One day a dentist was starting his morning work. Suddenly a man ran in. His face was red and he could only say "Quick! Quick!" The dentist thought he must be very ill. His assistant helped to make the poor man sit in a chair. The dentist gave the man some medicine to make him sleep. Then, he looked into the man's mouth and pulled out all the bad teeth. As soon as the man woke up, he said in a low voice, "Quick, doctor, quick."

    "It's all right now," the dentist told him, "It's over."

    "You don't understand," said the man, "I came to tell you your house is on fire."

    A father and his son went to a kite-flying festival. The son was full of joy when he saw the sky filled with colorful kites. He wanted to fly a kite, too. The father then bought a kite for him.

    The son started to fly the kite. Soon, his kite was high up in the sky. After a while, he said, "Father, it seems that the string (线) is stopping the kite from flying higher. If we cut it, the kite will be free and fly even higher. Can we cut it?" The father cut the string. The kite started to go higher. This made the little boy happy.

    But then, slowly, the kite started to come down. And finally it fell to the ground. The son was surprised to see this. He asked his father, "I thought that after cutting the string, the kite would fly higher. Why did it fall down?"

    The father explained, "The string was not stopping the kite from going higher, but was helping it stay in the sky. You helped the kite go up in the right direction using the string. But when you cut the string, it could no longer support the kite."

    Sometimes, we may feel like there are certain things that are holding us back (阻碍) and stopping us growing. But in fact, these might be the things that support us the most.

With the development of society, people's needs are becoming increasingly different and we have more expectations for the future. What do you expect to see in 2024? Let's have a look. 

Here are three students.They are talking about sports.

"It is time to present a modern China and ordinary Chinese people to the world instead of always focusing on the country's 5,000-year history," Zhang Yimou, the chief1 of the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, said in Beijing on Friday.

The children singing the Olympic anthem (会歌) and the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics theme2 were primary school students, many with no stage experience.

Training, which began in October, mainly took place on weekends in schools or workplaces. When the rehearsals (排练) were3 in Beijing's National Stadium, where the opening ceremony would be held, the organizers had to4 desks for the children to do homework during breaks, 5 most of them were at school. Sometimes, teachers would hold classes on site while students were waiting to rehearse.

The children came from Fuping, a small county (县) in Hebei. Many live in villages and their parents are6 .

It was the first time the 44 little singers had left home to7 in Beijing, a moment even more memorable for8 during Chinese Lunar New Year, usually a time for families to get together.

"Most don't have any singing experience. It will be a(n)9 experience for them in their whole lives," said their headmaster, Liu Kai.

"They were not performing. They were playing, all very happy and relaxed," Zhang Yimou said. "We wanted to present a modern China and the lives of10 Chinese people. There were no great performers, but everyone was true, which touched the audiences' hearts."

Mum and I were just going out when it began to rain. We had to stay at home, and I {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (feel) quite bored. Mum got an idea. She suggested {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (teach) me to make dumplings. I thought it could be fun, so I said OK. Mum cut the meat and cabbages into small pieces {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (quick) . Then she showed me how to mix them with salt and oil. "Mixing is the {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (important) of all the steps," she said. I also made some other {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (prepare) with her help. When everything was ready, Dad came back home from his office. Together the three of {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (we) wrapped (包) the dumplings. {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (final) , we cooked them. They were so delicious that I ate {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (many) than twenty. That was the {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (one) time I learnt to make dumplings. It was {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (enjoy) ! I will learn more life skills in the future.