（E）

    Americans spend their weekends in different ways. But usually they choose the same aim(目的)—to rest, to enjoy beautiful places and to enjoy the time with their family and friends．

    Some Americans hold parties on Saturday night. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Then they won't get up until 9,10 or even 11:o'clock next morning．As soon as they get up they will go to the nearest corner shop to buy the daily newspaper(日报). {#blank#}2{#/blank#}It will help them to decide what to do on Sunday afternoon.

    Before going out on Sunday, they will have a meal, which is called "brunch"—"br" from "breakfast" and "unch" from "lunch". {#blank#}3{#/blank#}After brunch some Americans may have a picnic with their family or friends.They will take many things with them, such as fresh vegetables, sea food,drinks,table cloth(桌布)and so on. Usually they drive to a beautiful park, a lake or the seaside.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}It is the biggest meal of the week and all family members try to present(出席).

    Weekends are to be welcome everywhere. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

    When I spent the summer with my grandmother, she always sent me to a store with a long shopping list. How could I hope to find all these things? In the store, there was a tall lady with black glasses on her nose. There wasn't a smile on her face.

    “Excuse me,” I said. She looked down and said, “I'm Miss Bee.”

    “I need to get these.” I said, holding up my list. “So? Go to get them. ” Miss Bee pointed to some shelves. “There's no one here, only you and me, so get yourself a basket and get all these things yourself.”

    That summer I visited Miss Bee twice a week. Sometimes she gave me wrong change. One afternoon I corrected her, “That bag of beans is only twenty-nine cents!”She just looked at me over her glasses and changed the price. Going to the store was more like going into battle. I got into the store just like General Patton getting into North Africa.

    Soon I learned how to find the product on the shelf… At the end of the summer, the shopping trip only took me 15 minutes. Before I left, I stopped in the store to get some candy.

    “All right, little girl,” she said. “What did you learn this summer?” Before I could answer. Miss Bee laughed and said, “I know what you think of me. Well, I don't care! My job is to teach every child some life lessons. When you get older you'll be glad you ever met Miss Bee. Haha!...”

    I didn't think of her words. Years passed, one day my daughter came to me with her homework. “It's too hard,” she said. “Could you finish my math problems for me?”

    “If I do it for you, how will you ever learn to do it yourself?” I said. Suddenly, I was back at that store and I knew what I learned from the old lady that summer.

    With their long tusks (象牙), elephants look strong. However, it is this feature that makes the animal endangered. Many of them are killed for their tusks. People make elephant tusks into crafts (工艺品) and jewelry and sell them to rich people.
    But can these priceless body parts grow back? The answer is no, Live Science said. The elephants' tusks are actually part of their teeth. Nearly all African elephants and most male Asian elephants have these long teeth. About one-third of the tusk is in the animal's skull (头骨). The tusk has a nerve (神经) running down its center. This makes it similar to your teeth. Once you lose a tooth, you will never grow a new one.
    Elephants use their tusks to protect themselves, lift things, dig water and gather food. But losing the tusk will not kill them. The way in which they lose the tusk is what matters. Usually, people get tusks by culling (限量捕杀), which means killing old and weak elephants. They also take tusks from the elephants that have died naturally.

    However, these sources aren't enough to keep up with the demand for ivory. Therefore, some poachers (偷猎者) kill healthy elephants and cut their faces open to remove the tusks. About 27,000 elephants are killed by poachers each year, according to National Geographic.
    As a result of poaching, some African elephants gradually evolved (进化) without tusks, which has allowed them to survive. In Mozambique, about 90 percent of African elephants were killed for their tusks and meat from 1975 to 1992, National Geographic reported.
    Scientists found that about a third of younger females—the generation born after 1992—never developed tusks.

    I am a girl. My name is Gina Green. I'm twelve years old. I'm in Class Two Grade Seven. My father is Mr Green. He is forty years old. He is an English teacher. My mother is Mrs Green. She is thirty-eight years old. She is a math teacher. My father and mother are in the same school, in No. One Middle School. My telephone number is 863—2975.

    A few days ago, I ran into a stranger as he passed by. I said sorry to him and he said, "Excuse me, too, I wasn't even watching for you." We were very polite this stranger and I. Then we went on our way after saying goodbye.

    Later in the kitchen at home, as I cooked our meal, my daughter Betty walked up to me, very quietly. When I turned around. I nearly knocked her down. "Get out of the way!" I shouted angrily. She ran away, crying.

    That night, when I lay in bed, my husband said to me, "You were so rude to Betty. Go and look around on the kitchen floor, and you'll find some flowers there. Betty brought those for you. She picked them herself - pink, yellow, and your favourite blue."

    When I heard this, I thought deeply: While meeting with a stranger, I was calm and polite; but with my daughter, I was not patient. I felt sad and tears began to fall.

    I quietly went to Betty's bed, "Wake up, my dear," I said, "Are these the flowers you picked for me?" She smiled, "I found them by the tree. I knew you'd like them, especially the blue." I said, "I am so sorry that I treated（对待）you that way today." And she whispered（悄声说）, "Mommy, that's okay - I still love you anyway." I kissed her and said, "I love you too and I do love the flowers."

    That day Betty gave me a lesson on how to get along with each other in the family. I spent much time on work before and didn't realize how important family life was. I decided to change myself in the future.