“Usual boring day!” This would be the answer from John if somebody asked him how his day was. These days he found everything boring, nothing excited him.

One day he was lying in his room as usual. After a while he felt it was rather hot in his room. Though he did not want to leave his room, he had to. Unwillingly, he left his room and came to the living room which was slightly cool as it had two huge windows.

His young brother was playing with his friend. They were rolling on the floor. He was looking out for the TV remote, but couldn't find it. He got up and searched for it everywhere, but the remote was nowhere. He looked at his brother who was still lying on the floor playing. He asked him, “Where is the remote?” “Under the sofa, ” his brother yelled.

He tried to look through, but it was dark. He put his hand under the sofa. He touched something, grabbed it and took his hand out. Oh! It was a snake in his hand!

After seeing that his brother started to cry, “Snake, snake!” Mom came as soon as she heard his shouting. She too was horrified to see a snake. She was so scared that she even couldn't speak a word. Two kids were trying to hide into each other's back. “What an old trick!” Roman thought and threw it to the kids.

As the snake landed on the floor near to the kids, it started moving from the left side to the right. Only then did John realize that the snake was real, not a toy. He threw the snake to the kids because he thought it was a fake snake and the kids were playing some tricks.

This time Mom almost got a heart attack. Now he was scared too. The snake was only 10 meters away from the kids and was staring at the kids. They even couldn't call a rescue team. There might be some deadly damage before their arrival. There was not much time to think. It was the time for a quick action.

As John was farther from the snake, he jumped to the window and grabbed the curtain.

After the rescue team caught and took away the snake, everyone went inside the home.

2 . “Have you checked the oil in the car?” my father used to say to me, his version of “Hello, hope you are well.” Sometimes our phone calls would begin with an inquiry about the oil and end with an inquiry about the oil, with not a lot in between.

Fathers have a lot of love to give, but it’s often supplied through the medium of practical advice. The affectionate phrase “You made my life better from the moment you were born” may be rarely heard, but there is the more common “I’ll hold the ladder while you get the leaves off the roof.”

Why can’t we fathers just say “I love you” or “It’s great to see you” ? The point is: That’ s exactly what we are saying. You just have to translate from the language that is Fatherlish. Listen closely enough and the phrase “I love you” can be heard in the lengthier “I could come around Saturday and replace the silicon seal around the base of your toilet because I reckon that thing is getting really smelly.”

When I was 17, I went on my first road trip. My father stood on the corner in the predawn of a cold morning to bid us farewell. “Highways are dangerous,” he said, “so don’t try overtaking anything faster than a horse and buggy. And take a break every two hours. And every time you stop for gas, you really should check the oil.” At the time we thought his speech was funny and would chant “horse-and-buggy” every time I floored the accelerator.

Dad’s long gone now. But after all these years, I realize that had I owned a copy of the Fatherlish-to-English dictionary, I’d have understood that the speech my friend and I so casually mocked was simply Dad’s attempt at affection.

An 80-year-old man was sitting on the sofa in his house along with his 45-year-old highly educated son. Suddenly a crow (乌鸦) perched on the tree near heir window.

The father asked his son,“What is this?" The son replied,“It is a crow.”

After a few minutes, the father asked his son the second time“What is this?” The son said,

“Father, I have just now told you. It's a crow.”

After a little while, the old father again asked his son the third time,“What is this?”

“It’s a crow, a crow, a crow”said the son loudly and impatiently.

A few minutes later, the father again asked his son the fourth time.“What is it?”

This time the son shouted at his father, “Why do you keep asking me the same question again and again?IT IS A CROW. Are you not able to understand this?”

A little later the father went to his room and came back with an old diary, which he had kept since his son was born. On pernicious a page,he asked his son to read that pages. When the son read it, the following words were written in the diary:

“Today my little son aged three was siting with me on the sofa when a crow was siting on the window. My son asked me 23 times what it was, and I replied to him all 23 times that it was a crow. I hugged him lovingly each time he asked me the same question again and again for 23 times. I did not at all feel annoyed; I rather felt love for my innocent child.”

