Marty would turn eleven in just three days.

Marty's parents wanted to give him a surprise. They talked about the list of gifts one night after Marty went to sleep. Dad said, "I think Marty will just get tired of the basketball, and he doesn't like taking pictures." Mom said, "We just bought him a new bicycle last Christmas."

"I think we should get Marty the telescope," said Dad, "he's so interested in space and the planets."

"Sounds good," said Mom.

Dad stopped by a store the next day after work and picked out a telescope. He waited until Marty was asleep and brought the telescope from his car into the house.

"Wow! This is wonderful," said Marty's mom, "now where are we going to hide it until Sunday?"

"Why not put it in the study? Marty won't find it there."

Sunday morning came. Marty was so excited about his birthday, He ran into the kitchen, but didn't see anything special as usual. "Happy birthday!" said his mom and dad from the next room. Marty looked confused. Dad told Marty to follow him to the study. "This is fantastic!" yelled Marty, "I was hoping for the telescope myself, too. Thanks so much for knowing me so well." "You're welcome," said Mom and Dad. That night, Marty saw many beautiful stars and even the planet Mars.

Mr. Lee comes from Beijing, China. He went to America in 2017. He likes life there, so he moved (搬家) there in 2019. Now they all get used to (习惯) life there.  

Today is December 24th. And tomorrow is Christmas Day. The whole family is busy with Christmas. Mrs. Lee can’t make the dinner very well, but Mr. Lee is good at making American food. Look! He is cooking in the kitchen. What is Mrs. Lee doing? She is just a helper of Mr. Lee. Can you see the girl in a brown coat? She is their daughter. She is 18 years old and her name is Molly. She studies in America. Now she is washing clothes at home. And the old man on the sofa is Molly’s grandfather. He is 75 years old, but he is still in good health. What is he doing? Well, Molly’s grandmother is teaching him how to use the Internet. They are really a happy family.

Frank was a boy of ten. His father worked in a cinema and his mother worked in a shop. He lived not far from his school. He always walked to school and then walked home. On his way home, he had to pass a playground. It was very wet after it rained. One day, when he got home, his clothes were all wet. His mother became angry and said, “Don’t play in the water on your way home from school!”

On the next day Frank came home with wet and dirty clothes again. His mother became much angrier. “I’ll tell your father if you come back with wet clothes again,” said his mother. “He’ll punish (惩罚) you, you know.”

The third day the little boy was dry when he came home. “You’re a good boy today,” his mother said happily. “You didn’t play in the water.” “No,” the boy said unhappily. “There were too many older boys in the water when I got there this afternoon. There wasn’t any room for me at all! They didn’t allow me to play there.”