Many people like to collect things. For example, they like1stamps, books, pictures and so on. But my friend Mr. Green likes to collect clocks. He 2 five hundred clocks. The clocks are3in his house. You can see shelves in4room. All the shelves are5of clocks. Mr. Green is glad to do this,6 his wife doesn't enjoy it at all. She has a lot of7to do every day. It's not 8for her to clean hundreds of clocks. She is also angry at the noise. Each clock keeps its own time, so she can hear the clocks strike almost9time day and night. She says, “There is something even worse. I really don't know what10it is with so many clocks in my house.”

    There was once a bad king. All the people hated him. One day in a summer he was swimming alone in a1. The king was good at2, but he suddenly (突然) fell ill when he was in the middle of the river. He cried out, "Help! Help!" At that moment two3_were nearby. They4ran there and jumped into the river and saved him. They didn't know that he was the king before saving him.

    The king was5, so he said to the farmers, "You saved my life. Now you may6anything, and I'll give it to you." The younger farmer said, "My daughter is ill. Please send her to a good7" The king promised to do so. Then he asked the older farmer."8can I do for you, old man?" The older farmer9for some time and then answered, "You can do a very important thing for me. Don't tell10we saved you."

    When I was little, one of my favorite holiday traditions was making a wish list for Santa Claus. Every year, my father helped me 1 all that I wanted. Often, I put food on the list: chocolates, candies. …One year, I even asked for my favorite 2!

    As I grew older, I no longer wrote to Santa Claus, but I never 3 making a list of the things that I most liked or wanted.

    One year, I went to China to work in a 4. In China, most people don't celebrate Christmas. 5, they celebrate Chinese New Year. In my classes, I asked my students to make lists for Santa Claus. But they 6 me. "We get lucky money at Chinese New Year, "one girl told me." That's better than gift from Santa Claus!" I nodded. Maybe she was 7!

    On Christmas Eve, my friends and I went walking in the city. 8 Christmas isn't a holiday in China, many people were out in the streets and having fun. They 9 Santa hats, ate candies and said "Merry Christmas" to us in English. They knew we were 10.

    After a few hours, my friends and I were 11 and a bit cold. "One Christmas when I was small, I wished for soup from Santa Claus, "I told my friends. They laughed.

    We went into a restaurant and sat at a table. 12, my friends cried out. "Look, Beth, your 13 is coming true!"

    I turned around. "Santa Claus" stood 14 me. Well, it was the waiter, but he was dressed in a red and-white Santa Claus suit!

    "Merry Christmas. What can I get you？"15 asked.

    "Soup! "we said in chorus(齐声).

Many years ago, there was a family named Franklin. They lived in Boston. There were five girls and six boys in the family. On a January day in 1706, another baby boy was born. The boy's parents gave the boy a name—Benjamin.

Benjamin was the 1 of all the children. He could read when he was five and he could write when he was seven. The next year his parents sent him to school.

At school Benjamin was good at reading and writing, but not good at Maths. He read all of his father's books. And when he had money, he always went to buy 2 . He liked books because they told him how to do something. The boy liked to use his head and tried to 3 ways to help people enjoy life more. For example, he tried to know if there were some ways to swim farther, maybe with something on his hands or 4 . Slowly a picture of swimming shoes grew in his 5 . They must be neither too big nor too small. And they must be neither too heavy nor too light. At last, he 6 the flippers（脚蹼）for swimming.

Electricity was one of the things Benjamin experimented with when he stopped working. He discovered that lightning（闪电）and electricity were the same thing. The lightning rod（避雷针）was a(n) 7 invention that we still use today. It can 8 buildings and ships from lightning damage.

Franklin preferred to have his inventions used 9 for everyone. He was not only an inventor, but also a writer, an educator, a politician and so on. He made great achievement in different areas. Thomas Jefferson, the third president of America, called Benjamin Franklin "the 10 man of the age and country in which he lived".

 We often say," A friend in need is a friend indeed." Here is a good example. Once there were two good1 — Tom and Jack. One day, Tom wanted to borrow some 2 to build a factory. He went to the bank and the clerk said he should first3 a warrantor(担保人). Tom told Jack about it and Jack s a id he would like to help him. Unluckily, Tom did4 in his business. Finally, he had to close t h e5 and left his city without telling anyone. When the bank couldn't find Tom, they wanted Jack to pay off(还清) the money for Tam. Jack felt very 6 because he didn't earn much. So Jack 7 his house and moved to live with his parents. But he know Tom would return one day.

 Ten years later, Tom returned from Canada. He began to8 when he saw Jack. Tom said with tears in his 9 that he would give the money back to Jack, but Jack didn't accept.

"I have my own house now. I know you were in 10 trouble at that time. As good friends, we should help each other. Is it right?"