I asked my dad if I had ever made him cry before because I couldn't remember ever seeing him cry.

"There was once," he said.

He told me that when I was one year old, he put a pen, a piece of paper money and a toy in front of me. He wanted to see which one I would pick. It's a tradition that a lot of Chinese people do when their kids are one year old. According to this tradition, it shows what the kid will value most when he or she grows up. For example, if the kid takes the pen, it means he or she will be an intelligent person in the future. If the kid takes the money, it means he or she will value money more than others and become rich. If the kid takes the toy, it means he or she will like fun things and play a lot.

My father was doing it because he was curious (好奇的). It was interesting for him to see which one I would pick.

He said that I just sat there and stared at the three things. He sat across from me and waited to see the result.

According to him, I moved toward him and he held his breath. Then I pushed everything aside and went right into his arms. Tears (眼泪) came to his eyes. He didn't realize that he was one of the choices.

And that was the first and only time I made him cry.

Henry is American businessman. One day, when he was sailing (航行) on a boat near San Francisco, he was carried out into the sea by a strong wind. (luck), he was discovered and picked up by a London-bound( 开往伦敦的) ship. So he (land) in London by accident. Alone and (hunger), he walked on the streets of the city. Unexpectedly, he (call) into a big house. There two rich (brother), Oliver and Roderick, gave him a letter and told (he) not to open it until two o'clock of the day. Henry didn't know it was a million-pound (百万英镑) bank note. He left the big house and went into a cheap restaurant to get something to eat. Everyone was impolite and impatient to him. Why? he was in rags (衣衫褴褛) and looked dirty. Then, everyone's surprise, he handed the owner a million-pound bank note to pay for the meal. On seeing the note, all the people in the restaurant became friendly and tried their best (please) Henry. Don't you think it's the most unbelievable story in the world?

The brush pen, one of the "Four Treasures of the Study", was invented thousands of years ago. However, the oldest pen was just a stick or a piece of bamboo. It was difficult for people to write well on thin silk.

It is said that Meng Tian, a general of the Kingdom (王国) Qin, improved the pen. When Meng was leading an army to fight against the Kingdom of Chu, he had to report the situation to his king in time. But his pen was too hard and caused him much trouble, so he was thinking of ways to improve it.

One day after hunting (狩猎), Meng made his way home with some wild rabbits on the horse back. Fat and heavy, one rabbit's tail left a long trail (痕迹) on the ground when they moved on. Suddenly a good idea came to his mind when he saw it, "If I tie the rabbit's hair to a stick, would it be easy to write with?"

On arriving home, he tied the rabbit's hair to a stick and tried writing with it. But the rabbit's hair was too smooth to write well and wasted a lot of silk. Meng was so disappointed that he threw away his "invention" into a stone hole in the yard.

However, Meng never gave up and kept trying all the time. A few rainy days later, he happened to find his "invention" fatter in a stone hole. He picked it up with hope. The brush worked beautifully on silk. It turned out that the special water had cleaned the oil from the hair. Meng succeeded at last.

Thanks to Meng, the brush pen is playing a key role in Chinese culture. Today, students are taught to use the brush pens in school. It makes their life more colorful and helps them better understand Chinese culture.