Ten-year-old Barack Obama was one of the only three black students at his school in Hawaii, US. He felt very different from most other students. White girls wanted to touch his hair. ①A white boy asked him whether his father ate people.“I lied (说谎) to them that my father was a Kenyan prince. But I kept asking myself who I am," said Obama. However, 37 years later, the boy made history—Obama became the first black president in the history of the US.

    Obama was born in 1961, to an African father and a white American woman in a small town in the US. He grew up in Indonesia and Hawaii. ②This unusual background made him want to know who he was. He once drank much wine to help forget this question.

    With the help of his friends, Obama finally went to college. His hard work made him a star at Harvard. Later, he became the third black senator (参议员) in the history of the US. During his race to the highest post in the US. Obama talked about his background. He called for a United America, rather than a white America or a black America.

    Obama's success has made Martin Luther King's dream come true. That is: A man should not be judged by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character.

    Several days ago, Brenda had a car accident that led to one of her legs being cut off. Since then she didn't talk to anyone."I wish I could bring her friends to visit her," said Brenda's mother. "But it's a long bus trip." The nurse smiled, "Don't worry. We have a plan."Later that day, the nurse had taken Brenda to another room. "Here's your new roommate, Annie Wiggle-Do," the nurse introduced a dark-hair teenager on the other bed.

    As soon as the nurse left, she jumped out of her bed with her only foot and sat at the other end of Brenda's bed, "I lost my leg from bone cancer," she said. "What happened to yours?" Brenda was so shocked that she couldn't say a word. "You're lucky." Annie continued. "You've still got your knee. They had to take mine."

    "I'd like to have a chat with you, but my friends are coming any time now, so I have to get ready." Annie said when she took off her hair! Her head was completely bald(秃头的).

    "Oh, I forgot to tell you, the medicine they gave me to kill the cancer also killed my hair." Annie looked out her wigs(假发), brown and yellow, short and long, straight and curly."That's why I thought up 'Annie Wiggle-Do'." Annie smiled. "Get it? Any wig will do? Annie Wiggle-Do?" "When Annie's friends came, she introduced Brenda to them all. Before long, Brenda started chatting with Annie and her friends. They didn't make her feel like a strange person at all!

    The girls shared their names with each other. When it was time to go to bed, Brenda said, "Good night, Annie-Wiggle-Do. Can't wait till morning."

    A tornado happened in Illinois, the USA on April 9th. The tornado hit the ground at around 7:00 p. m. on Thursday evening. According to a report, eight of the 150 local people were taken to hospitals after the tornado. All the people there were evacuated(撤离), and the power was off across the area. The Red Cross and Salvation Army built a rescue centre in a high school.

    Chad Connell, the Chief of Kirkland Community Fire District, said he watched the tornado moving toward the town from his house. “I've never seen anything like it in my life," he said, almost lost for words.

    It is reported that about 20 houses in Ogle County were badly damaged or even destroyed. Luckily, no people were killed or badly hurt there. It is also reported that 12 people were trapped(被困住) in a restaurant which collapsed(坍塌) in the tornado in Rochelle, about 20 miles south-west of Fairdale.  Raymond Kramer, 81, was one of them.  He said they were trapped for 90 minutes before the emergency crews were able to rescue them.

    "When the tornado hit, we all got a dust(灰尘) bath," Raymond told a reporter. "Everyone there got covered with dust. We are so lucky that we are finally saved. "

Good Neighbours

    Mr. and Mrs. March lived together with their four daughters. Amy was very shy. Beth loved being at home. Meg looked very pretty. Jo was tall and thin and she was a tomboy. Their home was always busy and full of noise and people. Next to them lived old Mr. Laurence and his grandson, Laurie. They lived in a very large and comfortable house. But it was a house without life.

    One day, Joe saw Laurie standing at an upstairs window in his house and looking down at their garden. Jo's sisters were playing in the snow there. They were throwing snowballs and having a lot of fun. But Laurie's face was very sad.

    "Poor boy!" Jo thought. "He's all alone. He needs some friends." She couldn't stop thinking about him. She wanted to go and see him, but how could she go to the house without an invitation?

    Then one snowy afternoon, she saw Laurie's grandpa go out. This gave her an idea. She took a broom from the kitchen.

