Rat and Mole are at home all day. Mole is bored. He says, "I want to visit Badger." But Rat tells him, "Badger lives in the middle of the Wild Wood. It's a long way to go in winter. "

But Mole still wants to go. When Rat is asleep, he puts on a coat and goes into the Wild Wood. It is cold and the sky is grey. First it is fun. But then it gets dark. Mole sees strange little faces in the wood. The faces have sharp teeth. He hears strange noises and he is afraid. Poor Mole runs and runs through the wood. Then he sees a hole inside a tree and he hides there.

When Rat wakes up at home, he calls, "Mole, Mole", but Mole doesn't answer. And Mole's coat isn't there. Rat thinks, "Mole is visiting Badger. Oh, no! Mole is in the Wild Wood!" He puts on his coat and puts a gun in his pocket. He goes along the path to the Wild Wood. He sees the strange faces with sharp teeth. But they see Rat's gun, and go away. Rat calls and calls, "Mole, where are you? It's me—Rat. "

At last, Mole answers, "Rat, I'm here! In the tree! I am very frightened!" he says in a little voice.

"Don't worry, Mole," says Rat, "Let's go home now!"

But Mole is very tired. He wants to sleep, so Rat sits and waits. While Mole is sleeping, it begins to snow. The snow is white and it covers all the paths.

Later, Mole wakes up. Then the two friends set off through the white woods. Everything is different with the snow and soon Rat and Mole are lost. They walk for hours but they cannot find the way home. They are tired, and cold, and hungry.

Suddenly, Rat sees a sign in the snow. The sign says, "Mr Badger".

"It's Badger's front door," says Rat. He is very excited.

They ring the doorbell. "Who is it?" calls Badger.

"Oh, Badger," cries Rat. "It's me, Rat, and my friend Mole, and we are lost in the snow."

Do you have a headache? Take an aspirin or eat bird brains. Do you want beautiful skin? Use skin cream or eat pearls. Is your hair turning gray? Color your hair or eat black rice.

"Eating bird brains, pearls, and black rice?" some people ask. "How strange!" But for many Chinese people, bird brains, pearls, and black rice are not strange things to eat. Instead, they are good medicines(药).

Food that people use for medicines is called medical(药用的) food. The Chinese have eaten medicinal food and spices(香辛料) for centuries. Ginger(生姜), for example, is a common spice in Chinese cooking. Ginger gives food a nice flavor(香气). The Chinese began to use ginger many years ago. They used ginger not because it tasted good. They used ginger because it was medicinal. Ginger, they thought, was for the digestion(消化). It also helped people who had colds. Pepper and garlic, too, were probably medicines a long time ago.

Some people don't believe that food and spices are good medicines. They want to buy their medicine in drugstores, not in supermarkets. Other people want to try medicinal food. They say, "Maybe medicinal food can't help me. But it can't hurt me, either. "

People can try medicinal food at a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco, California. The restaurant serves medicinal food. The menus at the restaurant have a list of dinners. Next to each dinner there is information about the food. The information helps people order "Queen's Secret," for example, is one dinner at the restaurant. This dinner has meat from chickens with black feathers. It is for women who want to look young.

Father came to Jack's bed and sat down beside him. "1was your day?" asked Father.

"It wasn't a very good day for me," Jack answered. "I had a2with Tom. The teacher sent a note home about me. And I talked back to Mother. "

"Yes, part of the day was3," his father said. "But tell me about the best thing that you had today."

Jack thought for a minute, and then smiled. "After school I went fishing alone," he said. "I didn't think I would have any4. But I did. I caught a fish!"

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself," Jack's father said. "Think about it until you go to5Now I'm going to turn6the light. Have happy dreams. "

Every night, Jack7the same question. "What was the best thing that happened to you today?" Every night, Jack thinks about the best part of his day. This gives him many happy dreams.

Sometimes he has to think8to find the best things. Sometimes it is very9thing. But he always finds one good thing to think about. Jack's father10him to end his days in a wonderful way.

—         She is a headmaster and owns the title "Role Model of the Times".

—Sorry, he isn't in.