunch every day, and half an hour's coffee break. That comes to 30 days a year. This means that we have only a few days left for study or work every year. What about you in China?

Hello, my name's Jack. I'm a student in No.3 Middle School. I'm 13.

Here is a1 of my family. Who is in the photo? These are my grandparents. My grandfather's 2 is Peter Brown. Cindy is my grandma. She wears (穿) a 3 jacket. Purple is her favorite(最喜欢的) color. They have two sons, Frank and Dale, and a4 . Helen. Frank is my father. He is an English teacher in my school. This is my5 . Lucy. She is in a red jacket.

Dale is my uncle. He has a son Paul6 he is 9. Paul is not in this photo.7 is that woman? She is my aunt, Jane. Is the 8 next to(紧挨着) me my sister? No, she isn't. She is my 9 . She is my uncle's daughter.10 name's Mary. She is 13, too. Mary is in my school. Eric is my brother. He isn't in this photo, either. He is in Beijing now.

A Special Day

 One day when I was seven years old, I went to a park with my parents and sisters. We played on the grass and sat on the see-saw(跷跷板). It was a wonderful day. 

 Now, as a parent, I often think of how my words and actions might influence my children. Something ordinary might just become a special memory for them. 

 Last year, when my son turned four, we had a special day. In the morning, we drove to the train station and bought two tickets. We stood on the platform, enjoyed the sunshine and watched the trains come and go. Soon afterwards, we caught our train. We took two window seats and watched houses, bikers and cars whiz by(呼啸而过). 

 After getting off the train, we walked to a restaurant. We sat, looked through the menu and asked each other what we would like to eat. We waited patiently for our food and tried everything we had ordered. The foods were all our favorite. 

 Then, we walked around the city center. We visited a toy shop and ended up buying a train. After all, it was the little man's birthday. We also enjoyed some hot chocolate at a coffee shop. Finally, we made our way back to the train station and returned home. 

 Every so often, my son will look at me with dreamy eyes and ask, "Mama, when can we have a special day again?"

 Sometimes, we go to a park; sometimes, we try out a new restaurant. We don't do this too often, or it won't be special. But we don't do it too rarely, either, or we might forget how much we both love having them. 

 Sarah often helped out at her dad's restaurant, but today felt different-she was given the job of serving customers. Excited, she carried a pork steak to Table 6. Her excitement quickly turned to anxiety(焦虑) when she saw Kassy, a popular girl from school, sitting there with her friends. Feeling shy and afraid, Sarah hid herself behind the front desk to avoid being seen by her classmates.

 Thoughshe was an excellent student, Sarah often felt out of place among her wealthy classmates. She remembered how Kassy used to make fun of her and worried that others might do the same to her for working at a restaurant. When Sarah's dad found her hiding, she didn't know what to say. He suggested that she should take a break.

 Turning back to the kitchen, Sarah felt bad for letting her dad down. To her surprise, Tina, one of Kassy's friends, came over and said that she knew how mean Kassy could be. She also praised Sarah for her hard work. Her comfort gave Sarah the strength she needed.

 With confidence, Sarahreturned to the dining area and brought the check to Kassy's table. When Kassy tried to make fun of her, Sarah and Tina did a silly"crab dance" and laughed together. As she crossed the dining room, Sarah realized she didn't feel embarrassed. Whether Kassy liked her family's restaurant or not, it didn't matter.

 As Sarah returned to the front desk, she felt a sense of pride, knowing the restaurant was special to her, no matter whatothers thought. She understood that hard work and kindness were what really mattered. From then on, she started to enjoy her new role with confidence and pride.