After reading the diary,

Feeling ashamed,the son got down on his knees before his father.

When I was a baby, my parents gave me anything I wanted. I would play with a toy for a while, get bored, and ask my parents for a new one. Then my dad died when I was 2, and I got even more stuff as my mom, friends, and family gave me more and more stuff to try to make me feel better. My mom continued to treat me to whatever I wanted until I was seven and my world crashed.

That was when the real estate market crashed. My mom had thought buying houses was a good idea as a way to invest her money to take care of us. After the crash, I went from the kid who got a fine iPod and who had the coolest house, to almost having nowhere to stay.

Since then, when I would ask for a new toy or bike, or even to see a movie my mom would say “I’m sorry, honey but we really can’t afford that right now.” But my mom had grown up in a family where money was never a problem, so this change was as big for her as it was for me. My constant requests for toys and video games deepened her concern about our financial situation. But I wasn’t used to hearing “no.” So, for a year or two, I kept asking for things whether I really needed them or not.

Then something happened that would change my way of thinking forever. My mom had been working really hard all year, just to pay for the necessities, like our rents, and water and power bills. When she asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I said that I wanted a new video gaming system. I didn’t know that it was expensive. All I knew was that my friends had them and that I wanted one, too.

On my birthday, I started opening presents, believing that I would get what I asked.

From then on, I wouldn’t ask for anything that I didn’t need.

Jenny was a bright­eyed, pretty five­year­old girl.One day when she and her mother were checking out at the grocery store, Jenny saw a plastic pearl necklace priced at 2.50.How she wanted that necklace, and when she asked her mother if she would buy it for her, her mother said, “Well, it is a pretty necklace, but it costs an awful lot of money.After all, I’ll buy you the necklace, and when we get home we can make up a list of chores that you can do to pay for the necklace.And don’t forget that for your birthday, Grandma just might give you a whole dollar bill, too.Okay？” Jenny agreed, and her mother bought the pearl necklace for her.

Jenny worked on her chores very hard every day, and sure enough, her grandma gave her a brand­new dollar bill for her birthday.Soon Jenny had paid off the pearls.How Jenny loved those pearls！She wore them everywhere to kindergarten, bed and when she went out with her mother to run errands(差事)．The only time she didn’t wear them was in the shower.Her mother had told her that they would turn her neck green!

Jenny had a very loving Daddy.When Jenny went to bed, he would get up from his favorite chair every night and read Jenny her favorite story.

One night when he finished the story, he said, “Jenny, do you love me？”

“Oh yes, Daddy, you know I love you, ” the little girl said.

“Well, then, give me your pearls.”

“Oh！Daddy, not my pearls！” Jenny refused.“But you can have Rosy, my favorite doll.Remember her? You gave her to me last year for my birthday.And you can have her tea party outfit, too.Okay？”

“Oh no, darling, that’s okay.” Her father brushed her cheek with a kiss.“Good night, little one.”

A week later, her father once again asked Jenny after her story.

Several days later, when Jenny’s father came in to read her a story as usual, he was surprised to find

Everyone has a childhood. And childhood     1     (experience) are often very funny. Children often make us laugh. It’s     2     (real) true that children brighten up a home. They never turn off the lights.

I often recall my childhood, the years when many interesting things     3     (happen) . When I was a two-year-old child, both my parents were always very busy with their work. My mother worked     4     a sales manager in a company while my father was in     5     army. So I live with my grandma in a village. I was always waiting for my parents     6     (see) me at home. Once my father sent us a photo of his in a soldier's uniform,     7     was posted on the table reminding me of him.

Once my mother came to see me and we went     8     (shop) together. On the way we saw a group of soldiers. And when I saw them, I became very     9     (excite) . I said in a ringing voice pointing to     10     (they) , “This is my father, and this is my father, and that is my father, too!”

My mother said she would remember that moment all her life.