Once there was a parrot on sale in a pet store. It was a beautiful red and blue bird. It sat on a perch in the middle of the store, so that everyone could see it when they came in. The owner was very proud of it and asked a high price for it.

    One day a man went into the store. “That's a beautiful bird,” he said to the pet store owner, “But why is it so expensive? Is it unusual bird?”

    “No, it's not very unusual. It's expensive because it can talk,” the pet store owner said.

    “I see. How can I make it talk?” the man asked.

    The pet store owner asked him, “Do you see those string tied to each of the bird's legs?”

    “Yes,”the man answered.

    “Well, you pull those strings,” the pet store owner told him. “That will make the parrot talk.”

    The man asked, “Do you mind if I try?”

    “Not at all,” the pet store owner said.

The man walked up to the parrot and pulled the string on its left leg. The parrot said, “Good morning.”

    The man pulled the string on the parrot's right leg. This time the parrot said, “How are you today?”

    “That's not very interesting, ” said the man. “Any parrot could do that.” Then he laughed, “But what would happen if I pulled both strings at the same time?”

    “I'll fall off my perch, you fool!” the parrot said.

    Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, "Do you think they'll let me play?" Shay's father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understood that if his son, who was disabled, were allowed to play, it would give him some confidence.

    Shay's father came to one of the boys on the field and asked if Shay could play, not expecting much. The boy looked around and said, "We're losing by six runs(分) and the game is in the eighth inning(局). I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat(击球) in the final inning.

    Shay came to the team's bench and put on a team shirt with a smile and his father had a small tear in his eye and warmth in his heart. The boys saw the father's joy at his son being accepted.

    In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the final inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the field. He was clearly glad just to be in the game and on the field. In the bottom of the final inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, next was Shay at bat. Would they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?

    Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was almost impossible. The first pitch(投) came and Shay missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to throw the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.

    The pitcher could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman and Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game. Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the head of the first baseman, beyond the reach of all teammates, The audience and the players from both teams started screaming, "Shay, run to first! " Never in his life had Shay ever run that far but made it to first base.

Everyone shouted. "Run to second!" Catching his breath, Shay ran towards second. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the smallest guy on their team, who had a chance to be the hero for his team for the first time, could have thrown the ball to the second baseman, but he understood the pitcher and he too threw the ball high and far over the third baseman's head.

    All were screaming, "Shay, Shay, Shay, all the way Shay." Shay reached third base when one opposing player ran to help him and shouted, "Shay, run to third." As Shay rounded third, all were on their feet, crying, "Shay, run home!" Shay ran to home, stepped on the home base and was cheered as the hero who won the game for his team.

    That day, the boys from both teams helped bring a piece true love into this world. Shay didn't make it to another summer and died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making his parents so happy!

    Somebody says that it is raining cats and dogs. We know it means it is raining heavily. Here you can know why people say like this.

    There are many large rats (老鼠) in a country. People need cats. But there are many mountains in the country. It's hard for a plane to land. So the cats come down by parachute (降落伞). In another country, the people need dogs to help people to find the people in the snow. Where can they get them? You can guess. The dogs come down by parachute. Both cats and dogs are coming down by parachute, just like the raindrops coming from the sky. So there is the saying "It is raining cats and dogs".

    These cats and dogs help the people. And the people often say it rains cats and dogs. This kind of old saying is very interesting.

Last June, when my mother told me she had planned a four-day visit to Dubai with me, I was very excited. Tourists from all over the world come to see the sights in this amazing city and experience its culture.

On our first day, we visited the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. It is 828 metres high and it holds several records. After that we visited the Arabian Desert. The next day, we visited the Palm Jumeirah, the world's largest man-made island. The island is made from all natural materials (材料) because the Prince of Dubai wanted to give it a more natural look. The island itself looks like a palm tree from above, with one main strip(条) of land and 16 strips, 8 on each side. They all come from the middle, and make the island appear like a palm tree.

Dubai is home to the world's largest shopping centre. So on the third day, after a short boat ride away from our hotel, my mother and I spent the whole day shopping there. We returned home in the afternoon the next day. It was a fantastic trip.

My parents usually work hard. My father also {#blank#}1{#/blank#}me to be good at every subject. We spend a few days going to different places together every year to relax {#blank#}2{#/blank#}.

Last year, we decided to go to a beach, so we used the Internet to get some information about some places close to the sea. Finally, we {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Qingdao City and had a lot of fun there. We visited Qingdao Polar Ocean World. When we walked through it, we saw some beautiful penguins (企鹅). They were black and white. They were much {#blank#}4{#/blank#}than other penguins. I thought they were the most popular ones among all the animals there.

What a(n) {#blank#}5{#/blank#} trip it was! Now I can still remember that trip so clearly that I will never forget it.

During the summer vacation, some boys came to a tall tree. They wanted to play a game to see who could climb to the top of the tree first. Their mothers sat there, looking at the children. 

David was one of the boys. He was young and short. No one thought he would win the game. When the game started, all of the boys tried to climb as high as they could. They all made it halfway (在中途) up the tree before David got to the top of the tree first in the end. 

His mother was amazed to see it. She asked, "David, how did you get to the top so quickly? "

David said, "The other boys kept looking down as they climbed. When they learned how high they were, they got scared and were afraid of falling down. But I only looked up. When I saw how close I was, I kept climbing. " It's true in life that if we keep moving forward (向前) without looking back, we will get close to our dreams.