    "What are you going to do, Jo?" asked her sister Meg.

    "To clear the garden path." Answered Jo.

    When Laurie saw Jo from the window, a big smile changed his pale, sad face.

    Jo laughed and shouted, "How are you? Are you ill?"

    Laurie opened the window and said," I'm better now, thank you. I had a bad cold and had to stay inside for a week".

    "I'm sorry," said Jo. "Are you bored?"

    "Yes, very." he replied.

    "Don't your friends come to visit you?"

    "No. But I don't want to see anybody. Boys are noisy and they give me a headache."

    "Girls are quiet."

    "I don't know any girls."

    "You know us."

    "That's true! Can you come and visit me?" cried Laurie.

    "I'm not quiet, but I'd like to come," replied Jo. "I must ask Mother first." She ran back into her house.

    A few minutes later, she returned and rang the bell on the door of Laurie's house. A servant took her upstairs.

    "Here I am!" she said brightly. "Mother sends her love and my sisters gave me this blancmange (牛奶冻) for you."

    "That looks delicious," Laurie said. He was very happy to see Jo.

Jo looked around. There were lots of books on the shelves.

    "A nice room!" she said. "I can read to you if you like."

    "No, let's talk," replied Laurie.

    "All right," said Jo, "I can talk for hours. My sisters say I never know when to stop."

    "You have three sisters—Amy, Beth and Meg." Laurie continued.

    "How do you know this?" Jo was surprised.

    "You call each other's names when you are in the garden. Sometimes I can see you all around the table with your mother. She has a very kind face. I like looking at her. I haven't got a mother."

     Jo felt sad when she heard this.

    "Why don't you come and visit us?" she said, "It isn't good for you to stay in this house all the time."

    "Thank you. I'd like to come very much." Said Laurie.

    "We know all our neighbours except you." Jo said, "I'm glad we're friends now."

    She told him about all the interesting things in her life. She said," Besides(除了……之外) plays, I also love books." Laurie loved books too, and offered to show her the library in the house. The library was a wonderful room. Jo loved it.

    "Wow!" she said, "All those books!"

    Laurie said, "A person needs more than books."

    (Adapted from Little Women)

    In a town there lived a little, beautiful and smart girl. Her name was Rose. Everyone in the town liked her. She was very brave, but she was scared of the doctor. One day, one of her teeth was moving. Her mom saw it. She said, "One of your teeth is moving, and you need to visit Doctor Tim."

    Rose said, "No! I'm not going to the doctor." Mom said, "Don't worry. It's not so wobbly(摆动的) now, we needn't go to the doctor at once." That made Rose feel better.

    After five weeks, Rose forgot about her tooth but her mom didn't. She checked her tooth again and it was more wobbly, so she said, "It's time to see the doctor."

    Rose was scared but she had to do what her mom told her, so they went to see Doctor Tim.

    They had to wait in the waiting room.

    When it was her turn, her heart was beating very fast. She went into Doctor Tim's room. He was smiling. She sat on the chair.

    Doctor Tim said," Close your eyes."

    Rose closed her eyes, but just before Doctor Tim started, tears started coming down from her eyes. When she opened her eyes, she saw Doctor Tim holding her tooth, smiling.

    Rose smiled. Then Doctor Tim gave her a teddy bear. From that time Rose wasn't scared of doctors anymore.

    I have a nice family. My parents love me very much. I have no {#blank#}1{#/blank#}（兄弟）and no sisters. but I have some cousins. This is Kate. She is my {#blank#}2{#/blank#}（叔叔的）daughter. She is a nurse（护士）. She likes{#blank#}3{#/blank#}（蓝色）, and her room is always very {#blank#}4{#/blank#}（整洁的）. She has a cat Mimi. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}（是）she and her cat in the room now? No, they are in the kitchen. And this is John. He is my aunt's son. He likes {#blank#}6{#/blank#}（模型）planes very much. They are{#blank#}7{#/blank#}（到处）.Tom is my aunt's son, too. He is a middle school student. He often helps me with my study. I {#blank#}8{#/blank#}（感谢）him very much for his help. Where is{#blank#}9{#/blank#}（他们的）mother? Oh, she is playing computer games. Two {#blank#}10{#/blank#}（手表）are on the desk, too.