When I was 9 years old, I used to cut grass for Mrs. Long. The elderly lady paid me very little, for she hadn't much money. But she did promise me.When Christmas comes, I shall have a present for you.‖ I spent much time wondering what it would be. The boys I played with had baseball gloves and bicycles and ice skates, and I was so eager to acquire any one of these that I convinced myself that Mrs. Long intended choosing from among them.

It would hardly be a baseball glove, I reasoned with myself. A woman like Mrs. Long wouldn't know much about baseball. Since she was old and weak, I also ruled out the bicycle, for how could she handle such a large item.

On my last Saturday at work, Mrs. Long said, '' At Christmas you come to the door and collect the present. '' These words clinched(确定)my guess. Since she was going to have the present in her house and handle it herself, unquestionably she was giving me a pair of ice skates.

I became so convinced of this that I could imagine myself upon the skates and the excitement they brought me. As the cold days of November arrived and ice began to form on the ponds, I began to try my luck on the ice. ''Get away from that ice! '' a man shouted.

As Christmas approached it was with difficulty that I restrained (抑制) myself from reporting to Mrs. Long and demanding my present. On the 21st of December, icy weather froze all the ponds so that boys who already had ice skates were able to use them. My longing to possess mine became overpowering.

So the next day I could control myself no longer and presented myself at Mrs. Long's door. ''I've been waiting for you, '' she said with a smile.

Paragraph 1: She set me in a chair and handed a package to me.   

Paragraph 2: On Christmas morning, I could not wait to open the package.     

“Ugh, chicken rolls again? I hate chicken rolls!” Matt yelled. “I’m not eating this.” Matt’s mom and dad looked at each other. Matt’s outbursts had been happening at least once a week all summer long.

“You know what, Matt? We re going to let you take over dinnertime from now on. You can pick the meals and cook them, as long as they’re healthy,” Mom said.

“Good, we’re going to eat good food every night!” Matt answered.

The next day, Dad sat down with Matt to make the meal plan so he could go grocery shopping. Matt had already been thinking about his favorite dinners. “We’re going to have beef tonight, and spaghetti tomorrow, and macaroni (通心粉) and cheese the next day,” Matt started.

“Woah, hold on now,” Dad said. “What else are we going to have with the beef? We need to have at least one vegetable with each meal, and usually we have another side to go with it.”

“Oh, yeah. Um, we can have corn with the beef,” Matt said.

“Sophia does not like corn,” said Dad.

“Well, it’s my choice, so I’m going to make corn,” Matt replied.

“OK, but she might complain at dinner tonight. Are you ready for that?” Dad asked.

“Yeah, whatever,” Matt answered.

Matt and his dad spent the next hour figuring out the whole week’s meals and side dishes. It was a lot more work than Matt expected, and almost every time he picked something out, his dad would tell him that someone in the family wouldn’t like it. It was very frustrating. “This is impossible!” Matt said.

“Yes, it is hard. Your mother and I try very hard to make everyone happy, but everyone has different tastes, and sometimes, we just can’t please everyone.”

“Fine, we’ll have to just go with this plan this week. Next week I’ll try to make everyone happy,” replied Matt.

When finishing grocery shopping, it was time for Matt to make his first meal.

Two hours had passed by before the dishes were ready on the table.

My family’s house was close to a road. And on the far end of the road stood a big tree. My parents, together with me, often crossed the road to the big tree to have fun with our neighbors. But I wasn’t allowed to cross the road to go there by myself for my safety.

One day, for some reason, the big tree would be cut down. It was just before dinner time. A large crowd of neighbors gathered at the far end of the road to watch the falling of this tree. I watched from my house as the tree, tied with ropes, was lowered down. Soon, the huge tree fell safely to the ground with a big sound. But the kids and grown - ups didn’t leave. They moved closer to stay around this wonderful old tree.

Like them, I wanted to touch the tree with my hands and say good - bye. But I was only five years old and wasn’t allowed to cross the busy road alone. But as I became sadder when watching the tree nearly disappear, I thought to myself, “What’s the worst thing that could happen?” I didn’t see any cars coming, so I ran across the road to say good - bye to the fallen tree.

After standing around and talking with some of the neighbors, I realized that I had stayed there too long. “I am late for dinner, and I’m in trouble.”I told myself. Without even thinking, and without seeing if there were any cars coming, I dashed out between two parked cars and raced toward the other side of the road.

I didn’t see a car rushing forward from the other end of the road. And the driver didn’t expect I’d cross the road at that moment. When spotting me, he tried to stop his car, whose tires produced loud and unpleasant noises. But it was too late.