Every year on my birthday since I was 11, a white gardenia (栀子花) was sent to my house. No card ever came with it. Calls to the flower shop were not helpful at all. After some time I stopped trying to find out the sender's name and was just pleased with the beautiful flower, in soft pink paper.

I couldn't stop imagining who the giver might be. Some of my happiest moments werespent daydreaming(幻想 )about the sender. My mother encouraged these daydreams. She'd ask me if I had been especially kind to someone. Perhaps it was one of my classmates Perhaps it was the old man who I once helped. As a girl, I had more fun imagining that it might be a boy that I had met.

    A month before my high school graduation(毕业), my father died. I was so sad that I became completely uninterested in my coming graduation dance, and I didn't care whether I had a new dress or not. My mother, in her own sadness, would not let me miss (过) any of those things. She wanted her children to feel loved. In fact, my mother wanted her children to see themselves much like the gardenia: lovely, strong and perfect.

    My mother died ten years after I was married. That was the year the gardenia stopped coming.

    Dragons are not real animals, but look like a combination (组合体) of many animals such as snakes, fish and deer. They have two horns (角) and a long moustache (胡子). With fantastic powers, they fly in the sky or swim in the sea. They can make rain, too. The Chinese dragon is a symbol of strength and goodluck. The emperors of ancient China loved dragons. Their clothes were covered with pictures of dragons.

    We are proud to call ourselves the “descendants (传人) of the dragon”. In Chinese, “excellent”people are often called “dragons”. A number of Chinese sayings and idioms talk about dragons, for example, “Hoping one's child will become a dragon,” which means hoping he or she will be successful.

    It is said that people born in the Year of the Dragon have certain characteristics. They are creative, confident, brave and quick-tempered. There are some famous “dragons”who have done excellent things, for example, Deng Xiaoping, the famous businessman Li Jiacheng and the movie star Zhao Wei. They are all very successful.

    There are also some traditional festivals about dragons in China, such as Dragon Head – Raising Day and Dragon Boat Festival. We have different kinds of activities to celebrate them. These two festivals come every year, but the Year of the Dragon comes every twelve years. It was the year of the Dragon in 1976.

    The dragon is very important in Chinese culture. As the“descendants of the dragon”, it is necessary for us to know the views on dragons in our culture. It can help us understand why our parents always want us to be“dragons”.

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    When I was 13 years old, a boy gave me an important gift. It was a smile.

    It was the early autumn of my first year at a junior high school, and my old school was far away. As a result, no one knew who I was. I was very lonely, and afraid to make friends with anyone.

    Every time I heard the other students talking and laughing, I felt that my heart broke. I couldn't talk to anyone about my problem, and I didn't want my parents to worry about me.

    Then one day, my classmates talked happily with their friends, but I sat at my desk unhappily as usual. At that moment, a boy came into the classroom. I didn't know who he was. He passed me and turned back. He looked at me and without a word, smiled.

    Suddenly(突然), I felt the touch of something bright and friendly. It made me feel happy, lively and warm.

    That smile changed my life. I started to talk with the other students and made friends. Day by day, I became closer to everyone in my class. The boy with the lucky smile has become my best friend now.

    One day, I asked him why he smiled, but he couldn't remember smiling at me! It doesn't matter because all the dark days have gone. Now I believe that the world is what you think it is. If you think you are lonely, you might always be alone. So smile at the world and it will smile back.

    The book I would like to talk about is The Merchant of Venice. The book is a dramatic work by Shakespear, an English famous writer in the 16th century. It talks about something happening between merchants in Venice. The main characters are Bassanio, Portia, Shylock and Antonio.

    The drama begins with Antonio, who helps Bassanio borrow money from Shylock, and then brings out other stories. Bassanio is a poor merchant. He needs money to follow his dream to marry Portia—a very beautiful and rich lady. He first wants to borrow money from his friend Antonio, also a merchant in Venice. Antonio borrows the money from a Jewish rich merchant Shylock. Antonio does much harm to Shylock before because Antonio really hates Jewish. Shylock is a little mean and loves money very much. He always gets interest from the people who borrow money from him. Antonio promises he will pay the money back in three months, or Shylock will be allowed to cut out 1 pound of flesh out of Antonio's body.

    Bassanio successfully wins the love of Portia but soon realizes his friend can not pay the money back to Shylock on time. Bassanio returns to Venice as fast as he can and attends a trial(审讯).The reason why Antonio isn't able to pay is because his ships are caught in storm. Portia, dressing up as a young lawyer, claims (声称) that the words " 1 pound of flesh" not "1 pound of flesh and blood". She says that Shylock is only allowed to remove flesh, but not any blood, which is impossible. Thus, she helps make Antonio safe and make Shylock fail. At the same time, Shylock loses most of his money. At the end,          .

    "Joe, you are a very old dog," said policeman Fred. "Today is your birthday again. I remember you were 14 years old last year. But you are still the best police dog in the world!"

    "ARF! ARF!" barked Joe.

    "You are welcome," said Fred." Now let's get your birthday dinner. Show me where you want to eat.

    Joe led Fred down the street. Good smells came from all the eating places. But Joe wandered on闲逛. At last he stopped at a small place. He smelled around the door. Then he pushed the door open.

    "Is this where you want to eat?" asked Fred. But Joe did not bark an answer. He put his nose to the floor and ran across the room. Then he jumped on a man at a table!

    "Good boy, Joe!" said Fred. Joe and Fred have looked for the robber for ten years. "And now you have found him!"

    Joe and Fred took the robber to the police station. Then Fred said, "All right, Joe, you have done your work. Well done! Congratulations. Now do you want that birthday dinner?" "ARF!" barked Joe, "ARF! ARF!" "Let's go," said Fred. "I'm hungry, too."

    Mary likes to run. Ever since she was in the third grade, she has been training to run long distances. Now that she was in her eighth grade, her parents agreed to let her run in the Banana Classic. The Banana Classic is a ten-kilometre race. It takes place every year in Mattydale. The winners get a lifetime supply (提供) of peanuts and fruit juice.

    Mary practised by running ten kilometres, twice every day. On the average (平时的) run, she would finish in thirty minutes. Last year's winner finished the race in twenty-six minutes and ten seconds!

    On the day of the race, Mary ran faster than she ever had in the past. As she came across the last kilometre, she was in the fourth place. She picked up the pace (步伐) and quickly reached the second place, just as she could see the finishing line. She ran as fast as she could in a mad dash (冲刺) to the finish line, but she just wasn't fast enough to get ahead of the leader.