It was summer. A duck was sitting on many eggs in her house. Her little ducks were going to come to the world. One little duck after another came out from the eggs. The last baby was big and ugly. His brothers and sisters weren't willing to play with him because he was too ugly. Even his mother hated him too. And the girl who fed them kicked him.

    The poor little duck was so sad that he ran away from home in the winter. On his way, a big dog appeared, but the dog did not come close to him. "Oh, I am so ugly that even the dog won't bite me." the duck said to himself.

A kind farmer took him home when the weather got colder. He stayed there for a whole winter and left when the spring came.

    One day, he met three beautiful white swans (天鹅) when he was swimming in a lake. They swam toward him. He was afraid to make friends with them. But what did he see in the clear water? He was no longer a dark grey ugly duck. He was a beautiful swan himself. How amazing! He never dreamed that he could be so beautiful.

I still remember the date, December 24th. While I was having an English class, I fell {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(睡着). Suddenly, I went into a{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(奇怪的) area and saw some students playing in the forest. Then a rainstorm came. So I made my way into a {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(塔). The light there was very weak but the wind was very strong. I could hear the rain {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(敲打) heavily against the windows. I struck a {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(火柴) but saw nothing 

Then I found a tall man standing against a piece of {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(木头) with a flashlight. He walked up to me. When I {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(认识到) he might be a terrorist, I was scared. I phoned my mother at once, but she didn't pick up. I felt very terrified.

At that time, I heard the bell go off and then a soft voice,"Hi. class is over."I{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(醒) up, rose slowly from the chair and found that the wind died down. The sunlight{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(在外面) was so bright.

Do you think this story is interesting? I'm not {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(开玩笑；欺骗) you. To tell you the truth, I dreamed an unusual dream that day.

Yesterday was Mary Alston's birthday. She is 109 years old, and she is one of the oldest people in the world. And she likes eating hamburgers.

Mrs. Alston had a party with her family. Her daughter, Jenny Morgan, who is 85, said,"My mother loves chocolate, and she eats popcorn(爆米花), pizza and hamburgers. She also likes to eat vegetables and fruit."

Mrs. Alston lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. She was born on a farm in Pennsylvania, and worked as a teacher. In 1935 she married(结婚) James Henry Alston. He died(去世) in 1983.

Her granddaughter, Annie, who is 65, said,"Grandma gets up every day at 6 o'clock, and goes to the cinema every Friday. She enjoys her life every day."

Annie asked her grandmother what she wanted to eat on her birthday. Mary smiled and said,"I'd like a hamburger and some fries. Of course, I also want to eat fruit and vegetables."

What can we learn from Mary's living habits?{#blank#}14{#/blank#}

Lu Yuxin is 13 years old and she is a middle school student from Beijing. She loves paper cutting and her classmates say she is born with the{#blank#}1{#/blank#} （能力）to cut. Lu always {#blank#}2{#/blank#} （联系）paper cutting with her everyday life. During the Olympic Games, Chinese players got many medals. Lu was so excited and {#blank#}3{#/blank#}（自豪的）that she came up with a good idea to express her happiness. She made series of paper cuttings during the "golden moments" of the players whom she thought are {#blank#}4{#/blank#} （民族的）heroes, too. Her paper cutting was{#blank#}5{#/blank#} （传播）on the Internet quickly. And Lu found it really meaningful to pay more {#blank#}6{#/blank#}（关注）to those heroes by paper cutting. 

Each paper cutting brings out the personal ideas of Lu {#blank#}7{#/blank#}（精确地）. Lu was worried about the players and hoped every athletes could{#blank#}8{#/blank#} （保持不变）healthy during the game. 

Lu began to learn the art of paper cutting when she was in a {#blank#}9{#/blank#}（当地的）kindergarten. During her primary school years, she went to have art classes {#blank#}10{#/blank#}（几乎）every weekend. She spent most of her free time on paper cuttings. And soon, she was good at making them. 

Lu's parents help to develop her interest in paper cutting. "It's good for children to have an interest and enjoy spending their time and energy on it. " said Lu's mother.