A little girl lived in a small, shabby house on a hill. She enjoyed playing in her small 1 as she was growing up. She was able to see over the garden and across a valley (山谷) to a wonderful house high on a hill—a house that had golden 2.

    Although she loved her own family, she dreamed all day about 3 wonderful and exciting it must be to live in that golden house.

    She eventually (终于) 4 an age, where she could play outside of her garden. She asked her mother if she could go for a bike ride outside the gate of her home. Her mother finally 5 her to go. The little girl rode her bike until she got to the gate of the golden house.

    As she leaned her 6 against the gatepost, she focused on the path that led to the house and then looked at the house itself. However, she felt a bit 7. All the windows were actually plain (普通的) and rather dirty.

    She was so sad that she didn't try to go any further. Heartbroken, she got on her bike again. As she 8, she saw a sight that amazed her. She could see a small house on 9 side of the valley. Its windows glistened (闪耀) as the sun shone on her little home.

    She realized that she had been living in her own 10 house all along. Everything she dreamed of was right there in front of her eyes!

    I once worked at a restaurant. One night，an elderly couple signaled（夫妇示意）to me that they were ready to order. I quickly went to them and gave them the menu.

    The man began ordering but he talked stutteringly（结结巴巴地）. It was very clear that he had a speech disorder His wife told him what she wanted and the man took the ordering as a way to practise speaking. It took some time for him to order. At the same time his wife was sitting there and she looked so proud.

    I had to say they touched me a lot. It just made me realize that love is about acceptance, tolerance and support（接受、宽容和支持）. His wife could have made the order and made things easier for the man, but she didn't. Instead, she supported him and was proud to see him order by himself.

    I also learned that life is difficult for us most of the time. The most important is to face the problems in life and try our best to solve them.

    In the mid 1990s, people started doing business on the Internet. At that time, there were two kinds of companies. First, there were traditional companies which sold things in shops. Then, there were Internet companies which didn't have shops; they sold things only over the net.

    Traditional companies didn't want to lose any business. Quickly, they created their own website and began selling things over the net. These are the so-called "brick and click" companies. Many shops are made of brick, and you click on your mouse to buy things with your computer. That's where the name "brick and click" comes from.

    By the late 1990s, e-businesses like Amazon.com and Buy.com were in trouble. Their profits were not very high, and there was a lot of competition. Many of these businesses lost a lot of money, and in 2000, many e-businesses went out of business.

    Why are "brick and click" companies, like Barnes & Noble, Toys "R" Us, and Walmart so successful? First, many customers know and trust their names. Their websites, like walmart.com, are easy to remember. These companies also have a lot of experience. They know how to run a successful business.

    In the world of e-commerce, companies are fighting for every dollar and every customer. Will "brick and click" companies win the war? Only time will tell.

    Everybody hates rats. But rats may soon be man's new best friends.

    What happens after an earthquake? We send in rescue (援救) dogs. Why? Because they can smell people. Dogs save lives. They help rescuers to find living people. But dogs are big and they can't get into small space. So now a new research project is using a smaller animal to save lives: the rat.

    How does it work? First, the rat is trained to smell people. When this happens, the rat's brain gives a signal. This is sent to a small radio on its back, and then the rescuers follow the radio signals. When the rat's brain activity jumps, the rescuers know that someone is alive. The rat has smelled that person.

    Although there are already robots which can do this job, rats are better. "Robots' noses don't work well when there are other smells around. Rats are good at that," says a scientist. Rats can also see in the dark. They are cheaper and quicker to train than dogs, and unlike robots, they don't need electricity.

    The "rat project" is not finished, but a scientist says, "It would be fantastic. A rat could get into space we couldn't get to and a rat would get out if it wasn't safe." Perhaps for the first time in history, people will be happy to see a rat in a building (but only after an earthquake, of course).

    Once a lonely girl was in great need of love. One day while she was walking in the woods, she found two dying birds.

    She cared for the birds with love and they grew strong. Every morning they greeted her with a wonderful song.

    One day the girl left the cage open. The girl was frightened that it would fly away. As the bird flew close, she caught it rudely. Her heart felt glad at her success in catching it.  Her love had killed the bird.

    She noticed the other bird moving around on the edge(边) of the cage. She could feel its great need for freedom. It needed to return to the clear, blue sky. She took out the bird from the cage.  The bird flew in a circle once, twice, three times.

   The girl felt the bird's enjoyment. Suddenly the bird flew closer and landed softly on her shoulder(肩膀).  

    The fastest way to lose love is to hold onto it too tightly(紧地); the best way to keep love is to LET LOVE GO!

    Claire is a 27-year-old Chinese girl. She is a teacher in a junior high school. She enjoys (take) trips and has many interesting experiences. She thinks they are special (memory).

    Last month, Claire took a trip to Italy her family. This was her first time (go) traveling abroad. Before starting their journey, Claire searched on the Internet for a lot of information. After long flight, they got to Rome on the morning of July 3. She and her family visited beautiful cities like Rome Milan. They are both modem cities with a long history. Venice (like) best by Claire among all the places. In her mind, Venice is (wonderful) place that she has ever visited. There, they visited the famous St Mark's Basilica and its special (beautiful) impressed them. They also took a lot of beautiful photos with their camera.

    On the afternoon of July 18, they got on the plane and flew back to China. she got home, she was tired out. Even so, she still hopes that she can go to Italy again in the future.

How to protect the endangered animals