I write three letters. One letter is for my mother. Another letter is for my father. The third letter is for my friend, Peter. I got to the post office for stamps. My mother and my father live in Shanghai. The stamps are two yuan. Peter lives in Canada. The stamps are ten yuan. I buy them.

There is a big store near Betty's home. Yesterday Betty went shopping with her mother. Mum bought a new skirt for Betty. She bought some milk for Betty's brother Jim. And she bought some juice for Betty's father. What did she buy for herself (她自己)? Oh, it was a beautiful scarf.

We were standing at the top of a tower. I wanted to know why my father brought me here. “Look down, Elsa,” Father said. I did so. I saw the square in the centre of our village.   I also saw some roads to the square. “See, my dear. There is more than one way to the square. Life is like that. If you can᾽t get to the place you want to go by one road, try another.”

Now I understood why I was there. Earlier that day, I asked my mother to do something about the school lunch because it was getting worse. But she said she would not believe the lunch was as bad as I said. When I went to father for help, he brought me to the high tower to give me a lesson. After we reached home, I had a plan. At school the next day, I secretly put some soup into a bottle and brought it home. Then I took the soup into the kitchen, giving it to mother at dinner. The plan worked well. When she had the soup, she said, “The cook must have gone mad!” Quickly I told her what I had done, and mother said she would talk about the lunch at school the next day.

I often remember the lesson my father taught me. When I can᾽t solve problems in one way, I try other ways.