先读一则笑话

The story is told of a father of five children who came home with a toy. He summoned his children and asked which of them should be given the present. “Who is the most obedient（听话的） one here? Who never talks back to Mom and does everything that Mom says to do?” He inquired. There were a few seconds of silence, and then all of the children said in one accord: “You play with it Daddy!”

A Father's Eyes

可读性分析：本文较易，适合中学生阅读

Jonathan's mother died when he was very young and his father brought him up. Both of them shared a very special relationship. Jonathan loved to play football and his father made sure that he was always there to cheer his son at every match, even if Jonathan wasn't a part of the playing team. Being small sized, Jonathan wasn't allowed to play in the main team. Nevertheless, he continued with his practice with full determination. Everyone thought that Jonathan would never be able to make it into the team, though somehow, his determination carried him through. The coach seeing his diligence anddedication decided to keep him on the roster.

One day during practice, the coach met him with a telegram. Jonathan was shocked to read the message contained in it. Swallowing hard, he mumbled to the coach, "My father died this morning. Will it be all right if I miss practice today?" The coach gently put his arm around his shoulder and said, "Take the rest of the week off, son, and don't even plan to come to the game on Saturday." On the day of the game, Jonathan's college team was losing badly to the rival team. The coach and the players had all lost hope when they saw Jonathan coming towards them. Jonathan ran up to the coach and pleaded him to allow him to play this match. At first, the coach wouldn't allow him to play. However after a lot of persuasion, the coach gave in.No sooner Jonathan joined the team in the field, their scores started to improve before both the teams were on a tie.

However, the real cheer came during the crucial closing seconds when heintercepted a pass and ran all the way for the winning touchdown. His team members were ecstatic. The crowd came running towards him to celebrate the win. After the match, the coach went up to Jonathan, who was seated alone in the corner of the locker room and asked, "Kid, I can't believe it. You were fantastic! Tell me what got into you? How did you do it?" He looked at the coach, with tears in his eyes, and said, "Well, you knew my dad died, but did you know that my dad was blind?" The young man swallowed hard and forced a smile, "Dad came to all my games, but today was the first time he could see me play, and I wanted to show him I could do it!"

The Extra Mile

The inspiring story of a dad who goes above and beyond for his kids.

by Jay Payleitner

可读性分析：本文较易，适合高中学生阅读。开头部分有些生词，读到后面就容易懂了，很感人。

Near midnight. My wife and I were driving home from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where our son Randy was a junior English major. Rita was asleep in the passenger seat.

I headed north, wondering what on earth had possessed us to take the afternoon off to make the trek to campus and back, a six-hour round trip slogging through the towns dotting Highway 47. All for nothing.

For weeks Randy had been telling me how much fun he was having playing intramural coed flag football. Maybe it was his talk of diving catches and trick plays, but I’d felt this sudden urge to cheer him on, like we had in high school.

Just several hours earlier Rita and I had met him at the field. It was a crisp fall evening—perfect football weather. I was pumped.

Randy introduced us to his teammates. “You really came all this way just to see us?” they asked incredulously.

The cheering section consisted of Rita, me and an injured player on crutches. But we didn’t mind. We watched the kids stretch and warm up, run through some drills and then...there was some sort of delay.

Randy ran over. “The other team had to forfeit,” he said. “They don’t have enough players.”

I tried to hide my disappointment. No big deal. Unless you’d just driven three hours to get here. We took Randy out for pie and coffee. Nice, but I’d had my heart set on seeing him in action. I’d wanted to cheer for my son.

Now, slowing the car to a crawl through the town of Yorkville, I couldn’t help thinking that the whole idea had been foolish. I was behind on work. I really needed to clean out the garage.

I thought of all the T-ball games and soccer matches, band concerts and science fairs I’d gone to over the years for our five children.

Once Rita and I even snuck into Randy’s English class to see him perform in a skit. We had been the only parents there that day too. I’d worked hard to be a supportive dad, but was I trying too hard?

Ahead I saw a bridge crossing over the Fox River. A distant memory stirred...from back when I was a Boy Scout. Every fall our troop made a two-day, 40-mile canoe journey down the Fox.

