She had been shopping with her Mom in Wal Mart. She must have been 6 years old. It was 1outside. We all just stood 2the door of the Wal Mart. "Mom, let's run through the rain," she said with a 3 voice." What? "Mom asked." Let's run through the rain! "She repeated." No, honey. We'll wait until it 4 down a bit." Mom replied.

    This young child waited about 5 minute and repeated, "Mom, let's run through the rain."

    "We'll get wet if we do," Mom said. "No, we won't, Mom. That's not what you said this morning," the young girl said." This morning? 6 did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?" "Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, 'If God can get us 7this, he can get us through anything! "

    The entire crowd became dead silent. I dare say you couldn't hear anything but the 8. We all stood silently. Mom stopped to for a moment about what she would say. "Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If we get wet, maybe we just need  9," Mom said. Then off they ran.

    We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they  10 past the cars. They held their shopping bags over their 11 just in case. They got wet. But they were12by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the 13 to their cars. And yes, I did. I ran. I got wet. I needed washing. Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions (财产), they can take away your money, and they can take away your  14. But no one can ever take away your precious 15. So, don't forget to take time and take the opportunities to make memories.

    When you want to go shopping, decide how much money you can spend for new clothes. Think about the kind of clothes you really need. Then look for those clothes on sale.

    There are labels inside all new clothes. The labels tell you how to take care of your clothes. The label for a shirt may tell you to wash it in warm water. A sweater label may tell you to wash by washing in cold water. The label on a coat may say "dry clean only." Washing may ruin(损坏) this coat. If you do as the directions say on the label, you can keep your clothes looking their best. Many clothes today must be dry cleaned. Dry cleaning is expensive. When buying new clothes, check to see if they will need to be dry cleaned. You will save money if you buy clothes that can be washed.

    You can save money if you buy clothes that are well made. Well-made clothes last longer. They look good even after they have been washed many times. Clothes that cost more money are not always better made. They do not always fit better. Sometime less expensive clothes look and fit better than more expensive clothes.

    Would you like to live in a city where buildings turn the lights off for you, and self-driving cars will find the nearest parking space themselves? Although it might sound a little far from you, living in a "smart" city like this could happen sooner than you think

    Great changes have taken place in towns that we have lived in for centuries, while completely new cities are being built. One such place is the city of Songdo. Every home there will have a "telepresence system(远程遥控系统)"—allowing users to control the heating and locks, take part in video meetings and receive education, health care and government services. Around the city, escalators(自动扶梯) will only move when someone is on them, and offices and schools will all be connected to the system

    The great mind behind Songdo is from the company Cisco. In fact, technology companies around the world such as IBM, Siemens and Microsoft are already in the business.

    About 75 of the world's population will live in cities by 2050, so cities will need to be more modern to deal with the coming problems. Making cities smarter is one way out and I think this will in turn make cities greener, said Dan Hill, head of a research company

    I was going back to work to finish a few things one evening, and my two children were busy sewing（缝纫） things on the sewing machine. My 11-year-old daughter was going to help her older brother make a little cushion（垫子）. I left and in a few hours returned to find a mess in the kitchen and front room while both children were sitting in front of the television. Having had a long day, I was very short with my greeting to them. But then I noticed the material they had used for the cushion. I had bought it to make a blanket. Not stopping to listen to them, I shouted at the children and explained how angry I was at what they had done.

    My daughter listened to me sheepishly, not trying to say anything to herself at all, but the pain could be seen written across her face. She went to her room quietly and spent some time alone before she came out to say good night and once again apologized for the mistake she had made. A few hours later, as I was preparing to go to bed, there on my bed lay a beautiful little cushion, with the words “I LOVE MUM”. Next to it was a note apologizing again.

    To this day, I still get tears in my eyes when I think of how I reacted and still feel the pain of my actions. It was I who then sheepishly went to her and apologized for my actions. I display the cushion on my bed with great pride and use it as a constant reminder that nothing in this world is greater than a child's love.  

Have you ever counted the number of digits (数字) in your mobile phone number? Your number has 11 digits. You may sometimes find it hard to remember your number. That's because China has the longest mobile phone numbers in the world. Why is that?

    The 11 digits can be divided into three parts. Each part has a different meaning. The first three numbers tell you which mobile phone service company it is. For example, 135 is for China Mobile Communications Corporation and 188 is for China Unicom. The fourth to the seventh digits tell you where the number is registered (注册). And the last four digits are random (随机的).

    The main reason for using 11 digits is that we have the largest population in the world. We once had 10 numbers. But as our population grew, there were not enough numbers for us to use. So we began to use 11 digits starting from 1999. Eleven digits can be used to make tens of billions of mobile phone numbers. That's enough for each person to have seven or eight phone numbers to use in China.

    And mobile phone numbers can be recycled. Usually, the service company will reuse a canceled number after three to six months. If you call a number that you haven't contacted for a long time, you may find that its owner has changed.

    Besides China, Britain and Japan also use 11-digit mobile phone numbers. But their numbers always start with 0. So they cannot create as many numbers as we can. Countries like the United States, Australia and India use phone numbers with 10 digits. Canada's mobile phone numbers are perhaps the shortest in the world: they use seven digits.

Canadian: In my country, the mobile phone numbers use seven digits. Why does this mobile phone have 11 digits—13958583739?

Salesman: We have the largest population. Besides China,        also use 11-digit numbers.

Canadian: What do the numbers mean?

Salesman: The number        tells you which mobile phone service company it is.

    The        to the seventh numbers tell you the        of its registration. The number 3739 is random.

Canadian: Can you        the phone numbers?

Salesman: Yes, after three to six months.

    Part-time jobs are great for young people. They       ( 允许）teenagers to gain a little job experience and make a bit of money too. Of course, for students, doing a part-time job should never be more important than studying for good       （成绩）.

    There are so many different part-time jobs for you to      （选择） from. A few of the most       （普通的） ones are restaurant waiters, store salesmen and park workers. There are all jobs only need you to work between ten and       （十五） hours per week. Besides, they don't require much work experience. So you can learn how to do the job easily       （当……的时候）working.

    From part-time jobs, you can learn great lessons which are all        （必需的）for you in your life. What's more, it is great to earn money for the first time from a part-time job. Maybe you will find it's       （更困难的）to use money you made than that your parents gave you! Yet it can right teach you the       （价值） of money. Lastly, the feeling you got from a part-time job will be your important treasure later on.

    One day, a student asked his teacher, "What is greed(贪婪)?" The teacher didn't answer his question       (direct), but asked the student to walk through the chocolate factory next to their school and pick out the       (big) chocolate bar(条；块) he could find. But there was a rule:        he passed through the factory, he could not turn back.

    The student went to the chocolate factory. As he walked, he saw a large chocolate bar. He liked it, but thought he might be able to find an even bigger one if he kept going.

    He kept       (walk) and saw another chocolate bar. This one was a little bigger. But again, he thought he could find an even bigger one if he kept going. As he neared the end of the factory, he saw       (few) chocolate bars, and none of them were as large as the earlier ones. He started       (regret) his decision to keep going. Finally he gave       . He went back to his teacher empty-handed and       (explain) what had happened.

    The teacher told him, "You liked the       (one) chocolate bar, but you kept looking for a bigger one. And later, you realized        you had given up the best chocolate bar because you thought you could do better. That is called greed."

Dear Matilda,