There was a time when New York City buildings were almost all the same height.

3.Today you can see buildings of different heights that seem to touch the sky. They are called skyscrapers(摩天大楼). They shape the famous New York City skyline.

 It started about 90 years ago. It began like a race. This wasn't a race down the street or around a track(跑道). It was a race for the sky. Who was racing? Buildings were.Their builders were actually racing to build the world's tallest skyscraper.

 The race started slowly.

 First came the Woolworth Building, in 1913. It rose 792 feet(英尺) on the southern side of the city. Then the race heated up.In1930, two skyscrapers were nearing completion. The Bank of Manhattan Building was finished first. It rose up to 927 feet into the sky. Builders were then putting a round roof（屋顶）on the top of the Chrysler Building. It rose up t0 925 feet. The Bank of Manhattan, two feet taller, seemed to be the winner.

 A few weeks later, New Yorkers saw a strange sight（景象）.  The day that the Chrysler Building was to be completed, workers raised a shiny metal, spire（尖顶）through the top of the building, adding 121 feet to the building's height! At l,048 feet,the Chrysler Building was now the world's tallest.

 But the race was not over.  A year later, in 1931, the Empire State Building became the new winner.4.At l,250 feet, it was the world's tallest building.

 In 1973, even that record was broken. Builders finished the World Trade Center. At 1,368 feet high, it rose above all other buildings in New York City.

 Time goes on. As technology improves, taller buildings are being built. The race is still on.

    "Mom! Get my annoying(令人讨厌的)brother off me," I shouted. I woke up because of my brother. It happens almost every day. I got out of bed and put on my clothes hurriedly. Then I realized a huge problem—it was the first day of high school! It meant I had to go to the same school as my brother. But I didn't want to go there. At that exact moment, a thought came into my mind. I had never thought of it before.

    I had to go to school in 30 minutes. I had to eat, pack and think of a plan to get my brother embarrassed(尴尬).20 minutes later, I got my bag and slowly walked out of my bedroom. I saw my mom taking the school uniform downstairs and in exactly a second I had a great plan. I quickly ran after my mom and followed her downstairs. Like a cat I hid behind a couch, seeing her put the uniform on the couch and make her way back upstairs. I only had one chance. I quickly wrote something that would make my brother embarrassed on the back of a shirt as my brother ran downstairs. We put on out clothes right away and we wore the same size. It was quite a cold day, so I took a jacket and put it on.

    A couple of minutes later, we were in the car and were almost at school. I was secretly waiting for my great plan to happen. I got out of the car and ran to my classroom. I unpacked and decided to take off my jacket, because the day was heating up. Once I took my jacket off, everyone started laughing. I had no idea why everyone was laughing until suddenly I realized what had happened.

    Walt Disney was born in Chicago, America, in 1901. He enjoyed drawing. He was very poor. He drew pictures in his father's garage(车库). One day a mouse came into the garage and played on the floor. Disney gave him some bread. Then the mouse came up and sat on his desk. In this way, the mouse and the poor artist became good friends.

    Later Disney went to Hollywood. He worked very hard, but he was not famous to many people. One day he remembered the mouse. “I will draw that mouse, ”he said to himself. “I hope every child in this country will like my mouse. ”

    He drew many pictures of the mouse. Soon Mickey Mouse was famous all over the world. And the name of Walt Disney was known to many people in the world, too. Disneyland is the world's greatest park for children.

    When you wave to a friend, you are using body language. When you smile at someone, you mean to be friendly. When you put one finger in front of your mouth, you mean "be quiet". Yet, people in different countries may use different body languages.

    Once, an Englishman was in Italy. He could speak little Italian. One day while he was walking in the street, he felt hungry and went into a restaurant. When the waiter came, the Englishman opened his mouth, put his fingers into it and took them out again and moved his lips. In this way, he meant to say, "Bring me something to eat." But the waiter brought him a lot of things to drink, first tea, then coffee, then milk, but no food.

    The Englishman was sorry that he was not able to tell the waiter he was hungry. He was ready to leave the restaurant when another man came in. The man put his hands on his stomach, and this body language was good enough for the waiter. In a few minutes, the waiter brought him a large plate of bread and meat.

    Finally the Englishman had his meal in the same way.

    As teenagers, you have many dreams. These dreams can be very big, such as winning the Nobel Prize, or they can be small, you may just want to become the best student in your class. Once you find a dream, what do you do with it? Do you ever try to make your dream real?

    Andrew Matthews, an Australian writer tells us that making our dreams real is life's biggest challenge. You may think you're not very good at some school subjects or it is impossible for you to become a writer. These kinds of thoughts stop you from getting your dream. In fact, everyone can make his dream come true. ①首要的事情是记住你的梦想是什么。 Don't let it leave your heart. Keep telling yourself what you want. Do this step by step and your ________ will come true faster because a big dream is made up of many small dreams.

    You must also never give up y our dream. There will be difficulties on the road to your dreams. But the biggest difficulty comes from yourself. ②You need to decide what is the most important.

    Without dreams, you won't make up your mind to learn more skills and new interests.

    Everyone cares about his or her image(形象). What about you? {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Have you ever done the following little things to hurt yours?

    You don't let people get out of buses or elevators before you get in. It is not good to push yourself into the crowd who's trying to get out anyway. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

You don't cover your mouth while coughing. According to Live Science, one cough can release(释放) as much as 3,000 droplets of saliva(唾沫星子),{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Covering your mouth is not a choice but an absolute must.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} You think your music taste is great? Perfect, go to study music, to become a DJ, but please don't push your music taste onto other people.

    You are rude to waiters. Imagine working for 12 hours, always on your feet, and then dealing with the most rude customers? Yeah, don't be that person who thinks waiters have to deal with your bad attitude.

    Common sense not so common. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. You listen to music without headphones.

B. Some little things can hurt your image.

C. Some serious things may hurt your image.

D. And they can fly as fast as 50 miles per hour.

E. Don't mind your behavior and do as you like.

F. Just stand aside, let people out, and then get in.

G. Please watch your behavior and be polite in public.