The town of Pressure and the town of Pleasure were neighbors but they had nothing in common. Residents(居民) built walls to 1 influence from the other town.

    In Pressure, everyone wanted to be the very best. When women gave birth, they would compete（竞争、比赛） to have the baby with the loudest cry. There was violent competition in every aspect（方面） of life. Because 2 was the symbol（象征） of success. People were always busy making money, with no time for relaxation. Some young people couldn't bear the intensity(紧张) and chose to drink to escape（逃避）.

    In Pleasure, the motto（格言） was: If only you like it, do it. People grew up without pressure and could do anything they liked. Children played computer games day and night. At school, teachers didn't care 3 students came or not. Workers might sit around the office all day long drinking coffee and doing 4 .Thanks to the lack（缺乏） of regulations（规章制度）, nobody worried about losing their jobs. It was pleasure that mattered. The computers they used were old ones from the town of Pressure.

    Some of the young were addicted（上瘾） to drugs（药物）5 the emptiness（空虚） of their lives. Then, people in the two towns began asking themselves, “What is life 6 ?” But, just before life in the two towns completely7, there came a great person—Mr Reason. He went from door to door, talking with people and 8 advice. People in Pressure learnt to be satisfied with what they had 9 people in Pleasure began to make plans. They 10the walls between them and built a road to connect the two.

    Do right things at the proper time，or it's too late to regret for what has passed.

    A grasshopper （蚱蜢）was playing the violin when he saw some ants busy1 food."Why are you working on such a beautiful day？"he asked.

    "We must collect food now，"said the queen of the ants."If we don't，what will we do when 2comes？"

    "Oh，winter is a long way off，"said the grasshopper."You take life much too 3."

    "But you must 4today if you want to eat tomorrow，"said the little ant."You can play your violin after you've finished your work."

    The grasshopper didn't want to follow her 5.He went away，singing.

    Spring soon passed and the warm summer came.All day long the grasshopper played the 6.Soon summer was over.And then autumn passed，too.One morning，the grasshopper woke up and was 7to find that snow had fallen during the night."Why？Had the long winter come？"he said to himself.

    The grasshopper wandered around looking for a place to keep 8but there was no such place."How9I was not to listen to the ants.While I am dying of cold and 10they are sitting in their warm nest with plenty to eat."

    The grasshopper was soon frozen stiff （冻僵的）.The ants picked him up and carried him to their nest.The grasshopper learned a lesson he would never forget.

    My family came to America from China many years ago. I was born in Oakland in 1989. Many young Chinese Americans don't learn much1because our parents2us to learn English very well.

    Chinese is a difficult language. If we don't speak it3, it's easy to forget. Writing is hard, too. We have to remember lots of words and thousands of characters (汉字). In English, there are only 26 4.

    At home, I5English with my family. But now, we speak some Cantonese (广东话) because we watch films 6 that language.

    My mom has come to love F4, a Chinese boy band (组合). They are in the film Meteor Garden (《流星花园》). We all7the TV series, and we learn Cantonese8 saying some funny words from the TV series to each other.

    It's fun to speak Cantonese with my Chinese friends. It 9funny because we can't say the words just right.

    Young Chinese Americans know that our culture (文化) is getting lost, so we try to10something.

    We were going to play against a team from a country school. They didn't come until the game time arrived. They looked1than we had thought. They were wearing dirty blue jeans(牛仔裤)and looked like farm boys. We even thought that they had never seen a basketball before.

    We all sat down. We felt we didn't 2any practice against a team like that.

    It was already so late that no3could be given to them for a warm-up(热身，准备活动). The game began.

    One of our boys 4the ball and he shot a long pass to our forward. From out of nowhere a boy in a dirty T-shirt5the pass and with a beautiful form(姿势)he shot and got two points.

    They6us. Then they got another7of points in a minute.

    Soon it was all over. The country team8us. We certainly learned that even though a team is good, there is usually another9a little better. But the important lesson learned was: One can't tell a man, or a team, by the10.

    Mr. Brown was very fat and he didn't feel well. Mrs. Brown was1about his weight (体重).

    "You must see a doctor," she said, "and ask him how to2weight. It's not good3your health." "OK." Mr. Brown said, and then he went to see the doctor.

    The doctor looked him over, then he said, "Nothing serious, you are too heavy. You must lose430 kilos. Eat only fruit and vegetables and run five kilometers a day for the next5days, then call and tell me how6you are."

    Mr. Brown went home and did7the doctor told him. One hundred days8, he called the doctor.

    "Mr. Brown here, doctor," he said. "I'm calling to tell you about my weight. You will be9to know that I lost 30 kilos."

    "Great!" The doctor said. "Yes, but there's another10," Mr. Brown said. "I'm 500 kilometers from home!"