2 . Some of my earliest memories involve sitting with my dad in his study every night when he came home from the office. He would smile, hand me the comb and say, “Be a good girl and help Daddy clean it, OK?” Dad’s _________ was jade green. I heard he bought it when he married Mum.

At age five, I was _________ happy to do it. Carefully finishing the task, I would proudly _________ the comb to Dad. He would smile at me, and place the comb on top of his _________.

Two years later, Dad left his sales job and started his own business. Dad didn’t come home as much as he used to. Over the years, I _________ waiting for him to come home.

Today, I’m aged 17. The uncomfortable silence between Dad and me remained.

Two days before my birthday last year, Dad came home early. As usual, I helped him carry his bags into his study. When I turned to leave, he said, “Hey, would you like to help me _________ my comb? It’s been a while since I last cleaned it.” I looked at him for a while, then took the comb and _________ the sink.

It’s a(n) _________ comb. This one’s brown. I hadn’t noticed that he’d changed it. It hit me then: why, as a child, helping my dad clean his comb was such a _________. That routine meant that my dad was home __________ to spend the evening with Mum and I. It meant a happy and __________ family.

I passed the clean comb back to Dad. He looked at it, __________, and carefully placed his comb on top of his wallet. But this time, I notice something __________. My dad has aged. He has __________ next to his eyes when he smiles, yet his smile is still as __________ as before.

After so many years, I guess some things never change. And for that, I’m glad.

Ollie Simmons was good at maths, but Ruby Riley wasn’t. Well, Ruby didn’t think she was. She sat next to Ollie and so she just copied him. This was the best way she had found to do maths and she didn’t have to think at all.

One day the teacher said, “We will be having a maths test after lunch.” Ruby felt there were butterflies in the stomach. “Can I copy off you?” she whispered to Ollie. Ollie thought for a minute. “What will you give me?” he whispered back. Ruby showed Oilie a stone she had. It was round and smooth and the colour of the sea. “OK!” he said, “Give me the stone, and then you can copy my answers.” Ollie got full marks in the maths test and so did Ruby. Their names went on the top of the maths champion chart.

Every week there was a maths test and every week Ollie and Ruby got full marks together. Ollie had to share the top place with Ruby, but it was worth it. He had a torch, a key chain, a golf ball and a gift box!

One day, there was a maths test again. This time, Ruby picked a watch, thinking everything would go as usual—Ollie would let her copy and they would be on the top of the chart together again. But she was wrong. The headmaster came into Ruby’s class. “I want to see Ollie Simmons,” she said. Ollie was gone for a long time. Then the door opened. It was the headmaster again. “Ruby Riley, she said,” Come with me, please. “Ruby felt like a bird in a cage—there was no way to escape. The headmaster told Ruby that every lunchtime for five weeks she had to do maths. “You have to learn to think for yourself,” she said. “And Ollie has to learn a lesson, too. He’s going to teach you.”

Hanging her head down. Ruby felt so regretful for getting Ollie into trouble.

Ollie proved to be a good reacher for Ruby.

A Change of Heart

It was a cold winter and my family had a tough struggle. Mum had a bitter time raising us kids by herself in our small community as dad passed away five years earlier. We relied on social assistance.

Looking back, I realized what Mum went through sending us kids to school. Every morning she would place a new piece of cardboard in our shoes because our shoes were worn out. When we got home, Mum would have French toast ready for us. Constant moving was typical for my family in those days, and it didn’t look like we’d be in our current house much longer. Rent was $25 a month, but Mum couldn’t pay it, and we knew we would be forced to leave right after Christmas on the first of January.

The holidays were fast approaching, and we were given $25 for Christmas from social services. Mum said that instead of buying food, she was going to use the money to pay our rent. That way we’d have a roof over our heads for a little while longer. Then she told us that there would be no Christmas gifts.

Unbeknown to Mum, I had been selling Christmas trees, shoveling (铲) snow and doing odd jobs to earn enough money to buy a new pair of boots. I knew exactly which boots I wanted. They were ten-inch, Top-Genuine, Pierre Paris boots, and they cost $23.

The big day for getting my boots came on Christmas Eve afternoon. I was very excited as I hurried up the road to catch the bus into town. It was only a half-mile walk, but on the way I noticed a house with Christmas lights and decorations. It was then that I realized at our house, we had no lights, no decorations and no turkey or ham for Christmas dinner.

As I continued walking, I began to feel strangely ashamed.

With decorations and food, I reached home.

When we are little kids, birthday parties are big occasions. They are our time to shine, and we love everything about them: the balloons, the games, the cake, the gifts, and so on.

After reading cool stories about police officers (警察) solving cases, Allen Miller thought the police were great, hoping to become one of them! So, when he had to choose a theme for his seventh birthday party—he went with his favorite: the police! And all he wanted for his birthday party was a model police car. He excitedly invited some of his friends and anxiously awaited the day. Unfortunately, none of them could make it to the party due to various reasons. Allen’s mom Rachel wrestled (纠结) with the challenging decision: should she cancel (取消) the party?     

Officer Frank Smith, who had already planned with Rachel and agreed to show up at the party, heard from Rachel that it might be canceled due to low attendance (出席率). That’s when he decided to save the day. After all, his duty is to serve and protect, and he decided to serve him the most amazing seventh birthday party! Officer Smith got the whole local police to join in.     

On the day of Allen’s party, Officer Smith picked up Rachel and Allen in his police car. They stopped at Town Hall, and officer Smith led them into the meeting room where a group of policemen were waiting to wish Allen a happy birthday. There, a party was waiting for him. The room was filled with warmth and he was greeted by the smiling faces of officers who had stepped away from their duties to celebrate with him. A large cake stood at the center of the room, drawing Allen’s eyes. As they gathered around the cake, Allen felt a rush of joy. With each officer’s cheer, he blew out the candles (蜡烛), making a wish that sparkled in his eyes as brightly as the candles had.

After they enjoyed the cake, Officer Smith took out a gift bag.