Rose is a student from the U. S. She is in Shanghai with her parents now. She doesn't know Chinese, but she is trying to study and speak it. She often tries to speak Chinese with her Chinese friends. Sometimes they don't understand her, because she can't speak Chinese well.

    It's Saturday morning. Rose goes out. She is on her way to the park. She is going there to see a flower fair(展销会). But she doesn't know how to get there. She asks a Chinese boy the way. The boy can't understand her. Then she takes out a pen and a piece of paper. She draws flowers on it, and then gives the picture to the boy and says something about it. The boy smiles and then shows Rose the way to the park.

    John was born without arms. As a child, he learned to do many things with his legs. But there were a lot of things he couldn't do. His parents even had to feed him. His seven brothers had to help him to get dressed.

    One day his mom decided not to help John anymore. She told John's brothers not to help him either. "Let John do everything on his own," she said. "If John needs to eat, let him eat by himself. Let him get the dish himself. If he breaks up a few dishes, it's fine. No one will help him to get dressed either. Let him wear his clothes himself. If he can't get dressed himself, then let him run without clothes. But no one is allowed to help him. He has to learn to do everything himself."

    John's mother loved him. She wanted to help him. But if she always helped him, he wouldn't learn anything. She wanted him to be independent.

    Soon John learned to do everything by himself. When he was sixteen, he could even drive a car with his feet. John felt very proud. He thanked his mother for making him independent.

    Today John is a grown-up man. He has a business of his own and he is very successful. He also travels around the world.

    John likes children very much. He likes to talk and play with them. He tells them that they can learn to do anything. He teaches them how to be independent.

It was a fine summer afternoon. Sam was going home from school. He walked along the road slowly, reading a book. Sam had spent all his money on the book. He liked it very much. When he came to the high road, there was a blind man, holding out his hat. The poor man said, "I haven't eaten anything since yesterday. Please give me some money. I want to buy some bread." But Sam had nothing to give. So, he just walked on, feeling very sad.

Soon after, a fine carriage(马车) came up, and in it were Harry and his mother. The blind man still stood there and held out his hat. "Let us give the poor man something," said Harry to his mom. His mother found some coins in her bag and passed them to him. However, Harry did not put them into the man's hat. He threw them into the bush (灌木丛) beside the poor man. How could the blind man find them?

As Sam turned back to look at the fine carriage, he saw Harry throwing the coins into the bush. So he walked back at once and helped look for the money until he found all the coins.

As the blind man held the coins, he smiled. It touched Sam's heart. At that moment, Sam knew that kindness wasn't always about big actions; sometimes, it was the simple act of giving a helping hand that could make a difference.

Jay and Joan like to spend the winter holiday with their mum and dad. This morning they were all going sledding (滑雪橇).There was a heavy snow last night. The hill at the park was great for sledding. Jay and Joan asked their parents to take them out .Their parents agreed(同意).

They all put on warm clothes and boots (靴子).They brought hot drinks，put the sleds in the car and drove to the park.

Jay and his dad went down the hill on one sled. Joan and her mum went down on the other sled .They went fast. The snow flew on their faces. They should and laughed. Sledding was fun.

After playing for two hours，they took a short break. They wanted to have a hot drink to get out of the cold，so they went into a warm house. They talked about their fun day there.

Soon it was time to go back home. Jay and Joan were very happy today.

Both Mr and Mrs Liu are teachers at a high school in Hangzhou. They are always so 1  that they almost have no chance to travel. National Day is coming. They  2  to take their children to Beijing. But3 ? By car, by high- speed (高速的) train or by plane?

"We can drive there. It is the 4  because highways are toll- free (免付费的) during National Day holidays, "Mr Liu says. "But Beijing is 5 Hangzhou. A long drive will make you very 6 ," Mrs Liu disagrees. "And there is always too much traffic on the road."

7  daughter Liu Fang says, "How about taking a high- speed train? I looked for some information online last night. We can 8  take a taxi to Hangzhou East Railway Station, and then take a train to Beijing South Railway Station. The lowest price of a ticket 9  about 560 yuan. If you all think it is OK, I can 10  the tickets on my phone now."

"Sounds 11  a nice choice, my girl! I think maybe Liu Wei wants to say something. Let's 12  him," Mr Liu says. 

Liu Wei is Liu Fang's brother and he is five years younger than her. "I have no  13 which is the best way to Beijing. I just hope to 14  Beijing Daxing Airport. I saw it on TV. It is really beautiful and large," Liu Wei says. 

"I also want to visit the airport,15  it is the most expensive," his sister says. 

Finally, they decide to take a plane to Beijing. 

I arrived home from work, but my mind was still busy. I was going to perform a very important experiment, but I had spent the whole day worrying about it. And I wanted to shake off my worries very much. So after dinner, I made a cup of hot chocolate, sat on my sofa, and opened a page. Almost at once, my mind left behind the experiment and went into a wonderful world different from my daily life. It was exactly what I needed.

 Growing up, I was actually never a big fan of novels. My classmates would be crazy about the latest novel, while my copy sat collecting dust on a bookcase. Instead, I would choose to read through the books about school lessons. After I started graduate school, extra reading didn't interest me at all, but I spent most of my time at school working on research papers and my mind couldn't process nonfiction(非小说类纪实作品) books at home. So I knew that I needed to find a way to enjoy reading again.

 To help me stick to it. I made a New Year's resolution: I would read two fiction books per month. The result was that I loved fiction almost at once, along with many unexpected results including ones that are good for my schoolwork.

★some of the best books I read were historical fiction books. I learned life in different countries, as well as challenges which people there faced during difficult periods in their histories. The books have helped me build sympathy and understanding, with an unexpected advantage: I' ve started to think more deeply about the different types of the scientific problems in my study and could se rve them with all my heart.