There was one year I would never forget. My dad dropped my brother Mark and me at the launch, made sure our life vests were snug and said goodbye as our flotilla set off. I plunged my paddle into the water and pulled hard, then lifted and stroked again. Mark, in front, did the same.

Before long we had a good rhythm going. I wish Dad could see us, I thought.

About a mile downriver we came to a bridge. I looked up and there he was. Dad, standing right in the middle of the span. He didn’t shout instructions or do anything embarrassing. He simply waved until we passed underneath. I looked back and he was gone. Huh? Was I just imagining him?

But several miles later, at the next overpass, there he was again. And the one after that. And the next.

It turned into a game. The whole troop began looking for him. Every time we rounded a bend that day someone would shout, “There’s Mr. Payleitner!” All the boys were waving now, but no one was happier to see him than I was.

My dad had taken a chance and literally gone the extra mile (and then some) to show us his love. All these years later it had never left me.

Now I drove across the bridge in the darkness. I imagined Dad standing there, waving, still encouraging me. It made me think of a nightly prayer I’d said when the kids were younger, asking God to help me be the kind of dad my kids need.

At last I understood the most important thing I could do for my children—just be there, even if it meant going the extra mile, the way my dad did for me, cheering me on.

A True Father's Day Story
Johann Christoph Arnold 作为父亲，忙于工作与照顾孩子，难以兼顾。文中父亲的决定可能大多数父母难以做到，但可以体验到天下父母的用心。

可读性分析：本文较易，适合中学生阅读

Deep down, every parent knows that bringing up a child entails more than providing for them. It’s a rare father or mother who won’t readily admit that they “really ought to spend more time” with their children. Yet it’s just as rare to find parents who are willing not only to make such a recognition, but also to carry their good intentions into deeds. Dale, who used to work for one of the largest law firms in the world, is one such parent.

About ten years ago, a colleague and I were driving home from a Cub Scout pinewood derby competition…While the van-full of boys played and laughed in the back seats, he cleared his throat and broached a difficult subject. “Dale, you are making a big mistake by leaving the law firm. Do you realize that?” He was referring to my decision to give six months notice of my resignation. “It’s not like you can just do whatever you want,” he continued. “You have five children. You have a duty to give them the best life possible and to send them to the best universities they can get into. You are shirking your duty.”

I let a few moments pass. Finally, I replied. “It wasn’t my idea. I never intended to cut back to less than twenty hours per week. My daughters pleaded that I quit.”

It was true. For the last two years I had balanced twenty hours per week as a lawyer with an equal amount of time serving men dying of AIDS and cancer. This was a dramatic change from my life as a lawyer who lived on airplanes, opening accounts all over the country and working eighty to ninety hours a week. But then the Gulf War hit. My part-time legal work suddenly exploded, and soon I was back to my old schedule.

About six weeks into this reversion, my sixth grade daughter disappeared from school: she simply wasn’t there one afternoon when we went to pick her up. We looked for her for over two hours and finally contacted the police. Later she was found by a friend walking alone on a roadside, crying. Her explanation was simple: “Dad, when you were gone all the time, it didn’t matter. But now I’ve gotten used to you being here, and I can’t take it. I want you to quit being a lawyer.”

First I tried to get my ninth grade daughter to talk some sense into her younger sister, but it didn’t work. She agreed with her completely. Then I put it all down on paper for them to contemplate(考虑)– to show them just how stiff the economic consequences would be: pay for your own clothes, car, gas, insurance, yearbooks, prom, college, trips, etc. It didn’t matter. My daughters wanted me…

My colleague was bringing the van to a stop at a red light. “Look,” he said impatiently. “You’re shirking（逃避） your responsibility!” A few moments passed before I sealed the discussion. It seemed too important to finish quickly. I was focusing on a clump of trees that refused to fall in line, refused to be controlled, refused to be cut down and processed at the corporate mill.

“I disagree,” I told him gently. “I disagree. And I bet, in your heart of hearts, that you do, too