“It’s really cool to have a dad who flies fighter jets,” thought 11-year-old Casey as she was watching him fly overhead.

Living on an Air Force base was not as bad as some people might think. Casey rather enjoyed being around friends who had something in common with each other. They had their own school, bowling area, and movie theatre. She especially loved it when her dad would come home each day and greet her with a new joke and tickles.

Today was different, though. When her dad walked into the room, he looked sad for some reason. He just kissed her on the forehead and told her mum that he needed to talk to her. Casey knew something was wrong.

When her mum and dad came out of the other room, mum was crying. Dad sat down and began to explain that he had been called to go to Iraq to help with the war effort. Casey was so surprised that she couldn’t speak for a moment. She began to feel tears in her eyes. How could she live without her dad for a whole year?

Soon, the day came. Her dad was leaving. As Casey and her mom watched him climb up the steps to his cockpit, the tears began to flow and it felt like they would never end. It was hard for Casey to believe that she wouldn’t be her dad for so long. They depend on him for so many things. who would fix the broken window? Who would greet her with jokes and tickles at the end of the day? And then the thought hit her, “What if he doesn’t make it home?” Casey began to sob more than ever.

One hot night last July, when our new baby wouldn't or couldn't sleep, I tried everything I could think of: a warm bottle, songs, gentle rocking. Nothing would settle him. Guessing that I had a long night ahead of me, I brought a portable TV into his room, figuring that watching the late movie was as good a way as any to kill the hours till dawn. To my surprise, as soon as the TV lit up, the baby quieted right down, his little eyes focused brightly on the tube. Not to waste an opportunity for sleep, I then tiptoes（踮着脚走）out of the room, leaving him to watch the actors celebrate John Bellushi's forty-fifth birthday.

My wife and I heard none of the baby that night, and the next morning when I went into his room, I found that he was still watching TV himself.

I found in my baby's behavior a symbol of the new generation. My wife and I had given him some books to examine, but he merely spit upon them. When we read to him, he did not feel comfortable. And so it is in the schools. We find that our students don't read and that they look down upon reading and scold those of us who teach it. All that they want to do is to watch TV. After this experience with the baby, however, I have come to a conclusion: "Let them watch it!" If television is that much more attractive to children than books, why should we fight about it? Let them watch it all that they want!

Once there was a very old lion. As he grew older, he became weak and slow. He could no longer hunt animals. So he was not able to eat any food.

The lion was sure he would soon die. He was very sad. As he slowly walked home, the lion told a bird about his sad situation.

The other animals felt sorry for the lion. “That’s awful,” they said. “We should visit the lion and see how he is doing.” So one by one, they went to visit the lion in his cave.

The lion was old and weak, but he was also very smart. When each animal came into his cave, they were easy to catch and eat. Soon the lion became fat.

Still he kept pretending to be sick. And the animals kept going into the lion’s cave. After a while, many of the animals of the forest had disappeared.

One day, early in the morning, the fox went to the lion’s cave. The fox was very smart, too. He slowly walked close to the cave. Standing outside the cave, the fox called out, “Hello. How are you feeling now?”

The lion answered, “I am not doing well. Why don’t you come in? I can’t see you. Come closer and tell me some kind words. I am old and will die soon.”

While the lion was talking, the fox was looking closely at the ground. The fox suddenly realized what the lion was doing.

Finally, the fox looked up and answered, “No, thank you. I can see many footprints (脚印) entering your cave. But I cannot see any footprints leaving your cave.”