Long long time ago, the Jade Emperor, organized an animal race. He told all the animals that the first 12 animals to win could get a place in the Chinese Zodiac (十二生肖), and have a year named after them.

    The cat and the mouse both asked the ox to wake them up early on the day of the race. That day, the ox tried to wake them up, but without success. So the kind ox carried them on his back and started running when the race began. The mouse woke up just when the ox was going to across the last river. He knew that he could never beat the cat. So he pushed the cat off the ox's back. When the ox reached the other side of the river, the mouse jumped off and ran to the finishing line, just before the ox.

    So the 12-year cycle（循环） begins with the mouse. The ox comes after him. The tiger follows the ox. The rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig come after them. The cat didn't get a place in the Zodiac. That's why the cat hates the mouse and always wants to kill it.

    Bob is an artist. He owns a house in New York. One afternoon when he drives home from work, his three children are playing in the garden. Some of his flowers are broken. The door of his wife's car is open, and the front door of the house is open, too.

    When he walks in the house, his house is messy. In the living room, the TV is on. Toys and clothes are everywhere. In the kitchen, dirty plates and bowls are in the sink(水槽). Breakfast food and dog food are everywhere. A broken glass is under the table.

    Bob runs fast and looks for his wife. He worries about her. Is she sick? He finds her in the bedroom. She is staying in the bed and reading a book. She looks at him and smiles.

    Bob ask, “What's up today?”

    She again smiles and answers, “You always ask me what I do today when you come home.”

    “Yes.” Says Bob.

    “Today I don't do it.” She smiles again.

    Once upon a time, a boy was walking through a wood and he thought he could hear a sad cry. Following the sound be came to a big, round, mysterious, grey fountain. The sad sound seemed to be coming from the fountain pool. The boy swept aside the pool's dirty surface water and saw a group of grey fish swimming in a slow circle through the pond.

    Amused by this, the boy tried to catch one of these incredible talking fish. But when be stuck his arm into the water it turned grey right up to the elbow. As this happened, a huge sadness entered into him, and he suddenly understood how sad the fish were feeling.

    He quickly pulled his am out of the water, and ran from that place. But the arm stayed grey, and the boy continued feeling sad. He tried so many times to cheer himself up, but nothing worked. That was, until he realized that if he were to make the earth happy then that happiness would be, in turn, transmitted back to him through the earth on his arm.

    From then on, he at about looking after countryside. He cared for the plants, and he did what he could to keep the water from being polluted. He encouraged others to do the same. He was so successful that his arm started to recover its normal color. When the grey had disappeared completely, he started feeling happy again, and be decided to go and visit the fountain. When he was still some way from the fountain he could hear the fish singing happily.

①My daughter's pet fish is dying. Recently I find myself spending minutes and even hours staring at the clear round bowl, hoping for another performance of its wonderful dance. To be honest, I am not a fish person. Compared with cats and dogs, fish can neither play nor walk with me. To me, they are just so boring.

②But every morning now, I tap on the bowl, shake out some fish food and carefully throw it into the bowl, hoping the fish can eat it with the least effort. I try to make the fish more comfortable. Yet there's so little that I can do. The fish just remains still (一动不动的) at the bottom of the bowl.

③"Come on! Eat something!" I say. And suddenly I realize that somebody said the exact same sentences to me before. Many times.

④I think of the banana pancakes that my mother would serve me every time I became sick and stayed in bed. They were my favorite treat and always made me feel much better. "Come on! Eat something! Your body needs to be strong!" My mom would always say. What made me even warmer was the idea that she would always, always be there when I needed her.

⑤Many years later, I tried to do the same when my mother became sick. She was only 61 but seemed to get weaker every day. "Would you like some green tea?" Again and again, I would ask, "What about some cake? Hot chocolate? Strawberries?" I gently encouraged her to eat because I didn't know what else to do. "Please, Mom! Eat something! Your body needs to be strong!" But she would not. There she was, lying still on the bed, with her eyes closed. That was the last time I saw her.

⑥The fish is still lying at the bottom of the bowl. I stare at it and suddenly a familiar (熟悉的) face comes into my mind. Then I say in a low voice, "Mom, ▲ ."